Tevun-Krus #114 - Hollow Earth (A Different Earth, Part 2)

The Sleeping Man - A Story by @EvelynHail

The Sleeping Man

by EvelynHail

The common division of the world into subject and object, inner world and outer world, body and wings, is no longer adequate.

Werner Heisemberg

When the Traveller stopped to drink the iridescent water from the spring, she did not notice the tree. But then the tree spoke, so that the Traveller was obliged to follow the most elementary rules of politeness and chat with it for a while.

"It's rare to meet people passing through," said the tree (a horse chestnut, actually). "Where are you going?"

"I don't know," replied the Traveller, "I'm looking for someone."

"Oh...!" The tree plucked whispers of starch from its branches. Then it added: "So you're looking for someone, are you? Well... I'll never..."

The Traveller moistened her face and took a couple of sips. The water tasted like cherry wine scented with cinnamon.

"Aren't you too isolated here?" asked the Traveller, contemplating the solitude of the plateau. "You are the only tree for miles around."

"Loneliness is sometimes the best companion, so that a short retreat hastens a sweet return. Milton, Paradise Lost," the tree cleared its throat, "I am also accompanied by my dreams."

"Ah, you dream... What do you dream of?"

"I dream that I am a traveling salesman and that I am constantly moving from town to town with a collection of jewelry."

The Traveller nodded and thought that, surely, the horse chestnut was in fact a traveling salesman. But she was very careful not to tell him, because she did not wish to offend him.

"You said earlier that you were looking for someone," continued the tree. "Would it be wrong to ask who?"

"Not at all. I am looking for the Sleeping Man."

"Oh, oh, oh, oh...!" The tree winked at the moss and cork. "A great search that is! I have heard that the Sleeping Man lies under a great crystal dome in a palace in Agartha."

"Agartha?"

"Agartha, yes. The city that guards the golden throne with the images of two million gods, the seat of the University of Knowledge. If you look to the west you can see the glow of Agartha on the horizon."

"Yes," said the Traveller, gazing westward. I knew that city by other names," she sighed. "The trouble is, I can never get close. No matter how far I walk, the city is always the same distance from me."

"You have to travel by topophobia, to flee from every place, not looking for the one you are going to, but escaping from the one you are starting from. Miguel de Unamuno. The important thing is the journey, not the goal."

The Traveller nodded appreciatively. She picked up her pack and slung it on her back. "I must go now. It was a pleasure to meet you. "

"Let me ask you one last question," said the tree: "Why are you looking for the Sleeping Man?"

"I want to know who he is; I want to know his name."

"Hmm, his name... Well, I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you," the Traveller began to walk away, but after a few yards she stopped.

"Do you like being a tree? she asked.