theworldofdreams.com

For days I wandered speaking to all who would converse with me and some who wouldn’t. At last my constant unyielding questioning gleaned some answers and some clarity to my tumultuous mind.

However I still did not know where here was or what purpose I was to serve in this place. Of course I had asked what this place was but all I was told was that it’s the ‘World of Dreams’. This made no sense to me; it seemed more statement about the lucidity of my perception than of the physical location I found myself in.

The faces were all smiling and the generosity overwhelming. It did indeed seem a happy place. I still needed answers though; and to that end, on instinct alone, I walked out of the disturbingly familiar surroundings of Britain into the wild.

I followed a path leading northwest out of Britain. A path that I remembered from an ever-dimming memory about a place I had once lived. Or maybe that memory was now the dream and this was the reality?

The path was an easy walk; it wound its way gracefully up towards what I knew to be Brit Cemetery. As I approached caution tempered my steps, I was not about to be caught off guard by some phantom of evil. As the iron wrought fence surrounding this place of the dead came into view I dropped onto my haunches and then I lay prone. The dew that covered the lush deep green vegetation slowly began to seep through the thin cotton shirt I was wearing; the icy damp droplets seemed like a balm that soothed my troubled mind. I waited for a few moments enjoying the sensation of the cool water against my skin before slowly easing myself forward using my elbows.

Before long I was less than ten yards from the fence. I stopped behind a large gorse bush to survey my surroundings. From between the twigs and branches I looked out into the graveyard. Several skeletons were mindlessly wandering between the crumbing gravestones; their sun-bleached bones seem to glisten in the rays of the morning sun. I mused a small irony; here I was lying on the ground fearing I was losing my mind watching those whose minds had long ago decayed into dust.

I looked around trying to spy a way that I could go on without raising the attentions of the undead. It was then when I turned to look west that I spotted him. In the distance I saw a figure wrapped in a dark robe standing by a large old oak tree. As I watched he raised his hand and beckoned me towards him. Unsure about this new arrival I stayed where I was, but his beckoning became more urgent and so I started to crawl towards him.

I kept an eye on the graveyard watchers as I pulled my body through the plant life to the figure by the tree, miraculously they did not seem to notice my presence. By the time I reached the mysterious person I was soaked to the skin, the dew had not only cooled me, I had now started to shiver. The figure drew closer to me and told me to stand and then he bid me follow him further into the expansive woods.

I felt compelled to follow him, drawn to some fascination that seem emanate from the air around him. His movements as he seemed to glide through the undergrowth were almost hypnotic. I noticed as he moved it seemed as if the bushes and trees seems to part before him. He was dressed in a long dark brown robe, tied at the waist with what looked like a delicate silver chain. His face was mostly hidden by a hood that was cast over his head, but wisps of grey hair seeped out in places. He was a man, for his voice gave away the rich resonant tone of a man in the prime of his life.

For hours we seemed to walk until eventually I was led into a small clearing. Surrounding the clearing was a series of elegant weeping willows that twisted and turned gracefully in the breeze like experienced dancers following the song of life. In the centre of this circle was a pile of dark ash, remains of countless fires that been raised and died on that spot. How many councils had been held here I wondered? The place felt sacred. It had the quiet and the stillness that only a holy place could produce. For once my racing mind seem to slow and I enjoyed the warm breeze and the bright rays of climbing sun on my face. It was then I noticed I was no longer cold, my shivering had stopped.

The man in the robe drew back his hood and turned to address me. His face was that of any man, it was an ordinary face. It was an unsurprising face. It was an ageless face. His head was capped with long wispy grey hair that tumbled down to his shoulders. I was surprised in a way, I had expected more 'character' to this strange mans face. It was plain. Even his eyes seemed normal, a pair of blue normal eyes. Then he started to speak.

‘I suppose you have questions to ask?’ he said ‘ Well I can help you with some, others you must learn for yourself’

For what seemed like an age we talked and I began to understand more and more about this land. His trance-like voice commanded awe and respect. Words were pounded out of his mouth like mountain ranges crashing together and yet at the same time had the sublime feel of butterflies wings being drawn across your face. This man was an enigma, for all the questions I asked he did not tell me who he was or what purpose he served by helping me. His knowledge seem complete, a vast lexion of everything, there seemed nothing he did now know. Still two vitals questions were left unanswered as the discourse naturally came to an end. Questions I knew I must have answered. I still did not know why I was here, in this land, and what indeed this land was. As we had talked I had indeed felt more secure in this place, and old memories did seem to fade until they became nothing more than a drifting ghost, but still these two questions burned in my mind. Finally I found voice to my curiosity.

‘Tell me’ I said, ‘Why am I here?’

The man smiled and replied ‘ To bring balance to the land’

Not the most comprehensive answer I thought. My other question was more important.

‘One last thing’ I asked ‘you have told me I am in the World of Dreams. I was somewhere else before that, where I can hardly remember now. You said this is a different world, a different existence. I do not understand that. How can that be?’

‘Do you believe that you move through the world or that world moves through you?’ the man said.

‘What is that supposed to mean. That doesn’t answer my question’ I retorted mystified

The man chuckled ‘What do you see if you look into a mirror with a mirror?’

And then I knew.

Me wish me cood rite all dat in Urk speak hehehe.