A Certain Field of Dreams

The story of some weary travelers, a real estate agent and an energy vortex

The fields of summer were rich in earthly scents. The sky was big and the ground was moist from recent rain. As the group of nomads walked across a certain field they slowed their pace and took in the incredible beauty of the little valley.

In their seasonal migrations the people had crossed this particular field once before. It was during the previous winter. The field was very different back then. It was frozen and everything was brown and yellow. There were no insects buzzing the air; no knee-high grass and wildflowers flowing in the breeze. The field was in winter then and now the group reveled in the sharp contrast. The field had come to life.

The people decided to stop and rest. They put down the large packs from their backs and placed them on the ground. They unloaded the packs from the backs of the donkeys, letting the donkeys graze and drink from the stream. Several of the group sat down on the ground with their backs to their packs. Others went to the small stream running along the edge of the field and collected water for everyone. The children, despite being exhausted, began playing. The burden of the journey was put on hold.

What the group never learned during their past winter visit through this field was that the field was a special energy center. It was the perfect place to stop and rest and try to rejuvenate before continuing with the journey.

The energy of the field was exquisite. The group got so relaxed they decided to pitch camp right there in that field. They would leave in the morning. All the tension of being on a journey seemed to evaporate. All the thoughts involved with the twice annual trip dissipated and the group simply thought about their time of rest. It was like being home — for a day.

The nomads built a large campfire and had a feast. After the sun had set and the moon poked over the horizon several elders brought out their drums and musical instruments and a celebration commenced. The very young man Tenino danced with Cara, the girl with whom he was infatuated with. After much dancing they snuck off to the creek where, sitting with their feet in the water, they talked and kissed for a long time until Tenino’s mother came and scolded them for being alone together without being married. She reminded them of the traveling that awaited them in the morning and ordered them back to the camp to get some important sleep.

Everyone dreamed expansive dreams that night as they slept in that field and breathed in the rich night air. The sound of crickets serenaded the sleeping nomads as they dreamt of a home they were going back to. The sweet smell of the lush vegetation helped them focus in on that destination. The energy of the ground revived them and filled them with a deep sense of serenity.

The next day when they left the field where they had camped, each member of the group, fully rejuvenated, took part of that field with them.

In their SUV Travis and Claire were driving slowly down the country road. Checking the GPS, Claire pointed at a two-story farmhouse to the side of the road, “According to the GPS that’s the house. It’s gotta be. It’s the only house anywhere around. Oh, and look. There’s the realtor’s For Sale sign.”

Travis slowed the vehicle and turned onto the dirt road that led to the farmhouse. He continued along the long driveway then parked in front of the house. Travis and Claire got out of the car.

Claire looked at her watch, “We’re really early. The realtor won’t be here for almost half an hour.”

“That’s a good thing, Claire,” Travis smiled. “It will give us some time to poke around.”

The two newlyweds stood and stared at the front of the house for a long time. It was obvious that the old farmhouse had not been lived in for some years. It was visibly in a state of disrepair.

“It’s definitely a fixer-upper,” said Travis.

“I know you like that but is it too much of a fixer-upper? Will we lose our shirt fixing this place up? Remember we’ve got some pretty big expenses coming up.”

Travis turned to Claire and smiled. He then stepped up to her and got down on one knee then he put his ear up to Claire’s belly. After a long moment he stood up, “The baby says she likes the place.”

Claire rolled her eyes, “Yeah, I’m sure. But she can’t see the place.”

“Exactly! She can’t see the place but she can FEEL it.”

Claire leaned into Travis and rested her head on his shoulder, “It does have a nice feel to it, doesn’t it. It actually looks pretty nice, too. With some new paint and some fixing up it would look quite handsome. I could see myself coming home to a house like this. And with the sound of children and pets and the smell of dinner cooking I bet we could really feel at home here.”

Travis was looking up at the roof, “You know, the roof doesn’t look so bad. If the first thing we had to do after buying it was replace the roof then I would definitely say no. The window wells need work and the gutters obviously need work but that’s nothing compared to replacing a roof.”

“And that door knocker on the front door certainly needs fixing.” The door knocker had once been attached to the front door with two screws but now it was dangling from only one screw.

“Okay Claire, you’re in charge of fixing the door knocker.”

“Gee, Travis. Are you sure I can handle such a chore?”

Travis suddenly began walking towards a path that led around the house. Claire caught up to him and grabbed his hand. Hand-in-hand, they walked to the side of the house which was in the same state of disrepair as the front of the house. Away from the house somewhat was a tool shed with its door hanging askew and beyond the tool shed was an old abandoned chicken coop.

“Think about it, Claire. Fresh eggs for breakfast.”

“Think about it, Travis. The family waking up to cock-a-doodle-dooing every morning.”

“Hey, that would be awesome! And natural. Way better than alarm clocks.”

As they turned the corner to the back of the house they saw that the double glass doors in the back opened out onto a large flagstone patio. There were two large trees on either side of the patio. Hanging from one of the trees was a tire swing. On the opposite side of the patio from the house was an old gazebo that appeared in worse shape than the house.

Claire turned and looked up at the back side of the house. There were many windows, one of which was cracked and taped.

Travis walked over to the gazebo. He quickly realized that the house and patio were sitting on the edge of an escarpment overlooking a beautiful little valley with a small field edged by a line of trees.

“Claire! Come look at this.”

Claire walked up to Travis and took his hand, “Oh my God! That is so beautiful. Is that field part of the property?”

“I don’t know. Look, there’s a path that leads down there. Let’s go.”

Travis and Claire walked down the path that led to the field and then they walked through knee-deep prairie grass and wildflowers into the middle of the field.

“Oh my God, Claire. Can you feel that?”

“Uh… I definitely feel something.”

“This is outrageous. It’s so beautiful!” Travis spun in a circle. “Except for the house up there, everywhere you look you see nothing but nature. I don’t see any fences. I don’t think this pasture has ever been used for grazing livestock. It is totally wild. And the energy is so incredible!”

Claire looked up the hill at the house. She guessed that the large windows on the second floor of the house were probably the windows to the master bedroom. If it was their bedroom they could look out over this beautiful field every day. “Travis, this is like a little paradise.”

Turning around, she saw that Travis was walking away from her towards the line of trees at the edge of the field. She followed.

Having reached the line of trees Travis yelled out, “Oh my God! Hurry Claire. It’s a creek!”

As Claire caught up to him she held his hand as he helped her down the short embankment and then they walked right up to the edge of the creek.

“Is this absolutely fantastic, or what Claire? We could come down here and go skinny dipping in total privacy.”

“Yeah, uh, we could,” Claire looked around, “and you know what else? We could build another gazebo with a table and chairs right over there and while the kids are in school I could come down here and work on that historical series of novels that I’ve been working about those ancient nomadic people.”

“Look!”

Claire turned to see what Travis was pointing at.

“See that sand bar on the side of the creek over there? That’s like a tiny little private beach. We could make our second baby right there in front of all the birds and squirrels and God.”

“Uh… despite the notion of sand in my hair and in my ears and in my crack… yeah, that does sound exciting.”

Travis turned and smiled as his eyebrows frantically moved up and down, “Boy, I’d like to try that out right now.”

“Yeah, well one baby at a time,” she patted her belly. “This one still has a few months before she’s ready to come out. And besides, I think the realtor will be showing up any minute so we should probably head back to the house.”

“Can you imagine how the kids would love having this creek right in their back yard. When I was a kid I would have killed for a creek in my back yard… and yes, we better head back.”

Travis and Claire headed back to the house but once they were in the middle of the field they stopped and turned round and round taking it all in.

When they finally stopped twirling Travis grabbed Claire’s shoulders, “Honey, this place is so outrageously awesome. God, I love it! And the energy in this field. Can you feel it? It is so freaking intense. Oh, I really feel good about this place.”

And they kissed; long and passionately.

“Hello!”

Claire and Travis separated and turned to look up at the house where the realtor woman was standing and waving at them. They quickly proceeded up to the house.

Once they reached the realtor Travis immediately asked, “So is that beautiful field part of the property?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact it is. The property extends all the way down to the creek.”

Travis turned to Claire with a huge smile on his face.

Pulling some keys out of her purse, the realtor spoke up, “Come on, I’ll show you the house.”

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. This is a work of fiction.