100 Ghost Stories Counting Down To Halloween 2024. #10. Lehua.

Soft, smooth jazz played on the Bluetooth speaker.

Everyone lay flat on their backs, feeling the newly laid carpet under their bodies. The music felt like Christmas for some who came from parts of the states where soft tufts of snow fell on the pavement as they walked along the streets of their hometowns. For others, it felt like rain floating along on a gentle wind, leaving a soft sheen on their faces, expertly illuminated by the sun's rays peaking through the greying clouds above. For Lehua, who instructed today's class, the music permeated by an earthy saxophone and an expertly played piano, accompanied by drum brushes, felt like an old, ethereal love from a primordial time that no modern-day person could comprehend. It was more of an imprinting than a consummation. It was the kind of love that, in its physical capacity, could go on for days because of what drove it spiritually. Almost losing herself in the feeling, Lehua came back to the present reality, where she began to instruct her class as to what they should do next.

"Don't lose yourselves," she said in a low, husky tone as she spoke into her head microphone. "Stay with me in the present and feel the carpet fiber on your fingers. Feel it, really feel it. Feel it under your back, your thighs, your calves, and the heels of your feet. Let those sensations sink in."

Everyone of every body type in the room adjusted themselves on the carpet by Lehua's guidance. "Now, close your eyes, but stay with me. Don't drift off, don't fall asleep, just stay with me."

It was good that Lehua said that because Manford Correa already felt himself beginning to drift off. Being an unhealthy sixty pounds overweight, all Manford had to do was be stationary for ten to fifteen seconds, and he was out cold, snoring up a storm like Hurricane Iniki. 

"The carpet has fallen away from under you," Lehua said. "You're floating now, and it feels like freedom because you are free from any worry, any burden that tethered you from moving on in your life—from love, taking a chance you should have taken, saying the one thing you should have said but didn't. That's your freedom; that's what's keeping you afloat."

Everyone relaxed just a bit more. Their arms spread out from their sides, and their legs spread out. "Where are we floating now? Well, we are in space, staring down at our Hawaiian archipelago. We can see Kauai first," Lehua said. "It's not the Kauai I remember, lush green and so sacred. The earth is being torn, and the developers have no care for what they're doing. We can't stay here; we must float away. 'O'ahu, Maui, and Lanai are nearly the same, so we have only Hawai'i Island to consider, and here we are. Floating above her majestic landscape. Admiring her for all that she has been and still is. She is earth, she is fire, she is mana."

"Is she love?" a single voice rose from the back of the room. A middle-aged woman in lycra tights and an oversized pink top with coiffed hair stood there with her hand raised.

"Is who, love?" Lehua asked.

"The Big Island," the woman said. "You're saying the Big Island is all those things, but is she love, too?"

"She was once," Lehua replied, staring at the woman but not seeing her. Everyone lying on the floor emerged from their sensation of floating, but slowly, so as not to be disconcerted. Taking their time, they sat up on the carpet and listened. "But she was betrayed by a man who was also of the earth. He was everything wrong for her, but she confused lust for love and refused to heed the wisdom given to her by her family. She never recovered." Lehua gathered her thoughts and feelings and took a deep breath. "Feet together, everyone, and hands to your sides." Everyone followed her instructions. "By the way," Lehua began. "You're all from the Star Developers Group, yes?"

In unison, everyone replied in the affirmative. "I see," Lehua nodded. "Presently, you're developing acres of land here on the Big Island, yes?"

Again, everyone replied in the affirmative. "Alright," Lehua nodded and took in another deep breath. "Close your eyes, concentrate deeply. Deeply, deeply breathe in, and exhale slowly. When you open your eyes, the floor will be lava."

No one knew what that meant initially, but as they opened their eyes, the floor was indeed lava, which consumed everyone immediately and burned them to death—all except for Lehua, who exited the room while floating above the flames. The sign on the stand outside the door said, "Calming your inner Pele." 

Difficult to do unless you're Pele herself in the guise of a wellness instructor. "I have to choose other kinds of music," she said to herself. "Something less emotional."