Dinner at Red Robin

I finished developing the photo paper then joined Kundalini at our table. I pulled out a water bottle from my backpack and drained half of it. Kundalini was searching her bag for something. She was shivering more now, so I took off my trench coat and placed it over her.

She slid her arms through the sleeves. They were a little long, but she didn't seem to mind. Kundalini smiled appreciatively as she smelled the sleeves. It was good to see her smile. I placed my hand on her back and she turned to me with tears in her eyes. Pulling her chair closer to mine, I let her lean against me. The little twinge of something in her energy came again then was gone. What was it?

"Thank you, Asahel," she said softly.

"No. Thank you, Kundalini."

The rest of school would pass quickly and soon we were left alone in the classroom. Several books were pulled out for Kundalini, but before she started reading, she walked me through the next meditation. I was sitting in the center of a circle of flames. These I gathered until a single flame burned warmly in my abdomen. I let the flames and their warmth build until it filled every piece of me—down to the very tips of every extremity and strand of hair. Even as the flames faded their warmth continued.

Kundalini shivered when I opened my eyes. My trench coat was no longer enough. Moving to her side, I had her stand before wrapping my arms around her—inside my trench coat. All of her muscles relaxed and she melted into my embrace. As I held her, her power felt overwhelming. My own awakening powers seemed miniscule in comparison, but in the background of her strength was the energy that quivered. I wished I could tell what it was.

"You are a powerful woman, Kundalini."

"You will not think so, once you have awakened fully," she replied.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you are a five and I am a three." She pulled away from me and returned my trench coat before sitting once more to read.

"Would you like me to stay and take you home later?"

"No, thank you. My mom is coming."

"Okay. See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

I left Kundalini wondering how she could seem so sure that my view of her now would change. Yes, I had felt threatened by her when school started, but now she seemed to be the best friend I never wanted to lose. In such a short time, Kundalini had become the teacher and though I felt inferior to her in many ways, she talked and, at times, acted as though our roles were reversed. Each step I took to my car, made me wonder if I would really be the one to walk away and leave the gap or if Kundalini would push me away to protect herself.

When I got home, my stomach hurt. It hurt enough that curling into a tight ball seemed to be the only thing that helped. Was it because I hadn't eaten anything today? Slowly and painfully I got up, but as I passed the bathroom door, my desire for water overpowered my thought to find food. Not just to drink it, but breathe it in as I had in my meditation. Stumbling, I slammed the bathroom door closed and fell to my knees next to the tub.

I turned on the water as high as it would go and plugged up the hole before crawling, fully clothed into the slowly rising water. My head was by the cool stream and I felt a little relief. I let it fill my nose and mouth and felt greater refreshment when it got down into my lungs. Only when I was completely submerged did I turn the water off. Much of my pain left as I allowed the water to fill me. Each inhale of water brought further relaxation to my entire body.

For ten minutes I lie there enjoying the feel of the water. My body warmed and I pulled my clothes off, tossing them from the tub and listening to them land on the floor with a soggy thud. The warmth continued to build until the water could no longer temper the heat. I felt like I was on fire. I started to get up to turn on the cold water and let it shower over me. But as I stood I watched actual flame dance across my skin as it had for Kundalini. I took a deep breath and the flames went out.

Getting out of the tub, I pulled the plug then picked up my clothes. I rung them out before putting them in the laundry hamper. Then I wrapped a towel around my waist and returned to my room. There was a message on my phone. I didn't recognize the number, but I listened to the message.

'Hey, Asahel. It's Mike. We're all down here at Red Robin if you'd like to join us.'

I didn't have much homework, so I dressed and ran off to hang with my friends. They were all there and waiting for me. We caught up on what had been going on since I had gotten sick, but I didn't feel like I should talk about the meditation Kundalini had taught me. Many questions about Kundalini were presented to me since I was spending a lot of time with her.

I found I couldn't say much because a lot of it was related to the meditations and the last thing I wanted was to have flame or my roots come out. The water seemed to be the least of my worries. We enjoyed a multitude of burgers and it wasn't until Zack elbowed me and pointed across the room that we noticed Kundalini there with a brown haired woman. Both of them wore neutral tones, but neither seemed to be speaking to the other.

"Who's the woman?" Marsha asked. "Why isn't she speaking to Kundalini?"

"I don't know," I replied.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Mike asked.

"She should be fine."

I would have gotten up to see what was going on, but something about the woman seemed familiar. For she, too, exuded a power—greater than Kundalini—but similar. I finished eating with my friends and returned home. My thoughts turned to the woman Kundalini was with. Was that her mother? How many roots did she have? My parents were in their room when I got home. Seriously, they needed a quieter bed.

I turned on my CD player and turned up the volume so I didn't have to hear their bed move. Then I glanced at my homework. I didn't want to do it. A slight breeze moved the tree branches outside my window. Sitting on my bed I watched the branches move. For some reason I couldn't get the brown haired woman from my thoughts. I wanted to know who she was. But I'd have to wait until school started to ask.

Standing, I moved to the window and opened it allowing the breeze to come in. Then I sat on the floor where I could feel the wind and closed my eyes. I just felt the wind. Felt how it pushed me one way then another. I thought about moving freely with the air—as I had with the water, but I felt no vibrational change as I had with the others. I stopped.

Then I thought of a more magic based approach. Slowly, I lifted my hands and grabbed the wind, twisting it and changing it so it went the direction I wanted it to. I felt my chest open vibrationally and my heartbeat increased. Keeping these images and feelings foremost in my mind, I opened my eyes and created little dust devils on the floor around me. Many loose pages from my desk were blown to the floor then caught up and spun around from dust devil to dust devil. Taking a deep breath, I let the dust devils disappear, and the air in my room still.

The world outside looked more alive. All the beauty of the trees and other plants reminded me of Kundalini's beauty and the beauty of her energy. As my heart rate returned to normal, I could feel my love for her grow. My evening and night couldn't go fast enough after that. I couldn't wait to see Kundalini. To ask her the questions I wished to.