The Floating Boy

Cloud Morgan floated free of his fevered body, stopping to hover near the ceiling and survey his toy-strewn bedroom. It was much more pleasant here than in bed, but the elusive Old One telepathically instructed the boy to go back, promising to teach him another day how to leave his body at will. Growing up in post-World War II Phoenix, Cloud enjoyed exploring his neighborhood while out-of-body, but nightmares of impending tragic events caused him grief. From childhood, he was drawn into mentally mystical realms, but in the outside world he had to contend with bullying from classmate and teacher alike. Attending a naturist church as a teenager brought him peace and satisfaction and led him deeper into metaphysical contemplation, until his mother put a stop to that endeavor Then in college, he saw an enchanting dancer from the East in a dream so vivid that he felt compelled to search for her. Needing to emulate his emotionally distant father, who had been a bomber pilot in World War II, Cloud sought a military career and became a commissioned officer upon graduation from Arizona State University. His first assignment was to Military Intelligence school in Maryland and then language school for Vietnamese. Once in the war zone, he served in a Military Intelligence unit outside Saigon. Two beautiful women with psychic gifts matched the image in Cloud's dream: the reluctant seer, Xuan, in Saigon, and in New Jersey, Terp, the brilliant scholar who could heal others yet not herself. Both women had seen Cloud in visions. Both held profound power to shape his destiny. But which one was was the enchanting dancer from the East? This edition expands the original work by 30 percent, filling out the story and more deeply developing the characters in surprising and sometimes provocative ways.