Chapter 3
three
. . .
Fermena
“Come back, sis! Please!” Saraia cries out as tears stream down her face. She shakes Fermena’s shoulder, hoping she’ll wake up. Fermena has been asleep for almost twelve hours now. At first, Saraia thought she just needed rest, but after the third hour, she got worried.
“Menaaaaa!” she wails.
Saraia hugs Fermena as she cries, not knowing what to do—she’s never seen anything like this before. She knows Fermena is a dream walker, many of whom sleep for long periods of time if they're doing work in the dream realm, but never had she been asleep for longer than ten hours.
A familiar scent of patchouli wafts in the air, catching Saraia’s attention. She knows that smell anywhere.
“Nana?” she says softly.
Only Nana Mena wore the specific scent that lingered in a room even after she left. It was comforting to let Saraia and Fermena know when Nana was around, and she would often visit them in spirit after she passed away.
“Is that you?” she asks.
The smell grows stronger as it creeps up her nostrils.
“Up, child,” Nana’s voice echoes in Saraia’s mind.
Saraia doesn’t hesitate to respond to Nana’s comforting voice.
Getting up from bed, she rushes over to her tote bag, which sits on the bench at the end of the bed, to grab her oracle cards.
After she grabs them, she crawls into the bed next to a still sleeping Fermena and begins to shuffle the deck.
“Talk to me, Nana,” Saraia says as she shuffles the cards in her hands. “What’s wrong with M–”
Before she can finish her questions, a few cards fly from the deck and onto the bed. Her hands trace over each card as she takes in the images.
“Dream realm …” She holds up a card that has an image of a young black woman floating in the clouds.
Her gaze meets the second card, an image of a chocolate-skinned fairy with white hair and purple wings. She holds a wand in her hand as she floats amongst the black backdrop filled with stars.
“Fae..” she says aloud.
Her eyes dart to the remaining card, which shows a burning tower. “And Obstruction?!”
“She’s stuck,” Nana’s voice echoes.
Saraia gasps as her hands meet her mouth, and tears threaten to fall. “What do I do?” she whispers as tears roll down her cheeks.
“Cleanse and protect,” Nana says.
Instantly, Saraia knew what to do. She remembers the cleansing and protection spell that Nana always taught her girls.
She always said that before you know any spell, you must know how to cleanse, protect, and banish.
Running back over to her tote bag, she pulls out her protection oil, smudge stick, and white rag.
“Thank you, Nana,” Saraia says, touching her heart, as she lays out her tools on the nightstand next to Fermena. Right away, she lights the smudge stick and walks around the room to cleanse the energy.
“Ancestors cleanse this space of any energy that is not welcomed. May the energy and spirits that don’t belong find the light,” she walks around the room as the smoke envelopes the space, cleansing out any unwanted spirits.
Saraia places the smudge stick into a bowl to continue burning, as she prepares for her next ritual.
Running to the bathroom, she runs the white rag under warm water, then rings it out to remove the excess.
As she returns to her tools, she pours drops of the protection oil onto the rag and recites her cleansing prayer.
“Ancestors protect Mena and cleanse her of any darkness that may be attached to her. May she be released from any realms that are holding her back from her return.”
Taking the warm cloth, she uses it to wipe down Fermena’s forehead, arms, legs, and feet. Once she’s done, she sits on the bed next to Fermena and bows her head.
“Please wake up from this, Mena.”