It was after Dell and Monster had traipsed all over
the vast inner-dome again, searching out the perfect
combination of apples, strawberries, bananas, and
blueberries, and after they had gorged themselves on the
juicy, sweet cocktail that the voice began. Its origin was
untraceable, its volume strong, yet mild and sad. It
almost seemed as though the voice was inside their heads;
it was so present.
"You have eaten from the plants of my fields. You
have feasted without asking, searched without hesitance,
trespassed without leave. I have watched, patiently, for
these two of my days, and I have wondered at your deeds and
your words."
The two bewildered travelers looked around in a panic.
"But I am not angry with you. For I know you as my
own. You will be my guests, nay, rather my children! And
I will show you secrets and delights untold, beyond the
scope of any of your dreams."
The mind is a strange thing. Dell, despite his shock,
was momentarily arrested with an absurd thought: he thought
how much he would have preferred the voice to be a woman's
–a sultry, alluring woman's voice –because the promise of
"secrets and delights" would have intrigued him in quite a
different way.
Right now is when you're going to think about this?
Come on!
Monster's face was frozen in a look of devastation.
It was not the first time he had heard this voice; boastful
yet empty, bold yet forlorn –a passive voice that
nonetheless hid twinges of naked aggression. With a droop
of his head and an empty feeling in his heart, he sighed,
"Gradient."
"No doubt you feel fear, the curse of the non
omniscient," the voice continued slowly. "Do not be
ashamed. It is not unusual. You feel confusion filling
your minds like a mist, baffled by the inadequacy of your
senses to detect the source of my sound. Do not worry; you
will learn that your senses are not to be trusted. And
your thoughts, they may mislead you as well."
Then they heard a sound they did not want to hear. It
was the noise of the great circuit-breaker they had first
heard in the dark, two days before. Only this time, the
light of sun did not slowly wane as it traveled its path to
the edge of the dome. It just went out. The silvery
perimeter lights blinked off in agreement, throwing a thick
black blanket over their eyes.
"Are you concerned that sight is now useless?" asked
the voice, with a tone of concern that was not entirely
believable. "For you will learn that you are always so –
always blind. Does invisibility make the unknown any more
unknown? No. But the loss of your sight makes you feel
that you have lost a familiar tool, a tool you could use to
learn at least a little something. 'Abandon every hope,
all you who enter,' for you will soon find yourself quite
unable to know anything."
The unfortunate truth is that things are scarier in
the dark. Both Dell and Monster tried to remind themselves
that they hadn't met anything but a few birds here, and
that there weren't any bugs the night before. But they now
knew that nothing was quite as it seemed. Gradient let
them stew in this state for some time.
"This guy," Dell began in a whisper, "he's your friend
right?"
"Well, I don't know. We haven't spoken for quite a
long time, if you'll recall."
"Nice."
YOU ARE READING
Dell's Journey
FantasíaThere comes a time when every man must go on a journey. This is Dell's story.
