Dr. Schlossburg didn’t pull out the crystal pendant, which perhaps signaled something new for our session.
“I want you to start today by telling me about the two most important events in your life. The best and the worst.”
It was my third sitting with Dr. Jules Schlossburg, and as usual in our morning meetings, he spent the first minutes seated across from me in his red leather chair, silently drinking his coffee and looking out at the ships in Elliot Bay. I think he believed it made me relax to sit and say nothing. At first it had the opposite effect and I babbled incessantly. Now, getting used to the routine, I too sat pensively, sipping coffee and waiting for his lead.
“You mean recently?” I said, thinking that at least one event should be obvious by now.
“No. In your whole life.” He reached for one of his briar pipes.
“You mean in my two lives?”
“If you wish.”
There was little doubt in my mind what events I would select.
“The best would have to be discovering who I really am.”
“And the worst?” Schlossburg asked. He jotted something on the pad on his desk, replaced an unlit pipe in its stand and swiveled his chair to gaze out the window while he waited for my answer.
“That would have to be when I realized one of my friends tried to kill me.”
“Was that when you returned to Mt. Anderson Pass?”
“Yes.”
“Did you start to remember more of your past then?”
“Yes. Recollections just came rushing back. In my head I heard voices, just like the mountains were talking to me.”
“Voices, that’s interesting.” His expression was unchanged when he again faced forward.
Schlossburg made some more notes and for one of the few times, looked directly at me. “That’s when you started trying to unravel the mystery?”
“Yes, and it’s been an experience I wish I hadn’t had to endure.”
Schlossburg set down his pen and rose. “Just remember something I learned a long time ago.”
“What’s that?”
“When bad things happen you should keep the lesson, but throw away the experience.”
