Chapter 8 – Stillness and Solace

Stillness and solace are all that remain in Cortina’s life. Her thoughts and emotions, once so vivid, are now faint echoes, like whispers in an empty room. Her brain barely functions well enough to regulate her body. She is aware of so little.

 

Her breathing is steady, her heart beats rhythmically, but her body takes no nourishment—not even fluids. Her caregivers keep her lips moist, their gentle touch a quiet act of devotion.

 

Occasionally, she mumbles a few indistinguishable words. Her mouth, no longer able to form them properly, falters as the sounds fade into the stillness. It has been a day since she last sensed ‘Him’, opened her eyes, and gazed at him—a brief final moment of connection amidst the emptiness.

 

Mostly, she sleeps. Her quiet, gentle, rhythmic snore fills the room, a fragile reminder of life still present, yet quietly slipping away. Those with experience in such moments sense that it will be hours, perhaps a day or two, before our beloved heroine drifts away forever.

 

The mood is as magical as any I have ever experienced in the glade where I live. The air hums with love, profound and unwavering, and carries only the faintest touch of sadness. Those attending her do not know her full story, only the past two years of her journey. Yet they sense the essence of who she was: a remarkable woman who had lived a full life with integrity and enthusiasm. Even when lost in the haze of dementia, Cortina could still light up a room with her smile, scattering joy like sunlight breaking through clouds.

 

Now, it is time. The right time. She has earned this moment of everlasting peace.….

 

….. I remember her quiet yearning, spoken over her first dinner with ‘Him’: “I wish someone would look after me for a change.” It was a simple wish, spoken softly and without expectation, yet it became a truth that shaped the rest of her life. What began as a heartfelt desire blossomed into something far greater than she could have imagined.

 

Now, in this moment, it feels as though that wish has become the soft bed on which she rests while a stream of earthly angels comes and goes, tending to her with quiet devotion. They seek nothing from her, only the honour of caring for her just a little longer.

 

We have traced the path of Cortina’s journey through your world and glimpsed the people who influenced the blossoming and flourishing of the essence nature provided. Her story unfolded like an ocean stream, steadily making progress over time, quietly interchanging love with those it flowed alongside.

 

We watched the ocean stream turn into a storm, which in turn brewed into a maelstrom, a force so great that it appeared unstoppable. The flow of her life, of their lives, could not withstand it. But, as your world so often does, if you observe with intent, it produced another force of equal magnitude to challenge it. This force cut across the storm’s path, delivering a bolt of humanity precisely when it was truly needed. Her carers!

 

When Cortina entered the care home, little did ‘Him’ realise that they both would be guided, tutored, carried, and loved by a group of strangers motivated by nothing more than their humanity. These caregivers gave of themselves simply because they could, and because someone truly needed them.

 

Their work was hard, and the tangible rewards for their efforts were minimal, yet many left a piece of themselves behind on every shift. Cortina and ‘Him’ received more than the support they desperately needed—they were gifted a lesson in life. It was a different lesson for each of them, but one that was undeniably life-changing, or perhaps more accurately, life-affirming.

 

As her journey approaches its conclusion, it is not ending in loneliness or despair but on a golden, gilded cushion of unconditional humanity. It is becoming a resting place crafted from countless acts of selflessness, from love that gave without asking, and from a collective reverence for the dignity of life. Cortina’s wish to be cared for had not only come true; it has transformed into a legacy of care, tenderness, and enduring grace, wrapped in the compassion of humble caregivers.

 

For ‘Him’, it was something that left him immensely proud. He had not failed her. Through all the challenges and heartbreak, he had honoured her, ensuring that she was loved, cherished, and cared for until the very end.

 

Sadly, we must stop reflecting and get back to the present as Cortina is waking, not visibly to the outside world but internally, in her soul to be precise. Her time is near and she must ready herself, compose herself for that moment, as miraculous as her birth when the awakening of her life spark took place. She now has a short period of time when she can choose when to step across the threshold, extinguishing the spark.  She chose when to take her first step into your world and she will choose when to take the last.

 

The threshold Cortina must step across leads to nothing. Your language does not accommodate nothing, for nothing in its truest form is beyond the limits of your understanding. It is not an empty space, not a void, not a numerical value, not any construct that implies a lack of something, because even a construct is something.

 

You have no frame of reference for utter nothingness, no way to visualise or define it, because it eludes existence itself. And so, I cannot help you picture what Cortina was on the verge of entering.

 

Cortina was ready, but she had one last act of compassion to perform. She knew that Him was desperate to hold her hand right up to the end. She could feel his presence and, in a quiet, intuitive way, she also felt the presence of her special gift to him, their daughter. Cortina understood that Him would fare better if he missed her actual departure. Her intuition guided her to wait until his presence had left, until he had gone home to feed the dogs, before allowing her breathing to alter—a signal to her caregivers that she was ready.

 

Jess, her friend and guardian, the amazing young person who led her care and championed all aspects of her well-being and happiness, had been deliberately loitering in the building. As soon as she heard of the change, Jess came immediately, accompanied by a few other key caregivers who had borne the burden of Cortina’s welfare and contentment for the past two years. Jess knelt beside her, holding her hand, talking about girlie things and their plans to go to the Indian for dinner.

 

It was then, when Cortina sensed that ‘Him’ had re-entered the building and was nearing her room, that she chose to cross the threshold. She took her last breath just moments before ‘Him’ stepped inside her room.

 

Only when Cortina crossed to the utter nothingness did something happen, or perhaps nothing happened. In truth, several things happened. Do you remember that in my world, time is not bound by the linear chronological order of yours? Events here may seem out of sequence but still weave together with their own logic. You will simply have to trust me on this. Do you also recall the rules of the Essenscape?

 

Cortina, now beyond your world, shed her frailty but retained the grace and beauty of her age. Her clothes transformed into a flowing ensemble of dusty peach georgette and tulle, perfectly suited to her new fairy form. The bodice shimmered with fine threads that caught the light, adorned with tiny crystals that twinkled like stars. She moved with effortless elegance, her transformation imbued with an air of magic and timelessness, perfect for what she might become. Her Essenscape trial had not yet been conducted so her future remained undecided.

 

Suspended between realms, Cortina floated. The clouded, fog-infested world she had endured for so long was slowly clearing. It would take time, quite a lot of time, but, to her, life in your world appeared to have slowed. She felt the cold, crisp air of renewal flooding into her soul, the long dark age dissolving as light burned away the fog, just as it does after a lingering autumn night gives way to a misty morning brightened by the rising sun.

 

We are together now, at last, in the same reality, so she is not alone. We float as one, watching as Jess and ‘Him’ prepare her old body for its departure. They wash her with care, dress her in clean clothes, and brush her hair. It is an act of love and honour, carried out with quiet reverence and a sense of privilege.

 

Then Cortina does two things. First, she returns briefly to her old body at the point where Jess is touching it. For a few moments, she merges with Jess in a connection born of pure intuition. Without hesitation or conscious awareness, Cortina instinctively selects Jess as her first Essenscape, should the need arise. In this act, as demanded by the laws of my world, she renames her Jessara, evoking an image of profound connection, celestial moonlight, and a presence both gentle and firm—a mentor and protector who upholds traditions.

 

While you were outside her world of dementia, trying to judge what was happening in that world, Cortina’s being was drifting deeper and deeper into an oblivion that steadily stole her perceptions, her understanding of the world, and even the very essence of who she felt she was. Her soul, in its quiet strength, retained clarity and knew of all the love she had received over those two years of decline, the selfless devotion that surrounded her, and the boundless humanity of those who cared for her.

 

Within her soul, she recognised the unwavering devotion and strength of her friend Jessara, the one who stood by her with a steadiness that Cortina, even in her deepest state of oblivion, could sense, a kindred spirit she barely knew in her material world. In fact, perhaps her soul understood Jessara’s devotion even more than Jessara, who was still young and light on life’s experiences, herself could. The soul’s perception is not clouded by the confusion that often muddled human perception.

 

Cortina then returned to me for a time before entering the soul of ‘Him’, leaving a part of her essence, her very soul, within him. She will never be complete again without him, and he will never be the same again. Their journey together has not only made him wiser and more compassionate but has also transformed him in a profound way, as he now carries a piece of her soul within his. ‘Him’ is left a different man—not altered, but changed.

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