FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Gift

Edward's Storyline, Chapter 3.1

copyright comidacomida 2018

The following week was a blur with every activity blending seamlessly and muddily into the next. If someone where to ask me what happened during that week I wouldn't have had the slightest idea... unless they asked me about my dreams. Even now, the only thing I can recall from that first full week with the spirits was that each night was accentuated by a dream and each dream was crystal clear.

That first night, after speaking with Tom, I dreamed of rituals and celebrations. I heard the Shabbat prayer again and again, and other prayers that Tom hadn't discussed. All the while I was under the impression that the Rhino was with me, or at least knew of my thoughts. It felt like he was guiding my dreams, showing me far more than he could have while I sat in my room at my desk. It was a centering experience, and peaceful-- a sharp contrast to the dream the following night.

The dream felt comforting and stable. Everything was 'just so', and there was a degree of peace in knowing what to expect. It felt like tradition and pride. I enjoyed the dream even if I couldn't understand all of it. The following morning is blurry in my memory again but I recall feeling as though I could better appreciate what Tom stood for and represented.

If my dreams that Friday had been inspired by and felt of Tom then my dreams on Sunday were wholly and completely preoccupied with thoughts of Green. As the oldest of the triumvirate that was The Ancient One, he was alien and the dream felt that way too. There were no words spoken, no named places and no landmarks. It was feral and wild and primeval. There were no Humans when life first began to flourish on the earth; there were no rules; there was no society. It was strange to have a dream where that felt right and it was the intellectual and physical constructs of man that were alien.

Although the level of comprehension within the otherworldly strangeness of the dream had left me feeling ill at ease there was something about it that gave way to some amount of empathy for Green. He had come into being when everything was simple in the way that only the laws of nature could be. It had been millennia since he was last in his element and he was so fundamentally different from humanity that there was little wonder he had trouble fitting in, understanding, or comprehending. Although that empathy didn't really help me appreciate him it did, I felt, help me at least understand... a little.

Sunday day was a blur after that, and the smudge gave way to the clarity of sleep Sunday night. My dream was unmistakably about Red. It was a dream of philosophy and understanding; I dreamed of the ancient eastern civilizations and the great thinkers of the orient. The dream lacked any feeling or emotion or what my debate teacher called 'pathos'; it focused on thought and logic and all things intellectual. The entire experience was almost robotic and, in a way, was almost as alien as the prior night's dream, but on the complete other side of the spectrum; Green's dream was all instinct while Red's was as analytical as an algebra problem.

I awoke Monday morning exhausted; I never really liked math. Even so, I remember a lingering sense of understanding when it came to Red. The long, sinewy Dragon interacted with Humans the best way he knew how: logic. While I'd first pegged him as uncaring and unfeeling I hadn't realized that he'd spent most of his existence as a representation of understanding and comprehension. If he'd been seen as a being of knowledge and insight it only made sense that he continued to exist by exemplifying that ideal. It didn't make me like the thought of his constant corrections and objections, but at least I understood it a little more.

By the time Monday night came around I remember worrying about going to sleep but, as with any other point of the week anything before that was a blur. That night, however, the fear was unfounded. Unlike the prior two nights, which had been full of alien ideas and logical analysis, my sleep was full of memories. There were memories about my grandparents, about my mom, and about me. It wasn't until part way through the dream that I realized that they weren't my dreams: they were my mom's... only, not JUST my mom's. The memories I was living in my dream were all filtered through the eyes of Ch'upikaq, the rainbow Serpent.

I learned more about him than any of the others, but I also learned more about myself. Ch'upikaq was the only part of The Ancient One with an actual name; neither Green nor Red had one and apparently that made them weaker. They relied on Ch'upikaq's close connection with the emotional part of humanity to facilitate their gathering of energy. If nothing else, it also helped me find some part of the three that could actually empathize and understand humanity and, by extension, me. It was a good feeling-- a very good feeling.

The following day had been a good one, at least, I think it had. I'm pretty sure I spent most of it smiling, which wasn't a normal thing when I had a 10 hour shift at the junkyard but, still, I think I spent it smiling. Ch'upikaq was also my constant companion that day, at least, I think it was the feathered serpent who spent the vast majority of time in control of the trio. The other spirits were there too... at least, I think they were. Still, just like all the other days, it is just a smudge, and nothing became clear until I went to bed Tuesday night, and then the dreams continued.

I dreamed of Treboada that night. Clearest yet of any dream since the one with Tom, I actually had the Wolf as a guide of sorts as he took me through the history of Scotland from the stone age up through the Roman invasion, the introduction of Irish missionaries, then English missionaries, then Vikings, then more English (military this time), followed by on-again-off-again occupation (three times, apparently). Although it was a dream it felt as though I was hearing all about everything directly from the Wolf's muzzle and it was a colorful history complete with colorful narration by the heavily accented baritone of a black furred Wolf.

Treboada had survived through numerous trials and tribulations. He'd had a hard life being the Tribal Spirit of a people who were often pushed up against the ropes. They were warriors who lived life as such, forced to deal with invaders at every turn with scarcely a moment's peace and yet, despite it all, he was able to smile and wag his tail whenever an opportunity arose. The dream had ended with him singing a song; unlike his rough exterior there was a true, careful beauty to it, and, in experiencing it, I could also see the beauty in his rough-and-tumble attitude.

After that was another day of whatever-happened. I suppose anyone else might have been worried at having an entire week basically wiped from their memory but you would have to understand that it wasn't so much as forgetting the events of the day as it was focusing so intently on the dreams of the night. They felt more real than life at that point and they made such a profound difference in understanding my new companions that they are what I remember best. Wednesday night was devoted to Medved, and, aside from Tom's dream, I think it was probably my favorite of the bunch.

Unlike the other dreams there wasn't so much any specific crystal clear event or storyline or setting, per se. I remembered having been exhausted that night and, for some reason Medved has joined me to watch over me in my room. The dream had been one lengthy, extended stretch of relaxation. There was music of no specific variety; there was clear weather of an unspecified temperature; the scenery was beautiful but without definition. Simply put, the dream was full of recuperation but devoid of substance.

Medved was there in the dream and, while you might expect a featureless existence to be a little alarming, his presence made it feel right. He'd conveyed the thought that rest should be restful. Looking back, I suppose that the 'duh' statement should have been obvious but, in the moment it felt like a deep revelation. When I woke up I felt cleansed and ready to start the day. That Thursday was my Friday; I'd be off on Friday and Saturday. I remember planning out my weekend, not realizing that everything before then would be a haze, and went to work like the rest of the week.

Over the course of those 6 days I had gone through dreams 'hosted' by each of the spirits that occupied my home (technically the six spirits, I suppose, considering the three-made-one that was The Ancient One). Only as I got ready for bed on Thursday night did the blur that filled my week begin to leave my memory intact, and that started with a very specific thought, and a question to The Ancient One, who was looming behind me as I brushed my teeth. "I spent the week dreaming about all of you..."

Although I couldn't see the reflection of The Ancient One in the mirror I could still tell that it was Red who was going to respond and I was right. "Yes you did."

"So... now that I've dreamed about everyone..."

There was a pause until Red realized that my silence was meant to be an unspoken question. He voiced it. "You are wondering what will fill your dreams tonight?"

I shrugged, setting my tooth brush back by the sink. "Yeah. Kinda."

The soft touch of a feathery wing brushing my shoulder made me realize that it wasn't Red who would provide the insight. Rather than answering my question though, the rainbow Serpent countered with one of his own. "What would you like to dream about?"

Without realizing that answering his question would answer my own as well I--