Hoping to Appease

I wake up in a clean bright room, on clean fragrant sheets and in a clean new dress. Deciding not to think too hard about how I got into a clean dress, I get out of bed and go over to the window. It’s a beautiful day and I wished I could stand here all day and enjoy the view but I needed a shower and some food.

I had assumed I was still in Beatrix’s house but when I opened to door and peeked out, I recognised nothing of the room beyond. I felt a trickle of fear but then decided to go looking for the owner of the house. I padded barefoot on the wooden floors made out of that same strange wood. It felt odd, kind of soft and spongy but still stable.

I found Oliver in the kitchen preparing something that smelled absolutely delicious.

“Hi Oliver,” I said.

“Oh hi, Soultide,” Oliver said peering at me over his shoulder. “Are you rested?”

“Yes, I feel a lot better than I did yesterday. Sorry for losing it”

Oliver laughed and said “Yesterday? You’ve been sleeping for four days.” He laughed again, obviously very amused at my confusion.

“How can that be?”

“You had reached a level of exhaustion that is only achieved by those who journey through Owl Creek Valley and along the Owl Creek Road. It is no ordinary journey and for ones such as you, there needs to be extra guidance.”

Oliver was making no sense and he seemed to have lost his ability to explain things clearly to me. I didn’t know whether to be worried about him not being clear or myself for not understanding. Oliver showed me the bathroom where I could shower and told me that everthing I needed would be there and so I thoroughly enjoyed my shower and returned to the kitchen even more hungry than before.

Oliver set the food out on the table and I forgot about everything else except my stomach. We both ate heartily of the homemade bread, scrambled eggs, honey, herbal tea and fruit juice.

As we digested our food and made chitchat, Beatrix knocked and let herself in. Her face was bright and smiling, like the day outside and it made me happy to see her. Instinctively I knew that she and I had to have a conversation and maybe now was the time for that. Oliver cleared the table and excused himself from the room, giving me one of his famous smiles as he left. He said he’d see me later when I’d got my things together and was ready to leave.

That brought my reality crashing home. Beatrix spoke and I listened. The first thing she told me was that normally the journey from a portal to Owl Creek Valley could take months due to wights and other undesireables causing delays and tricking travellers in order to stop them from getting to her. She told me that she was working with Enchanteur to help guide a group of travellers whom Enchanteur wanted to start of their journey into the mine to search for the creative grail also known as the elixir of creativity. I was one of these and there were many others too. She told me that before I would be allowed to enter the mine, I needed to give something to appease Enchanteur who is also known in these parts as the Lady of the Mine. Beatrix couldn’t tell me what but she said I’d know what was appropriate if I looked into my heart and listened to my inner voice. I didn’t know what inner voice she was referring to but I nodded understanding all the same. Beatrix left me to absorb all of this information and told me that I had to be ready by tomorrow. I fretted but later Oliver calmed me down and suggested I go to my room and meditate. Instead I wrote this:

It is you I have come to
Instead of staying safe
Not by choice
But by urgings and intuitions

The journey I took here
Felt shorter than it should have been
And I know that was you
Some magic of yours, some power

I ask that you use this power
To help me on my way into the deep earth
To show me my own power
So that I may learn as I need

I will see this to the end
Even though I know not what awaits me
Curiosity is mingling with apprehension in my gut
Such typical feelings
But my own nevertheless

I give you these verses now
Only the first of more to come
And I will be open to the flow
With a creative woman’s heart
In the morning, I was ready with my pouch, my equipment, my gift and an open heart.

by Soultide