The Dreamer: The Book of Godspells

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I followed Himyla up some spiral stairs behind a door at the far-right corner of the library leading up to a small wooden door, shorter than for the average person to fit through. It looked like an old coat room or readers nook. I watched as the librarian glanced back at me, then turned back to the door and pulled out a key on a chain from around her neck. She turned the key in the lock, opened it and stepped aside for me to enter first.

I was shocked at how small it was. Barely one person could live in this flat, but somehow, based on everything inside, it was clear someone did. There was an unmade bed, a small kitchenette with dishes in the sink only rinsed and papers and books everywhere, taking up the majority of the walking space.

"This is where Abiden lived and breathed when he was not teaching at Trinity College." Himyla started, and I jumped, almost forgetting she was there because of how close she was to me.

"He was a professor at Trinity College?"

"Yes, that was his life goal."

"I have a friend who wants to be a professor there one day too."

"Interesting, perhaps I could meet this friend of yours one day. That is a unique passion." I nodded and glanced over the notes on a small table to the left of them. There were pictures, and papers taped on the wall and windows. I froze. The window... it was the rose window taped against the small 12 by 12 window above what should be the kitchen.

"What is all this?" I asked quietly.

"Abidens life work. Here, if anywhere, is where you will be able to understand his thinking, his process or why he wanted that book to land in your hands."

"Hmm." I mumbled, not really sure what to say.

"Look around, I just heard the bell downstairs, but I will come back up once I am done. Just don't take anything else, please." Himyla said, catching my eye then giving me a wink.

"I won't, promise." Himyla nodded, then left, locking the door behind me.

"Guess I really am not going anywhere." I said out loud to myself. I didn't care though. I was excited to get some answers and see what this all was. To see who Abiden was.

I looked through his works and started scanning, reading, anything and everything I could. Trying to read what he wrote, his notes sloppy and all over the place, I read:

A dreamlike state is relatable to the nature of an illusion, which is a lack of reality. This can be visionary, even hallucinatory. I wondered where he got that from. The scientific study of dreams, which is not good enough when it comes to lucid dreaming, but a start, is Oneirology, and oneiric relates to dreams or state of dreaming. Research says that there is a correlation between dreaming and functions of our brain, both relating to memory formation and mental disorders.

I stopped. "So, if you dream a certain way, you have a mental disorder?" I asked out loud, as if I were asking Abiden himself. I read on.

But researchers do not correlate for some odd reason Oneiric to oneiros, the Greek noun meaning dream. The gods of dreams are called the Oneiros.

I remembered the names of the three Greek gods of dreams I read briefly about: Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantonsos.

The first time I saw the term "lucid dreaming" was in Aristotle's work, one of the founders of the Book of Godspells. In his written work, "On Dreams," he explains that during sleep, if a person is aware they are dreaming, the dream images may seem real to them, even though they are not actually present.

I paused, feeling a twinge in my right shoulder, and instinctively rubbed it. There was no physical cause for the pain, but the sensation lingered, reminding me of its presence from time to time. I glanced around, pondering what images came to my mind when I slept. I realized I didn't know. I slept and hoped to return to the dreamworld, more a desire to return than a specific image that came to mind.