26.
Seven days is what it was before the door showed itself, bringing to a close the most odd of odd journeys. A special week, a special honeymoon had come to an end. Both Samuel and Delia knew it was time to head home. In a way they were ready to head home. They only wished they had the week to do over again. Do again? Well, all maybe except the sirens call which Samuel still cannot remember anything about one way or the other for it had him in a heck of a trance.
Cannot remember, how strange it is that as soon as the two pass through the door and back into the real-world, Samuel begins to forget and forget it all. Delia knows this, is clear for her to see but she does not blame Samuel. It is not his fault, but as far as forgetting it all, she cannot and does not forget. If anything, getting back there soon becomes an obsession and again she cannot help but consider her end of a love they share.
She does love him, she does but is it enough? Is it what it had been before this honeymoon? For Sam it certain is, though he is losing the memories of a seven-day trip to a far-off land which had not been all so far away at all.
For Delia, it even comes to the point where Delia returns to the wall where she and Sam had come to in order to enter that other world, but the door was no longer there, besides even if it were there, she doesn't have the keys. Months passed and the desire to find that door strengthened so much so that she was even dreaming of it and of the world on its other side.
Sam of course was oblivious, not to the dreams but to what the dreams were all about. He had dreams of his own, but they were no more than dreams, they were not real or felt not real and when he would wake, they would all be forgotten. He has his obsession, and that obsession is Delia and even The Wicked Witch of the West can't ever tear them apart or so he thought.
The morning came when Samuel awoke in an empty bed, something he was getting used to so his worry had not been immediate. Worry didn't set in, not completely, when Delia did not arrive home at an hour with which Sam was used to seeing her return. Not returning texts or answering phone calls did set the wheels turning.
Finding out that Delia had not gone to work on that particular day or on the previous seven really did get the worry going. Where was she going if not to work and why? Did she go willingly? Did she leave him willingly? There was the door in her dreams; it had her talking in her sleep. Did she find this door? Why is it so important and where does it lead to?
And so, the obsession to find Delia and bring her home began. It would not stop until it could and would happen.
***
Morgan Fay's really does feel like the center of the universe. Everything seems to come back here. Ten years after marring the love of his life Samuel sits alone within its walls as lost, confused and alone as he has ever felt in his life. Thing is that he is in this world's version of the bar, the real-world version of it, for all the difference that could or might make. Different or not, he has had enough. No way in hell is Samuel going to feel sorry for himself. He will not leave this place alone, and he is going to get up, find Delia and bring her home, even if it kills him.
Now from the first moment of deciding to go find his wife to the most recent moment, off he sets with renewed determination and maybe this is what does it ... a renewed determination. Finding Delia comes much sooner than he anticipated. A black crow flies into the Morgan Fay's and perches itself on the bars juke box. As soon as it does so a song the juke box comes to life and a song begins to play.
'Oh, she is my dear, my darlin' one, her eyes so bright so full of fun, no other, no other can match the likes of her.'
The music stops and the crow takes flight. Sam follows it outside and there she is, standing right before him, there right as day and this time there is no darkness to hide within. Samuel is stopped in his tracks. As far as he is concerned, it is an angel he sees before him, as beautiful now as she was the day they first met. Perhaps he is not the only one feeling a renewal.
A wave of emotion hits him and hits him hard.
'Delia ...' he says with a gulp, as if he has swallowed his own heart.
'Samuel, what are you doing? Why did you not go back through the door like I asked of you?'
'I can't do that, not without you, I will never go through it without you.'
Samuel is glued to the spot he stands on and is ready to burst into tears at any moment and Delia can see that.
'Do you remember the night we first met?' she asks.
'Of course, I do, I will never forget it, that night was the second-best night of my life.'
'You were like a lost puppy ... second best?'
'The first night we spent together as husband and wife was the greatest.'
'Yeah, I guess it could be thought as such, and it has all been downhill since then.'
'Oh, I wouldn't say that', the music from inside Morgan Fay's is playing loud enough to be clearly heard outside. 'About that first night of ours, would you ... would ... you ...'
'What? Like to dance?'
Delia takes Samuel by the hands, and they begin to dance and this whole moment begins to feel like ... like ... magic. The magic of this places has the music of the juke box sound as if it were all around and not just coming from one place. Time stands still and a pterodactyl takes to the skies above just as if it belongs there like anything else in everyday life.
'I love you' whispers Sam.
'You've got me; I love you too, with all that I am.'
Their eyes meet and so too do their lips. That's it, a true love kiss to bring only the tears with power so strong even the most powerful of voids must respond in retreat. Indeed, they hold so much power, power to strengthen this world, power to strengthen the connection between this world and the real one, the power to ensure the Phantom Queen and her Faerie Knight go on for years to come. This is the battle that wins the war. The doubt, all and any doubt is gone.
A sun shines bright, bright enough to destroy any darkness presently in existence.
'We did it' speaks the Faerie Knight.
'Yes, we did' speaks the Phantom Queen.
'No, they did it' speaks Owen Barnes for he indeed had his part to play in making sure that true love wins the day.
'So, you are not going back through the door without me' asks Delia.
'Nope, you are my everything, without you I have nothing.'
'Alright so, then let's go home together.'
'I am up for that.'
Samuel and Delia do indeed go through that door together and home it is that they go, their love as strong as it has even been, if anything maybe stronger if that is at all possible. Do they ever come to this door again? Does Morgan Fay's still stand? Is that bar as alive as it has ever been? Maybe those tears can do more than shine a light onto the darkness. The power of true love is a very powerful thing. Samuel and Delia had to find that out the hard way.
It is the morning after the return home and Sam and Delia step outside moments after a sun shower has come to a halt. It is in this moment they see the most magnificent of sights, one that can best or equal any sight on any world. A sun shining strong casting a golden glow far and wide where not all so far off in the distance a magnificent rainbow graces the sky.
... Somewhere over the rainbow ... indeed.
No matter what is remembered or what is forgotten, Samuel still has that set of three keys. Thing is, and no matter what can be remembered ... only two of those keys were ever used ... surely the third one had been intended for use ...
If you have a yellow brick road to follow ... then just what is it that is preventing you from taking a trip. Perhaps it may lead you to some kind of magical door through which another mysterious and fantastical world awaits ...
THE END OR PERHAPS A BEGINNING ...?
