The Other had chosen challenge. She desired to explore her beingness to the diverse array of experiences the universe had to offer. She was an explorer. Her desire had been to know what it was to be separated, to be a fragment, to undergo unlimited physical lifetimes in order to understand the meaning of it all.

And in so doing, he had granted her that desire, and had experienced separation in his own way. Yet he always knew that one day she would find him. When she grew weary of her game, perhaps, or when the great cosmic clock had come full circle, the waves of time would pull the two drifting soul-halves together again.

He didn’t know what it was. Maybe a signal sent out on purpose, or perhaps his own thought to beckon her back, for he had waited an eternity and lately there was a nagging urgency he felt to contact her. It was as though something deep within him knew when she was ready to join him again. Suddenly a stimulus from an unknown source began to prick at the inner core of his being.

"Go home," it said.

"Where is home?" he asked. "I have no home. I travel the universes."

"Look within," said the voice.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "And why should I listen to you? I am free."

"Yes, you are free," it said, "but what have you gained?"

He thought for a moment. "Nothing," he admitted. "I have gained nothing. But I am free!"

"Then if it has fulfilled you, go on as you were," the voice told him. "You are free. It is your choice."

Now he was disturbed. Before he had been free of any such feelings, but the voice had spoken to him and left him with unanswered questions. He tried over and over to forget the intruding voice. But now there was a growing ache from within. As it grew stronger and his thoughts began to stray, he realized it was her. He missed her. He began to remember what it had been like when they had been one, and his thoughts could focus on only one thing: It was time to find her and go home.

Sitting up in his bed, Blake stared at the light being. "Who are you?" His own voice sounded pretty real.

The being continued to stare at him, but it said nothing.

"Hey, are you actual?" Blake blinked his eyes. "Or are you a figment of my imagination?" He was surprised that he had no fear, but then, after all, this was only a dream figure. "I know," he said after a pause, "I’m having what they call one of those lucid dreams. My mom and dad talk about them all the time. Hey, this is pretty cool!" He studied the glowing form before him and could vaguely start to make out a face with eyes, a nose, a mouth. The being had masculine features, but because of its radiance, he could hardly make them out. "So what’s your name?"

The light being appeared to respond with a puzzled expression, but still it did not speak.

Blake sighed. "Where are you from?" Glancing out his window into the night, he said, "Oh, I know, you’re from space. Are you one of my father’s friends?"

The being slowly shook his head.

Blake climbed out of bed and started walking toward the luminous figure. He was forced to stop as soon as he felt a protective wall of energy that made it impossible for him to approach further. "Wow," said Blake, stepping back, "that’s awesome. Don’t you speak?"

The being nodded and gestured toward its head. Then Blake heard the words in his own head as the being answered him telepathically, "I communicate, yes."

"Wow!" Blake climbed back into bed. "Do you have a name? Where are you from? What do you want with me?"

"One question at a time, please," the voice in his head begged. "I am new to this, after all."

"Oh... sorry." Blake was excited. Even if this was just a dream, it was a fantastic one. "Let’s start with your name," he continued. "My name is Blake Dobbs. What’s yours?"

"My... name?" The light being hesitated. "My name... is too long. You would not be able to remember it."

"So what should I call you?" asked Blake.

"What comes to your mind?" the being replied.

"I dunno. You’re a... a being of light... an extraterrestrial. I don’t want to call you ‘E.T.’ You don’t look a thing like him. Let’s see." Blake thought hard. What would be appropriate for this dream character’s name? "I’ve got it," he said, "L.B. I’ll call you L.B. It stands for Light Being."

The light being said nothing.

Blake frowned. "You don’t like it?"

"L.B. is sufficient," said the light being. "If that’s what you prefer to call me, then do. My like or dislike is not important."

"Then L.B. it is," said Blake. "Now tell me, L.B., what you are doing here in my bedroom. Are you from space? I’ve always wanted to meet somebody from space."

"I come because I am on a mission," said the light being. "And you are correct in your assumption. I live in space, as do you."

"No, wait a minute," said Blake. "I don’t live in space. I live on Planet Earth."

"Ah yes, Terra." L.B. nodded his glowing head. "But you want to live in space."

"Well, I don’t know about that," replied Blake. "As a matter of fact, I’m happy to be right where I am. I don’t want to go anywhere, in fact. But they’re making me."

"Making you?"

"My parents. We’re moving to Colorado."

"You mean you’re moving to space," the light being told him.

Now Blake was confused. "I don’t think Colorado and space are the same thing."

L.B. smiled. "Believe me, Blake, you’re going into space."

"Never mind." Blake didn’t want to argue. "What’s your mission, anyway?"

"I must go home," L.B. told him.

Blake laughed. "Just like good old E.T. Why don’t you build yourself a device like he did and ‘phone home’?"

"First I must manifest a body."

"Why? What’s wrong with the way you are? I think you’re great! I love the way you light up a room."

L.B. intensified his brilliance until Blake had to shield his eyes.

"But let’s not overdo it," said Blake. "I don’t want to go blind. What do you need with a body?"

"So that I can appear to one who needs me," replied L.B.

"Uh... okay," said Blake, not getting it. "And how do you propose obtaining this body?"

L.B.’s laughter filled Blake’s head. "Silly human, you’ve got the wrong idea. I do not steal bodies. I am not after yours!"

Blake sighed in relief. "Well, for a moment there, I admit you had me a little worried. I mean... I guess I’ve seen too many movies."

L.B. ceased laughing. "There is much I must learn first," he said seriously. "I came to you because I need a mentor. I need assistance on behaving as a human adolescent male. If you are agreeable, the lessons can begin whenever you are ready."

Blake was astonished. "You want me to show you how to act human?"

L.B. smiled. "Think upon it, my friend Blake. You will see me again soon. I promise." And with that, the light being began to dematerialize before Blake’s eyes.

Blake found himself sitting in his bed in his darkened room. It was half an hour before he was finally able to fall back to sleep. When he awoke the next morning, the dream was still vivid. He could almost believe that he had actually been visited by a being from another dimension.

"Blake, get dressed," his mother called as she passed his door. "The movers are here."

With a sigh of resignation, Blake got up and looked across his room where, in his dream, the light being had stood. Clearly he remembered the words that had been spoken in his head: "You will see me again soon."

Copyright © 2002 Ann Carol Ulrich
All rights reserved