Arcane House

Waking and Wondering

"Well, Now that we've seen each other," Said the Unicorn, "If You'll Believe in Me, I'll Believe in You."
~Lewis Carroll,
"Through The Looking Glass"

.•*•.

Katie sat at in her fathers old study, reading until the shadows closed around her and the candle's flicker died.

When she woke the room was much changed.

The candle, for one, was now tall and thick, a bright flame, the sides dripping fantastically.

The book which she had been reading had changed too, it was now a very large, ancient Bible, and as she examined the page it was turned to, she realized it was the Last Supper, and the Resurrection. Except it seemed to be written from a different point of view, somebody low down on the floor and a seemingly unknown observer to all, except Yeshua. and some of the details were missing. it hadn't mentioned at all the part where he washes his disciples feet, and Katie felt this was a terribly wrong mistake. That part had been very important, she thought in fact her favorite part. And it also seemed to add a lot in about his time in the tomb that hadn't been there before, something about a lot of blue cloth and a holly smell, but the page was too crumbly to read.

She got up from the book and looked around her father's study. Except it didn't seem to be her fathers study, and it had a lot of stuff she'd never seen before. The rooms proportions didn't seem to match her memory correctly either.

She turned resolutely to walk out the hall door-but found she'd run against a blank wall. No door? Well.

Katie turned to the window and tried to look out, but it was so dark outside she couldn't see anything. She tried twisting the latch to open it, but it would not turn.

The wall of shelves to her right seemed to make themselves apparent, and there she found a long brass spyglass.

She pressed one large blue eye to the glass and what she saw surprised her so much she nearly dropped it. A yellow rubber duckie, floating on black water. The water lapped at the duck, and a second later it was as if the spyglass had slid beneath the water level, and it went very dark. she replaced the glass on the desk quickly, desperately trying to divert her mind from the horrible visions of Cavernous Jaws and Bulging Eyes that now crowded her mind. She would not look through the spyglass again, she decided.

The desk had changed again and she rallied herself to figure out the change. After a moment she realized the Bible was gone, and under where it had been there now was a stack of papers. She seated herself again in the leather armchair and began to read them. They were very hard to understand and it seemed all had to do with something different. The first one she could make neither head nor tales of;

Carrots: To Market.
Celery: Washing Stand.
Fresh Portage. Only if we have time.
When will the baker be in? At Tea, but not on Wednesday, if he has a terrible cold.

Katie shook her head and turned to the next.

When will the Skies open,
to water my Little Friends?
When has the Water Weed,
No thought for hither..
The hollyhock pens,
A letter to a Friend,
But the Moon Valleys cluster,
Too close for comfort.
Lay still my little muster,
Lay still and sleep,
Don't wake for a second,
To see the Skies Weep.

This one, though being a little nonsensical, pleased Katie more, as it filled her with soft smells and bright colors.

The third she didn't read to the end, for it started alright, but seemed to progress into a nightmare: