One morning in Peru, while I was on strict diet and isolation from the world, this newborn opossum baby-boy fell from the ceiling, right onto the floor in the middle of my room. I must admit, that I was very lucky staying in that particular jungle house. It was the largest house in the entire retreat in the Amaru Spirit, with a very high ceiling and a huge patio, but at that point I wished the ceiling was not so high!
Omg! At first, I didn’t even know what kind of creature it was. I never before saw such a little creature with a perfectly formed body, holding on with all his little fingers to his own extremities, but whatever it was, it was still breathing!
So I knew, I had to do something about it. The universe sent me a challenge, and I had to deal with it.
Knowing enough about the wildlife, I did not touch the baby-animal, just snapped the picture of it and ran, braking off my isolation rules running out of the house to see if anybody could help me with any information on how to save that little life.
I was told by Slocum, the retreat owner, to leave the baby alone, without touching, in hopes that his nocturnal mother will find him at night.
When I returned to the house I did not see the baby In the same spot. My first reaction was a relief. However, when I stepped out to the balcony I saw the baby-opossum in a dusting pan. Apparently, while I was gone, a cleaning lady walked in and swept the baby onto the dustpan. I inhaled and exhaled: Help me God!
I explained with gestures and my very poor Spanish to the ladies that baby is still breathing and need to be left alone. Without touching the baby I gently tilted the dustpan and a little opossum rolled onto a warm wooden floor spreading his arms and legs and making weak noise.
That’s how my long, full of worries, waiting time started.
Baby-opossum began shivering. I covered him with a large leaf. Surprisingly shivering stopped. Later I grabbed another leaf sort of creating the bed.
No site of mama. Minutes, hours were passing. No site of mama.
I was checking on him hourly: still there, still breathing.
After 7pm darkness came to the jungle. I was trying to use as little candles and make as little noise as possible, waiting for mama opossum. No site. The baby was still breathing. It seemed that instead of getting weaker, the baby was becoming a little stronger, now occasionally making crawling moves, but no crying.
Every minute of that long night I felt squeezing pain of despair in my soul. I couldn’t sleep, kept checking on that helpless little baby pretty much hourly, remembering Jack London’s stories about the force of life.
Finally, at about 4:30 in the morning when I checked on the baby opossum again, and covered him back with the leaf, he lifted his head, tried to stand on all his paws and made somewhat mewing sound. “Cry baby! Cry!” With these words I returned to bed. In the awakening jungle’s sounds, I thought I could still distinguish tiny mews of the baby.
Within 10 minutes of those cries, I heard loud “kaboom!” sound of a fallen object Inside of my house. I didn’t move, trying not to spook the mama opossum, in case it was her.
I still couldn’t sleep and checked again on the baby at about 5:30. The leaves bed was still there, but the baby was gone. Hallelujah? I checked for signs of blood, or anything else in case the baby was taken by some predators. No, everything was clean. When I looked in the room I found big rock laying in the middle of the floor, pretty much in the same spot where I found the baby previous morning. I knew that mama-opossum was here. She left for me that sign of gratitude. Hallelujah!
With a smile on my face, I went to and slept peacefully the remaining of the morning. The challenge was completed. At least for that night it was!
That was a challenge and a gift from universe.
PS: Slocum later told me I should check the meaning of opossum spirit in the totem book. I did. Opossum meant diversion. I have to learn to be patient and “play dead” if unable to defend myself.
