memories

"Do you want me to enter your son's mind and wake him up?" Abbey asked right away, just to confirm what he heard from Collin. "Yes," replied Collin. Abbey sighed before saying, "I don't think it works that way. Entering someone's mind and waking them up are two different things. A comatose patient's mind may be fractured, since they are unconscious." Sharon stood there, observing the situation before saying to Abbey, "You have to try and see if you can reach his fractured or shattered mind. Maybe that is the trigger he needs for his revival."

"Revival is not that easy. What if I damage him in the process? We are not gods," Abbey remarked. Collin Smith immediately stopped him from speaking by raising his hand. "I know you are not gods," he said. "I am just asking you to do the impossible and save my son's life. Whether you can or can't, well, that will depend on when you have tried."

"Since you are insisting, I will give it a try, but I am not promising anything. Once I am done, I hope you will let me go without any delay," asked Abbey. "I am a man of my word. I promise I will reward you too, if you can help me out."

Feeling satisfied with his response, Abbey walked towards the boy to examine him. He immediately asked, "What is the boy's name?" Collin Smith didn't hesitate before saying, "Michael. His name is Michael Smith." Abbey asked again, "How did this accident happen?" Collin Smith's face filled with sorrow as he tried to recall the day of the incident. Tears filled his eyes as he explained it all.

"My son was poisoned, but later I found out that it was both physical and spiritual. I don't believe in spiritual nonsense, but all the evidence and symptoms keep pointing in that direction. The doctors have dealt with the physical aspect of the poison, but waking up seems to be the problem. Sharon suggested that maybe his soul is trapped somewhere in the astral realm. She explained that you and her were in a similar situation before, which is why I had to bring you here." Abbey took a deep breath to clear his thoughts, now having a better understanding of the situation. "Before saying the human mind is like a maze or labyrinth of tunnels. One can easily get lost or search for eternity if you don't know where you are going."

Directing his attention to Sharon, he asked, "How well do you know the boy?" Sharon sighed before replying, "We are close." Abbey nodded, "Very good, you are coming with me. Since you have a connection with him, it will be easy to search his memories and find the place where he is trapped." Sharon's face lit up before agreeing to Abbey's request.

"It's time to go," he instructed Sharon. "Place one hand on the boy's hand and the other on mine. Hold onto me tightly, we don't want to get separated along the way." Sharon did as she was told, laying one hand on Michael's hand and the other on Abbey's hand, tightening her grip. "Now, let us merge as one. Let the energy flow from me to you, then to the boy. You will feel it; just don't resist it," Abbey explained further. Before long, Sharon could feel Abbey's life force passing through her and she also sensed his force energy holding onto her and gently pulling her along.

They had both left their previous bodies behind and were now about to enter Michael's consciousness. "Wow, it feels like a breeze," Sharon exclaimed. "I have never really entered someone's consciousness before, or in Michael's case, unconsciousness," Sharon said, feeling a little strange. Abbey spoke through his thoughts since his mouth was closed, "Remember, a mind is a dangerous place to be in. Michael may have some defense mechanisms, or the one who trapped him here may have also put some in place to stop anyone from reaching him. So we have to be on guard against either or both in any case."

"I keep getting the feeling you have done this many times before. How come you know so much about it?" Sharon asked with a hint of suspicion. Abbey didn't say a word; instead, he held onto Sharon tightly. "We are here," his words shocked Sharon out of her line of thought. Looking at the maze, or labyrinth, before her, all she could say was "Wow, wow, wow. I never thought it would be this large and beautiful. It's like finding a needle in a haystack." "We are going to be looking for a pretty long time. Now you understand what I have been saying all along," remarked Abbey. Looking at the labyrinth in front of her, it was like one large map with different intersection points and different types of crossroads, all leading to nowhere and at the same time, somewhere. "Is it possible to locate Michael in this place?" she thought to herself, but this time Abbey could hear her thoughts since they were connected. Abbey immediately reassured her, "It is not impossible, maybe challenging or difficult, but definitely not impossible."

"Besides, why are you here? You are in some of his memories that will act like a beacon or a tracking device to locate Michael. He will be less resistant to a familiar face. Now shall we begin?" he said to her.

Staring at the labyrinth in front of them, they decided to pick a random memory to start with. Before long, they were in one of Michael's old memories where he was playing hide and seek with his father. Looking at Michael trying to hide in a closet, Sharon almost giggled before saying, "He's too young here, he can't be trapped." Abbey nodded in acknowledgment. "Let's move on," he said to her.

Once again, they were in another memory where Michael was still in his mother's womb. Sharon couldn't believe her eyes and immediately asked, "Do you mean Michael still remembers when he was in the womb?" Abbey, shaking off the urge to laugh, explained, "A memory is a memory. He may not consciously remember being in the womb, but it is still a memory. Let's not dwell on this, we have a long way to go."

In another memory, Michael was being bullied in school. Sharon's face became frustrated and she said, "I didn't know about this. How are you supposed to know if the kid doesn't say anything? And besides, you are not his parents. It is their duty to figure out such things," explained Abbey. "Let's quickly move on. We don't have much time and our presence here may not have gone unnoticed." He said with a hint of fear on his face.

In yet another memory, there was a woman holding onto Michael. She seemed to be sick or possibly terminally ill. Sharon immediately recognized her as Michael's mother. "My sister," she explained, "She died two years ago from lung cancer." Abbey was surprised by her words and asked, "I thought you said you were an orphan. Now you're saying you have a sister? That would make Michael your nephew?" Sharon clarified, "My sister and I were both orphans. Our parents died when we were very young." Abbey didn't want to press the issue any further and remarked, "This is not the time or place for this. Let's continue."

"What we are looking for," Abbey explained, "is a memory within a memory." It seemed that we would have to dig deeper into his subconscious. Before long, something appeared in front of them. "What is that?" Sharon asked. "That," as you put it, "are the defense mechanisms I told you about." Sharon was surprised at what she was seeing. "Michael's defense mechanisms are cartoon characters?" she asked with enthusiasm. "Yes, he is a kid. What do you expect?" Abbey answered. "We are in danger now. These cartoon characters can actually hurt us in here. We need to go now." Immediately they entered into another of his memories.

This time, they were in a more recent memory where Michael was in the car talking to his father. "Let's move on. This is not what we are looking for," Sharon remarked. Once out of the memory, they were immediately drawn to the cartoon characters. Immediately, Abbey put up a protective shield over them. Taking a closer look at these characters, Sharon could see the likes of SpongeBob, Toyman, Superman, Batman, and the rest of them trying to attack. She could only snuggle her nose and try not to look frightened. "What do we do?" she asked Abbey. "We have to press on and be careful not to do too much damage," he replied.

We remain calm and try not to stir up too much trouble or draw unwanted attention to our presence here. The goal is to reach Michael as quickly as possible. Sharon was still terrified but she managed to calm herself.