The Wind Rose by B. Roman Read Free Book Online

fortune teller.
    “Come now, David. No words of welcome for an old friend? You do remember me, don't you?”
    How well he remembers the delightful woman who cajoled him onto the Moon Singer the first time, to the Island of Darkness and his encounter with Ishtar and the beautiful Princess Saliana.
    “Dorinda! My God. I can't believe it's you. And I can't believe I can hear you.”
    “Why are you surprised? You invoked me before and you heard me then. You still have the power.”
    “Yes, but I don't have the Singer. I didn't think I could ever hear again without it.”
    “It's just like riding a bike,” she says, with that perpetual twinkle in her eyes. “Once you learn, you never forget how.”
    “I seem to have forgotten everything, Dorinda. My life is a shambles.”
    “This is no time for a pity party,” she chides him, amiably. “You have more important things to do.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like getting the Singer back, and finding the Rose Crystal.”
    “I almost had the Singer back the other day, but it washed out to sea before I could grab it. And the Rose Crystal was given away accidentally by my father. I don't know where to begin to look for it.”
    “Yes you do. Or you will. Once you go back to the Source, all things will be clear to you.”
    David chuckles. “Another of your cryptic clues. I think you have a file drawer full of them. Just what is the
Source
, Dorinda? I've been trying to figure that out.”
    “David, think. Didn't you come here today to summon the Moon Singer?”
    “Well, yes.”
    “And you know the Moon Singer takes you on a journey to where you find solutions to your problems.”
    “But why do I always have to go somewhere else to solve my problems,” David protests, “make some quantum leap into a fantasy dimension? My dad already thinks I'm crazy for trying to explain what I've been through, and Sally hardly believes anything I say anymore. I haven't accomplished much on my two trips.”
    “But you did, David. You accomplished a great deal. But you know that your journeys are not over. Your dissatisfaction demonstrates that you are still seeking answers to life's mysterious questions, as well as the solutions to mundane problems. Remember what you accomplished on the Island of Darkness and on Coronadus? These were monumental successes.”
    “But then I had a mission. When I sailed on the Moon Singer the first time it was to find Sally, to save her life. And when I went to Coronadus it was to communicate with my mother, to understand why she had to die. But this time I have no reason, no mission to accomplish.”
    “Your mission will reveal itself in a short time, David. Be available to it when it comes. I'll only say that, this time, it's more personal and more imperative than the others.”
    With that, the hologram of Dorinda disappears abruptly. In its place is the Star of David crystal diagram. A message box pops up asking, “Do you want to save this file?” David clicks on “yes” and the screen goes black.
    The Wind Rose needle moves slowly a few degrees in a clockwise direction, then moves no more. David knows the Moon Singer is near, but he doesn't know why he wants her to come for him.
    “More personal and more imperative than I can imagine,” he repeats Dorinda's clue. “What could be more personal than finding Sally or seeing my mother again?”
    David's stomach flutters with anxiety and anticipation
    knowing it is crucial that he find the Singer and the Rose Crystal for personal reasons; but he has yet to fully comprehend that by reuniting them with the Wind Rose - aligning the three sacred artifacts that have been coveted for centuries - phenomenal changes will occur in the world, in the present, and in the future.
    He hopes Dorinda is right, that his newest mission will reveal itself very soon.

Fourteen
    Dr. Ramirez works feverishly on his keyboards at the observatory lab, despite a pounding headache. The music he composes is lavish with dissonant