Whisperings... Part Three

Whisperings

by Rian

 

* Ada - the early years (Part Three)

   Noah laughed.  Ada was sitting under a tree not 10 feet away playing with a small yellow ball.  From where he was, it looked like she was tossing it up into the air and letting it fall back into the grass. This activity seemed to fascinate her as each time the ball rose and fell, she giggled. The child was almost three now.  She was a wonder to him, not only because she was a delightful child, but because she so resembled Zoe; the same delicate almost translucent skin, the light gold hair, and those piercing blue-grey eyes.  Then of course, there was the birthmark.  Zoe had that same thin swirl of lines on inside of her left ankle.  It sometimes made him wonder.

    But just then, as if reading his thoughts, Zoe appeared behind him and throwing her arms around his neck, kissed him lightly, and ran over to Ada.  Noah smiled.  Did it matter?  All that seemed important was that they were so happy.

    "Hey, Pumpkin, are you hungry?", Zoe asked her giggling daughter. Ada, totally engrossed in her play, didn't even acknowledge Zoe's presence. "Oh, I see...,” Zoe whispered, "You know, He never played with me...." Seeing her mama now, Ada grabbed the yellow ball and toddled over with arms outstretched. Picking her up and hugging her tight, the two of them spun around and around until finally falling in a heap to the grass giggling.

    Noah, looking on, thought both his wife and daughter enchanting.  At first, he was amazed at how quickly they had become a family.  He had had a wife once, but a family like the one he was raised in; a family to come home to, to laugh and share with - this he didn't find in his first marriage.  But he had found it now.  And the three of them seemed made for each other - which was odd since none of them had met until that fateful morning in the hall three years ago.

    Sometimes he did question some of the things that Zoe encouraged, such as allowing Ada to have an 'imaginary' friend, teaching her meditation and yoga at such a young age, and never ever telling her that anything was 'just her imagination'.  If Ada cried as a baby, Zoe was there, soothing and comforting her by her closeness and touch.  If she was upset as a toddler, Zoe whispered words that seemed to put her at ease.  And to be honest, the child seemed remarkably well adjusted and happy. All seemed well. 

   Until... 

   Late one evening upon entering Ada's bedroom to kiss her goodnight, Noah froze. Ada was laying on her back in her crib smiling and half asleep... and her yellow ball was jumping about in the air in front of her!  Noah snatched the ball out of the air and stared at the sleepy child.  "Da-da", she murmured drowsily, and then closed her eyes and slept. Noah, dazed and confused, stood looking at his little daughter, so innocent in sleep. Then hurried to find Zoe to confront her with this new dilemma.

    Zoe was ready when the confrontation came.  She had long been expecting it.  Sooner or later he would have to notice some of Ada's 'abilities'.  She herself was taken back when things first began to happen. In the beginning, when Ada was still an infant, she had explained it by telling herself that Ada was an 'old soul', one that had been around for a long time.  This was why when she looked into those piercing blue-grey eyes she felt that Ada knew way more than she herself ever would. 

    Then, as a baby, when Ada smiled and cooed at something close to her when nothing was there, Zoe realized that the watcher was more real to her daughter than he had ever been to her. Ada interacted with him.  But she didn't think that Ada saw him, just felt his presence.  This was when Zoe began calling him her 'imaginary' friend.  And Zoe's own open receptiveness to the whispers after the arrival of the baby, had made acceptance of Ada's 'abilities' easier.  She had been told that she and Ada were different. Just how different, they were all yet to see.

    That evening she explained as best she could to Noah speaking calmly and quietly, knowing how hard it would be for him to understand - when she didn't fully understand herself.  He might consider his wife crazy and their child a freak. But she was counting on the strength of their love. 

   Zoe told him what she knew of her own past.  She was herself an orphan adopted by a good, but strait-laced family who gave her love and a good home. Her adopted parents, however, considered all aberrance from normal behavior totally unacceptable. Anything and everything that didn't fall into the category of the norm was frowned upon; especially the whisperings that Zoe heard all her life. 

    She had always felt like she was being watched or followed, and without the security of her parent's trust, this had been frightening to her.  She was told by them that it was her own fault for being so receptive to an overactive imagination... and she had often thought herself paranoid.  This was truly what she believed - until Ada.  With the arrival of Ada, the baby whom the whisperings kept saying was hers, she realized that whatever the source, it was there to help, not hurt.  She realized that her own hesitancy to accept this had kept the bearers of the whispers at bay.

    Now they told her a little of their 'essence', things she didn't quite understand;  that they have been around forever, that they were without form (although they could take on form if necessary - for brief periods), they consisted mostly of light and energy, they were immortal, and they existed solely on love.

     Noah asked if Zoe ever thought that they might be 'angels'?

     Zoe smiled and said, "I guess that's as good an explanation as any.  They do watch over us."  She continued,  "They explained to me that they wanted to share themselves more fully with humans by becoming more closely united in body and spirit.  They were doing this by using the new genetics techniques similar to test tube babies and cloning - and that I was one of the firsts of a new generation, a generation raised by humans. But that there are others."

    Ada was the first of the 2nd generation, a generation being raised by their own kind.  These celestial beings weren't allowed to interfere in the normal evolution of mankind, but once humans had developed the technology, they were allowed to use it.  Zoe explained to Noah that she didn't exactly know the extent of Ada's 'abilities' or how they would develop, that her 'imaginary' friend was not imaginary, and that she felt that Ada and the watcher communicated freely - without words. 

    She also knew that Ada sensed things.  Perhaps she had access to a knowledge otherwise withheld or unknown to most people - and whether this was due to her own unique self or to the intervention of an outside source - Zoe didn't know. She did know that her own whisperings came seldom now.  It was as if her purpose had been fulfilled and the project continued on with Ada as the principal star.  But this was OK, because sharing her life with Noah and Ada was exactly what she wanted to do.  Each day was a blessing and a surprise.

    Noah sat motionless, listening to his wife tell this strange story;  that she heard something, whisperings as she called it, was not a total surprise. He knew that she was sometimes distracted, but he had passed it off as too many things going on; first the baby, then the wedding, then dealing with home and family life.  So, she heard 'whisperings'... and was part of some 'alien' project?  His mind began to panic.  Was there something wrong with Zoe? And his child had 'powers?'...  ridiculous!  But he had seen the ball....

    Time passed. Noah routinely asked Zoe questions, questions she answered willingly and honestly to the best of her knowledge. "Do you communicate with these beings?"

    "... it's a form of communication that differs from what people think.  We don't speak to each other. And it's different for each of us.  I hear whisperings, but I believe Ada senses what they tell her or perhaps what she needs to hear.  It's very one-on-one."

    "What do they whisper?"

    "Oh, I don't know... reassurance, trust, love... whatever I need at the moment."

    "Have you asked them questions?"

    "Sometimes... not often and not directly.  I was confused right after Ada arrived.  I realized then that they were a real part of my life and I didn't know how to integrate them into it - having thought the whisperings were my imagination for so long.  But after I accepted them, they seemed to know that I needed answers.  So, answers were whispered to me without me asking... in quiet times when I was alone."

    "Do you ever think that your mind is playing tricks on you?  That you need to see someone?"

    "Oh, Noah, I used to think that all the time - that I was going insane. But not anymore.  I'm happy, Noah.  Ada's happy.  Aren't you happy?"

    Noah looked at Zoe. He was happy. But.... 

    Each new year brought new surprises. Occasionally Ada would do something remarkable, but not so odd that it couldn't be explained.  Once when Ada was happily dancing and twilling in the back yard, Zoe saw her feet leave the ground and she hovered in midair. As Zoe watched, Ada laughed merrily and acted as if it was the most normal fun thing in the world.  Zoe thought perhaps the watcher had lifted her...?

    What was noticed happened when Ada was five and had just started school. For some reason whenever a child was upset or injured, Ada would hug them and they would walk away smiling.  Teachers attributed it to Ada's calm loving nature that seemed to vibrate warm signals to all those around her.  Even angry parents or harassed teachers seemed to calm down and relax around her.

    And music!  Music was an important part of Ada's world.  Zoe had always enjoyed it herself, but not to the extent that Ada did.  It made her smile, it made her sad, it made her dance... she seemed very receptive to the almost magical powers of music.  Seeing this, Zoe and Noah encouraged it by taking her to concerts in the park, symphonies that they thought a child might enjoy.  And were surprised at the types and broad array of musical themes that Zoe embraced.  She would clap her little hands with joy or cry real crocodile tears.  Zoe was sometimes afraid of the effect the music might have on her little daughter and held her tightly on her lap during performances - not wanting Ada to display anything unexpected or unusual that might be noticed in public.

    But strangely enough, nothing really odd ever happened.  Ada was considered a bright precocious child that everyone took to almost immediately.  Not that she didn't have normal difficulties with some other children at school, but never anything that wasn't resolved fairly quickly.  Once when an angry young boy pushed Ada on the playground, Ada cried.  She wasn't hurt badly, but shocked and bruised by the fall.  The boy laughed and made some mean comment about girls to his friends.  A teacher, seeing the incident, rushed to Ada's aid and admonished the boy whose name was Chad.  But Ada, brushing away her tears, stood up and said that it was alright.

    "My Special friend says that sometimes people do mean things because they're unhappy.  Looking into Chad's eyes, Ada said, "I hope you're not unhappy...." The teacher stood there open-mouthed at this flicker of wisdom in one so young, and Chad didn't know what to say, so said nothing as Ada brushed herself off and walked away. 

   Thus, it seemed that people didn't stay mad at her for long as she had a way about her that deflected or dissolved any anger directed towards her.  Zoe considered this one of her daughter’s gifts... one that would perhaps prove useful as she grew older and interacted more with the strange amalgamation of people in the world.

 

  

(To be continued tomorrow…)