Page 28 of Forever Frenzy
Seth stepped through the doorway he’d made. “Hey, Mom,” he said with a smile. He hugged me and then nodded to Tage. “I hear you want to learn how to project.”
“If it’s even possible.”
“Uh, Tage says you were able to bring Mercedes here. I’d say it’s possible. Teleporting is much more difficult than projection.”
“If you say so. Roman is home with the kids, and Mercedes is with Dad. I need you to make sure I can do this before I try to project to him. I don’t want to reverse anything and hurt him.”
Seth rubbed his hands together excitedly. “We’ve got this.” At leastoneof us was confident about that.
“Now, concentrate on Roman, but not on Roman being here. Remember their house. Picture yourself in their living room, sitting on the couch. Then push with your mind toward that image. Make it real.”
“Make it real,” I muttered, sitting on the sand, letting it warm my legs. Seth sat next to me.
“You can do this,” he encouraged.
I imagined Roman, pissed off that he had to partake in this experiment. He and I had burned bridges and then repaired them, but the wood was still charred. I wasn’t his favorite person in the world, and he wasn’t mine. We tolerated each other. That was it. At least it was before…
Then I pictured the sand and a very angry Roman landed in a heap right in front of us. Seth laughed as Roman pushed himself up and dusted off his clothing. “Very funny,” he snarled. “Now, if you don’t mind, put me back, Porschia.”
I stifled a laugh, but closed my eyes and imagined him returning home. He disappeared in front of me.
“Try again,” Seth said.
This time I pictured myself on his couch, teasing their two year old, Tess, tickling her belly. Then I pushed with my mind and felt a surge propel me through the woods at a break-neck pace. Tree trunks blurred. I crossed the bridge and was in their house. On the couch. Tessa was in the living room, dancing and squealing. “It’s Porch. Porch is here!”
Roman gave me a lopsided grin. “Well, finally,” he smarted.
I stood up and would have given him the finger, but Tess was a copycat. One misplaced gesture and she would get me in trouble with Mercedes.
“How do I get back?” I asked.
“Did you forget to ask the most important question, Porschia?”
“Apparently,” I muttered, looking around.
Seth suddenly appeared beside me. His body was like mine, translucent and hazy. “Guess I should have told you how to pull back,” he said with a smile. “You just retrace your steps. I’ll give youa head start.”
Retrace my steps.I imagined the sand, and suddenly it was like I was running backwards, being sucked toward the clearing by an incredibly powerful force. The wind howled in my ears as the fake version of me was sucked from the world back into The Sand.
Seth smiled as I came back into my body. “You did it!” He hugged my neck, smiling from ear to ear. “We should visit grandpa.”
I couldn’t calm the shaking in my hands, so I stuck them beneath my legs. “Okay.”
He gave me a moment to rest and then grinned. “See you there.”
Tage watched me carefully, saying, “If you don’t feel up to it, don’t worry about it. He’ll come back soon.”
“I can do this.”
My heart pounded, but I exerted my mind, picturing my father’s living room. Soon, I was being pushed through the forest, over the bridge, past the pavilion with the crumbling, overturned fountain. Suddenly, I was sitting in Father’s living room on the couch next to Seth. Mercedes gave a slow clap. “Now I won’t have bruises when we visit,” she smarted.
Father looked so much older as he shuffled toward us with bowed legs, his hair threaded with streaks of white. “Miranda?” he gasped, clutching his sweater at his heart.
“No, Father. It’s Porschia.”
“Porschia is a baby, Miranda. She’s asleep. Don’t be silly.”
I opened my mouth, but didn’t know what to say.
