Free Broken Dreams (The Chronicles of Mara Lantern, Book 5) by D.W. Moneypenny

counterpart in the other realm.”
    “Everyone in the receptacles didn’t cross over to this realm?”
    His father shook his head. “No, we think about half of the receptacle occupants are here. It takes a certain mind-set to cross over. The Diana I know embraces traditional thinking. I don’t think she would ever willingly cross over. It’s not in her to do that.”
    “That’s hard to imagine,” Sam said, his voice drifting off. He watched the tall trees lining the road crawl by, and let the rhythm of sun and shadow through their branches roll over him. He stared at the leathery reins in his hands.
    “You seem disappointed. Were you hoping to meet your mother here?”
    “No, it’s not that. Just wondering why I’m dead in all these realms. I’ve met other Maras, other Moms and even other Pings, but not anywhere have I encountered my counterpart. I wonder what it means.”
    “Maybe it means you’re one of kind, or you haven’t visited enough realms yet.”
    “Maybe.” After another silent moment he asked, “Do you think you’re more open-minded than the Diana you know?”
    His father smiled, looked down at him and said, “I’m here, in this realm, riding in a wagon with my son. Aren’t I?” Throwing an arm over Sam’s shoulder, his father pulled him closer for a second and winked.
    Sam smiled too and looked away so he could blink back the tears.
    They rode in silence for another fifteen minutes when his father pointed to the right toward an opening in the trees. “Tell Bella to turn here.”
    Sam tugged on the reins, and, with a snort, the horse made the course correction toward the narrow path. “Is someone sick here?” he asked.
    “I’m not sure. The Jonesboros—Alice and her mother, Janette—live about a quarter mile down here. Alice sent me a message this morning that her mother wasn’t feeling well and wanted me to stop by.”
    “What if it’s something serious? Should we take her to the hospital? There are hospitals here, aren’t there? I don’t recall seeing any,” Sam said.
    “Yes, there are hospitals, but our medicine is a little different than what you have experienced in a physical realm. Here, illnesses and injuries are psychosomatic. Do you understand what I mean?”
    “Yeah, it’s all in their heads.”
    “Exactly. In most cases, there are two sources of illness or injury. The first manifests itself if the patient’s physical body in the receptacle is experiencing an issue. For example, say the patient is getting a little older and develops arthritis of the knees. It’s possible for the patient to display symptoms here. The other source of illness or injury comes from the patient’s experience here, in this realm. Say you fell off this wagon and the wheel ran over your leg. What do you think would happen?”
    “It would break my leg,” Sam said.
    “If you think that’s what would happen, then it would,” his father said. “Your thoughts create your Reality here. Do you follow?”
    “I think so, but, if that’s the case, why would anyone get sick or hurt? Everyone knows it’s just in their heads, right?”
    “On an intellectual level, people know, but their instincts and experiences tell them otherwise. We are hardwired to respond to harm or danger. We even have occasional outbreaks of flu simply because someone gets a stuffy nose, and then convinces himself and those around him that he’s sick.”
    “Strange. How do you cure someone of something that’s in their head?”
    His father chuckled. “Like you do in the physical world. For a broken leg, you align the bone and apply a splint. After a couple weeks, the patient believes the leg is healed, and you take off the splint.”
    “But they never had a broken leg.”
    “Around here, the leg is broken if they think it is.”
    “Why not just convince them that their leg is fine?”
    “Most of the time, it’s easier to let people convince themselves, but other procedures can be used in emergencies,” he