Chapter VI, Reading 7

"Hello Momma! I love you and I miss you terribly. I wanted to let you know that I have made it safely to Kewero. Thank you for all the warm clothing. It made my journey much easier." She paused to look around the room. It was the same as she remembered and that gave her comfort.

Flindra started to feel weak and the task of maintaining this contact had turned into a struggle. She guessed that her energies would retreat to the crystal cavern in moments. "I love you, Momma," she said hurriedly. "Tell Leudh, Brehwan and the boys that I love them, too."

Before she could continue, her mind was sucked through the colored lights and she was back in the cavern. The vertigo that usually disappeared when she broke contact with the crystal still gripped both her mind and body. Flindra sank to her knees and felt a wrenching feeling inside her body. Cold beads of sweat formed on her brow.

Kewero immediately kneeled beside her and embraced her to lend support. "You poor child. I should have warned you that this happens when you contact another through the crystal. Part of your life force leaves your body to establish the contact. Try to relax and slow your breathing. Everything will be all right in a bit." She could feel tremors passing through Flindra's body as she held her to anchor her to reality.

Flindra closed her eyes and forced herself to be calm for she had felt a moment of panic. The experience had left her feeling like a drowning victim who is called back to life. The pain was worth it, however, if she had given a moment of solace to her mother. She had earned it.

Kewero felt Flindra relax in her embrace and knew that the vertigo had passed. She cupped her chin in her hand and looked into her eyes. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "I'm just tired all of a sudden."

"Are you steady enough to walk yet?"

"I think so. Let me stand up and try." Flindra stood up slowly least the dizzy feeling return. "I'm fine; let's go."

By the time they reached Flindra's bedchamber she was close to normal, although still tired. Before she sought her bed, she had one question for Kewero.

"I arrived here in early afternoon. How could it be night for Momma? It didn't take me that long to bathe."

"Time here does not pass at the same rate as it does out in the world. It is irrelevant to compare the two systems."

"Is that how you seem to have lived so long? I heard you say that you've waited a millennium for me while I was rinsing my hair."

Kewero smiled. "I didn't realize I had been that loud. I didn't intend to hint of a mystery and not explain it."

"That's all right."