THE FOURTH REALM: GREEN — The lotus stays open

One morning, as she watched the sunrise, she saw a flock of many-colored birds. They changed direction without colliding, traced shapes, and scattered again. At one point, they formed a circle. As the last bird completed it, Skyblue felt a cycle coming to its close within her, too.

She knew she had to leave.

The inhabitants of the meadows gathered to say goodbye. They formed a large circle and invited her to stand in the center. Skyblue closed her eyes. The love around her didn’t seem to stop at the bodies of those present. It reached toward every being in the enchanted lands.

She felt the lotus in her heart again. Beside it, two flames appeared.

One was violet; the other, pink, soft and warm, like a hand laid on a wound.

“The violet flame will help you transmute suffering,” Helio told her. “Your own and that of the beings you meet. The pink flame will be a balm. It will remind them of the joy of connecting with their inner self.”

“How will I know how to use them?”

“You’ll learn in time.”

Skyblue opened her eyes. She thanked those who had kept her company, those who had offered her hospitality, and those who, without knowing it, had shown her where her fear was still hiding.

As she walked away, she didn’t look for the eagle overhead. The presence that had accompanied her, both within and outside herself, had become so familiar that listening was enough. She didn’t need to see Helio to know she was there.

She remembered the love that had sustained her through difficult days: her parents, Ernesto, Aurora, Arthyr Aurelio, Evarista, the trees that listened to her complaints. In that care, she recognized the same presence that now guided her.

She walked on with a lighter heart. The lotus remained open.