Blowin' in the Ether

             As I lay on the Assateague Island beach the sun’s rays drenched me in warmth as my mind wandered to far-off places. 

     I soon fell asleep, and my dreams took me thousands of miles south and west to East Maui's Waianapanapa State Park in the Hawaiian Islands. Back to the wonderful vacations my family had taken there during my teens.

     Suddenly, a high-velocity wind blew sand across my face, carrying with it a crumpled piece of paper.  My curiosity peaked, I opened it to a strange and unexpected message, “A matter of importance dictates that you follow me.”

       I hurriedly jumped to my feet and opened my eyes wide.

       I found myself covered in black sand with a huge stand of palm trees waving in the tropical breezes in back of me. 

       The wind picked up the piece of paper and carried it past the trees, to the base of the neighboring cliffs and into one of the park’s famous caves. I stumbled, almost falling on my face at the entrance as almost total darkness surrounded me. Fortunately, a small hole in the cliff at the roof of the cavern allowed in enough light so I could feel my way forward.

       This discovery came only moments too soon as a tropical storm began whipping up the ocean outside followed by a torrential downpour. The rain continued for what seemed like a few hours, and the cliff hole which had provided my single light source also turned  one of the few dry areas surrounding me into a large puddle.

       I crawled through the darkness searching for another dry spot where I could wait out the end of the storm.

        Deeper along the rock-strewn path I found what looked like a safer area. As I huddled against the wall in my rock-walled shelter, I heard a horrific scream echoing from above several feet ahead of me.  

       A female voice cried out, “I am the spirit of Popo’alea. My husband Chief Ka’akea murdered me in this cave many years ago. He condemned me to wander here for all eternity. Legend says I can only win my release to a safe area of the next life if a mainlander frees my spirit.”

       I recalled an island legend the natives related to my family many years ago when we had vacationed here.  It seems the young princess Popo’alea’s father had paid a debt he owed to Ka’akea by offering his beautiful daughter in marriage to the elderly king, long known for his cruel reputation as an iron-fisted ruler. After a very short honeymoon, he soon turned his wife into a slave. When he went out to hunt one day, his bride escaped to the shelter beneath the cliffs. Ka’akea hunted her down and slayed her after seeing her reflection in one of the cave’s many pools.

        The legend continued that the spirit of the chief believed the spirit of the young woman belonged only to him and he would kill any mainlander who attempted to free her from his pursuit in the afterlife. 

        Lost in my dreams of the legend, I hadn’t seen the note that brought me to the underground cavern for several minutes. It then blew out of a crevice below me. As the wind swept it in front of me, I chased it back into the open air.

       As I followed the note I had the strange feeling of a presence following me. Then, out of nowhere, I felt a deep and burning pain take over the upper part of my right shoulder.  I stumbled to the ground and sat down to rest, hoping the ache in my body would subside.

       A voice then boomed out of the tropical air in front of me: “You have disturbed forces in a place where you have no business. Do not attempt to interfere in my quest for the princess or I, Ka’akea, will make sure you soon join us in the spirit world.”

       After a few minutes, the voice faded and, with it, the pain in my shoulder.

       I got to my feet and began walking further along the beach. I looked up to see a vision of a beautiful woman who seemed to motion for me to follow her.

       Although fearful because of the warning from the chief, I continued to chase this apparent visitation from the spirit kingdom. The path took several twists and turns as we meandered along the shore for what seemed like an hour.   Every few feet a large wave would crash onto the sand in front of me, just missing washing me into the surf by only a few inches.

      Soon the vision led me into another darkened cave.  I felt my way along in the dark, often stumbling to my knees and falling again. As I lay bleeding there, insects crawled along my body and one of them stung me. I began to fall in and out of consciousness, and I believed venom had infected me.

     Then a warm feeling overcame my body and the wound from the insect bite soon healed as the princess again appeared and motioned for me to continue to follow her.

     As we rounded another curve in the cave we saw an indentation in the wall in front of us.  A large gold statue rested in the center of the carve-out. It looked like some type of royal figurine in brightly-colored robes.

     Once again, the voice of Ka’akea boomed from the walls, “Your first offense should have condemned you to death, but you still persisted in interfering with the true order of the spirit world.  You now have found the real offense which caused Popo’alea’s death.  When she ran from me she discovered the sacred shrine of the Sun God which lies before you. Non-royal creatures not of my ancestral line who dare to look upon the god must vanish into the fire pit of the spirit world never to appear again.”

     With that, the spirit of Popo’alea materialized in front of me and a battle raged between the princess and her former bridegroom.

      As the valiant female warrior raised her flaming sword to strike a fatal blow onto the neck of the chieftain the entire scenario disappeared in a huge cloud. After I awoke, I found myself back in the spot where this strange voyage had begun.  I reached next to me to see what looked like a burning cigarette laying in the sand. I put it to my nose and sniffed the skunk-odor-like smell of marijuana.