Canterbury Calls

It was cold and getting colder. Thad could only remember being this cold one other time and that was in a dream. He glanced around looking for something familiar, anything in order to figure out where he was. There were trees around him, but he wasn't in his orchard. Each time he turned to look in some direction, he thought he saw some movement out of the corner of his eye. He was lost and spinning in circles trying to get a look at something that might not actually be there. He felt a cold breath on the back of his neck. He spun around and there was Anne, dressed in black, eyes like steel boring into his own. Her skin was white, except for little patched of pink on her cheeks, giving this otherwise menacing apparition an air of cuteness.
She smirked at Thad who was stumbling backwards from her. She reached out and grabbed him by the neck. Her hand was like ice. She pulled him in close and as she whispered to him her breath was as cold as a winter wind.

"Go back to your orchard." She said.

With that she threw Thad high up into the sky. Thad was thrown high above the trees. Over the forest he soared in a large arc. Ahead of him he saw the orchard and he began falling toward it. The upper branches of the trees in the orchard tore at him. He fell through them and toward the ground.

Thad awoke with a stifled scream, but when he awoke he was no more certain of where he was. It seemed that he was in his own bed in the orchard but it was very different now. The leaves had all turned color and many of them had fallen off the trees.

How long had he been sleeping?
He jumped up out of bed as the sun set.
He scanned the sky but all he could see were stars.
The stars were no use. They just giggled at him. He needed Luna.

He climbed a tall tree and scanned the eastern sky.
He saw his three stars, and was taken by a deep sadness.
They would be shining over Anne. After his dream the thought of Anne caused him to shiver.

"Luna!" he cried, "I need you!"
Luna did not come.
Feeling very let down, Thad looked around. Off to the west, but not too far, he saw a stone tower.

"Funny that I hadn't seen that before." thought Thad to himself.
He climbed out of the tree and walked in the direction of the tower.
Only about thirty minutes later he came to the tower. Above the door was a blue shield with a white cross in the shape of an X across it. He walked through the door and heard beautiful singing. He walked farther into the tower and through another door and saw the source of the singing. There was a choir. A splendid choir dressed in black cassocks and white surplices. One of the singers noticed Thad and left the choir to come greet him.

"Hello! We're so glad you came." said the singer.
"What is this place?" asked Thad.
"Well . . . it's Canterbury. . . of sorts."
"This is Canterbury?"
"This is Canterbury come to you. Canterbury is still far to the west, but Canterbury does not just sit waiting for people to come. Come sing with us!"
And with that Thad joined the choir in the stone tower.

Turn the Page.
Turn back a Page.
To Table of Contents
To Book Cover

© 2003 - Jonathan Gardner