Later that same afternoon Br. Matthias came to my room.

"Are you ready to meet another of our children" he asked me.

I sat the book I was reading down on the bed. "Yes, of course I am."

He motioned for me to follow him and just as he had earlier that morning,
led me to the large room on the second floor. I sat down on the chair and he
said he would be back in a few moments. He returned with a young boy that
looked like he was six or seven. Br. Matthias had his hand on one of his
shoulders and said something to the boy in Bulgarian. He then walked over to
me, smiled and held out his hand.

"Pleased to meet you," I said to him as I stretched my own toward his.

The boy turned back to Br. Matthias and asked him something., then looked
back at me. "What did he ask?" I said to the Brother.

"He asked if you are the one they had been waiting for." He closed the door and came toward me, then sat down in the chair across from me as the boy
continued to look into my eyes.

"What does that mean?" I asked. "Have they been waiting for someone?"

"Yes they have," he said to me. "They all knew that someone was coming
here that would help them do their work. As far as I can tell that means
letting other people know about them and asking their question."

"Yes, I know about the question. They all know it as well?"

"Of course...everything seems to relate back to the question in one way
or another. It's strange but it's one of the ways we always recognize the
Children of Oz...they all know the question, though they all express it in
different ways. When we test the children we always ask if they have a
question they want to ask the adults of the world. Most look at us as if they
don't understand, or they say something very niece or ordinary. But every
once in a while they look us straight in the eye and say the right words.
'How would you act if Love were present right now?' ...or something like
that. Ivan here, well, that's what he said. I think those were his exact
words."

Ivan was still looking at me, then Br. Matthias said something to him and
he turned to sit down on the couch. His hands were folded in front of him and
his feet didn't quite touch the floor. He looked no different than any six
year old in the world.

"Tell me about his history," I said. "How long ago did you discover he had
the Gift?"

"About one year ago," he said. "It all happened very fast. His mother
brought him here about three months ago because he was causing a great deal
of confusion. His power is primarily kinetic. He can move objects with his
mind or bend metal, even break things when he's angry. Since he's been here
we've helped him control the aggressive aspects...really no different than
ordinary childhood adjustments. His powers have also been getting stronger,
so there's no real telling how far he will go."

Ivan turned to Br. Matthias and said something, then looked back at me.
"Ivan heard that you're able to bend things as well," Br. Matthias said.
"He wants to ask you a few questions about that."

As before, I will try to relate the conversation I had with Ivan as close
to the way it occurred as I can. In order to make it easier to read I have
taken the translation out and written it as if Ivan could speak English,
which he could not.

"Do you have a question you would like to ask me?" I said to Ivan.

"Yes. Brother Matthias said that you can bend things with your mind.  I can do that too, you know. I was wondering what it feels like inside you when you do that.  When you make something bend or break do you feel like something in you in bending as well?"

I had to stop and think about his question for a moment. "Well, I've
never thought about it that way before," I said, "but I think you're right.
The metal only beds after I feel myself bend, though it's very hard to
describe the sensation.  What does it feel like to you?"

"I feel it bending, then it does. I try to feel how happy I'll be when it
happens, and then I feel that happiness getting bigger until something
happens inside me. Then I look at the metal and it is bent. I don't really
know how it happens, but it does. It's the same thing when I move things. If
I just think about it moving it doesn't, but I feel it move then that's when
it happens. I feel it in my stomach, really. Is that where you feel it?"

"Yes, I also feel it in my stomach," I said to him. "It's a very powerful
feeling. How did you know you could do these things, Ivan?"

"One day I was playing with my brother and he made me mad, so I made a
rock hit him in the head, but I didn't throw it. I just flew through the air.
I don't do that now, though." He became very sad when he said these words.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because Br. Matthias said it isn't nice to use the Gift in that way. I'm
only supposed to use it to help people, or to show love. If I use it when I'm
angry it makes me feel sick."

"Sick how?"

"In my head...it makes it pound very hard."

"Tell me more about that," I said. "I've felt that pounding myself."

"When I use the Gift in nice ways it makes me feel good inside," Ivan
said with the sweetness of any child. "But when I hurt people with it, it is
really like hurting me. Br. Matthias said that it's because everything we do
returns...or something like that."

He looked over at the Brother and smiled. Br. Mathias smiled back. Ivan's
innocence was infectious, and I felt myself relaxing just being around him.
He didn't seem to have the same wisdom I felt in Anna, but he was surely in a
whole different world than most children.

"How is it being around the other children?" I asked him.

"I like it because they understand me more than the others.  But I miss my
mother."

"What about your father."

"My father died before I was born. It is only my mother and my brother,
so I'll have to go home soon to take care of them. Maybe I can use the Gift
to do that."

"Do you know how you'll do that?" I asked.

"No, but I've been thinking about it. Maybe I can make the money come out
of the bank and into our house." He laughed loud and clapped his hands
together, but then Br. Matthias said something to him that I didn't
understand, and he became quiet again.

"Or maybe I'll think of something else," he said.

"Do you feel all the other children inside you," I asked, "all the
children around the world who have the Gift?"

"Yes." And that was al he said.

"What does that feel like?"

"I don't know."

"Does it make you feel happy," I asked, trying to coax him a bit, all the
while wondering why he was unwilling to talk about it.

"I guess so...it makes me feel nice."

"Nice how?"

He looked over at Br. Matthias hoping for help. Br. Matthias didn't move.
"It makes me glad that there are lots of other children who can see what I
see," he finally said to me.

"And what do you see?"

"I see lots of things. I see how people are living and how it could
change if they all lived the question."

"You mean the question that the children want to ask the world?"

"Yes...do you know what the question is?" he asked me.

"I'll tell you what I think, and you can tell me if it's right." He nodded his head. "'How would you act if you knew that you are an Emissary of
Love right now?  Begin.' Is that right?"

"Yes, it's exactly right...did someone tell you or did you just know?"

"I met a boy just like you named Marco, and he told me. He was from
Bulgaria too, and he learned at this monastery. I came here to find him
again. Have you ever see this boy before."

"Know, but I remember him," Ivan said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've never met him, but I could feel him inside. But now I don't.
I'm not sure why."

"Do you think he's gone somewhere?" I asked.

"I don't know...I just don't feel him."

"Ivan," Br. Matthias said. "Would you like to demonstrate something for
James? maybe bend some metal for him?"

Ivan nodded his head and Br. Matthias took a spoon from beneath his
habit. I wondered if he always carried silverware there, always ready for a
quick. demonstration when the mood presented itself. He walked to the other
side of the room and put the spoon beneath a large ceramic bowl. Then he came back to the couch and sat back down.

"We've been working with Ivan on non-localized metal bending. In other
words, we want him to be able to bend the spoon without actually touching it.
We started off with small twigs and had him try to break them when they were in another room. At first it was very difficult and Ivan couldn't do it. But
when he realized that the amount of space between the object and him didn't
matter, he was able to break the twig with relative ease. We've just recently
started working with metal again, but so far the results have been
wonderful." Then he turned to Ivan. "Are you ready to give it a try?"

"I already did it," Ivan said.

"You couldn't have done it that quickly," Br. Matthias said, but I knew
he was telling the truth because I could feel him doing it. The look in his
eyes never changed, but I could feel the energy coming from him and I could
almost see it moving in the direction where the ceramic bowl was covering the
spoon. And I also noticed something that I had never experienced before. I'm
not sure if I imagined it or not, but I felt I could see through the bowl. It
was almost as if I could see the spoon bending, as if I had X-ray vision. Br.
Matthias walked over to the table and picked up the bowl."

"Well I'll be," he said, holding up the spoon which was not only bent but
was twisted at least three times into a spiral, something I couldn't even
have done with my hands. "I've never seen you do it so fast, Ivan. You are
getting stronger every day."

"He helped me," Ivan said pointing his finger in my direction.

"How did he help you?" Br. Matthias asked.

"I used some of his energy as well, because I could see him looking at
the spoon. He could see through the bowl , and that helped me bend it."
Br. Matthias looked at me and said: "Is that true?"

"I think it is," I said, "though I don't know how I did it, or even that
I was doing anything at all. It just sort of happened."

"This is very fascinating," he said. "I have never seen this before, but
I think that the fact that you and Ivan share similar aspects of the Gift
means that you can work off each other. That may have very strong
implications. If we can bring children together who share the same kind of
power then they work together. This is something I'll have to think about."
I could tell that Ivan was getting tired, as if the effort of bending the
spoon had taken its toll. "Maybe that's enough for now," I said. "But meeting
Ivan has meant a great deal to me." I reached out and touched his hand.
"Maybe we'll be able to work together some other time, and do something
better than bending a spoon."

He smiled widely and nodded his head. Br. Matthias took him by the hand
and led him out the door.