The Pilgrim's Egress

Candlesticks and Visions II

Thad turned his attention to the other candlestick. This one was silver, or at least silver in color. He supposed it could be platinum, or even some sort of polished steel. As he picked it up it seemed to weigh almost nothing at all. He wondered if it might not be titanium instead. This candlestick was shaped like a dagger with a twisting branch of holly winding down the blade The base and the top were stars within a circle. This candlestick also had a small keyhole in the bottom.

He tried the key and sure enough it also turned this lock. A small door opened and he looked inside. Inside he saw Beth. Beth was sleeping and dreaming. Thad found that he could look into her dream. In her dream Beth was drawing. The image was very black and very uniform. Thad guessed she was using ink. He could see that Beth was clearly upset. Beth was trying to finish this drawing; she needed to finish the drawing. The problem was that as fast as Beth was drawing the picture, the ink was fading as if it were just evaporating. Until it faded Thad could see that the picture was of a striking young woman with pointy ears and sharp bladed weapons. Besides the pointy ears the only other noticeable feature were her tiny hands. Hands that almost seemed as if they would break trying to hold the weapons they were holding.

As the image faded away to nothing Beth sat there crying. She looked up and turned and stared straight at Thad. As there eyes met and Beth's sad expression turned to one of confusion, Beth woke up. Now Thad was facing a Beth lying in a bed staring at the ceiling. Now this Beth sat up and stared straight at Thad. "Why did you fall asleep?" she asked, "Why did you not come back for me?"

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