Arrow's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The light from Pepper's paws finally went dark. Mommy still stood by the window, her hand pressed to her chest, blinking at empty air. The door between worlds had closed. Arrow floated above the cat house and felt the loss like a stone in his chest. He could not reach her again. Not without Pepper. And Pepper had her treats now. She might never help again. "I can't just wait for her," Arrow told Cutie. "A real spirit cat does it himself. I have to make my own paws glow." He landed on a wide shelf and stared at his huge paws. He pushed hard, the way he pushed when he wanted Mommy to wake up. Nothing happened. He tried again. He scrunched his whole face. His paws stayed dull and gray. "You are trying to shove a river uphill," said a deep voice. A great white owl sat on the tallest beam of the cat house. Silver patterns swirled across its feathered head. Its orange eyes fixed on Arrow, calm and old. Arrow had never seen this spirit before, but something in those eyes made him sit up straight. "I'm Arrow," he said. "I want to glow like Pepper. I want to reach Mommy on my own." "I am Luminos Nightwhisper," the owl said. "I have watched young spirits strain for a hundred years. The gift does not come from pushing. It comes from letting go." Arrow frowned. "Letting go of what?" "Of trying so hard to hold on." Luminos spread one wing toward Mommy. "You squeeze your love into a fist. A fist cannot shine. Open it." Arrow looked at Mommy. He stopped straining. He remembered her warm lap, her hand on his back, fourteen years of quiet nights. He let the memory fill him instead of grabbing for it. A faint blue light spread under his paw. It flickered, thin as a candle in wind. Arrow's heart leaped. He looked up at Luminos, grinning. The moment he felt proud, the light snapped out. His paw went gray again. "There," said Luminos. "You felt it. You also felt it break." "Bring it back," Arrow begged. "Show me how to hold it." "That is a longer lesson," the owl said. "A spark is not a flame. You can light a candle. You cannot yet cross the veil. For that you still need her." The orange eyes flicked down toward Pepper, who had curled asleep among her prize bowls. Arrow stared at his own paw. He had made it glow. All by himself, for one short breath. That had never happened before. But a spark could not carry words to Mommy. A spark could not open a door. He had proven he had the gift. He had also proven it was far too weak to help her now. "Teach me," Arrow said. "However long it takes." Luminos ruffled its feathers. "Then we begin tomorrow. And you will fail many times before you do not."