Snow.
It was everywhere. It was freezing. And yet I was not at my destination. I trudged along in my thin-ripped jeans,converses, and tattered winter jacket. I had to find a warm place for the night. I did not know where I was going, but I was told to keep going South. Easy for you to say, it's hard to tell which way is which in this weather. I thought to myself as I journeyed into the White Sea.
I thought back to the day prior to my voyage to safety...
BANG! I shot up in bed and beheld the most beautiful, mesmerizing eyes I had ever seen. Scarlet Red. Captivating. Drawing me in. "Get up! Get up!" The mysterious red-eyed woman exclaimed. She threw my jacket and shoes at me. "You must go at once! You must leave. It's not safe here. You must find them." I tried to ask what was up, but she immediately put her finger to her lips to sush me. The lady looked around and seemed to be listening for someone. She then took my hand, gave me a small item, and whispered "you must go South. Take this with you. Don't let anyone have it except for them. You'll know when the time is right....but first find Oliver." As she finished saying "Oliver" she walked over to my bedroom window, thrust it open, and as the snow began to blow in, she pointed out. "Go!"
It is strange that an encounter like that would lead someone to leave their home, but the urgency of that voice and the tantalizing promise of those red eyes made it seem like it was the only choice I could make.
So here I am. Alone. Cold. Going South.
My hands reached into my pant pocket and pulled out the small item this woman had given me. A small, button-sized, brown bean. What would it become? Nothing in this climate. Where am I taking it? To Oliver. To them. Whoever this "them" is.
As I aimlessly wondered in the winter abyss, analyzing this brown bean I was gifted with, I stumbled into something. BUMP. Through the harsh snows I failed to see that something was in my path.
A tree! Finally something tangible and different. It was not just snow...it's something else!
As I began to look for more trees I saw this was more than just a tree. There were many trees, but it did not appear to be a forest. This was different. As I looked around at these trees I saw what appeared to be a dark enterance. With nowhere else to go and an uncertainty of how many trees there were, I cautiously entered this unknown habitat. As I walked into this dark tree cavern I slowly began to see the white fade away behind me and a darkness enveloped my surroundings. Soon it was pitched black. I had gone from an all white surrounding to an all black one.
Meow. Chirp. Squeak. The first sounds I heard when I was completely surrounded by the dark. Tom, Jerry, and Tweety. Animals playing in the dark and reminding me of my childhood cartoons.
And yet something was different about those sounds. I recognized them, but inherently knew they were different. But, what was different about them?
As I was contemplating this I found that I was walking towards these sounds which kept getting louder. After awhile I started to notice a reddish tint in the distance. As I moved closer I recognized the reddish, yellowish, orange as fire as I began to smell the smoke.
I picked up my pace. I was almost running to the warmth. When the fire was just a few more feet away I stopped dead in my tracks.
I did not even think about the fact that if there was a fire then there must be people. Who could possibly be this far North? Do they know who I am or anything about this quest for them? As I was thinking this I noticed that there were three people sitting by the fire. All around young. The oldest was maybe 20. Two guys and one young girl. They were all looking at me. They were smiling.
"What's wrong silly? You've come to the right place. Come sit with us and help us plan our next move." The girl said patting the log seat next to her. The younger looking boy looked at me, bent down, and grabbed a bowl of soup to which he reached out to me. "I'm sure you're starving, come eat!"
Confused as to who these people were I stood still. Paralyzed. The oldest, who had a beard that would have better fit someone much older, then stood up and smiled. "Now now you two. Our friend here is lacking the proper memories. I think you may be scaring him." He said to his two companions and then turned to me and offered out his hand, "Welcome to our humble abode, you can call me Al. Please take some soup and let us explain who we are, but first....do you have the bean?" All three looked at me expectingly.
