“What do we do now?” Bergen asked.

I pondered that question.

I’ve been onboarding the new member all day. It’s how and why so much of this new material came up.

“There are many of us now and we’re growing. We are growing. I feel it. We’re family. I feel so… safe. Home. Safe. So Safe. And now I truly understand what all of this is.”

I didn’t want to be here at the Lighthouse anymore. I wanted it to be cozy. I wanted… I felt it. I wanted…

I ran from the Living Room Lounge into the Foyer and up the stairs filled with books. Up and up and up the stairs, to the Lantern at the top. I burst through the floor board and climbed up.

I was there. I ran out through the glass door. The wind and rain pelted me and the glass.

“Anna!” Bergen shouted from within the Lantern room. I was standing in the Beacon light that stretched all the way out to sea.

“They’re coming, Bergen!” I shouted over the storm. “I can feel them! They’re coming!”

I was excited. I felt them. They all had seen my Lighthouse. My Lighthouse that I built in 1992 when I was 12, inspired from the Lighthouse of Pharos. The Light of the Ashavana. The same Light that Prometheus stole from the Gods. The same Light that lit the Olympic Torch that was passed on and on for thousands of years.

They were coming, at last. I could feel them.

They were all seeing my Lighthouse. I knew it. I could feel it. They were all seeing my Lighthouse and my Garden. The more I was building it, I knew they were seeing it.

It’s The Lighthouse of Pharos.

“Bergen!” I felt it suddenly.

“Anna, come back inside!”

He pulled my waist, I fell back into the Lantern House, laughing as he closed the door behind me. My face in his chest as I giggled and snorted.

His arms around me.

“Come, lass. Let’s get you back to the Ship where its warm.”

***

Two hours later, we were both soaked and chilled to the bone in my chambers. I peeled off my boots and corset as he took a hot shower.

15 Minutes later, he emerged with no towel as I made my way into the bath. The water was hot enough that it warmed me from within in a matter of moments. I dipped, soaking my hair and head in the heat and thinking.

I sat up and wiped my face then inhaled deeply.

I needed this. I needed the Ship. The Lighthouse. I needed all of this. We were building. The Foundation was solid and standing strong.

After another twenty minutes, I drained the bath and climbed out, wringing my hair then grabbing a towel.

I returned to my chambers where Bergen was drying his pants near the crackling fire.

Ignoring him, I withdrew one of my night gowns from the armoire and slipped it on.

“There’s tea,” he said, drawing my attention to the steaming tea kettle and saucer with a cup on the table across from a velvet chair.

It had been a long day. I spooned some loose tea leaves into the cup and poured the near boiling water onto the tea.

I spooned a teaspoon of sugar into the tea.

“The Scream of A Thousand Brits,” I said.

Stirring briefly, I sat back with my cup and breathed the aroma deep.

I let my mind run through the day. I tried to analyze every door opened. Every card played. Every strategy planned. Every word placed.

I sipped my tea and read The Universal Clock.

They are all seeing my Lighthouse. And when The Garden comes forward, they’ll see it from their Vision and they’ll know me. They’ll know us. And they will not fear us. They will know. But not all. A small group… The work I do rattles the Consumption inside of people. Only those with Consumption can feel it. And they hate it.

Those without Consumption won’t be rattled, but nourished. 

I won’t address any of this. They need to figure it out for themselves. They have too many demons to fight to worry about where I stand.

I won’t comment any further. It’s already set. I have no more interest in that. I can close the door.

There will be only five more of us. And they are coming. Three for Health. Three for Finance. Three for Communications. Three for Education. One for Love. One for Story. One for Wisdom. 

The Messaging we have is set. The words are finally found. The words are finally found.

“Into The Abstract” is finally in place and I finally have space big enough to hold me. I’m free.

The Summit Festival is growing. People are bringing people in. We are pushing forward on this. It’s time to push all of us up and out into our Growth. We are moving forward.

I can feel my Mind toggling between The Research, The Networking, The Projects, The Story, and Internal Management.

Internal Management. That… I exhaled and took a sip of tea.

That is something I hadn’t given name to. Not really. The Internal Management of this was a beast.

“Wow, you must be deep in thought,” Bergen said. I opened my eyes and glanced at him. He was still naked and drying his pants at the fire.

“I’m tired,” I said. “Too tired even to try and explain…”

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the letter I would write tonight to The Imp King.

“I feel like I’m carrying the world on my shoulders. I’ve carved out a Foundation and built the Pillars. I’m secured my People and I have such good people. Today, we brought in another and I saw him cry the same that I too had always cried. When you realize you share the burden with others… if only you could find them.

And then, one day, you do.

And you realize you can put down the burden because other carry it. And that you pass on the Dream to others. And now, they don’t have to carry all, but a fraction, which to them feels like a world just fell off their Shoulders. And the small piece that I was carrying… I don’t have to anymore. They are carrying it. And suddenly, I go from holding One piece to none. So now I can just focus on the Management.

While they go from holding all of the project to only One piece. And then they realize. They don’t are among friends and family and now are safe.

And they can rest now.

So they put down the weight of their bags, they realize they are safe among clan. And they fall down and cry with the relief of Family. I too wept like this many times over.

I hugged them and said, “Welcome home.”

And I held them.

And I no longer have to explain. I no longer have to justify or argue. I no longer have to explain my decisions. Others understand. They know. They tell me how it has to be, and I smile at them and say, “It already is all the ways you say it has to be. We know. And we built it all already with all these things in place.”

And now we have 8 people.

We will have five more. And then they will come together and we will build better, wider, taller, grander.

Building until it’s Self-Sufficient and it grows on its own.

I felt the cup lift from my hand as Bergen took the saucer and cup from me. I was in his arms a moment later, almost asleep as he laid me on my bed.

He pulled the covers over me, and I felt him kiss my forehead.

“Thank you, Bergen,” I whispered and was asleep, unable to think another thing more today.