alled Trinity
By Kate Everson
Copyright 2012 Kate Everson
She was born on the fifth of May when the apple blossoms were filling the landscape with fragrance. She was delicate as a flower, white as snow, yet she had a spiritual quality about her, like an angel who had fallen too close to the earth.
“We’ll call her Trinity,” said her mother, holding her close. “She will be spirit in the flesh, and surrounded with holiness all her days.”
And Trinity never cried. She slept soundly even at night, and sometimes when her mother came in to check on her, she found her wide-eyed, staring at the moon. The slivers of moonlight filtered through the lace curtains of her room, illumining the crib where she lay. Her mother would gasp and timidly cover her warmly against the night. But Trinity had a warmth all her own, and her mother knew it even then.
Trinity was a special gift from the heavens, but she grew straight and tall, like any normal girl. Her reddish hair was curly at the ends, and she would often tie it back so she could get about her business of learning all about this strange, new world.
Forever entranced by the things around her, Trinity would often stop and gaze at them with wonder. Even a blue egg dropped from a robin’s nest would find its way into Trinity’s hand and heart. She would stare up at the mother robin and listen to its chirping, almost as if she understood everything it said. And perhaps she did.
When the geese flew south in the fall, forming long V patterns in the cold skies, Trinity would stare up at them and hold her arms out like a bird, wishing she could go too.
Sometimes she would go to church, to please her family, but Trinity didn’t really care for the cold pews and the sad songs from the organ. She would stare at the stained glass windows and watch as the light made patterns on the old mahogany floors. She didn’t say much, but anyone could tell she wasn’t meant to be kept long behind closed doors.
She would walk for hours in the forest or by the lake. Sometimes she would bring home a flower, but mostly she just let them be. “It didn’t want to leave,” she explained to her mother, about why she couldn’t pick one. “It told me so.”
And her mother would just smile and nod. She loved Trinity very much, but had no clue about what was behind those perfect blue eyes.
Eyes as blue as the ocean, and just as deep, her mother would tell the neighbours. A special child, born to love all things.
It was the fifth of May on her 16th birthday that Trinity got a very special surprise. She was to go on a trip to a cabin in the mountains.
This was extraordinary! Trinity had never seen the mountains and was thrilled. The cabin was rented for four days, and she was to have it with a couple of her best friends and her big dog, Alex, for protection.
“Rachel, Samantha and Alex,” she had laughed, when her mother asked her who she wanted to go with her on the trip. “Three girls and a dog!”
They got a ride up to the cabin and were dropped off with their gear. Supplies were already there for food and fun, and the girls were prepared to enjoy every minute of their holiday.
Trinity couldn’t stop smiling. The mountains were gorgeous! She loved to watch as the clouds played on the peaks, casting long blue shadows into the valleys. She even spotted an eagle high up on a rocky cliff, watching over its domain.
The other girls were just glad to get away. Both were from the city and had not spent much time outdoors, let alone in the mountain wilderness. They were giggly and light-hearted, and eager to make the best of their brief stay.
That night they sat out on the porch and watched the sun go down over the mountains.
“Amazing!” Samantha breathed. “Absolutely breath-taking.”
Rachel just stared, wide-eyed at the paradise unfolding all around them. She was an only child, and did not say much, but she felt a lot. She smiled at her friends. This was a special holiday.
That night they snuggled into their sleeping bags to the sound of the wind in the pines. Alex lay at their feet, guarding them all from even the tiniest mouse!
It wasn’t long before they were fast asleep. The moon climbed the mountains and began to descend into morning.
It was then that Trinity heard the knocking.
She rolled over in her sleep, and listened. It wasn’t scratching like an animal, but knocking like a person at the door. She sat up. Alex heard it too and was already at the door, a low growl coming from his throat.
Trinity did not want to wake the girls, since this might be just a branch scraping on the wood, or something. She tip-toed to the door and listened. It was quiet. She waited a minute, then crawled back in bed. But she couldn’t sleep.
She stared into the darkness. Then she heard it again. Knock, knock, knock.
“Samantha, Rachel!” she whispered, as loud as she dared.
They woke up, but Trinity put her fingers to her lips to tell them not to speak. She whispered, “There is somebody at the door!”
Rachel leaped up and jumped into Samantha’s bed. Trinity climbed in too, and they all pulled the covers up high.
Knock, knock, knock. There it was again.
Rachel let out a shriek, under the covers.
Samantha got up, put on her jacket and tried to peer out the window, but it was so dark she could not see anything. She was the brave one, and grabbed a log from the fireplace. Then she opened the door.
There was no one there. Alex raced out, and sniffed around, but came back in.
Samantha closed the door and locked it. Then she crawled back in bed, the log beside her. They waited. Nothing. The wind had started blowing really hard in the valley, and several branches blew against the window. But they never heard the knocking again.
“Only the wind,” said Trinity, and they all lay awake the rest of the night.
When morning came, they were exhausted. Trinity started making breakfast.
“Coffee, anyone?” she asked.
“Love some!” exclaimed Samantha, and Rachel nodded.
They found some boxes of cereal and gobbled that down with some fresh fruit and yogurt. Then it was time to get serious. This was a holiday, but they were all a bit afraid to go outside.
“Oh, come on,” Samantha said. “Fraidy cats!”
And she put on her hiking boots and opened the door. The day was brilliant, with only a few clouds left over from the night’s storm. She grinned and beckoned for the girls to join her exploring their new kingdom. Alex was already heading down the trail.
“What a day!” exclaimed Trinity, staring at the beauty all around them. “What a place! I love it here!”
The girls wandered along the valley beside a cold, blue stream and stopped to watch the fish swimming. They knew about bears and were careful to sing and make noise to keep from surprising them unexpectedly, especially a mother and her cubs. They put their feet in the stream and walked on the stones, laughing as they slipped. Nothing was scary about this day, and the girls soon forgot about the night visitor.
At the end of their hike, the girls returned to the cabin for lunch. Sandwiches and soda were easy to make and easier to gobble down. That night they played some games, listened to some music, then nodded off to bed.
“Good night, girls,” Trinity called. “Don’t wake me up til morning!”
And they all drifted off quickly to a sound sleep.
Until the knocking started again. This time Samantha heard it first.
“Wake up!” she whispered to the others. “Listen!”
They all got up this time and went to the door. It was faint but it was definitely knocking. Alex growled and sniffed at the door. Nobody moved. Should they open it?
“Who is it?” Trinity called.
Silence.
Trinity st
epped boldly up to the locked door. She put her ear to it. Knock. She jumped back. Knock. Knock.
“That does it,” she said. “I’m opening the door.”
“No, no, don’t!” Samantha screamed, and Rachel headed for the bedroom and slid under the bed.
But Trinity was not to be cheated out of her holiday by something annoying. Whatever this was, there needed to be an explanation. She opened the door a crack and peered out. Off by the pine, she thought she saw something. It was wispy like smoke, and it swirled around the tree. She put on her boots and went out towards it. Alex darted ahead, barking. The other girls stayed at the cabin, Rachel under the bed and Samantha peering into the darkness.
By then, a sliver of a moon was up, and by its thin light Trinity could see the shape of something beside the tree.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
It did not speak. But a wisp of smoke curled around the tree, winding upwards like a snake. She stared at it, but couldn’t quite tell what exactly it was.
Trinity was not afraid, but more confused. She said, “Hello?”
Then she heard it, the whining sound coming from the tree. It was a low pitch, barely audible, but definitely not human. Was it a beast of some kind?
Trinity could talk to birds, listen to flowers and commune with nature in all its many forms, but this was something different. It seemed to be half alive and half not alive. Yet it wasn’t dead either. This was no thin ghost. It was more a spirit.
“I can see you,” she said to the spirit creature. “What do you want?”
Suddenly, it appeared in human form right in front of her. It did not appear to be solid, but had taken on the faint shape of a man in a bright blue suit. He was carrying a stick and seemed to be waving it in the air.
“Hello?” Trinity asked again. “Please tell me what you want. Can I help?”
The man seemed disoriented, but relaxed a bit. He put the stick down.
“I am Simon,” he said in a very low voice that she could barely hear.
Then there was a long silence. Trinity waited.
“I am Simon of the mountains,” he said. “You are in my cabin.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Trinity. “Sorry! We thought it was empty.”
Simon sat down under the tree, and reached for his stick. There was elaborate carving all down the side of what must have been a walking stick and he fingered the grooves. One was a snake with fangs, another a grizzly bear, and on top an eagle. He did not speak for a long time.
“Do you want your cabin back?” Trinity asked, hesitantly. She did not know what form of human this was, but she wanted to help it. He seemed lost.
“Yes, I think so,” he said.
“Well, then, come along, Simon,” she said, and started walking back to the cabin. “We will have to share.”
Alex sniffed the ground but could not catch the scent of this inhuman creature, and bounded ahead eager to get back to the cabin. Samantha was at the door, and almost closed it in her face.
“Who are you talking to?” she asked.
“Oh, it’s just a lost spirit,” Trinity said. “He wants his cabin back.”
“What?” Samantha said, not able to understand.
Rachel stuck her head out from under the bed. “I don’t want any ghosts in here!” she shrieked.
But Trinity laughed. “He won’t hurt us,” she insisted. “He’s just a bit confused. We need to talk to him and help him out.”
And so she opened the door wide and Simon slid in and sat down immediately on the wooden chair by the stove. It must have been his favourite spot. Alex went and lay down in the other corner of the cabin and went to sleep. He could not be bothered with creatures with no scent.
The girls sat at the table and stared across the room at the wisp that was Simon.
No one spoke.
Then Simon got out his pipe and began to smoke it. But there was no real pipe and so there was no smoke. It just appeared to be what he was doing. The girls were relieved. If this was all imaginary, then what harm could he be?
Just then Simon glared at Samantha. “What are you doing in my cabin?” he shouted.
Samantha jumped.
“They are with me, Simon,” Trinity explained. “This is my birthday trip.”
“Birthday?” Simon queried, and then his eyes went soft and he seemed to drift off a bit. “Ah, yes, birthdays, I remember them.”
He picked up his pipe and puffed away. Then he put it down and looked at Rachel.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
“I am Rachel,” she squeaked.
“Rachel Who?” he yelled, getting up from his chair and waving his stick in the air. “Who said you could come to my cabin?”
Rachel screamed.
But then Trinity interjected, “Simon, calm down. These are my guests. Our guests.”
He glared at her, then sat down again. He sat quietly by the stove for a few minutes then got up and headed for the door. “Well, I better be going,” he said, and slipped outside into the dark.
The girls sat dumbfounded. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved.
Then Alex came up and wagged his tail, putting his head in Trinity’s lap to be petted.
She stroked his long fur and began to relax.
“Well, I guess he’s gone,” she said.
The girls nodded and looked around the cabin.
“Nobody here but us chickens,” Samantha said.
And they all laughed.
“Popcorn, anyone?” Rachel asked.
And they all said, “Yes!”
They spent the rest of the night snacking and talking and listening to the sounds outside the door. But there was no more knocking. Simon did not come back.
In a few days, the girls packed up and got their ride back home. They did not tell anyone about their strange adventure with Simon, because who would believe them anyway?
And when Trinity went to church that Sunday she said a special prayer for him. In the name of the father, the son and the holy ghost. “That last bit is for you,” she smiled.
She could have sworn she heard a tapping on the stained glass window. She looked up and the sunlight was pouring through, lighting up the wings of the eagle right on top.
She wished him peace.
That night, Trinity had a dream. In it, the spirit of Simon came to her. He was wearing something different this time, a robe of gold. Embossed in the fabric were eagles with their wings spread out. Trinity had never seen such an amazing robe.
“Simon? Is that you?” she asked.
“Yes, I am here, Trinity,” he answered in a soft, low voice. “I have come because of your spirit that called to me. We spoke in the inner realms.”
Trinity did not know what to say. She knew her spirit sometimes wandered in her sleep, as she had often woken up and remembered vaguely places of power and vistas of incredible beauty.
“Yes,” she said. “I think I remember.”
She took Simon’s hand and they walked through a field of golden wheat, waving under an intensely blue sky. A stream ran through it, and its water was the deepest blue she had ever seen. The colours were so vivid, it was not like any other dream she had had. It all seemed real.
“Where are we?” she asked. “What is this place?”
Simon raised his hand to beckon her not to speak.
“This is a sacred place,” he whispered. “Only a few are allowed here. Only the chosen.”
Trinity gasped. Then she bowed to Simon. “Are you chosen?” she asked humbly.
Simon smiled. “No, Trinity,” he said quietly. “You are. I have just been asked to guide you here because of our connection. You took the first step and invited me into that cabin when no one else wanted me there. It was because of you I have completed my mission on earth and am now a guide to the forever lands.”
He held her hand gently and looked into her deep blue eyes.
“Trinity, child of sunlight, daughter of the forest, bringer of peace, welc
ome to forever.”
Then he bowed down in the wheat field and kissed her feet.
Trinity was shocked. And yet, somehow she knew this was all true. As imaginary and dreamlike it seemed, she realized that on another level, this was actually happening. She was being shown a new world, one that belonged to her now. She was being initiated.
She touched Simon’s head and asked him to rise. Then she led him to the stream and baptized him in the water. With her hands she cupped the cold liquid and poured it over his bowed head.
“I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,” she said reverently. “Welcome Simon, to the world of the most High. And thank you for awakening my spirit to walk here in the land of heavenly Grace. We are blessed.”
Simon was transformed by the baptism. The water dripped from his robe and it illumined his body as if it were Light itself. He shone. The glow of his being was enough to make him ascend. He rose high into the sky and disappeared in the clouds. In a twinkle and a wave, Simon was gone.
Trinity looked around and saw a great blue heron take off from the bank of the stream. It flew high in the sky, then vanished. It was a good sign.
Trinity awoke from her dream the next morning as the sun rose pink in the east. It flooded the land with a glorious promise of a new day.
She stretched and looked up at the sky. She remembered everything. Trinity finally acknowledged her full power. And now, even more, she wanted to do something for others, to help them, to heal them, to make them love the Lord like she did. She was on a mission from God, and now she just had to make it happen.
Trinity went downstairs where her mother was making pancakes for breakfast. She gave her a hug and said, “I love you, mom.”
Her mom looked surprised, but smiled. “I love you too, Trinity.”
After breakfast, Trinity sat out on the verandah and looked up at the trees. She asked God what he wanted her to do. The answer came in the wind.
“Do good, Trinity,” she heard on a breeze rustling the bushes. “Be good and show others how it can be done.”
She walked along the trail to the town and along the way she talked to the flowers, smiled at the birds and lifted her hands to the sunshine. This was a gorgeous day to be alive. Everywhere she went, her illumined smile went into people’s hearts and made them feel better. She was like a touch of heaven.
But there was one man who could not respond. His wife had just died and he was lonely and bitter and very sad. She tried to talk to him, but his ears were closed and his heart too heavy. He had died in spirit.
For him, Trinity knew she would need a special method. She sat beside him and held his hand. Then she asked if she could please say a prayer for him. He nodded silently. So Trinity stood up and put her hands on the top of his head and asked for the Light of God to be with her. She stood very still, and in a minute, she could feel the Light come into her hands. They felt warm, and that heat transferred to the man and went through his whole body, mind and heart. He trembled, then stood up.
“What did you do?” he asked. “I feel so much lighter now.”
“I did nothing,” Trinity answered. “The Light of God has blessed you.”
The man looked startled, but realized he could not