Perchance, I got ahead of myself as I jumped straight into my account of dreams. Begging your pardon, I did not even introduce myself. My name is Gable Matterson. I live on the corner of Hinkle and Broad, perhaps you have seen the building. Of course, that is where I consider myself to have lived, before the dream, before my account.
As I was saying, I was weary from sleeplessness and was showering to fight this state when I began my dream. Not that I fell asleep though one normally begins their dreams in slumber. I pulled back the curtain of the shower and before me was my bathroom, but not my bathroom.
The sink was not the white porcelain that I was expecting, but instead it was stone. The water that came from the faucet was actually more like a fountain than a traditional spout. My bath mat was replaced by luscious green grass. Thank goodness I still seemed to be in a state of privacy, but the walls were not the tile that I left behind in my own bathroom, but rather a granite appearance, rough and broken.
Instead of my towel, a woven blanket hung on a branch that came out of the granite by the shower. Oh, but I had not noticed that the shower was now a waterfall that fell from the side of the room down into a stream that ran along the side of the room and disappeared into a hole in the floor quite a few feet away. The room was like a room, but slightly like a cave. I then looked for the door and found an intricately carved wooden door that reminded me of both Celtic knots and Moorish designs that I had once seen in a theatre.
Not wishing to be caught unawares, I took the woven blanket and threw it around my shoulders. The room was surprisingly warm considering the surrounding stone. It was then that I realized the water was actually heating the room. Steam rose from the stream bed. I could not have chosen a better time to wrap myself in the blanket for through the door, the door in my dream, a person entered the room.
“Oh my!” I stated as I was surprised by the person entering, puzzled as to my surroundings, and concerned about my current state of affairs.
“Ah, so you have arrived, my lad!” exclaimed the rather short man who did not look at all surprised at my being in this room.
“Arrived? I was taking a shower at my apartment and when I pulled back the shower curtain I was in this room. How did I arrive anywhere?” I asked pensively for my confusion was growing as I grew more awake, or was I awake at all?
“There will be plenty of time to answer those questions! Are you ready to come out and meet your visitors?” questioned the man who was still quite jolly and nonchalant about the whole matter.
“Am I ready? What visitors? I don't even have any clothes on!” My questions and apprehension abounded at this new turn of events. How in Covington could I have visitors when I myself am hardly where I am?
“Oh, indeed. You do need clothes. Right you are!” The man with the short stature pulled me out of the room into the adjoining room, which to my relief appeared to be a dressing room.
“Let’s see . . . you will need a sword. Here is a baldric. Let me see if I can find a pauldron for your shoulders . . .” carried on the little man as if I were not even in the room.
“Excuse me!” I interrupted, “A sword? A baldric? I don’t even know what a baldric is! Nor a pauldron. May I simply have a pair of pants, shirt, and underclothes? Shoes would be fantastic as well!”
“Simmer down, lad. You will get your pants too, don’t you worry!” He then grabbed a wad of clothing and threw it at me. “Dress yourself and we’ll get you suited up rightly after you come upstairs.”
The small man with silver hair and a grey beard left the room abruptly. I was left holding what appeared to be clothes, but I was happy that I was excused for the meantime from the sword and caldric . . . or was it paldric? Never mind, at least I was free from the leather and metal items in which he was about to outfit me.
I quickly dressed myself in the seemly antique garments. Though I was confused on how to arrange a few, I was still able to make them fit adequately. There was a standing mirror by the wall closest to the bathroom where I had entered, so I looked at my new attire. Surely I looked like some medieval rogue! I put aside my concern and utter confusion to make my way up the small staircase on the left side of the room. At the top of the stairs, I paused, peering into a small crack of light that shone through the door.
- To Be Continued -
