Her Safe Space; 3

I like where this is going so I wanted to share it with my readers. Also, I've come to a few more conclusions regarding the symbolism inherent in the first two sections, including the hallway. Look for installments 3 and 4 next week with author commentary.

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The pregnant woman has been an integral part of Sarah's Safe Space for the majority of the time that she's had it. Now that she has access to the pregnant woman, she has access to everything behind that gigantic door in the white hallway, as long as she can maintain the clarity of mind needed to go exploring in the first place.

She closes her eyes.

Katherine feels the baby kick again.

She breathes in slowly, the word ‘'Love” the theme upon which the both of them now meditate. Sarah knows that her breathing is in sync with Katherine’s by virtue of being in the same body, so when she breathes out, she hears the word ‘'trust” in a whisper. In again with ‘love,’ out again with ‘trust,’ in…

Sarah’s healing pond begins to fill in around her. This is one of the first things she added to her Safe Space.

When Wonderland was born, it was merely a circle of sand with a large boulder in the middle, atop which she would lay and look up at the stars, every single one of which she made on her own.

She never could count more than five or six of those stars before the clarity would wane and she would need to start over, but she never stopped trying, and why would she? This was the one place in the world where Sarah could be okay with being herself. It was the one place in the world over which she had any control. It was a part of her soul that her mother couldn’t get to. More than that, it was a place where no one would ever find her.

When it was morning in the room, or early afternoon when the sun was highest in the Eastern sky, she would float down off the boulder, take the three second path through the woods to the beach, wade into the water and cool off--she always made sure to keep the humidity high.

The healing pond was an integral part of Wonderland almost from the very beginning.

Now, she feels herself sink slowly to the bottom of her Healing pond, to the concrete bottom (she never could stand the feel of the bottom of a lake beneath her bare feet), now buried beneath millions of small white marbles, each of which harness all the love and happiness and healing in the world. Katherine remembers the morning she discovered that she could take one of these marbles with her and carry it with her throughout her day.

The effect was immediately obvious...elation.

Or was that the baby?

Katherine struggles momentarily to regain control of the fantasy.

Sarah helps by listening.

Wonderland sufficed for a name when it was first conceived, but Sarah has long since changed the name to Khanon, which she hears now.

Khanon is a world wherein intention literally creates physical reality, and about which a select few of Katherine’s friends are even marginally aware.

The name has always disturbed Katherine but for reasons beyond her, she could never change it. Whenever she tried to, Khanon would rebel. Crevices would tear through the earth, hills would rise and fall, and worst of all, the glow would vanish, as coolly and as unmercifully as if it were never there at all. Today, the name provides a sense of comfort. Sarah is unsure whether it is she who is thinking it, or whether it’s Katherine. Either way, she hears it.

Sarah’s breathing remains slow and steady, in with love, out with trust. One of the most prized aspects of Khanon is that here, she can breathe underwater. She can sink below the surface of the pristine water, can see in vivid clarity the kingdom she has created over the last eight years, and draw slow breath after slow breath until Katherine’s world feels a little bit softer.

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