Psychic Redemption: Spiritual Quest for Truth

By David Witherington Stewart

The spirit of sixteen-year-old Julie Gustafson, who died shortly after giving birth, possesses paramedic Bonnie McConnell to find her child. This occurs when Bonnie makes a wish during the game "truth fire." Bonnie has a seizure and is rushed back to the hospital in Coreopsis, Florida by her friends. The

• Language: English
• Publisher: ReadersMagnet LLC
• Release date: Jul 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798890911131

David Witherington Stewart

David Witherington Stewart is a Florida-based author. He graduated in 1959 from the University of Florida with a BS in Physics. During the period 1957-1995, he was lead engineer, supervisor, and manager for the Atlas, Titan, Apollo, and Space Shuttle. From 1995 to 2009, he owned L & D Consulting, a company that specialized in grants and proposals. He received certificates in novel writing from Humber College and the Writers' Digest School and started writing in 2006.

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Psychic Redemption: Spiritual Quest for Truth

Copyright © 2023 by David Witherington Stewart

Published in the United States of America

ISBN Paperback: 979-8-89091-112-4

ISBN eBook: 979-8-89091-113-1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of ReadersMagnet, LLC.

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In memory of Our beloved daughter

Edna Faye (Edie) Stewart

1960-1979

Born too old, died too young

Epigraph

I believe in the incomprehensibility of God.

Honoré de Balzac

Letter to Eveline Hanske (1837)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the people who have helped me in reviewing and producing this book. I especially appreciate the comments and support from my best friend, Marsha Becker and my muse, Andrea Vest. I am grateful for the editing and advice provided by Lou Belcher, owner of Footsteps, Inc. - also a friend and associate.

From a professional point of view, I thank Arline Chase and Michael Garrett of Writers Digest Schools for helping develop my writing skills and Julie Salisbury of InspireABook/Trafford Publishing for her direction and encouragement.

Finally, a toast to the Colossus Roundtable - Lou Belcher, Kee Briggs, Sally Fairchild, and Toni Sweeney - for their weekly fellowship and love of the craft.

CHAPTER 1

POSSESSED

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep.

John Milton (1608-1674) Paradise Lost

Bonnie turned the scrap of paper between her fingers, wrestling with what to write. She looked at Justin. He had folded his piece and appeared ready to throw it into the fire. Sheila and Dan also held doubled sheets ready to toss them into the flames.

What’s wrong? Sheila asked. Don’t you want anything?

Bonnie did not answer. Instead, she wrote down what seemed to her to be the best request during a ritual called Truth Fire.

Show me the Truth, she wrote in bold script. Then, she folded her slip and nodded to Sheila.

I’m ready but I want to go last.

The bonfire had burned down to gentle flames fed by a few fresh branches that covered the coals used to broil hamburgers earlier. Faint wisps of smoke curled into the clear air that had begun to chill in the October dusk. The smell of burning wood blended with the odor of crushed pine needles to create an autumnal Florida aroma that was common around Paisley this time of year.

Sheila rose from the picnic bench to the left of Bonnie and approached the fire.

Oh great Mugla-Muggle, Sheila chanted. Grant my request in the name of fire.

Mugla-Muggle? Bonnie wrinkled her nose. Where did you come up with that?

Sheila turned toward the fire and tossed in her note. It floated into the blaze and flamed gently leaving an ashen residue. The dregs jumped around in the heat and disappeared.

Bonnie watched Dan pick up two small logs from a pile at the edge of the clearing. As he picked up the wood, she could see Bass Lake over his shoulder. A wind arose and the water rippled in the setting sunlight. Bonnie knew it would cool once the sun went down, and she retrieved her sweater from the edge of the bench where she had discarded it earlier. She crumpled her scrap of paper while she draped the sweater over her shoulders without buttoning it.

My wish is so hot, said Dan, that it deserves more heat.

Don’t wish for anything you know you won’t get, Sheila said.

Bonnie had known Sheila since their high school years in Calhoun, Georgia, and she had known Dan ever since Sheila married him in 2003. She doubted that Dan had the imagination to ask for anything with which Sheila would not agree.

Dan smiled, rolled his paper into a sphere, turned away from the fire, and tossed the wad over his shoulder toward the fire. It missed by six inches.

That won’t get me into the NBA, Dan said as he picked up the ball and flipped it into the fire. It disappeared between the wood, and flamed briefly. Maybe the great Mugla-Muggle will smile on me anyway.

Bonnie looked over at Justin. It’s your turn, she said. It’s time to beg from the great Mugla-Muggle.

Justin made a slight bow to the fire and walked toward the burning logs. He laid his sheet out flat and it drifted over the blaze before catching fire and disintegrating.

There, Justin said, we’ll see what the Mugla- Muggle makes of that. He returned to his seat and sat with his arms folded.

Bonnie got up and danced toward the fire. She wanted to be as ritualistic as possible. As if this game had great significance, which she knew it did not. She stood erect and dropped her rumpled piece of paper with its message into the fire.

Bonnie heard Justin say, Make it a good one, just as she released the note.

The fire straightened out the paper and rolled it over as if reading it. As the fire handled the page, it became a living thing growing larger and more animated as it perused the contents. Soon, the fire loomed over Bonnie like a flaming tree. It wrapped its branches around her and drew her into a burning forest. She recoiled from the heat and every way she looked, she saw impenetrable flames.

Bonnie tried to scream but no sound would come from her mouth. She flailed at the fire but it was as hard as wood and she was hurting her knuckles. She lay down on her back and kicked at the flames but they enclosed her tighter.

The intense heat seared her skin as the stench of burning flesh reached her nostrils. When she tried to breath, she inhaled only smoke. Her eyes burned and her hair flamed down to its roots.

Oh dear Jesus help me! Bonnie thought as she began to lose consciousness. I’m going to die.

* * *

Justin had known Dan since kindergarten. They were Coreopsis natives and became friends in high school when they played basketball for the Coreopsis Mullets. While Justin had gone to the University of Florida to study architecture, Dan had joined the Coreopsis police force and worked his way up to lieutenant.

Coreopsis was a small town in East Central Florida protected from development on all sides. To the north and south of Coreopsis were the nowhere communities of Scottsmoor and Mims. To the east, two barrier islands separated Coreopsis from the Atlantic Ocean: the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge and the Canaveral National Seashore. On the west, the St. Johns River detached Coreopsis from the mainland.

There was no direct access to Coreopsis from Interstate 95, so traffic through Coreopsis was limited to local traffic and motorcyclists piloting US-1 between Daytona Beach to the north and Cocoa Beach to the south. Since Coreopsis was such an isolated community, it had been natural for Justin and Dan to sustain their friendship.

Justin had listened to Sheila’s instructions for the game she called Truth Fire. The idea of having to pick one thing to wish for intrigued him. He could not decide which was more important: business success or a relationship with Bonnie. He decided on both. He scrawled, Make my next project a big one, and give me a closer friendship with Bonnie. When Justin threw his paper into the fire, he figured neither of his wishes would come true.

Justin first met Bonnie when she came to Coreopsis to be maid of honor at Dan and Sheila’s wedding. He was Dan’s best man, so Bonnie and he worked together to make the wedding a success. He knew from Dan that Bonnie had a history. She had been married and had lost her husband and son in a grim auto accident. Justin was attracted to Bonnie, but Sheila had told him that Bonnie had no interest in a serious relationship.

Justin watched Bonnie prance around the fire. Make it a good one, he said to encourage her.

Justin gazed at Bonnie as she watched her paper float around in the fire and then was amazed when she began flapping her arms and spinning around as if trying to beat off some unseen insect. He couldn’t believe his eyes when she fell over backwards, kicking at the air and making gagging noises. He saw her eyes, still open, turn inward, and glaze over.

Sheila, who was a nurse, jumped up and was the first to reach Bonnie.

It might be a seizure, Sheila said. Give me something solid to put between her teeth. Sheila pointed to a pile of sticks.

Dan grabbed a thick twig and wrapped it in a napkin. Here, he said, you hold her and I’ll put it in place. Sheila wrapped her arms around Bonnie while Dan inserted the stick crosswise between her jaws. I think that will be strong enough. She doesn’t seem to be chewing like an epileptic would.

I don’t know what it is, said Sheila. I think she’s passed out.

Can I help? Justin asked. He felt helpless watching Bonnie collapse for no apparent reason.

Dan threw the car keys to Justin. Bring the van up. We need to get her to a hospital.

Justin jogged to the Odyssey and drove it down closer to where Dan had stretched Bonnie out. Sheila had thrown a blanket over her. Justin left the van running and helped Dan place Bonnie in the back of the vehicle. Sheila slipped in beside her.

* * *

Julie’s spirit could not remember the sequence of events, but sensed that Julie’s physical body must be in either a coma or dead. If dead, dying had been different from what the spirit expected. The fire was everywhere, both before and after Julie’s spirit lost the connection with her soul and physical body.

Julie’s spirit was absorbed in passage through a portal of angelic existence when a mystical force diverted it to its present state. Now, it sat in limbo, aware of other spirits. These other spirits all accompanied physical bodies with living souls. Only Julie’s spirit seemed unbound.

Gradually, Julie’s spirit became aware of its association with a physical being. The living soul within this physical body was not Julie’s.

Julie’s spirit rummaged around to establish a linkage. One impediment was that another spirit occupied the pathways to the soul that called itself Bonnie. Julie’s spirit and the other spirit seemed to have a common basis for agreement and Julie’s spirit sensed that they could establish a cooperative protocol.

Just when Julie’s spirit felt that direct communication was possible with Bonnie’s soul, the fire flared up again and Bonnie’s spirit fought to regain control. Julie’s spirit grew aware of Bonnie’s mental pain and her struggle to escape the fire.

Then, the connection broke.

* * *

Bonnie heard the car motor and felt the bouncing of the auto. She opened her eyes and looked at the side panels of Dan’s Odyssey, which she recognized from having ridden in the back seat before. A comforter with a manatee on it, borrowed from the pullout sofa at the Wilson’s cabin, covered her lower body. Her head rested on a pillow and she was warm and cosseted. Sheila sat on the floor of the van beside her.

Where are we going? Bonnie asked.

We’re taking you to Fish Hospital in Deland. It’s closest.

I should go to our hospital in Coreopsis, Bonnie said, We both work there. They have to see that I’m alright.

What if you’re not?

Bonnie knew she was not okay, that something was wrong. She was concerned about her health and the possibility of dying but she was also worried that this episode could affect her career. She had worked hard in the five years following Walter and Timmy’s deaths to acquire certification as an Emergency Medical Technician. The job required that she be physically fit.

I’m not sick. I just had a fainting spell or something. Maybe it was the smoke.

Sheila rolled her eyes and spoke in a concise manner, the way one might speak when correcting a child. That was not a fainting spell. That was a seizure.

There was no sense trying to fool Sheila, she was a nurse and had seen dozens of seizures.

What do you think caused it? Bonnie asked.

Sheila put her fingers to her lips and appeared to contemplate the question. I don’t know but we’ll find out.

They both knew that it could be an aneurysm or a tumor. Either could be fatal. Even a mini-stroke would be an indication of more serious problems ahead.

Bonnie looked at Sheila. I’ll have to wait and see what the doctor says.

That’s right, sweetie. I’m sure it will be something they can fix. Are you sure you don’t want to go to Fish? asked Sheila. It’s about forty-five minutes closer.

Check my eyes, said Bonnie. You’ll see I’m okay for the moment. Have Dan call Dr. Ashley. I trust him and I know he will see me right away. We don’t know anybody at Fish.

Bonnie was patient while Sheila checked her eye responsiveness.

You’re not nauseous and your eyes seem to track normally, said Sheila. What do you think is wrong?

I don’t know, Bonnie said. I haven’t told you what I saw just before I blacked out.

What?

I was trapped in this big fire. It was so real but it wasn’t as if I was experiencing it. For a moment I was someone else, someone who had died.

People often have visions during seizures.

I know but my skin was burning, I was breathing smoke – suffocating. I felt myself expiring.

You were near the fire. It was a hallucination.

Bonnie thought back over the last five years, how she had recovered from the grief of losing her husband and son. She was fighting to find happiness in a new place. Now, this. Tears fogged her vision.

Oh God, Sheila, I’m scared. I want to go to Coreopsis because it’s home.

Sheila braced herself and stretched to the front seat so she could talk to Dan.

Let’s not stop in Deland, she told Dan. Let’s go straight to Coreopsis Hospital.

Bonnie curled up in the comforter and closed her eyes.

* * *

The car pulled into Coreopsis Hospital about 8:30 Sunday evening. Dan had used his police walkie-talkie to call ahead so Dr Ashley, a neurologist, would be there to examine Bonnie as soon as they arrived.

Bonnie checked into the hospital and prepared for her examination. She fared somewhat better than the average patient did. They let her wear a set of scrubs instead of the usual backless gown. Bonnie sat in the examining room and Dr. Ashley came in after about ten minutes.

Your friends tell me you gave them a little scare, Dr. Ashley said.

I’m pretty frightened myself. Bonnie didn’t want the doctor to think she was putting on a false front.

I’m sure as a paramedic you have an idea how serious a seizure can be.

I’m kind of a novice but I’ve seen some attacks and I know they can be bad news.

Dr. Ashley had a clipboard with him and took notes as they talked.

How did you feel just before and just after you had the convulsions?

Bonnie thought back. Just before, we were joking around and I felt normal, right up until I threw the paper into the fire. I don’t remember what happened afterwards. I woke up in the car and don’t remember anything except all the fire that surrounded me just before I passed out,

"You didn’t have any nausea or vertigo?

No. There was nothing.

Dr. Ashley filled out what Bonnie recognized as an order form.

Okay, he said. We’re going to do an x-ray first. I’ll look at that before I go home. If we see something, I’ll stay around to look at the CAT-scan. Otherwise, I’ll get a report from the technician.

When can I go home? Bonnie asked. I have an awards banquet Tuesday night and I am one of the honorees.

We’ll have an answer by tomorrow afternoon. If I have to operate, they’ll have to send the award to your room. If you’re more or less okay, I’ll let you go to your banquet.

Dr. Ashley signed the order form.

We’ll get you into x-ray at once. I’ll see you in about an hour.

The technicians came in and positioned Bonnie on a gurney. They rolled her down the hall and into the x-ray room. The x-rays took about twenty minutes and then the orderlies took Bonnie to an unoccupied double room. She sat in the visitor’s chair and waited for Dr. Ashley.

Dr. Ashley came into the room about 10:30. He pulled up the other visitor’s chair. In his left hand, he held a folder that Bonnie assumed held the x-rays. Bonnie could see that he was getting ready to speak.

Y’all found something, didn’t you? she asked.

There is something, something different. We’ll have to do the CAT-scan to get a better idea what it might be.

What does it look like?

Dr. Ashley handed Bonnie the x-rays. Here, see for yourself.

Bonnie had no experience at analyzing x-rays. Where is it? she asked.

It’s not an object, Dr. Ashley said. It’s more like a double impression – a displacement. See how the images don’t quite align. I had the technician check the apparatus. Whatever it is, it’s real.

You haven’t seen this before?

No. I’ve read descriptions of something similar. Some experiments they did with yogis and holy men. There was nothing substantiated with a diagnosis. I’ll stay around to look at the CAT-scan.

After Dr. Ashley left, Bonnie heard a knock on the door of her room. Come in, she said.

Justin came in and sat across from her. Are you alright? What did the doctor say?

There’s something wrong but the doctor doesn’t know what. They’re going to run some more tests.

Look, Justin said, I’m leaving for Atlanta first thing in the morning. If you need anything, talk to my administrative assistant Diane.

What do you have to do in Atlanta?

A French company has some new project. Something they want to build in Coreopsis. This is our first meeting.

Good luck with it.

Yeah, same to you. I’ll call as soon as I get back.

I’ll be okay but do that. Maybe coffee or lunch.

It’s a deal. Justin touched Bonnie’s cheek and then turned and left.

For the CAT-scan, the technicians insisted that Bonnie change into the conventional gown. It was cold in the CAT-scan room, and Bonnie was glad when it was over and she was back in the hospital bed. Dr. Ashley came in at 1:15 am. He looked puzzled.

The CAT-scan is inconclusive, he said. I can’t approve your going home. You could have another attack. We’ll do an MRI in the morning. Rest and have them call me if you feel anything strange.

Bonnie watched Dr. Ashley leave and then rang the nurse. The nurse came to her bedside within five minutes. Can I have some water and something to help me sleep?

The nurse looked at Bonnie’s chart. I’ll have to ask Dr. Ashley. He’s still at the nurses’ station.

The nurse left the room and came back in ten minutes with a glass of water and two white pills.

Bonnie gulped the pills and swished the water around in her mouth before swallowing. Within fifteen minutes, she was asleep.

* * *

A dream awakened Bonnie at 4:30 a.m. In her dream, she was walking down a dock toward a sailboat moored at the sixth berth. She recognized the marina. It was in Daytona Beach in the Halifax Harbor. She felt younger and she was wearing old style clothes, jeans and a blouse out of the eighties.

She knew the combination to the boat’s hatch lock and let herself into the cabin. In the dream, she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her shirt pocket and started to light one. The ensuing explosion startled her to wakefulness.

Normally, Bonnie would not take a dream seriously. There was, however, a similarity between this and the fire she had experienced earlier. She tried to recreate the scene in her conscious mind. She was a poor witness. As real as it had seemed in her sleep, she could not remember many details after she was awake.

Some facts were vivid. She had never smoked a cigarette in her life and yet, even now, she felt the urge to light up and release the smoke through her nostrils. She recalled the comfortable fit of the jeans and the lightness in her step as she jumped aboard the boat. The suddenness of the explosion had jolted her adrenaline and now she could not settle down.

Bonnie felt as though there was someone in the room with her. Not someone seen but an entity watching through a peephole or hiding under the bed. It was the sensation you got when you were a kid and believed in the boogey man.

Is anyone there? Bonnie asked aloud.

It was quiet except for the far away hum of the early morning news on the TV from the nurses’ station.

Bonnie left her room and looked up and down the hall. An orderly was on his knees at the far end of the hallway cleaning something off the floor. She could see the light between hallways where the nurses were located. She went back into her room and removed the hospital gown. She put on the scrubs she had worn earlier and walked down to the nurses’ station. She didn’t need anything, she had water in her room, but she wanted the company.

Ice cream, said a voice. I’d like some ice cream.

Bonnie jumped and looked around. It was not one of those imaginary voices. This had a real intonation as if someone were speaking into her ear.

Bonnie spoke to the nurse who was filing papers behind the counter. Did you hear that?

What?

It was someone asking for ice cream.

Would you like some ice cream?

Yes, but it wasn’t me.

Maybe it was your inner voice.

What’s an inner voice?

You know that little voice from your subconscious when you’re naughty or want something real bad.

Maybe, Bonnie said. I would like some ice cream. The nurse went to the alcove behind the station.

All we have is vanilla. Is that okay?

Yes, that’s fine.

The nurse brought a small cup of ice cream to the counter along with a napkin and a wooden spoon.

Would you like to eat it out here with me or take it back to your room?

I’ll have it in my room. Thanks for the offer though and the ice cream.

You’re welcome.

Bonnie walked back to her room and pulled the door half closed. She put the ice cream on the visitor’s table and went to the center of the room. Is someone there? she asked.

The room was quiet. Bonnie closed her eyes. She could still