THE TRIQUETRA OF LIFE: Wisdom, Wealth, and Wellness

A Chapter Fourteen Excerpt

Path Perilous: My Search for God and the Miraculous

A True Story of Leeches Lurking Everywhere

One summer dip in forbidden waters taught me more about leeches than any college lecture ever would.

Philosophy, however lofty, must always return to flesh and blood. At fifteen, I knew nothing of freedom of soul—only summer’s heavy heat and the lure of forbidden waters. Desire ruled me then—not the hungers of grown men chasing wealth, women, and wine, but the reckless urge of boys chasing chills and thrills.

Billy and I read the No Swimming sign as a dare. Barefoot, we followed a dirt path through poison sumac to a hidden lagoon—darkly secret. Concealed from rangers, it was an alien world untouched. We felt safe—yet beneath its murky surface, creatures lay in wait, lurking and hiding.

It reminded me of a recently released movie I watched, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, maybe lurking beneath the surface. Billy stripped and dove straight in; I held back, wary of that monster. When my brother surfaced, a half-dozen shiny black leeches stubbornly clung to him. I tried pulling them off, but each attempt drew a wince of pain from him. Their slick bodies writhed between my fingers, smelling of pond rot and slime.

A passing hiker flicked open his lighter and efficiently singed them free. The sight of their bodies wriggling on the dirt turned my stomach; I crushed them with a stick and can still recall the sickening squish.

“Time to go home,” I said, gathering my stuff

Billy only laughed and dove back in—fearless, foolish, unfettered.

Years later, business success had him complaining about paying a stable of attorneys, when he said,“Seven lawyers—all leeches, sucking me dry.”

I laughed. “Remember First Pond? You didn’t mind the leeches then!”

From the memoir-in-progress, nearing publication:
Path Perilous: My Search for God and the Miraculous
—a spiritual epic for truth-seekers, contemplative mystics, and all who long for God.

Visit www.RMDellOrfanoAuthor.com and pass it forward.