“Now, child, breathe deeply and allow your body to relax once more, sinking ever more deeply into the ground of your flesh.”

This time Snowpepper found it deliciously easy to melt, sinking into herself like falling into a bed of thistledown. Her breath deepened. She became aware of herself again, within her body, surrounded by a bag of skin. She felt her heartbeat like a drum, its steady rhythm reassuringly familiar. She was home. She lived here.

“When you are ready, enter the dream world where your otherside self is to be found. Allow yourself to sense her, to feel her magnetism drawing you to where she is now. Continue to breathe, deep and slow, and surrender to the power of your desire to be reunited with your other half.”

Snowpepper could feel Sylvie, tantalizingly close—so very close. But she couldn’t get a fix on a direction. Where should she go? Where should she look? It seemed Sylvie was all around her, everywhere.

She remembered the second card: the crossroads, with the raven. There was supposed to be somebody here to misdirect her, and she was supposed to follow her heart to find her way. But there was no one, just her own self.

She heard Mother Maples’ voice, speaking as though she knew exactly what was going on for her. “If you don’t know where to go, call to your otherside self. Ask her to guide you to her.”

She called, “Sylvie! Where are you? I want you!”

Only silence returned her call. She thought she felt something, but wasn’t sure. She asked for a sign to show her the way. She imagined herself standing at a crossroads, and faced in each of the four directions in turn, trying to feel which direction was right. A voice in her ear said “Not that way. She’s this way. Over here.”

She turned to look, but could see no one. The direction the voice indicated didn’t feel right to her, either. Because of the warning given by the crossroads card, she felt it couldn’t be trusted. She felt prompted to try in the direction the voice had indicated was not the way. As she moved along that path, it felt more and more right to her. Yes! This was the way.

The crossroads image faded away, leaving her in the fog once more, but she felt a clear sense of movement and was sure that she was traveling closer to Sylvie.

She bumped, hard, up against a blank clear wall in the fog. She could go no further. She knew Sylvie was on the other side of the wall. As she stood there, the fog cleared, and she saw her otherside self lying on her back on the other side of an invisible wall. “Sylvie!” she cried. “Sylvie, it’s me, Snowpepper!” But Sylvie never stirred.

Of course! It was the third card. Sylvie would not listen, would not recognize her. She was going to have to get her attention somehow. But how?

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