//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Living on a Prayer // Story: Through Crimson Eyes // by Level Dasher //------------------------------// “Om Shri Dhanvantre Namaha… Om Shri Dhanvantre Namaha… Om Shri Dhanvantre Namaha…” As I woke up, I heard some strange chanting from my mother. Uuuuhh… “Mom, what the hay are you saying?” She looked like she was in some kind of trance or something, but she came out of it when I spoke. “Oh, sweetie! You’re up! I’m sorry, did I wake you?” “Umm, I don’t think so. What were you just doing?” I asked her. “Oh, that. Do you remember what I said last night about trying my hoof at some spiritual stuff?” “Yeah, why?” “Well, when you went to sleep last night, I went upstairs. There’s a parents’ lounge that has a fair number of books, and I found this one that has all kinds of prayers and chants in it.” She held up a book in her aura. “What I was just reciting is a prayer for healing. Take a look!” She hovered the book over to me. It was called Mantras and Their Meanings. There wasn’t much of a cover— it just had some floral patterns on it. I opened it to a random page; there were some bolded phrases with a few paragraphs underneath each one. I skimmed the pages for a moment when some words in one of the explanations caught my eye: removal of obstacles. “Mom, what about this one? It… kinda fits.” “Hmm… ‘Om Gum Ganapatayei Namaha. The removal of obstacles in our way’,” she read. “Well, I guess we could consider your PTLD an obstacle that’s preventing you from getting back to your normal life, so it makes sense. It certainly couldn’t hurt to try.” I’d never thought much about my dad’s praying. It had honestly seemed kind of silly to me, but after meeting Princess Luna, I was much more willing to try something like it. Like Mom said, it couldn’t hurt. Before we could read any more, the doctors came in, so we put the book down and decided to look at it later. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Dad came back in the evening after work. When we told him about the book, he seemed pretty impressed. Despite his years of example, Mom never prayed for herself; now, here she was praying for me. “I’m glad to see you two taking prayer to heart,” Dad said. “After your visit from the Princess, I would think you would see the validity of it, Crimson. I agreed with your mother that it wasn’t right to push you into doing it. I’m glad to see you’ve taken it upon yourself to start!” I saw a sparkle in my Dad’s eye. It was a look of pure happiness that I’d seen in him before. I guess this was really important to him— no wonder he’d gotten all sappy on me the night before. Mom and I told him about the mantras we’d picked out of the book. He agreed they definitely applied— especially the healing one Mom found. He told us that mantras weren’t the same as the prayers he said every night, but they both worked just as well. As far as he could tell, all prayer was valid if it came from the heart. Something about generating positive energy— it seemed a little strange at first, but it kind of made sense to me. The next day was Saturday, so Dad stayed at the hospital with us that night. I listened to him say his own prayers while Mom started chanting again. As I laid in bed, I tried to focus on my parents through half-closed eyes. They each prayed in their own way. The prayers sounded so different; one was a one-sided conversation, the other simply one repeated phrase. Despite the differences, both methods seemed to just… work for Mom and Dad. It’s strange, how two things that appear so different can potentially have the same effect. After Dad finished his prayers and fell asleep, Mom continued to chant ‘Om Shri’ until she finally dozed off. I figured I could do the same, so I repeated ‘Om Gum’ for a while. Unfortunately, it didn’t work as well for me. Instead, I started thinking about Tesla and what Mom and I had talked about the night before. I guess my mind drifted away with that thought, though, because what seemed like five minutes later, I opened my eyes to daylight. I silently sat up in my bed. It was quiet— my parents were standing at the window with their forelegs wrapped around each other, not saying a word. “What’s going on?” After I spoke, my parents whipped around to face me, then they both sighed. Their eyes were red and puffy. “Is everything alright?” “Oh, thank Luna. He’s awake.” Dad looked Mom in the eye, sniffed, and said, “We have to tell him.” Mom nodded. They trotted to my bedside without saying anything else, each going to one side of my bed. Mom started, “Sweetie, you’ve been asleep for a week. A lot happened while you were sleeping that you aren’t aware of.” Dad continued, “The first chemotherapy the doctors used wasn’t working, so they tried something else. It didn’t work either.” I didn’t like where this was going. I felt an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. “Despite everything that’s been done, your PTLD has been gradually getting worse. They…” Mom sniffed and then started to cry. “They said there’s nothing else they can do…” “We’re glad you woke up, buddy. We didn’t know if we would get to speak to you again. Yesterday, the doctors said you only had maybe a week left.” My chest felt like it was being crushed by an elephant. Suddenly, I saw a flash of light. When my parents whipped around to see what had happened, we all saw Princess Luna standing before us, her head bowed. “I am truly sorry, but I am afraid that he does not have even that. I wanted to be here for this. Crimson, you only have a few more minutes.” My parents stood in silence for a moment, staring at the Princess. Both of them then turned to look at me, and I returned their glances. As I looked at my mother, I saw her arched brows furrow and her eyes narrow. “No.” She stood in front of my bed like a barrier between me and the Princess. “You are not taking our son from us.” “We won’t let you.” I looked on in awe as my father followed my mother’s example. My parents were standing up to the Princess for me… Princess Luna smiled. “Truly the ideal parents for any colt or filly. I admire you both. Unfortunately, it is not my decision to make. I am not here to take Crimson from you; I am here to give him my blessing as he ultimately departs. I will stay over here if you wish. It would be wise to say your last words to him.” My parents stared at Princess Luna in disbelief, then sighed. I could tell by their bowed heads and drooping shoulders that they realized they were defeated, despite their efforts. They walked back to each side of my bed and grasped me as hard as they could. I felt their tears running down my back as my own eyes watered, dampening my bedsheets. I could feel a dark grip pulling at my throat and the weight leaving my limbs. Mom spoke first. “Oh, why did it have to end this way? You fought so hard, sweetie. I would have sworn you were going to get yourself back on your hooves!” So did I, Mom. So did I… I heard Dad through his sobs. “Crimson, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here for you through all this. I’m such a bad father.” Despite feeling the signs of imminent death, I managed to speak. “No, Dad, you’re not. You did what you had to for us. You were great. You too, Mom.” Both of them sniffed and smiled. “I love you both. Tell Starry and Tesla I’ll always remember them, okay?” The two of them nodded. “And Mom?” “…Yes?” “…Tell Tesla I think it could have worked.” “I will, sweetie.” As I felt the grip of darkness fall over my whole body, the last thing I heard was my father. “Crimson! CRIMSON!”