The Shadow of a Dream

Always and Never or the Hard Goodbye

Thus the marital bliss continued. The impending threat of loosing their quiet haven made them cherish it even more. The summer of love might have been coming to the end, but their feelings were in full blossom. Albus found himself casting his eyes to the Horizon, hoping for the best, but expecting the worst. Gellert was trying to pay close attention to his mood swings and in a way attempted to please him by getting into his interests he had never share before. They used to thoroughly analyse every sentence written by great Adalbert Waffling to "the most brilliant student ever" or examined Bathilda's collection of medieval manuscript to determine the traces of ancient magic. The muggle sphere of Albus's interests was out of Gellert's reach. But now he became more curious, especially after reading a few works. He started with philosophy, but quickly got tired of all the unnecessary details - "The Decline of the West" had splendid points about the meaning of history, culture and civilization, but Spengler included too much of his unnecessary political views; "The Consumer Society: Myth and Structures" conveyed the bitter irony of life, though time after time Gellert felt like Baudrillard was loosing himself in his hyperreality. Gellert then switched on to fiction. Alan Ginsberg earned his respect with his "Howl", and he spent half of the night discussing the meaning of "the starry dynamo in the machinery of night". It is unnecessary to describe how they spent the second half of it.

And still Albus was restless. You know his feelings if you've ever been waiting for that time of the year, that is special only for you. The festive spring full moon or the magic of the first snow - anytime when you prepare yourself for those little changes inside of you, that are bound to happen. You perform your little rituals to give the moment the grandeur it deserves. When it passes you may feel a little empty and sad, but knowing that you owned that minute or two will warm your heart later on.

Thus, Albus wanted to find somebody who could shed a light on the mystery of the Afterlife. His willpower helped him travel to the other locations.

The first one was a backyard of an industrial-looking house with a big picture window. In the window he saw two women making love. One of them (the poetic soul, Albus thought) was asking the other to "want her like time". Her girlfriend seemed confused and eager at the same time. None of them noticed a red-haired teenager turning around and disappearing in the mist.

Then he ended up on a speed train. At first glance, he though he was alone before noticing an old woman. He introduced himself, but she prevented his attempts at small talk by closing her eyes. Albus and his noisy questions were clearly not welcome in the world of the widow on her way to the Temple of the Lord.

He went to the country and saw a white dog chase its tail. She clearly had never seen kindness or angels disguised as people, who help creatures like her to find the ultimate meaning of a dog's life. A spacious field and pigeons to scare off - that was her paradise. Albus let her be.

In the city there were naked dancers. A group of enthusiastic young people who were dancing to the music from the seventies. Albus knew their type so well - freedom fighters of the past, they used their bodies and minds instead of weapons and physical aggression. They had long forgotten the purpose or the goals of their original protests, but strangely, Albus felt that they spoke for them all, dead and alive. When he notices strangers joining the dance, stealing kisses in exchange for their clothes, he realised it was his time to leave.

He tried to communicate with twin boys, sitting at the loaded linen table. Their young age, hungry eyes and old fashioned radio on the corner gave Albus a clear idea of the cause of their death. He was going away from the depressing view under the sound of "Bandiera Rossa".

Home sweet home! Gellert was welcoming him at the stoop with a shrewd, inquiring gaze.

"Gellert, I was trying to get the whole picture..."

"I don't know how and I don't know why, but Ariana's here," said baffled Gellert.