Interlude

And so it was that Gabrielle paused in her writing and moved to a different room.

Tale the Fifteenth

There is an attic in my mind. The attic is where I keep my memories, fears, dreams. I keep them in clearly labeled boxes and each box has its place. Here are happy memories. There sad ones. And tucked into the darkest corner my embarrassing memories. There are my day dreams and here are my night dreams that never make any sense. This box here holds my fears.

These boxes line the edges of my attic and fill the spaces under the eaves. But in the middle of the room is the biggest box of all. It sits under the light and seems to gleam. This is the box I look into the most. This box holds my hopes.

I open up the box and look at all my hopes. They are neatly placed in this box and you can see the ones I look at the most right on top. Some of these hopes look worn around the edges as if they are handled frequently. Some of my hopes are packed away at the bottom of the box. There is something vaguely juvenile about them, but I don't have the heart to throw them away. Some of my hopes are silly looking and I pull them out to chuckle. Some hopes have been moved to different boxes; to happy memories, to sad memories.
I sit in my attic and look through my hopes. They are so very attractive to me. But the hope I think most lovely an old woman shrunk for me and put it on a chain. I wear this hope around my neck where I can look at it when I need it most. It looks very small, but it shines like the moon.

These hopes are lovely, but what is beckons me. With a sigh I repack my hopes and close the box. As I switch off the light I reach a hand up and touch the hope around my neck. Then I turn and close the door behind me.

Tale the Fourteenth

There is a train that will take you where you want to go. It won't take you where ever you ask it to or where you think you want to go. This train will take you where your heart truly desires to be. It is very dangerous to travel on this train. People seldom end up where they meant to be. It is doubly dangerous to travel on this train in groups. There are always those who try such things and none of them end up in the same place. People have tried to make themselves desire to be someplace, but the train always knows what your desire truly is. And you will always get what you want.

There once was a man named Victor who accidentally stumbled onto the train. He meant to get on a train to Pittsburgh, but forgot the gate number and got on the other train by mistake. He settled himself into the surprisingly comfortable seats and watched the scenery go by. After a time he fell asleep and slept peacefully for many hours. When he awoke he looked out his window and knew he was not on the way to Pittsburgh. For a moment Victor was worried, but he realized there was nothing to be done about it until the train stopped so he sat back and enjoyed the ride.

The scenery outside his window was dark and grim. Victor could see people struggling up a long, dark path. He wanted to tell someone to stop the train and let these people on, but before he even got up they were far behind him. And still the train rushed on.

It was when Victor began to think the train would never stop that it did. They had just crossed over a river and everything outside his window was green and fresh. In a daze Victor rose from his seat and moved to get his luggage, but somehow he knew he wouldn't be needing it anymore. The train doors opened as he came to it and cool, golden light washed over his face. Waiting for him was a man who shined with the light of the moon.

The man welcomed him with a voice that held all the beauty of the stars. The man welcomed him to the Summer Country; to the Land where the grass is ever green; to the Land beyond the River. With tears of joy in his eyes Victor kicked off his shoes. He had come to where he truly longed to be and he was happy for the rest of time.

The End of the Beginning.

Tale the Thirteenth

My life turned into a movie the other day. I walking through an ordinary day and suddenly life was a movie. I could try to explain it, but we will this fact my one gimmee and be done with it. Explanations are boring and can be pointless. Suffice it to say life was a movie.

At first it was great. I had my own theme music, my wisecracking skills were the best they've ever been and nothing bad happened until it was dramatically appropriate. I thought this movie was great.

But of course a movie that went on like this would be boring. So tragedy struck. Bad things happened and I looked on helplessly as my world was slowly unraveled. The music was low and hopeless as I was taken as far down as I could go. There were a lot of close zooms and he sun was always setting. I could almost reach out and feel the angst being pumped into this movie.

I almost didn't notice when my world was reassembled. My life was a good movie so there were no easy answers. As I watched the redemption plot unfold in front of me the battle to be fought became clear. I could see myself grow and change into a better person in a few short hours. By the end I knew what I wanted and what I should be willing to die for. I could feel a purpose growing in my chest.

But then the movie ended. The music faded away and the audience filed out. My life as normal was back. I looked around a little lost. What now? Humming my theme music I switched the cameras off and ventured out to fight the good fight.

Tale the Twelth

Once upon a time in a land two houses down there lived a car named Mabel. Mabel lived with her person and she was very happy. Everyday she would wake up and take her person to work. If it was sunny she would put her top down so he could enjoy the sunshine. If it was rainy she would run her wipers so he could see where they were going. Mabel's person took very good care of her and they were very happy together.

But there came a time when Mabel noticed her person changing. Instead of spending Saturday cleaning and waxing her he asked her to take him somewhere and spent the day away from her. When she drove him to work in the morning he seemed distracted and didn't talk to her as he used to. And when it was time for him to change her oil he forgot and spent the time just walking with another of his kind. Mabel began to feel sad and lonely. She tried to make her person spend more time with her by making noises in the morning, but he didn't seem to notice. She tried everything she could think of to make him spend a day with her like he used to, but she did worked.

This went on for quite a while. Mabel kept feeling sadder and lonelier. And just when her person was spending the least amount of time with her he would ask her to take him and a female person to one place or another. Mabel had no idea what was going on, but she knew that whatever had happened to change her master it was the female's fault.

One day Mabel didn't take her person to work. He told her to take him to a big white building and small people tied cans to her bumper and put streamers all over her. After a time her person and the female came out of the building and her person asked Mabel to drive off. As she drove away the cans tied on to her made a horrible noise and the streamers got in her eyes. She tried to make her person notice, but he and the female were too happy to notice her. It was then that Mabel started planning her revenge.

The female now lived with Mabel and her person so the car had plenty of opportunities to exact her vengeance. She never started when the female was in a hurry and her door never trunk never opened when the female needed that space. On a sunny day Mabel's top wouldn't budge, but she always managed to come loose when it rained. She stalled in heavy traffic, burned oil and even managed to pop a tire. Soon the female refused to drive her. Mabel was sure her revenge was complete.

But of course she was wrong.

After a day of being particularly evil to the female Mabel was lounging in her room feeling very satisfied. She was shocked when her person came home driving another car. What was this car doing here? Mabel felt slightly troubled. A short time later Mabel's person came and asked her to take him someplace she had never been before. It was just her and her person. Mabel was very happy. She put the top down and let in the sunlight. They drove for a while in peaceful silence and Mabel felt truly happy for the first time since the female had come to live with them.

They drove to a building and her person got out. Mabel watched him talk to another man.

"She worked just fine until a few weeks ago." Mabel's person said. And then he chuckled. "I know it sounds silly, but I wonder if she just didn't like my wife. I knew I had to choose between them so, well, here's the keys." And Mabel watched in horror as her person handed her keys to the other man, got into the new car and drove away.

Mabel was left all alone with her thoughts. They were not attractive. And slowly her heart turned cold and hard like all the other cars around her. And she forgot that she was sad or that there was a time when she had ever been happy.

Tale the Eleventh

I started down an alley today. My feet carried me down while the garages facing the alley glared balefully. When I came to a bend in the alley I stopped. You can never be too careful with alleys. They are the connection to Below we can touch, but we can't control.

You can control roads. It's easy. You give them a name, you put them on a map and presto, the road is controlled. You can control streets, highways, lanes, avenues and even courts, but it is impossible to control an alley. Men have gone mad trying.

The first man to try to map alleys disappeared. He was never heard from again. Passersby found his cartography tools, his watch and an umbrella with a map of the London subway system on it, but there was no trace of the man. Some people say he was eaten by the frog that lives in all alleys. Some people say he took a wrong turn and got lost in the alleys. Some people say that maybe he got sucked into Below. Nobody knows.

It is very easy to get sucked into Below from an alley. You never know where an alley will take you. Maybe it will deposit you one block over or maybe it will spirit you away to the place where all the pale kids go. Maybe the alley will dead end or maybe you will be dragged off to your doom. You never can tell with alleys.

So with this in mind I approached the bend in the alley. From where I stood I couldn't see around the corner. I stood for a long moment. Did I dare? Should I risk it? For a longer moment I stood in doubt. Then my feet began to move and carry me towards the bend.

Tale the Tenth

This tale was inspired by true events.

The Land was gray. Once it had been bright and the Sun had burned in the sky. Its light was warm and the people were happy. But now the Sun was gone and the people began to fear.

They sent out men to search the whole of the Land. Valiant men left the City to search for the Sun where ever it might be found. There was no lord of the land who was not questioned. No palace, castle, fort or keep was left unsearched. But still they found no Sun and still the Land was gray and cloudy.

One by one the men came back to the City to report. They had failed. They could not find the Sun. The wise men of the City immediately began calculating how long the Land could survive without the Sun. The wordsmiths immediately began trying to write a proclamation that would not cause a panic. The scientists immediately began work on a machine that might replace the Sun. And the People began to mourn for their lost way of life.

There was one man who had not returned from his search yet. He had journeyed farther than the others and he was just now returning. He walked through the City with great heaviness in his heart. Because someone with great heaviness in his heart always walks with his head down the man didn't see the young boy until he had walked into him. Stammering apologies the man hurried to help the boy up. And then he went to get the round package the boy had been carrying. As he picked it up the wrapping shifted and suddenly the man found himself looking straight into the Sun. The man yelped and asked the usual questions someone asks when he finds himself holding the Sun wrapped in a blanket. The only important question was "Where did you find this?" The boy looked confused and said he had got it from the normal place.

"Where?", insisted the man.

The boy saw he was obviously speaking to a half-wit and patiently explained that the Sun goes in the sky.

"Yes, yes, I know that, but how did you get it down?"

"I climbed on a chair."

The particulars of the next few exchanges are neither important nor interesting. The man was having trouble speaking clearly and the boy was having trouble figuring out why a full grown man was acting so daft. Suffice it to say that after a long, circuitous conversation the boy had explained that his little brother had just celebrated his second birthday and that the boy's mother had asked him to decorate for the party. The boy had wanted really nice decorations so he had climbed on a chair and unhooked the Sun. Now that the party was over he had gone to put it back, but someone had moved his chair and he couldn't reach.

The man listened to all of this, decided not to think about any of it and found a chair for the boy to stand on. A few moments later the Sun was burning merrily in its place. The man decided that if anyone asked how the Sun got put back in its place he could honestly say he had no idea.