The Way of the Warrior-Wizard
Chapter 17: Cara's Challenge

Yvonne sat quietly as Duncan considered the prospect of hypnosis. He did not like the idea of losing control of his mind—even though the hypnotist was a trusted friend, and even though he had heard that no hypnotist can make a person do something he or she does not wish to do. Even so, he remembered a “magic show” from eight years ago where the people who volunteered to be hypnotized went up on the stage and began to act like chickens. Other people in the audience laughed at them, but Duncan had found the entire spectacle to be demeaning to the “volunteers”. He had been only six years old at the time, but he had been adamant about not going up onstage to join the “chickens”. Because he was a young child, no one had even suggested that he do so, but nonetheless he felt threatened by the prospect...and now here he was considering the possibility of being hypnotically regressed to a prior lifetime. This, in spite of the fact that there was no actual proof that past-life regression, or indeed the entire concept of reincarnation, was anything more than a Human fantasy. If he chose to do it, he was doing it for his father, and he was doing it on faith. He would need to trust Yvonne implicitly, and he did—but what if something went wrong that Yvonne could not control?

“Duncan,” she finally murmured to him after he had been contemplating the idea for the past fifteen minutes, “if you feel in any way uncomfortable about this, then you probably should not do it. Your father will understand, and I can’t really hypnotize anyone who does not want it anyways. You may not be a good candidate for hypnosis—not everyone is, and it’s perfectly okay. There’s no shame in bowing out.”

“I know that, Yvonne,” Duncan replied, “but I so want to do this for Father. He seems very keen for me to do it, and...”

Duncan’s voice wavered and his eyes filled with tears.

“...and I don’t want Father to die with me not having fulfilled one of his last wishes!” he finished, burying his face in his hands.

Yvonne quietly placed her hand on his shoulder, speaking soothingly to him.

“Duncan,” she told him, “it isn’t about that. Your father only wants you to do this in order to have a little more insight into your own life, and possibly to overcome any blocks you may have to your own growth. He wants it for you, not for himself.”

“I know,” Duncan murmured in between sniffles, “but I still want to do it for him, not myself.”

“What if I told you that you should only do it if you’re doing so for your own benefit?”

“I...I would say ‘no’,” Duncan answered firmly.

“And ‘no’ is a good answer, Duncan,” Yvonne said to him, “as both your mother and I have been telling you.”

Hamish had gone down for his late afternoon nap just after the children had arrived home from school, and Duncan was sitting alone with Yvonne and his mother Kyra, clutching his tea-cup in tormented indecision.

“I think the matter is settled, Duncan,” Kyra told her son, “it’s obvious to me that you don’t really want to do this—you only want to please your father. There are times in life that you need to make a decision based on what you yourself want, and not just to please others. Many a bad decision has been made by people-pleasers.”

“But Father isn’t just any old ‘people’, Mum,” Duncan countered, “I’m hesitant, but I’m also curious to replace information about a past which is ordinarily inaccessible to me.”

“Duncan, you must do it!” the voice of a young girl cried out from beyond the kitchen.

“Cara MacGregor!” Kyra shouted, “You’ve been eavesdropping! Come out here this instant.”

Cara rounded the corner of the kitchen sheepishly, followed by her siblings Caleb, Fiona, Glenlachlan, Sage, Ruari, Charlotte, Cade, and even little Hami.

“I’m sorry, Mum, and Ms. Jericho,” Cara apologized, as the children and all their Nanny-dogs surrounded the trio,“but I’ve been speaking to Father, too. Duncan, you need to let go of your blasted rationality for just a little while, or you’ll miss a golden opportunity to unite the intellect of your brain with the magic of your heart.”

“You are all supposed to be doing either your chores, or your homework—quietly—in your bedrooms in order to let your Father rest,” Kyra lectured them, unmoved by Cara’s emotional plea, “Upstairs, now, to your rooms—all of you. You too, Sage and Glenlachlan.”

“Right, Mum,” Sage relented, “We hear you, but we need to let you know that we all want to undergo past-life regressions—even if Duncan decides not to.”

“You and Glenlachlan can decide to do that if you want,” Kyra told him firmly, “and maybe Caleb as well, if he wishes. The rest of you, however, are too young. I won’t allow it—especially not for the very young ones, like Ruari, Charlotte, Cade, and Hami.”

The younger children all groaned in disappointment, or at least all of them except for Hami, who seemed content to simply be with his older siblings.

“Upstairs, now—all of you!” Kyra ordered them in a voice that did not invite argument, “Cara, you and Caleb are to read Hami a story and keep him occupied while the others do their homework. Then, Fiona and Glenlachlan are to take over so that Cara and Caleb can finish their homework. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” the children replied in chorus before bounding up the stairs, their collies taking up the rear in order to "herd" them in the right direction.

Caleb lingered a little longer.

“Duncan,” he suggested, “if you decide to do it, keep your dog Davy with you. Have him lie down right beside you so that you can stroke his back—it will calm you.”

Davy the German Shepherd jumped up from his post under the kitchen table as if to confirm Caleb's suggestion. Duncan put his hand on his canine companion's head and nodded his thanks to his twin before the bigger boy followed his siblings up the stairs. He felt almost guilty about the fact that he was being offered an opportunity to visit the distant past while his siblings were being denied that chance—at least, for now. He realized that it was time for him to make his decision.

“I think that I need to do this,” Duncan finally declared, “I mean, I want to do it...not just because Father wants me to or because Cara challenged me to do it, but because I think it could be a part of my destiny.”