The Retreat

Jas picked up her list from the counter and ran through it one more time. Her bags were packed, the house was closed down, and her ride would be there soon. She didn’t really need to go through the items. She knew everything was ready but it seemed like a nice way to close off all the preparation she had done. She had been the mastermind behind this weekend and now she could let events unfold.

A car outside honked. Jas grabbed her things, turned off the light and opened her front door. Sam was there on her stoop with a big grin. “Jas! Awesome! You’re ready! Let’s go!” Sam was a couple of inches shorter than her but his brash temperament and bright demeanour made him bigger than life. Jas couldn’t think of a better acolyte for her adventures. Resourceful, likeable and forever on the move, Sam thrived on the unknown. But the quality that Jas appreciated the most in him was his genuine concern of others, his ability to set aside his ebullient personality to make room for others to speak and to champion them if they needed support.

The two friends hopped in a small hatchback and set out for the long drive. First things first, the two spoke logistics of the event, how they would welcome and guide their guests and what they hoped to achieve as facilitators. “Any word from Joseph?” Joseph was the third of their group. In many ways Sam’s opposite, he had gone ahead to their location wanting to take his time and settle at his own rhythm. He was soft spoken and despite his height, a cool 6’4”, he sometimes seemed to disappear in the room. He was quiet but also the glue of the trio: when Sam’s fire and Jas’s sharpness clashed, Joseph could intervene and allay tempers by his mere presence. Calm and delicate with an unsuspected ability to say soothing words, he always stepped in at the right time. This talent still took Jas by surprise: he only demonstrated it when she was incapable of it.

After several hours, the hatchback pulled into a long dirt driveway. Up ahead they could distinguish the lights of the lodge. Joseph’s car was parked off to the side and Sam sidled next to it. When the travellers poked their heads in their new lodgings, they noticed that Joseph had been hard at work, cozying up the place in case guests arrived early. As it was, it was just the three of them which gave them time to settle in, become familiar with their surroundings and rest before the evening started. The lodge itself was perfect: a large wooden structure, rustic yet comfortable. The plaid furniture was battered but welcoming. The decoration was sparse yet nothing was missing. Joseph had built a fire in the fireplace. Even though April was around the corner, the nights were still cold. Jas could smell the remnants of snow which still hung in the damp air outside. The bedrooms, kitchen and den were exactly what they had hoped for.

Since the others would arrive soon, Jas seized this moment of quiet to step out on the porch and enjoy the stillness. Dusk was gently falling on the small yard and forest beyond. She looked at the patches of snow, ice and mud. The tall red pines were looming above, not yet in the shadows. She could make out their rough bark and rubbery needles. The sky above was an indefinite colour of pale to dark blues. There was a crackling energy in the air around her and she could sense all the life that this forest held, not only animals and plants, but elemental beings who were too unused to humans to be afraid of them. Jas relaxed her gaze and wondered if she could perceive something that would otherwise be hidden. She silenced her mind so that she could fully attune to the world around her. Was that ruffle a rabbit or a gnome? Was that twinkle the shimmer of a leaf or fairy? She heard a snap and imagined that a dragon was observing her, so tall and ethereal that she could barely grasp its existence, only feel its palpable presence.

She felt a sudden gust as the patio door glided with a violent push. “Jas! You won’t believe this!” roared Sam. She turned to him, eyes wide. “There’s a freak snowstorm heading our way! All roads have been closed off. We just made it through by a few minutes by the sounds of it.” Jas looked at him perplexed. “I was just on the phone with our guests. All three cars are stuck! They’ve either been rerouted or asked not to go any farther until further notice. They’ll likely be stuck until the roads are plowed tomorrow.” Jas was aghast. Everything was peaceful here with nary a snowflake. “I’m sure everything will be cleared by the morning but it means we have the evening to ourselves.”

Jas was disappointed. This definitely upset her plans. Although she wasn’t a stickler for schedules she very much wanted the time for all of her activities. She let the news sink in and breathed in the turn of events. An evening in the forest with two of her favourite people was not a hardship, she consoled herself. Sam had already re-entered the lodge and she could hear him taking charge, making more calls. Through the window, she glimpsed over at Joseph who had calmly raised from the couch and was putting away some of the food that they had started to lay out. It seemed that despite the circumstances everything was well in hand. Jas sighed and prepared to get back inside when she heard a sound. A big one.

Jas whipped around and was stunned to find a bear at the edge of the yard. The bear was sitting in a nonchalant and natural way. She seemed to be licking her paws or eating berries from a bush that Jas could not see. She looked up at Jas and stared back. Jas took a few steps backwards to the patio door. “Sam! Joseph!” she hissed. “Come here!” The bear’s ears perked up; she leaned in as if very interested by all the action at the lodge. The two men stumbled out. Sam was about to shout his astonishment when Jas cut him off with a movement of her arm. Joseph peered out from behind, an alertness tensing his body. All four stared at each other although only the bear seemed unperturbed by the situation. She stretched, got on all fours, and turned around. She took a few steps into the forest. The three friends leaned over the railing to watch her leave. The bear stopped, looked back and nodded. She waited. “What does it want?” asked Sam. Jas looked nonplussed yet knew exactly what was expected of them:

“She wants us to follow her.”

“That sounds crazy,” replied Sam.

From behind Joseph responded mildly: “Well, our backpacks for tomorrow’s hike are ready. The sandwiches are in the fridge. We’re all set to go. We might as well.” He stepped back into the house and carefully started to prepare a picnic which he neatly packed in the knapsacks he had organised in a row. Jas couldn’t quite cope with what seemed more absurd: the bear or the sandwiches wrapped in wax paper with stiff corners. Joseph came out again with the three knapsacks. Sam grabbed his while Joseph placed Jas’s gallantly on her shoulders. The bear gave a satisfied grunt. From a pocket, Joseph took out a flashlight which he handed to Jas and they stepped off the porch. The bear had already started walking into the darkening forest, ambling to make sure they could keep up.

Time seemed elastic as they travelled through the trees. While they seemed to be trekking for a long time, the bumpy trail did not allow them to move very fast, especially in the dark. Jas seemed to feel rather than see her way around. She could hear Sam’s thrashing and Joseph’s light step. Finally, they came to an opening. There was a mound in the middle of a small clearing. It seemed to glow. The bear turned around once more, grunted, walked around it, and disappeared into the forest before the three friends could follow her. Jas shone her light onto the mound and realised it was a hut of sorts, a mix of sod, moss, wood but with a distinguishable door from which emanated light. Sam looked at her. “Let’s go!” he declared and with a firm stance he headed to the door. He waited for them to be assembled before giving a determined knock. The door opened, an invitation to cross the threshold, and so they did.

The room was exactly what they would have imagined in a story book. A rough wooden table with sturdy stools was in the middle. Pots, pans and dried herbs were hanging along one wall. A hearty fire was burning the stone fireplace. They had stepped out of time and place into a world that continued to exist despite man’s obsession with progress. What arrested their attention, however, was not their surroundings but the creature before them.

He was of the forest, a beard of russet leaves, long eyebrows of branches, stubby antlers growing from his flowing mane of thick silver hair and acanthus. He was gaunt but radiated both winter and summer, spring and fall, the hues of him casting a kaleidoscope of colours. He was neither welcoming nor dismissive. He just was.

After a few long seconds, he gave them the impression of a smile as he looked at them with his one piercing blue eye, the other one blank and vitreous. Sam, who would have been the one to break the ice and jump-start the conversation, stayed dumbstruck. Jas held her breath faced with such strange beauty. Joseph stood straight, reverent, waiting for the Sage to speak.

The Sage gestured for them to sit around his table. Once they did, he spoke, his voice both caressing and raspy, cold and bewitching:

“You have not come here to learn what you already know but to be reminded of who you are. You are holders of the light and thus you have much power. I am merely here to remind you that this power is sacred and that great trust has been bestowed onto you.

Sam, Fire is your element; fuel passion but do not burn your wings nor that of others.

Joseph, your element is Nature; help others to grow but do not stifle them.

Jasmine, Air is your element; help others to soar but do not get caught in whirlwinds.”

These words were familiar to them all. They all knew them. But in this very instant they were immersed in them, every cell awoken with the truth of them. Jas felt a current run up her spine and there she was, completely alive in that moment. Then, everything settled. The Sage closed his eyes and they knew they were being asked to leave.

None of them could have said how they got back to the lodge, but they did and safely so. Their weekend picked up where it left off as though nothing had happened. Joseph put away the knapsacks, Sam smothered the embers in the fireplace, and Jas made sure all the doors were closed. They had to get some sleep. Tomorrow the guests were arriving.

This story was inspired by the Shadowscapes Tarot by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law

© Cécile Charlton, 2021