Petra [Page 1]

This Graphic Novel was first published more than a dozen years ago.

It has been dusted off and moved to this location,

To make it easier to find and share.

~Sha~

Petra and the New City 

 PAGE 1


     If you could describe Petra Richards in just two words,
they would be, Passionate Unveiler.  Her's is a dual nature of strength and insight,
the ideal vehicle for her high ideals.  Her life's work, for as long as anyone could
remember, was to find and present Truth.  She had been on many journeys
and had received much help from the teachers she had met
and the clues she had uncovered.
    We find our intrepid explorer, taking a quiet break during one of her hiking explorations in the wilderness near her country home.  The peaceful setting is ideally suited for her morning meditation.

    During her meditation, Petra finds herself in what seems to be a beautifully 

decorated, private room.  Many of her recent meditations have brought her 

to this place.  It feels very familiar and yet, she knows it is not of this world.

    Her intuition tells her that this is more than just a vision.  Somewhere this room waits for her.  It is her room, she knows, and more real than anything she has yet known.  "I must go there, but where is it", she ponders.

   Then her mind spreads open, like a camera, zooming out to get a better look.  Now she floats, outside of a huge structure.  "What is this thing. Is it a building or some kind of space ship?", she puzzles.

  It's hard to tell if it is even solid.  One moment it looks like a simple cube, made from some gold colored glass.  Inside the cube is a pyramid, made from the same material.  But, as soon as she thinks she has the shape pinned down, it changes it's appearance.  First it looks like one of those glass skinned office buildings, but when the thought of castles in the air comes to mind, the whole thing starts to look just like the castle at Disneyland, only to be replaced, a moment later, by an Aztec temple.  "This thing's playing tricks on me", she thinks and then it turns into a circus tent.  "Ooooh, I see your game.  Your skin is like a television screen, playing back my own thoughts of what you are."  But where is this place?  She can't see any land marks around it.  It sits in a bubble of light, surrounded by darkness.  Undaunted, she is sure she could divine its location, but she would have to go home first and run her hands over the globe in her living room.

   She makes a beeline for home and, once there, begins to let her fingers do the walking, around the globe. Several times, her finger is drawn to a spot, like an iron to a magnet, but there is no land where her finger points. "Hmmm", she tones, "could there be a new island here? Some writers predict a return of the ancient land of Mu. This spot is over an area that is lighter blue than the rest of the ocean. Let's have a closer look."

   A closer inspection reveals that she has pointed to a spot on the Clarion Fracture Zone, west of Revilla Gigedo Island. Perhaps some activity, along this fault, has formed a new island, as yet undiscovered.

   "Kind of hard to book passage to someplace like that. How am I supposed to get there?"  Then, out of nowhere, she hears a voice from her past. "Use the stones", it chants. She turns, expecting to see the face of her old friend, Mai, the healer that befriended her in Hawaii. Mai was not there, nor could she be. She had passed to the other side, a year ago, at the age of one hundred and ten. "Use the stones", she hears again. "The stones" Petra repeats aloud, "the two gems you gave me on our last visit?"  No reply.

 These two spherical crystals had been given to her by Mai, the last time they talked. Mai had told her that the stones had powers, and would one day take her to a new land.  "Well Mai, this trip certainly qualifies", she said aloud, half expecting Mai to answer.

She remembered that she had left the crystals in her spare backpack, that she stored on the top shelf in the pantry and went immeadiately to fetch them. 

Returning to the livingroom, she sat on the daybed to examine them. When she began to question how these two gems could help get her to the mysterious island, they seemed to take on a life of their own. They began to pulsate with light and her hands began to tingle.  And then, without warning, she found herself several feet above her perch.

"Whoa! Down girl", she exclaimed and down she plunked, into the overstuffed mattress.  A big smile spread across her face as she pulled herself back to an upright position. Another might already be dreaming of gains from the use of such power, but Petra was like a carpenter with a new hammer. She couldn't wait to get banging.  An opportunity to find truth was all the power she needed and once presented with it, she was as unstoppable as a freight train.  Standing up, she slipped a gem into each of her side packs and headed back to the kitchen.

   Long since the master of packing light, she could travel for a month on the contents of her backpack and two side packs. Some homemade pemmican, some nuts and dried fruit and a vial of water purification tablets was all she needed from here. Her trusty Leatherman, a piece of flint, a pocket flashlight, and various other compact, useful tools each had their own custom pockets in her packs. Off to the bedroom to include some extra socks, tops, panties and her poncho and she was ready to fly, literally. If she didn't pack it, this resourceful lass could find or manufacture what she needed, on the spot.  She was pretty sure she wouldn't need any money on this trip, but a handful of gold coins, jingling in her pocket was a good habit that had come in handy on more than one occasion.  A quick call, to her answering service, and she was headed out the front door.

  Every journey begins with the first step and, in this case, a leap of faith. Petra pictured her mysterious island, in her mind's eye and her feet left the ground.

 Up, up and away, she flew, into the afternoon sun.