Free Feeling the Vibes by Annie Dalton Page A

sitting in the shade of a flowering creeper.
    My theory that Obi had been magnetised to this ashram by the guru’s vibes could be right. He sat totally still, absolutely mesmerised, like he’d literally been glued to the step.
    I was about to rush to him, when Carol went hurtling after her guru. “Guru-ji! I really need to talk to you!” She caught pleadingly at his robe.
    “Not now, little sister.” He gave her a not too-friendly smile.
    “But Guru-ji, I’ve had a major breakthrough in my meditation!”
    The guru freed himself nimbly from her grasp, vanishing into the ashram without another word. Carol stood staring after him like a little kid who’s been forbidden to bother the grown-ups.
    I’d just met her, but it was pretty obvious that Carol’s life hadn’t panned out like she’d hoped. Being ignored by her guru seemed to be the final straw. She collapsed into a sobbing, quivering heap.
    The other ashram members didn’t pay any attention either to the weeping Carol or her dismayed little girls. They were too busy whinging about having their exclusive retreat invaded by pop stars.
    Only one person seemed concerned. The guru’s driver watched the little family with compassion before silently making his way over.
    I slipped through the crowd until I was right in front of Obi.
    “Hello,” I said softly.
    “Melanie! You founded me!”
    He looked so delighted that I hugged him without thinking.
    “Oh!” I said in surprise.
    “Ah!” said Brice. “That’s interesting.”
    Obi’s human molecules had somehow reverted en route. Once again he was invisible to humans, also v. huggable by angels!
    “We’ve got him; that’s all that matters,” I said happily. “The Agency will reconnect him to the whatsit, the temporal thingy, then we can get him to the monks.” (Then we’d be in BIG trouble, but I couldn’t think about that now.)
    Carol was sitting up and blowing her nose. Hugely relieved, her little girls went to sit beside Obi (obviously they didn’t know he was there) and all three children watched the driver gently calming Carol.
    “I love him SOO much, Dev,” she wailed. “I think it’s made me a bit crazy.”
    Hello , I thought unkindly.
    Dev smiled. “Many people from overseas are loving this guru.”
    “I’m always DOING this though,” Carol bleated. “I keep ON giving my heart to people, but they ALWAYS let me down.”
    “All is change,” Dev said philosophically. “All is impermanence, madam.” He produced a ragged duster, swishing it over the bonnet of the guru’s limo, scattering tiny insects.
    “Guru-ji’s getting so famous we hardly see him as it is. Now he’ll shut himself away all day with these rock stars. They’re not even true believers. They’re just doing it because it’s the in thing.” Carol started into a long rant about this latest betrayal of her trust, but Dev quietly interrupted her flow.
    “Madam, how many years you are searching now?”
    She looked startled. “Searching?”
    “Yes, madam. I think you are searching a long time. But all this searching is only making you more unhappy.” His eyes strayed to Carol’s unwashed little girls.
    “And your daughters, they are not happy also and they are not well, madam. The food at this ashram does not suit their stomachs. But this I think you do not wish to see.”
    “So I should just go back home, is that what you’re telling me?” she said angrily. “Go home, get my hair permed, be an ordinary mum?”
    “I do not know what is ordinary or not ordinary,” he said simply. “But I think what you are searching for, madam, you cannot find by running from ashram to ashram. If you find it, I think it will be only by staying extremely still.” Dev spoke firmly but with absolute gentleness.
    Carol’s mouth opened soundlessly then closed again. She looked at her anxious little daughters, then she looked back at Dev and all her self-pity and anger just - went.
    “Wow,” Reuben breathed.
    “On your bike,