Thursday, May 6, 2010

You will have one chance

I'm floating through the purple sky above a lake. When I look down I can see Bob's little hut near the water. A stream of smoke flows out of the chimney and disperses into the sky.

I do a backwards somersault, and then another. There's something so refreshing about floating in the air. It's one of my favourite things to do.

When I look to my left Charlie is there. He reaches out his right hand for me to take, which I do.

"Come on darlin'," he says reassuringly as we soar over the lake towards a dock in the middle of the water. When we land on the dock a radio plays some strange music. I've never heard it before. I look around for my flip flops, but I can't see them anywhere. I peer over the edge of the dock to look into the water, but they're gone.

When I turn back to Charlie, I notice that he is chanting a weird chant. It goes with the music, but I'm not really sure how to dance to it -- and I don't like that I'm not wearing any shoes on the dance floor. I look around for Deandra, but I can't see her. I see the bartender looking at me weird as I walk away from Charlie towards the back hall to see if Deandra is in the washroom.

I don't like that I have no shoes on. The floor is sticky -- and there is broken glass everywhere. When I get to the back hall that leads towards the washroom, it's pitch black.

I pat my hands against the wall to guide me towards the bathroom door.

"Deandra?" I call out. I can hear someone in the distance. I take another step forward.

"Deandra?"

In the distance I see a stream of light peek out from the cracks around the bathroom door frame. It allows me to have a partial view of what is right in front of me.

I look to the floor to make sure there is no broken glass, and then carefully take another step.

When I look back up --

Bob is standing there. He looks me straight in the eye and says in perfect English, "Do not go near the bathroom."

A moment later I gasp, and open my eyes. I'm covered in sweat and laying on Bob's uncomfortable sofa. Beside me Bob is chanting with his eyes closed. Linda sits near the wall, simply observing. A fire crackles on the other side of the room, and the air is filled with different scents that I'm not used to.

I'm soaked in sweat.

A moment later Bob stops chanting and opens his eyes. He turns to Linda and tells her something in his raspy little voice.

Linda turns to me and says, "He has warned you. He says that he is confident that his chant of protection has told your soul how to protect itself."

I look to Linda, then Bob.

I sit up, and reach for my rusty glass of water; which is blessedly ice tea.

He has warned me?

After I quench my thirst, I turn back to Linda and tell her the only thing that comes to mind:

"But, I don't remember anything."

Linda translates to Bob, who says something again in his raspy little voice. A moment later Linda translates.

"He says that you will remember when the time comes. He says that your soul will recognize images that indicate the pending danger. And that..."

There goes Linda trailing off again...

"And that..." she looks down again and fidgets with her hands. She's upset.

I lose my cool,

"Oh, for fuck's sake Linda! Just spit it out!" I snap. My nerves are completely shot at this point. I'm in some wooden hut in the middle of nowhere being cryptically warned by a Shaman named Bob, and she has the nerve to add unnecessary dramatic pauses in my time of crisis?!?

I glare at her.

Linda takes a deep breath. The fire crackles louder in the background, and the winds outside the hut begin to howl with more vengeance.

Eventually Linda speaks. This time, there is a gravity in her voice like nothing I've heard before. She looks me square in the eye. Her deep brown eyes convey that she is speaking the absolute truth.

"You will have one opportunity to make your escape," she tells me without breaking her gaze.

A moment later, the pitch of the winds intensifies to a bone chilling shrill, and the fire goes out. I am left alone in the dark, with a cryptic message -- out in the wilderness. Completely exposed to all the dangers that lurk in my immediate future.

And trying very hard to not be afraid.