 g he situation is highly concerning. It has been a long time since there was an incident so close to the village,” said Noiu, who had called a village meeting in the clearing.
“We were at the edge of the creek, the part that passes through the south of the forest, when he attacked us from behind,” Kami explained.
“We lost one of our best horses, Tito, who defended us from the monster.”
“I believe we must take action. They may be trying to invade,” suggested Dyma.
Yania was sitting on the grass with her legs bent and her arms wrapped around them. She was still recovering from the scare from the day before.”Why don’t we just destroy the monsters once and for all?”
she asked.
“Dear, we can not do it because we are not like them. We could kill all the monsters that are outside of Hell by launching a massive attack from our space fleet, but doing so would be unfair. We would be killing all the monsters, even those who never harmed us,” Dyma explained with her usual tenderness.
“Yes, we are not like them,” repeated many of the residents in agreement.
Yania understood that the Love Spirits weren’t just in name only.
There were values that characterized and distinguished them from evil spirits.
51
52
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
“Does anyone have any other suggestions?” asked Noiu.
One of the residents, Hytu, stood and said, “Until now, except for the case of the murder of my son Jilu—to which we reacted by making these necklaces—since then, no monster has dared to come near our village. So I suggest that we train a hundred birds to signal the approach of any monsters within a radius of thirty thousand feet from the edge of the village. We will thereby increase our margin of safety, which so far has been about three thousand feet.”
Noiu asked, “Does anyone have any other comments, or suggestions for another alternative?”
There was a murmur of agreement among the group.
“Let’s see, then. All who agree with this measure, raise your arm now,” said Noiu, raising his own arm after speaking.
All raised their hands except Yania.
“Sweetie, do you not agree with this measure?” Dyma asked affectionately.
“I most certainly agree! I think it’s a great idea!” Yania answered quickly. “I didn’t raise my arm because I wasn’t sure if I could participate in decisions,” she explained.
Dyma knelt and embraced Yania strongly. “My dear girl,” she said as she hugged Yania, “of course you can participate in the decisions, from the first day you arrived here. You are our sister. How can you even doubt your equality with us?” She hugged Yania tightly again.
“Thank you, everyone!” said Yania, giving Dyma a big kiss. “It’s just that I am accustomed to living in a society where children have no rights.”
“Well, Yania also agrees, so this measure is approved,” Noiu said, concluding the meeting.
Immediately, Hytu; his wife, Dena; Cimus; Eda; and Hemia approached Noiu and volunteered to train the birds.
“Let’s go, Yania. I’ll teach you to make balls of fire!” Kami said to her friend, pulling her by the hand.
They went to an area where there were only bushes, along the river passing the village.
“The key is the magical powers you already know. Now I’ll teach you to create fireballs using the same key!” Kami said with contagious joy. “All you have to do is to imagine that a round ball of light is formed T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
53
between your hands,” she explained while making circular gestures with her hands as if there were a ball between them. “Do as I’m doing.”
“Is this okay?” Yania asked as she mimicked her friend.
“Perfect! Now fervently desire that a ball of light appears!”
After a few seconds, it was possible to see a faint ball of light in the hands of Kami.
“Wait, I’m just about there,” said Yania, creating her ball of light.
“Ready! Now you have to envision the target and shoot the ball, desiring that it strike with great force. It may be there in the middle of the river, or in front of that bush,” Kami suggested, pointing while holding the ball with her other hand. “When the ball of light has already gone out of your hands, you then desire it to become a ball of fire. But always be careful not to ignite it too close to your hands!”
Kami showed her friend how to do it, throwing her first ball, which hit the target dead center.
“Now it’s your turn!”
Yania focused on the target and threw the ball, but she couldn’t transform it into fire.
“It’s your first time. Don’t worry,” her friend assured her. “Go ahead, try again!”
Yania tried again.
“Concentrate on the fire. Imagine the ball turning to fire, and desire with all your strength that it become a reality.”
Yania didn’t want to fail again. She was determined to fix the mistake of her first attempt. She created a new ball of light, focused on the target, threw the ball, and desired it to transform into fire.
However, her fear of failure led her to desire a huge fireball, and that’s what happened. The little ball of light turned into a huge fireball in midair. Even after hitting the target in the middle of the river, the fire was so big that it spread and reached a bush at the edge of the water.
“Oh my God!” exclaimed Yania, bringing her hand to her mouth in worry. “I set the bush on fire!”
“No problem!” Kami laughed and laughed. “It’s great to see you create such a big fireball!” she added, still laughing nonstop. “Next time, be sure that you throw it against a monster!”
Kami then wished for it to rain upon the bush. She noted to herself that this desire was not against Love; she believed with faith that it was 54
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
possible; and she strongly wished that it would happen. The three requirements were met for exercising the greatest magical powers in the world: those of Love. The sky was clear, but immediately, the girls saw a black cloud moving at great speed and then stopping above the bush, immediately dumping an abundant rain that extinguished the fire completely.
“I think you have learned well!” said Kami, still laughing.
“With practice, I will improve! And only set fire to the monsters!”
said Yania, smiling. She approached the river and splashed water toward her friend, indirectly suggesting that it was time to take a break and play.
Kami joined in immediately and splashed water back toward Yania but stumbled and fell into the river, getting drenched from head to toe.
Yania, seeing her friend all wet, threw herself into the river, and they played together in the water for the rest of the morning.
In the afternoon, after lunch, Kami taught Yania to develop her powers of psychokinesis, telepathy, and healing. She always reminded her friend of the key to using the magical powers of the Love Spirits, which are LOVE, FAITH AND DESIRE.
Yania progressed rapidly. Like all other Love Spirits, she was very smart, and it did not take her long to understand how to use all of her powers because she loved learning and working on her Love magic.
At school, sometimes she had had poor grades, but it was only because she was not interested in some of the subjects that were being taught, especially when she had doubts as to whether what was being taught was legitimate. Science is always contradicting itself; it says one thing one day, then says exactly the opposite the next, she used to think. She remembered one day when the teacher had been talking about communications and said that it was proven that the use of mobile phones was completely safe, so she had begun to save a certain amount of her monthly allowance to buy a mobile phone so she could speak with Daisy any time. Just three months went by, and she read in the newspaper by chance one day that more recent studies had shown that frequent use of mobile phones was extremely harmful to one’s health and might even cause fatal diseases. After that, she gave up on the idea and instead used the money she had saved to buy a large poster of dolphins that she had given to Daisy. Daisy was so moved by T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
55
the gift that the next day, she offered an even larger poster of horses to Yania.
I believe in the magic of Love! Yes, in the magic of Love! Yania thought happily, only regretting that she had not applied herself before to the practice of her magical powers. If she had done so, she could have spoken more often with Daisy... just using telepathy!
“I’m going to think of one of these three stones, transmitting which stone I’m thinking of to your mind. Then you have to move it toward you, but only with your mind,” suggested Kami as she placed three pebbles on the ground in front of them.
The two were sitting cross-legged under a tree, facing each other, about two yards apart.
“Okay! I’m ready!” Yania replied.
Kami and Yania then began concentrating. They knew that what they were going to do was based on Love, had the faith that they could do it, and desired intensely to do it. Kami thought of the stone in the middle, and immediately, Yania received this information in her mind.
Using the keys of Love, faith, and desire, Yania moved the same stone to the tip of her feet.
“Right on!” congratulated Kami, so happy for her.
“Fantastic!”
After doing some more telepathy and psychokinesis exercises, Kami looked for and located a small scratch that Yania had on her left leg, which she had received when they’d fled from the monster the previous day.
“Our mother explained to you how the magical healing powers work,” said Kami, putting her hand on the scratch. “Use the key,” she said, focusing. “This is Love.... I can heal you.... I want to heal you,”
she said slowly, and the scratch soon disappeared as if it had never been there.
“It’s really easy!” Now Yania looked for a scratch on Kami, finding one that was even larger. “Kami! I’ve got to heal this scratch as quickly as possible!” she said as she focused and mentally repeated the whole process of the key of Love.
“Well done!” Kami exclaimed as she watched the scratch disappear.
“Now you have to heal the scratch you have on your knee!” she suggested, pointing.
56
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
Yania repeated the process, but now on herself.
This is Love.... I am able to heal myself.... I want to heal myself.
Done. The scratch was gone.
Both were very pleased and happy, so they decided to take a break to go horseback riding in the big green meadow in the village. They galloped, jumped, laughed, and joked with each other. They were two very happy girls.
Dinnertime arrived. The two friends had just taken a bath and cleaned up, and had just sat down at the table, where they found Dyma, Noiu, Kimi, and Ilky.
“Kami, how is Yania progressing with her powers?” Dyma asked her daughter.
“Very well! She is now able to burn monsters!” she replied with a laugh.
“Sweetheart, do you really feel able to use your magic?” Dyma asked, turning to Yania.
“Yes, Mother. Kami has taught me very well.”
“Eliu has also made a lot of progress,” Kimi told Yania and Kami.
They had not arrived in time to hear what she had taught him.
“He is also able to make balls of fire!” exclaimed Ilky, who had accompanied Kimi that day.
“It’s great to see everyone so happy!” smiled Noiu, very happy himself.
“Very good. We have a mission now to give both Yania and Kami!”
Dyma suggested. “But it will be an easier one because it will be Yania’s first.”
Kami excitedly jumped from her chair. She loved the idea of missions against monsters. She couldn’t bear to see those evil creatures spread harm throughout the earth with impunity. One of her biggest dreams was to disable the Great Beast, but she knew it would be very difficult since the Great Beast was the ultimate king of the monsters, demons, and devils of Hell and he rarely left his throne in the infernal region of the universe.
“What will it be, Mother?” Kami asked with eyes full of excitement.
“There is a little boy who is seven years old who was sent to a state orphanage about four years ago. His parents died in a terrible car accident, but he survived virtually unscathed, thanks to the protection of his T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
57
guardian angel. It turns out that last year, a new employee was hired who hates the boy—without any valid reason—just didn’t like him from the get-go. He is a very stern man, one of those types who think that the education of children should only be done by smacking them and that the more you hit the children, the better educated they will be.”
“Reminds me of someone,” Yania interrupted sadly.
“We know, Yania,” Kami said as she stroked her friend’s head, comforting her.
“The biggest problem is that whenever he sees the boy, which is almost every day, he takes him into the pantry and burns him with his cigarettes. If the boy cries, he smacks and kicks the boy and threatens to kill him if he tells anyone. He is a wicked man, and he must be separated from the boy right away. But I don’t know if Yania is truly prepared to...” She hesitated and looked compassionately at Yania.
“Of course I am! Kami has taught me that the mission of the Love Spirits is to defend Love and to protect individual freedoms, contribut-ing to the happiness of all our brothers and sisters. This happiness is our own happiness.”
“Yes, it is true. Freedom is essential, and the freedom of each individual implies respect for the freedom of others. Thus, that employee is violating the freedom of the boy to have a body and mind free from suffering,” Dyma said, looking at Yania compassionately. “You really want to start on these missions for Love?” she asked, returning to the question.
“Mother, my greatest wish is that there might be no more evil in the world,” Yania said. “So all I can do to fight Evil, I will do without hesitation and with great pleasure!”
Kami, hearing this, gave a peck to Yania’s forehead.
“We are truly sisters!” Kami said, so glad to see that Yania and she were of the same mind.
“Very good. I want to thank you for your dedication to our values,”
said Dyma without hiding her satisfaction that Yania had accepted the mission. “Tomorrow you can practice a little more magic while we prepare everything for your departure the next day.”
“How about if tomorrow we all join in training?” suggested Noiu.
“Yes!” Kimi agreed. “Tomorrow we can all do target practice with fireballs!”
58
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
“Yes!” shouted Ilky, also supporting the idea. He loved to shoot fireballs.
Yania and Kami smiled at each other. It would be another super-fun day, and this time everyone would be playing together and training.
And it would be safer for the success of the mission for Yania to practice a little more magic because, even though she controlled her powers sufficiently, they could not risk anything. If something went wrong, it would be the boy who would suffer, since surely, the monster would kill him out of revenge. It was decided. They would leave the day after tomorrow.
And so it happened. The next day, they trained and practiced all of their powers, Yania, Kami, Kimi, Eliu, and Ilky, although it was true that, due to the constant teasing by Ilky, they spent more time playing than actually training. But it was great because this was also an excellent way for Yania to get to know the wonderful Spirits who were the other children, and vice versa. Yania felt truly happy and grateful to Love for the beauty of Love.
Night fell, and Kami and Yania went to bed early in order to rest well for the mission that awaited them in the coming days.
They slept next to each other in Yania’s room, hugging each other tightly in order to reassure one another that everything would be fine.
As soon as they woke up, Dyma and Noiu met with them, outlining for them all the details of the place, the boy, and the monstrous man.
They also gave the girls money to travel to the city and eat at a vegetarian restaurant. They also gave them some clothes to wear—the normal type of clothes for life outside the village, so that they wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
They quickly ate breakfast and called two horses that would lead them out of the village to the edge of the forest. From there, they were on their own.
Upon leaving the forest, they ordered the horses to return to the village and caught a train toward the city where the orphanage was located.
It had already been a while since the stones on their necklaces had stopped shining.
“How do you think we should separate the monster from Peter?”
Yania asked Kami as they sat inside the train.
T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
59
They were both a little edgy, especially Kami, because the pollution in the air was a sharp contrast to the clear air of the village.
“On the previous missions I have been on, we often decided this once we were there, as plans were often made but later had to be changed because, for example, the monsters reacted differently than expected.”
“I understand. It is all a matter of adapting and reacting to the circumstances.”
Three and a half hours later, the train finally arrived at the city.
They went to the tourist office next to the station, where they asked for a map and directions to the orphanage and even asked where they could find a vegetarian restaurant.
Because it was already so late and they were hungry, they took a taxi straight to lunch at the only restaurant that served vegetarian meals in the city. Both ate soy steaks served with whole-grain pasta, spinach, and sea-weed. Kami drank carrot juice, and Yania had orange juice. For dessert, they both chose apple pie without sugar. It was all very delicious!
Then they hurried to catch a nearby bus that passed near the orphanage. When they arrived, they worked out a plan to get by the stern-faced gatekeeper who controlled the entries and exits from the building.
Yania looked at him, thinking, We have to distract him, but how?
Kami then noticed that, in the planter box next to his little guard shack, there was a cat eating scraps of food.
“I have an idea!” exclaimed Kami. “I will order the cat to go inside the guard shack and, without harming the guard, attack him by furiously clinging to his legs.”
“Great idea! So he will have to worry about problem of the cat, and he won’t be watching the door!”
Kami focused on the cat. She closed her eyes and thought, wishing that the cat were hanging on the guard’s left leg, crying with rage.
The cat immediately dropped what it was doing, went into the guard shack, and, in a single jump, grabbed onto the guard’s leg, meowing and hissing threateningly.
The guard jumped up, startled, and came bouncing out of the guard shack with the cat wrapped around his leg. Yania and Kami quickly ran through the gate, through the courtyard, and into the building.
60
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
One stern-faced employee came around the corner down the hall and noticed the two girls she did not recognize.
“Who are you?”
Yania stammered. Then she remembered that Dyma had told them that the boy had some classes outside of the orphanage during the morning.
“You know, we are classmates of Peter Ernest....”
“Yes, we are repeat students, and we’ve come to ask him for help with our homework. We already showed our ID cards at the door,” Kami adeptly improvised.
The employee didn’t raise more questions because she trusted in the strict control exercised by the guard.
“He is in the game room, at the bottom of that hall to the right.” The woman pointed in the direction of the hall.
Kami and Yania thanked her and quickly started down the hall, as they didn’t want the employee to notice that they hadn’t brought any notebooks.
They reached the room, where many boys were playing with various games. Kami approached one of the boys and asked where Peter Ernest was playing. The boy pointed toward the corner.
They saw a very sad-looking boy sitting alone, not playing but just looking at a large poster of the solar system on the wall.
The two friends went toward him. It was the same boy as in the photo that Dyma and Noiu had given them.
“What’s your name?” asked Yania.
The boy was very surprised to see two girls there. Girls were almost never seen in the orphanage. Eyes that were rivers of misery settled upon Yania.
“Peter.”
Yania and Kami were deeply moved.
Yania gave him her hand to accompany them, and she quickly noticed scars that looked like cigarette burns just above his wrist.
“Come, let’s go to the courtyard to talk a bit.”
“You are both very beautiful. You look like angels,” said the boy, who followed them without question.
“We are guardian angels, and we’ve come to help you!” said Kami.
T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
61
As they entered the garden, the girls saw that it was sufficiently large to find a corner to talk alone with the boy. The three sat together near a fence that separated the orphanage from an apartment building.
Yania stroked the boy’s hair.
“We are here to help you. We know that you have suffered much, but we want you to know that Love does exist.”
“Yes, we love you, and we will not let you suffer anymore.”
Peter glanced back and forth at the two of them with a very surprised look. “This seems like a movie,” he said, not knowing what else to say.
“No, it’s not a movie. This is all very real, Peter. But we won’t let what they have done be real anymore.”
Kami gently lifted his shirt a little. She wanted to cry, as Peter was covered with marks.
“Why hasn’t anyone at the orphanage asked you about this?”
“The man who does this says he is a cousin of the director.”
“Ah, that explains it!” Yania said as she patted his hand.
“Take us to him, Peter.”
“I’m afraid.”
Kami knelt in front of him. “Fear is not the right way, Peter. It com-plicates our lives and prevents us from succeeding. Do you think that feeling fear has helped you all this time? Don’t they just continue to beat and mistreat you?”
“Yes, fear has just kept you suffering,” added Yania.
“You have to have strength to change your life for the better. With fear, you won’t have that power, because fear is weakness. And, weak and afraid, your life will always be hard or become even worse.”
Yania stood up and grabbed Peter’s two hands and pulled him up.
“Come on. Don’t be afraid. You are not alone. We love you!”
Peter suddenly began to feel brave. The two girls, with eyes so full of light and beauty, and their sweet words, inspired him, giving him strength. He believed he could conquer the evil that tormented him.
He got up and sighed. “Thank you for being my friends. Come.”
The girls reentered the building and followed close behind Peter.
They walked up a long stairwell and stopped together after entering the next section of the building. There was a man alone in front of a computer.
62
M a r c o s A r a g a o C o r r e i a
“That’s him,” said Peter.
“Wait here,” said Kami. “It is safer for you to watch from here.”
Yania and Kami entered and approached the man without fear.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” asked the man brusquely.
“We came to talk with you. We are very upset with what you have being doing to Peter,” Yania replied immediately.
“You brats! Get out of here!” he shouted as he got up from the chair.
“Get out of here?” replied Kami, outraged. “This is your reply? Oh, I know, you want to continue to mistreat a helpless, innocent boy!”
The man became red with anger and took an umbrella that was at the edge of the table, lifting it menacingly in the air.
“Get out!” he shouted monstrously.
The girls didn’t move an inch. Kami shook her head in disagreement. “Violence... so much violence... but why?”
Suddenly, the man tried to hit Kami with the umbrella, but Yania immediately desired to stop the umbrella. The man was shocked, realizing that an invisible force was blocking the umbrella in the air. He tried to move it, but it was useless. He let go of it, then noticed that the umbrella did not fall on the floor but remained suspended in the air in exactly the same position. He took a few steps back.
“What is all this about?” he asked with a look of astonishment and fear.
“What is this all about?” It is about you being a monster!” replied Yania, desiring that the umbrella hit him repeatedly on the head with great force.
Immediately, the umbrella reared back and began to unleash heavy blows to the man’s head. He tried to get away, but the umbrella chased him relentlessly, continually hitting him on the head.
The boy, watching everything, began to laugh to see that the evil-doer was taking such a beating from the umbrella. Yania and Kami, seeing Peter laughing, started laughing, too.
Suddenly, the man’s voice began to change to an unusually thick and husky tone as he backed toward the door.
“Aaahhh! Damned Love Spirits! I hate Love! You are going to pay!”
he shouted, revealing huge canine teeth. When the girls saw that the monster was going to leave the room, they ran to Peter to protect him.
T H E L O V E S P I R I T S
63
The monster grabbed the umbrella and broke it in half with brute force, stopping it. Kami reacted immediately, intensely wishing that a nearby chair would hit the monster with great force. The chair rose up immediately and was shot with astonishing speed toward him by an invisible force, hitting him the squarely in the head. The monster was quite stunned and ran away, stumbling.
“Never come back!” Yania shouted as she followed him to the stairs, where he ran down and out of the orphanage.
Both of the girls turned to Peter to comfort him.
“Everything’s okay now!” exclaimed Yania.
The boy was astonished. He hugged his new friends and thanked them for all they had done. His eyes began to shine again.
“He will never return!” Kami assured him, being accustomed to such missions.
“Yes, and if one day you need further help from us, do not hesitate to ask. Search in the night sky for the brightest star of all. Ask for it to help you with all your might. It will always answer your calls for help!”
Yania assured him.
“May your mission be filled with success!” Kami gave him a long kiss on the forehead. “Truth is Love, and your life is a part of Love. You are here on a mission, a mission of Love. Your future is solely in your hands, with the help of our hands.”
Yania also gave him a sweet kiss on the forehead while they hugged him good-bye. Tears were in the eyes of all three.
“Will I ever see you again?”
“Of course you will!” Kami replied immediately. “One day... somewhere in the universe.”
“But until then, you will always be in our hearts,” added Yania as a tear ran down her face, a sign that they were going to miss him.