Another World of Dreams-The Escape

Chapter 3 - A Day in the Park

Director Arthur Greene ladled sugar into his teacup and laid one leg on top of the other. He was a middle-aged man whose hair had recently transformed from a thick golden mane into something sparse and dust white. The director was no longer the strong young man he once was and underneath the suit protruded a round belly, yet it was too early to consider him fat. Everything from his gleaming shoes and the golden chronicle in his chest pocket to the vast shiny desk in front of him, showed that he was a rich man. Noble men considered his style excessive, but they were careful not to insult the influential director and kept their opinions to themselves. He had taken over the Dream Park from his mother, whose family founded the park outside his hometown. His older brother had inherited most of the family's fortune and bought a large estate outside Frostport. Arthur Greene's only inheritance was the Dream Park, but he had a mind for what people were willing to pay for and he was a hard worker. When heavy debts broke his brother a few years later, the director bought back the estate. Through his good grace, he let his brother stay in the backhouse, a generous gesture he thought had been going on for far too long by now.

He noted that it was a warm and sunny day, and it cheered him up tremendously. Not because he planned to go outdoors and enjoy the pleasant weather, but because the number of visitors was higher than usual on such days.

Footsteps approached from outside, and the door slid open. Professor Charles Mendel, Anland's most acknowledged biologist, stepped into the spacious office.

"Welcome, professor. Come in," Arthur Greene said without rising from the chair to shake the professor's hand.

"Thank you, sir. How do you do?" The professor was a small gray figure that attracted no one's attention. Even if you studied the man for hours, you would not find a single characteristic feature. He had a thin man's voice, squeaky but weak.

"Good, thanks. My wife is with child again, and we are hoping for the best. Before we start, do you need a drink to strengthen yourself?"

Arthur Greene rang a small bell, whereupon the door swung open and three waist-high red-haired gnomes tiptoed into the room. With their arms stretched straight upwards, they carried a huge tray filled with bottles of every shape and color. The professor shone up and pointed at a decanter containing a clear liquid. A gnome filled up a small glass to the brim, the two other gnomes becoming red-faced by the exertion of lifting the entire tray by themselves. As soon as the professor had received his glass, they disappeared out of the room.

"This time I'm certain luck will be on your side. May it be a son!" Professor Mendel raised his glass, then sat down on a small wooden stool across the desk.

"This drink is precisely what I need. It clears my head in the morning and makes me think better," he said after he had emptied his glass, doing his best not to cough. "In Frostport I met a peculiar doctor. He taught children in their suburban tent villages how to read and do arithmetics. Do not ask me what good will come out of educating that scum, the poor people's brains are not suited for literature and science. The children, rowdy dregs as they were, paid no attention to their teacher. This doctor discovered that a sip of liquor calmed them. It had to be brandy or stronger. Ale just made them fall asleep."

"So that doctor thinks we should waste both education and spirits on scum?" said Arthur Greene and laughed. "What's next, should we give the trolls a slide-ruler, and teach the naiads how to ride a horse?"

"True, but keep in mind that we can turn his learning into something practical and use it on our own children. You should inform your governess to give your daughters a strong drink before they do their homework."

As soon as the professor had finished his sentence, an unavoidable silence filled the air. Neither of the men enjoyed small talk. Arthur Greene sipped his tea as he summed up the latest profits generated by the Pleasure House and the Arena in his head.