Thad Cleans

Thad spoke to Beth.
What does one say to someone whom one hasn't spoken to in what seems like lifetimes?
"Well, Beth. It's really wonderful to see you again, but I really must be going."
"Thad, you just woke up, are you sure you won't stay a little longer? Do you know where you're going?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. I'm going back to my room. There are things I need to take care of there."
After a pause Thad added "Come with me Beth."
"I can't Thad. Even if I could I'm not sure I would."
"That's OK. Still I'm back to my room. I must clean it."

With that Thad left the gathering and went back to his small room.
He looked at the flowers again. They truly seemed to be a bright focal point in this dark dusty room. He couldn't help wonder where they came from. He started with the table they were on. He felt it made sense to start from the one bright fresh spot in the room and work out from there.

He lifted the flower vase and wiped the table underneath. The dust on the table was veiling a beautiful dark polished wood table. The light reflected of the alternating light and dark of the grain as if they were real grooves. If oak could sparkle, it did in this table. The feet of the the table were multifaceted balls of crystal that would reflect the smallest light source. Magnifying it and reflecting it until the feet verily shone with a brilliant radiance that seemed to come from deep within the crystal itself. The crystal feet were gripped by brass claws. They could have been eagle talons, or dragon feet. When they had been polished they too were able to greatly magnify the light reflected off them. If Thad had looked around he would have seen dancing rainbows on the walls and ceilings and a general aura of gold permeating the room. All this from simply polishing the feet of a bedside table.

The legs of the table were most interesting. At first glance they seemed to be carved into the form of weaved vines, but as he was wiping the dust off them and polishing them, he could see that they resembled more twisted tendons revealed under a tough dried out taut skin of some sort. As he cleaned he could almost sense that the table legs were filling out somehow. At that moment he looked at himself and he also seemed to have regained some of the muscle mass he had lost during his sleep. While this was yet another mystery, he had no desire to cease what he was doing.

At the top of the legs and right below the table top, he noticed a drawer in the table. He opened the drawer and inside was a book. A journal or diary of sorts. In this journal he found writings in his own penmanship that he had no memory of writing.

"My dreams are dying. I lay wasting away. The years go by so quickly. So quickly. Soon they will be over and I will wake only in time to die."

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© 2003 - Jonathan Gardner