'An Unexpected Winter', Chapter 10.3 from the Irish fiction novel: We Come Back: Vol. 1
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An Unexpected Winter
Meanwhile, Jack Staun was facing
an experience like no other.
“Raven!” he shouted, waking suddenly.
He opened his eyes and was surprised to see he was lying on a rather large four poster bed. The bed and he were both inside what appeared to be a gazebo without walls. Water lapped gently, near the base of the columns that supported the roof of the gazebo. Though clouds of mist drifted around the enclosure, skimming the surface of the water, and the only light to be seen was that of the stars, he felt neither cold nor uncomfortable.
As he crawled down off the bed,
he noticed he was wearing a white long sleeved cotton shirt, a dark sapphire blue suit jacket, vest and trousers. It was the most eloquently tailored suit he had ever seen. The silver threads were stitched with such delicate precision. Etched within the suit jacket, vest, and trousers were black stars of various sizes, shimmering when caught in the light of the moon. The cuffs of the white shirt were fastened with silver links shaped like snowflakes. The silver buttons on the vest were the same shape. Three silver icicles were sewn directly below his vest breast pocket, as if they were hanging off a window sill and silver slippers clung to his feet. He wiggled his toes, “Really quite comfortable,” he said aloud.
After thoroughly examining his attire,
he slowly walked to the edge of the water. As he looked at down at the water, he noticed his reflection. In a whirlwind of emotion, he fell to his knees in a flashback. He could see her, dying in his arms, her blood shining crimson on the snow. He had been too late. ‘Where had he been?’ he couldn’t remember now. He felt tears start to well in his eyes just as he came out of the flashback. He took deep breaths trying to steady his soul. ‘I need to find her,’ he determined within himself.
It took quite a bit of discipline to stand up but as he did so he looked around, wondering how he could possibly be alone. There seemed to be no obvious way to leave the gazebo dry. So he took his slippers off preparing to test the water’s depth, but as he did so he slipped, and a slipper fell into the water. The moment the slipper touched the water however, the water froze at least three feet in every direction surrounding the slipper. This concept seemed familiar to him, and he found he wasn’t surprised. He reached down and picked the slipper up, which miraculously was not wet, nor had it stuck to the frost. Shortly after he removed the slipper from the ice, the water started thawing. In moments, it was as if it hadn’t occurred. He set the slipper down gently in the water again, and after seeing the same thing repeat itself, he put the slippers back on.
The mist that rolled in above the water
lapped at his feet as he slowly walked forward. He scanned the fog, searching for any source of light, or the slightest sound.
He whispered, “This has to end at some point.”
He took a deep sigh, and as he exhaled he heard something on the wind. It was coming from the East. As he followed the sound, it seemed to only be getting a little louder as if the sound was moving. He decided to take the chance of tripping, and stepped up in speed, jogging across the water. In moments he felt the terrain beneath his feet change, from hard ice to soft dirt. The fog did not venture here, and was replaced with trees, tall and gnarly, climbing higher than his eyes could see. Leaves illuminating light of various tones lit up the canopies, revealing dwellings high in the branches. Many branches wrapped together forming stairwells, arbors, and bridges from tree to tree. The trunks were hollow in some places, holding staircases and gala rooms. Beautiful, intricately constructed mushrooms housed some while nests of the finest swan and peacock feathers, held others.
He had never seen tree trunks so large.
It was as if each one held a Farenton, and the canopies above held small cottages. It appeared to be an entire city. As he approached, he stared up at four beautifully carved tree trunks directly in his path. Each one represented something different. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter, the four seasons on Earth, were etched into each post. Each post had an image of an entity, as if that entity guarded that season. He found he could barely pry his eyes away from the woman on the Summer post. She was so beautiful, and appeared to be so familiar to him, and yet he could not place her in his mind. ‘Who was she? How would he know her?’ he thought.
Just then, he heard someone calling out to him, “Welcome to the Distant Shores!”
He ripped his eyes away from the totem,
and landed them upon an older, quite jolly in appearance man, who appeared to be sitting on a stump a few feet behind the poles. As Jack walked in between the Fall and Summer totem poles, he let his fingers gently brush the Summer post, feeling energy pulsing through his bones.
“Hello sir. Do you guard this gate?” Jack inquired.
“I do sir. My name is Michael. If you will hold out your hand for me please, I will see where to lead you?”
Jack hesitated but a moment,
before handing this man his hand. He had the face of a kind man, but the eyes of a serious defender. He realized now that it was not a stump upon which he sat, but rather the stump was a part of him. His torso connected to the wood, causing great interest to Jack. Michael placed his hand in a grip with Jack’s. Jack watched as blue light swirled around, and around their hands. He looked up at Michael’s face and was fascinated to watch Michael’s eye color change rapidly and repeatedly, each change, a different shade or color. What felt like a lifetime, but really had touched on about forty-five seconds later, Michael’s eye color stopped changing, and remained an ice blue. It was hard for Jack not to stare at the brilliant glow of his eyes. Michael released Jack’s hand, and smiled at him.
“Well, it is an honor sir, to see you return.”
“How do you mean? Have we met before?”
“No sir, my father has though, but I have waited to meet you longer than any time could possibly measure. If you would like to follow me, I shall lead you where you need to go.”
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