River of Dreams #16: Two Doors Into Morning

Posted on October 15, 2010 by randomyriad

Chapter 4 (continued)

Essie looked around at Random who sat on the bench. He saw the question in her face. “Are you ready?” He nodded.  Essie opened the door the color of blood long ago dried. Random followed Essie. Outside a path ran to a tunnel that went into the city wall. They had to crawl through the tunnel. Essie led the way. They crawled in the darkness toward a circle of light. At the end was a small opening just big enough for Essie to squeeze through.

“I can’t fit through,” Random moaned. Only His head came through the opening. “My shoulders are too wide.”

“You weel have to go around and walk along de wall oonteel you come to me here.”

“But that will take hours,” Random sighed, despair and worry creeping into his voice.

“Go I weel wait here as long as eet takes. We have to get to the tree together or eet weel be useless.” She kissed his lips and pushed the top of his head to encourage him. Random thought of the miasma of the city. Would he ever be able to navigate that maze on his own?

“I can do it for her, and I will,” he thought as he headed back down the tunnel after a tangled time turning around.

The tunnel seemed to be longer coming back. Finally he came to what felt like a door made of rough wood. He panicked. He did not remember any door on the inside of the wall. How did this get here? His mind raced for answers, but then he simply pushed on the door and it opened into the dark. He fell in, on and on into the darkness, until he landed into his waking body on the couch.

 


Steve and Lin lay asleep on his bed lit by the early sun through the blinds. The dream was still vivid in his mind as if he was reliving it. The thought of Essie waiting by the wall stabbed him through. He could not bear it, and he wept softly. He felt like he had been in the wilderness for days, but his body and clothes showed no signs of wear or dirt. He shuffled sadly in to take a shower.

The hot water brought some of his life back. Now he was ravenous. He went to kitchen and made a 5 egg omelets with lots of cheese and ham and 3 pieces of toast and drank several glasses of orange juice as he ate. When he was done he staggered back to the couch, lay down and immediately fell asleep.

He woke up 2 hours later, and made coffee. Finally Steve and Lin woke up and drifted in to the kitchen where Random sat hunched over a mug.

“You look like your pondering the eternal questions and coming up with 43.” Steve said with compassion and patted him on the shoulder.

“I am dreaming the weirdest shit these days. Like epic fantasy and horror.” Random stretched and took another sip of coffee. He told Steve brief versions of the dreams of the last two nights.

“They all seem so real too. I wake up feeling like I’ve lived through something.”

“I don’t know. It seems like maybe this break up is getting to you more than you realize,” Steve said.

“I am still not sure how I feel about it. I know we were both thinking about moving on.”

“Eleven years is a lot just to push aside in 2 or 3 days. You have to figure out what it means to you and what you’re going to do about it.” Steve impulsively mussed Random’s frizzy hair, “Meanwhile, do you still want to roam the North Bay today. Lin and I could scoot back across the water and leave you to your pondering.”

“No, I don’t think brooding around here on my own will help.” Random felt the effects of the dreams fading in the face of Steve’s monumental good humor. Lin was rustling up some eggs and toast for them. Random decided to call the Eagle Ranch number.

He went over and throwing himself on the couch, picked up the phone from its stand and dialed. It rang a couple times and message came on:

“You have reached the Eagle Tree Ranch, we are unable to come to the phone right now as we are probably tending to ranch business. So leave a message and one of us will call you at our convenience.”

The voice was so familiar but he could not place it. He left his name and a little message about attending the Farm School and wanting to just see how it had changed and left his number thinking he had sounded like some weird place stalker.

Posted in California, conversations, Dreamtime, mindworks, NaNoWriMo, novel projects, River of Dreams, Telling Stories | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

River of Dreams #15: Navagating in the Dream City

Posted on October 14, 2010 by randomyriad

Chapter 4

The City at Sunrise

“You have done well, my love.” Essie did not look at him, but continued to face the roaring surf. Random could just hear her words over the sound of the waves.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” He pleaded in exhaustion.

“I have been your guide here. We cannot talk here my love we must go eento the city to a place I know.” She spoke flatly and her voice faded in and out of the waves hiss a weak radio station through static.

She rose and walked steadily down the beach. Random struggled in the soft sand trying to step in her tiny footprints, to glide as she did without success.

In the distance the golden brown walls of a great city glowed in the sun’s crescent that had just begun to rise over the glistening waters beyond the breakers.

As they walked the light around them strengthened and shadows stretched toward the immense arched gate, golden doors thrown back the light catching warmly on the raised figures of fantastic animals and people dressed in flowing robe swimming in a broad river. Random barely had a moment to gaze in awe at the fine metal work at the hinges the size and shape of muscular giants whose arms held the door, but hurry on he must as Essie passed them without a side glance, moving with a steady pace as if she were familiar with her surroundings and had no time to waste.

Random staggered, exhausted through the narrow, rock-strewn, maze of the ancient city. Essie walked ahead, carefully avoiding the piles of dung and puddles of scum covered mud. Random missed most of it by luck, but every now and then his foot landed in either mud or dung. As they made their way through the confusion of carts, horses, people in robes, hooded and chanting gently, clamoring children, sad mangy dogs and a diversity of fowl and chicks pecking at the spaces between the road bricks. An old raggedy woman sidled along calling, “Stones and bones! Stones and bones for your fortune.” Whirling motes of dust twisted down unpaved alleys. Stale and disturbing smells and sounds assaulted him.

Essie stopped at a corner and waited for Random to catch up.

“Show me the map. I tink we are close,” she said as she held out her hand impatiently. Random shrugged a small pack off of his back and dug around inside, and produced a frayed and tattered square of paper. He unfolded it. It was covered with patches of bright color and a grid of lines. Essie studied the map, every now and then looking up to confirm something. She turned toward and got the attention of a young woman with a baby strapped to her back. They spoke in a language Random had never heard before. The woman pointed across the intersection and made a few quick gestures, but said very little.

“Deesway,” Essie said handing him back the map and pointing into a maze of alleys.

She immediately crossed the street, while Random struggled to fold the map, stash it and get the pack up on his shoulders as he started to follow her.

A group of burly youths came romping up pushing and jostling like puppies. They were dressed hooded shirts and loose pants covered in bright yellow, purple, and deep blue in complex web designs. Large curved knives glimmered at their sides tucked into thin leather straps. They pushed past Random almost pushing into the rough red brick wall that enclosed the alley. They obviously found Random amusing as a couple of them turned and smiled making comments to a companion, laughing as they bounced into the distance.

Essie led Random zigzagging through the maze of alleys for a while. Just when Random was about to ask for a minute to rest, she stopped at a doorway. On the arch above was carved a crescent over a pine tree.

“Dees ees de place!” she said with a smile.

“Oh, good. I was thinking I would have to collapse out here in the street,” Random responded his spirits lifting a little.

She pushed through the door, Random close behind. Essie quickly strode across a courtyard, which was littered with pieces of scrap wood and tall deep shelves filled with jars, large polished stones, and boxes of various sizes. There were also many barrels upright and fallen haphazardly scattered about. Random scurried behind Essie at a nervous trot. A large dog with a head the size of a lion’s dozed in a patch of sun. It was chained to a post that did not look as if it would hold such a beast, but the dog took no notice of them.

Essie started to push through the door on the other side of the courtyard when Random grabbed her wrist.

“Shouldn’t we knock or something? It’s not like they know we are coming.”

“dey knew we were coming before we deed.” She smiled and touched his cheek tenderly.

He shook his head doubtfully.

On the other side of the door there was a long hall with many closed doors on either side. At the end of the hall they could see a doorway and a ways further a deep red brown wall with the patterns of sunlight reflecting off of water glimmered in ringed and shifting patterns.

He followed Essie quickly down the hall.

In center of the room was a square pool on which lily pads floated. In the middle sat a turtle the size of a manhole cover, its head was tilted up into the sunlight. Its eyes were closed.

Random flopped down on a bench carved with ornate figures of cats and snakes and fish all intertwined in a dark red wood with swirling grain.

“Ahhhh. . . “ the turtle groaned, “My children you have come just in time.”

The turtle spoke each word like a complete thought with force and clarity. Random’s entire mind snapped to attention, the fog cleared out. Everything seemed clear and bright. Essie sat cross-legged in front of the turtle.

“Yes, Random deeid well, but eet was a lot to ask of such a youth.”

The turtle nodded, “We must all do what we can. You have both done well, but now I must lead you to the Prozantia, the great tree at the center of world so you can wake the ancient sleeper.”

“I know we must, but I am not sure why, oh wise one.”

“He is the only one who knows. We must trust in old knowledge to make the new way.”

“Yes, you are right, ancient one.”

“I saw the great tree,” Random interjected softly, “It filled the valley on the other side of the mountain I climbed.”

“Hmm,” the turtle adjusted his head slightly in Random’s direction, “To see the great tree takes a lot of desire and courage, but to get to it you will have to be patient and come to the edge of your hope and will.”

Essie turned back toward him, “You weel try with me, no?”

“Of course, anything with you,” he answered, “I am sorry I gave up on you. I didn’t know how to stay with you.”

“I left you, sweety,” She said through forming tears, “Eet was I who gave up on you. I am sorry, too, but we are together now. Let us not geev up on each other again, OK?”

“OK,” as Random answered a great golden swell of warm love welled up from in him. He felt like the passion was gone only love came out from inside like a soft shining.

“You are ready, my children,” the turtle bowed his head. “Go out the door and follow the path to the tree. You will find it now.”

Posted in conversations, Dreamtime, Fiction, mindworks, Mythical and mysterious, NaNoWriMo, novel projects, River of Dreams, Telling Stories | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

River of Dreams #14: Through Air and Earth

Posted on October 13, 2010 by randomyriad

Chapter 3

Through the Heart of The World

It looked all wrong, like he was looking at it through a warped window, or from an unnatural angle. Random was looking down a long canyon onto the ring lake and forest. Beyond that he could see the endless plain speckled with clumps of trees. But, the perspective was all wrong as if he was hanging over it all as if on the inside of a huge sphere. Certain objects on the distant plain seemed closer and focused than the lake. He could still smell the forest and hear birdcalls. Wind rising through the canyon made muted whispering sounds that sounded like wind howling miles away. He turned toward the peak, which was now visible above an almost vertical climb. He closed his eyes, leaping as hard as he could and felt strong hands grab and pull him abruptly up into the air. He stiffened and then relaxed as the hands bore him racing up to the summit.

The gripping hands released Random. He fell. As he opened his eyes, he saw the ground coming up at him. Landing hard, he rolled and finally came skittering to a stop his feet dangling. When he pulled himself up and looked over the edge, he saw a sheer drop of a 1000 feet that opened onto a broad valley filled with a tree. That was all. Its top was even with the top of the mountain. The valley floor was covered completely with its exposed roots and twisting branches. The trunk was hidden by the golden, green, and red foliage. The lower branches were hundreds of feet thick. He could not tell how big the leaves were, but he figured they must have been at least as big as a person or larger.

The only sound he could hear was a whooshing whispering song of the wild mountain. The melody swooped and soared, howls of joy to majestically clear piercing tones that made him ache deep within his chest. He could feel light bodies breeze past him. The song would grow strong and fade as they passed. It was a song of pure joy and freedom unchained to any earthly pain or sensation. It was movement and speed. Also there was an element of emptiness that was heartbreaking. He could not bear the song any longer even though he felt he could not live without hearing it.

Before he even realized what he was doing, Random flung himself over the cliff and fell for 3 seconds before hands gripped his arms and slowed him gently to a stop, carrying him toward a large dark indentation in the side of the cliff. It was an arching cave mouth about 50 feet high. The hands released him as his feet landed on a thin ledge 20 feet below the cave entrance.

He was exhausted to the depths of his spirit. He sat on the ledge with his back against the jagged cliff wall gazing out into the world-filling tree as it shimmered in the light of the sky-filling moon, which now hung directly overhead leaving no shadows just silver light bathing all, making everything ancient and ghostly. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes and slept a sleep of deep blackness for how long he knew not.

He came suddenly awake as the hands once again gripped his arms and carried him up to the mouth of the cave. A hot and earthy breath blew into his face from the inside of the mountain. The moon was gone and ambient light from nowhere had taken its place. The cave yawned blackly. If he entered he would be blind. Where else could he go? Terror filled him as he took the first tentative steps into the gloom of the open maw. He wandered if he could find a staff to feel his way and tap so he could have a little warning of what was ahead. He turned to the tree and looked hard at it. Closing his eyes, he imagined a branch breaking and floating to him. When he opened his eyes a green stick about 5 feet long thin and straight, lay in front of him. He picked it up and tapped it on the rocky floor of the cave mouth. It made a rich vibrant sound that told him a story of that spot. Random knew that a few days ago a black bird had rested here and that there where many tiny insects that crawled over it every minute. He tapped another spot and got a similar report of an eagle and a bloody meal.

Tap, tap and a wild thrill of fear shot through him as he slid foot slid forward. The floor became a slide, and he slid into the darkness. He grabbed about frantically but there was nothing to hang onto. He picked up speed as the tunnel slanted steeply down. Random could feel the walls narrowing around him and he grabbed for the side, bruising and jamming his fingers on rocks. He tried using the stick against the side to slow himself down, but it was ripped clattering from his hands at one touch of the wall. All was utter and complete darkness. The only sounds were the whisper of his clothing on the smooth rocks and the clatter of the stick as it bounced down ahead of him.

The temperature was definitely rising as he went down. He felt as if he was sliding into the hot heart of the mountain. Now he could hear a grumbling grating sound ahead like pumice teeth grinding. He also heard Essie’s laugh rise and echo above the grinding stones. Suddenly, his feet hit a rough spot, stopping his body short and hurling him forward onto a flat pebble strewn floor.

He could not tell how wide or tall the cavern was, but he felt the immensity of it and the sound of every movement and breath was magnified and echoed in swirling reverberations until they became the grating sound he had heard up above.

“She was just here!” The thought exploded in adrenaline through his body like electricity. He was up and moving into the darkness. The floor was smooth with a few pebbles and fist sized rocks that tripped him up every now and then. Suddenly, what felt like a hand made from muddy sand grabbed his ankle and began to pull him down. His feet sank into the floor, which had turned into a viscous, sandy mud. His scream of terror leapt around the void becoming a chorus of shattering glass. Random was yanked quickly into the muddy sand with just enough time to hold his breath and close his eyes.

He could not tell how long he slid through the smothering mud. He held his breath until he saw sparkling lights on his eyelids. Finally his feet touched a solid bottom, Coiling his legs like springs, he pushed with all his might straight up. The mud was gone. Random was flying through cold air. He opened his eyes just in time to see golden sand rushing toward his face. He curled and rolled, tumbling down the side of a mountainous sand dune. At the bottom he took a breath, stood up slowly and brushed the sand from his clothes and hair. Then he saw the footprints. They were small and led him over a shorter dune toward a bunch of beach grass. He remembered this place. He leapt and howled and ran. Random knew she would be there sitting by the ocean, her black hair flying in the wind like a black bird. And so she was sitting arms around her knees gazing out into the dark horizon.

Posted in Dreamtime, Fiction, Flying and Falling, hidden places, mindworks, Mythical and mysterious, NaNoWriMo, novel projects, River of Dreams, Singing, Telling Stories, Wild Life | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

River of Dreams #13: On the Trail of The Wolf

Posted on October 12, 2010 by randomyriad

Chapter 2

(continued)

The wolf turned, plunging into the thick underbrush. Random raced after her. As he entered the forest, he was engulfed in the deep smells of rotting leaves and spicy resins. Following the narrow track that wove in and out of clumps of bush, Random scrambled over fallen trees, and leapt over small streams. They shot through tunnels made in mountainous hummocks of berry vines, the wolf’s tail waving steadily, always about 5 feet ahead of Random.

After a while, Random began to tire. He knew he could not keep up with her. His legs quivered as he crouched to enter another tunnel, and Halfway They through folded under him. The wolf did not stop and soon was far ahead out of sight.  Random put his hands over his face and gasped for breath. He looked up in hope that she would return.

As his eyes slowly got used to the dim light of the tunnel, Random became aware of a fork in the tunnel, the one the wolf had taken and another just tall enough for him to stand up and run. He knew that one track was made for a wolf; the other would take him back to the stone circle. As Random stared at the wolf’s path, he felt an urge to run. As he thought of running, his thoughts came to the wolf’s eyes of golden fire. He closed his eyes, placing a vision of those eyes in front of him. Then he was running through the low tunnel on four strong legs. He was aware of every sound and smell and movement, ready to react. He burst out of the tunnel and was stunned by layer upon layer of scent, subtly shaded and varied. There was a chaos of sounds that formed an invisible web over all that surrounded him. Random struggled to make sense of this onslaught. Then he found the wolf’s scent. It was clear as a well worn path through the forest of smells. He was off again leaping fallen trees, racing full speed weaving with the scent through the sounds and movements of the forest. Time wove itself into this pattern, but Random could not tell how long he ran. Finally, he came to the edge of a lake. The wolf lay panting calmly waiting. When she saw Random, she nodded and turned away disappearing into the forest. Random knew he must rest and wait here. He lay down and gazed across the lake and finally closing his eyes.

When he woke up the world had shrunk down to his normal senses. The many layers of sound and scent had combined into a surface awareness.

Shifting mists shrouded the center of the lake so he could not see the other side. Random wondered what caused the mist to move. The air was still. He stared hard and could just make out the outline of giant amorphous beings cloaked in soft pearly robes pacing in a circle on the water. Bits of a chant drifted to him on the shore like the low mumble of wet stones rubbing together in a slow rhythm. One at a time the giant misty shapes left the circle, gliding in procession across the water toward Random’s small sandy beach. The chant faded out as the figures drifted onto the shore and formed a circle around Random, while he turned slowly, gazing up trying to discern their features. They had no more form close up than in middle of the lake. They were muted and vaporous and he could see the shadows of objects on the other side of them. They did not touch the sand of the beach, but were suspended so that he could not guess how they moved with such order and obvious consciousness.

The whispering rasp of their chant began to form images in his mind of a mountain. The sourceless light was definitely dimming now. A cool breeze came from the opposite side of the lake. The mist giants shape dissolved in shreds, but did not flow with the wind. The mist swirled and formed over the water like a blanket. An enormous moon rose from the other side of the lake, and with it, rose a mountain silhouetted in its center. Random had seen the Alps and the Rocky mountains, but he had never seen a mountain as overwhelmingly grand as this. It filled his mind as an insurmountable obstacle.

He closed his eyes and pictured the other side of the lake. When he opened his eyes the mist had formed into solid white floor and hung suspended over the water. He stepped onto the cloud platform and walked over the water.

The mountain began on the opposite shore. It rose straight from the water and Random could see that the water continued around the mountain like a mote. The base of the mountain was strewn with boulders, rocky shale, and sand. Random had to clamber up a steep slope and make his way around smooth, oblong boulders like flattened grey eggs. The moon continued to rise, but the mountain blocked most of the light. He had to climb and scramble, feeling his way. He tried to close his eyes and visualize the top of the mountain. No clear picture came to him.

Soon the moon rose over the mountain. Random could find clearer paths and was able to move more quickly. Still it could take him days to reach the top. He had finally scrambled into a foothill forest where going was smoother, but still steep. He followed a rushing roaring stream that came down from the heights. The trees and underbrush thinned and the air turned cool and less damp.

Posted in Dreamtime, Fiction, mindworks, Mythical and mysterious, NaNoWriMo, novel projects, River of Dreams, Telling Stories, Wild Life | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

River of Dreams #12: Fire Dance on the Endless Plain

Posted on October 11, 2010 by randomyriad

Chapter 2

From Fire to Forest

Random crouched in the middle of a crossroads. Two paths extended straight disappearing into the horizon four directions away from the spot where he stood. The land was flat as far as he could see all around. Here and there in the distance, clumps of gnarled trees raised their crippled limbs against the mottled grey sky. The light that surrounded him had no source, no sun or moon. It seemed to seep out of the air and ground.

He stood for a long time wrapping his mind around what had happened. He slowly turned around taking in the whole scene. There was no stirring in the air or sound except for the dry crunch of his shoes on the sandy gravel of the road.

In the distance he saw a black dot in the sky that grew steadily larger until he could see it was a large black bird about the size of an eagle.

“Rawaak! Rawaak!” it called in a gravelly croak that echoed around Random as it passed overhead. It flew along one of the roads and as He followed its flight, Random could see the hint of mountains or hills, a faint smudge at the edge of the mottled sky.

“That must be the way.”

Thoughts had power and weight here, Random felt them move like muscles under his skin. He knew that the signs would lead him, because the land and creatures were somehow connected to him.

He walked on the road following the flight of the black bird toward the distant mountains. He knew they were mountains.

Random walked for what seemed like hours, though the unchanging light gave him no indication of the time of day. Still, he had not even reached the clumps of trees, and the smudge on the horizon had grown no larger. When he looked back, Random could no longer see the intersection. The path stretched out behind him disappearing in the blank grey horizon.

“What if I move the trees to me?” he thought

He sat down on the path and closed his eyes. He pictured the trees, imagining them larger and more detailed. When Random opened his eyes, he was in the middle of a clearing surrounded by hunched and gnarled trees twisting together in a frozen dance. The path had vanished.

The black bird sat on a low branch eyeing him; its head tilted.

“What do I do now?” Random whispered to himself. His question hung almost visible in the air.

“Fire!” croaked the bird its heavy scythe-like beak barely moving.

Random looked around. Scattered on the ground were twigs and branches. He gathered them up into a pile, sorting through them being careful to choose only the ones that had the correct form. Some had curves that fit his thoughts. Some had faces that he knew from his life. With the chosen pieces, he built an intricate structure, and as he constructed it, the bird, who sat watching him, would shake its head from time to time and utter odd throat clearing noises of approval or disapproval. Random would try different arrangements until he heard the birds grunt of assent.

After long, tedious work the twigs and branches formed the shape of five dancers in a circle. The bird croaked loudly and spreading its enormous wings like a sudden feathery shadow, sprang into the sky and receded into the distance.

As he watched the bird disappear, Random remembered the only word the bird had said. He closed his eyes and pictured the five dancing figures in clothes made of flames. In a few minutes he felt the undulating warmth and saw red and gold patterns on his closed eyelids. He heard a sputtering crackle and a sudden pop, and opened his eyes. All around him the shadow shapes of wooden dancers spun, flames clinging to their bodies in like flashing feathers. As he watched them dance, Random was aware of a chant intertwined in the chaos of crackles, hisses and pops. The chant formed in his mind without words and grew into a vision of a dark forest and two golden eyes burning in a grey face, burning into his mind the vision of forest.


Random woke all of a sudden, surprised at having slept. He found himself in the midst of layered green—leaves, vines, branches and wide smooth trunks of trees shaggy with moss and lichen. There was a stagnant dampness in the air that bathed skin and felt heavy in his chest. He felt neither warm nor cold. The cries, grunts and buzzing of thousands of creatures filled his head, and vibrant softly fluttering flashes of color appeared here and there among the foliage.

Random heard a soft growl almost like a purr and parted the leaves directly in front of his face. A wolf, eyes pale gold, mouth open in a calm grin, stood in a small clearing. Random shrank back a little, but the wolf’s relaxed attitude and easy breathing calmed him. This was the wolf the fire people had shown him, but he was still shy of the wildness of the wolf for it was not tame in the least.

The wolf came forward, stretching out her neck, gently taking Random’s hand in her mouth and pulling him toward the glowing remnants of what Random knew was the fire left by the dancers. The wolf dropped his hand and leaped into the largest pile of embers and was engulfed in a blazing shroud of sparks and gone. Random took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and followed the wolf. Red and gold heat flared around him. In an instant this was replace by cool green dampness.

He stood in the center of a circle of stones in the middle of a meadow of emerald grass surrounded  by a wall of lush underbrush and trees of many shades of green.  There were low sprawling shrubs, towering broadleaf and coniferous trees all tangled in vines twined like ropes hanging from the mast of a sailing ship.

The wolf stood just outside the circle of stones. As soon as Random saw its eyes, he knew he must follow her into the forest.

Posted in dangerous creatures, Dreamtime, Fiction, mindworks, Mythical and mysterious, NaNoWriMo, novel projects, River of Dreams, Telling Stories, Walking, whereever you go there you are, Wild Life | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment