Free Waiting for Autumn by Scott Blum

Yreka where Cheryl and I used to spend a lot of time. It was a very special place for us, and we’d often walk through it at dusk during the height of summer when we first began dating. In the dream, I would begin by swinging on one particular swing on the far end of the swing set. It felt like I was waiting for someone or something, and after swinging for a short while, I would sense what seemed to be an energy portal that revealed itself immediately behind me. I never got close enough to touch it, but it began to grow until it was larger than the swing set itself.
    At first I thought it was a symbolic dream that was allowing me to finally deal with Cheryl’s death, but with every night, it became more and more powerful, and the feeling I had during it began to permeate my waking hours. After the dream had occurred every night for several days in a row, it began to consume me, and I could barely distinguish whether I was awake or asleep. I was obsessed with the portal above the swing set, and it felt as if Yreka held the key to another dimension of my spiritual awakening.
    After what seemed to be nearly two weeks from when I started having the dream, it became clear to me that the portal would only be at the park on the following Friday. It didn’t make sense logically, but it was as if time and space would intersect at a precise moment and reveal an “eclipse” to another dimension that only I seemed to know about. I was both drawn to and scared of what it represented, but I felt that I didn’t have a choice. I had to find out what it was. I knew that my spiritual journey had just begun, but somehow I felt that the portal would transport me to another place spiritually and accelerate my journey.
    I still hadn’t seen Robert since my soul retrieval, and it seemed like a good idea to check in with him while I was considering following my dreams to Yreka. The anger I felt toward him for abandoning me had dissipated, and I’d begun to come to terms with the fact that he was a free spirit who would float in and out of my life whenever the time was right. And on this day I sensed that the time was indeed right to see him again, and I was pretty sure I knew exactly where he would be.
    I made my way to the Co-op and saw him sitting cross-legged with his back against his favorite tree, Puppy Don at his feet and a smaller-than-normal cardboard sign resting on his lap:
    Listen to your heart.
    “Hi, Robert!”
    “Wow, you look different,” Robert said while scanning me up and down. “How have your dreams been?”
    “Funny you ask, that’s why I’m here.” His intuitive ability was remarkable.
    “I figured as much. What do your dreams say?”
    “They’ve been telling me to go to Yreka and swing on a swing set.” I tried to make light of it.
    “And what’s at the swing set?”
    “It seems like a portal to another dimension.” I had never said it out loud before, and it sounded kind of corny. “Is that possible?”
    “Of course it’s possible.”
    “Why would I be dreaming that?”
    “When people dream, a portion of their soul is free to leave the body and mingle with the collective unconscious. Sometimes it’s just for fun, like flying dreams. Other times it’s to retrieve ancient wisdom or power. Now that you have the guidance of your ancestors, they are helping you become stronger.”
    “So do you think I should go?”
    “What do you think?”
    “I think so.”
    “Did the dream give you a time?”
    “Yes—this Friday.”
    “Hmm, it sounds like the real deal. It’s probably some sort of vision quest for you.”
    “What’s a vision quest?”
    “It’s a Native American coming-of-age journey where adolescents are sent into the wilderness to overcome obstacles and glimpse a view of their future. And it sounds like Yreka might be your ‘wilderness.’ Does it scare you?”
    “A little bit.”
    “Good, it should. If you choose to do it, you need to go with an open heart and mind and not have any