Warmest Feeling

The heart of man is the shrine of God. Take care when you touch it lest you may hurt the Unseen Dweller within.
~ Inayat Khan

"MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH KALI, THE DIVINE MOTHER

I was twelve years old and my friend and I were up to no- good sitting on a bridge that connected the bad part of town with the worst part of town. We got jumped by three girls who were about 17 or 18 years old. One grabbed my friend, punched him in the face and kicked him while he was down. She ran his pockets, snatched the blunt out of my mouth, hopped on his bike and rode away. As I looked at my friend bleeding from his mouth I prepared to pick up my bike over my head and throw it into the second girl’s body who was approaching me swiftly. As I had the thought, the third woman (who was clearly in charge) said to the girl approaching “Hold up, hold up. There something about this little white boy.” She looked into my eyes and gave me the most genuine heartfelt smile and said to her friend, “Nah, there is something special about him; and he’s cute too!” She ran her fingers through my hair and left. I was so confused because I got the warmest feeling like you get from your mother. My friend lost a tooth but he was alright. I never told him what happened."

-Atreya Thomas