Dream

Arthur's father rowed a ten year old Arthur through the treacherous Dead Sea in the middle of a thunderstorm. Arthur hugged to his father's arm, frightened. They moved swiftly through the wavy water towards the large cliffs in the distance.

"You see those cliffs?" His father hollered. Arthur nodded with chattering teeth. "Those are the forbidden mountains." As he said that there was a great crash of lightning that lit up the spiring upshots. Arthur shivered and moved closer to his father, but the boat crashed into the green sand, and he was thrown to the other side. His father helped him out of the boat, and they began traveling by foot until they reached the end of the beach. His father pulled out a small vial of blue dust, and sprinkled it over them. The feeling from the first time had returned as they lifted up over the cliffs.

"We had to come this way so we couldn't be tracked. The villagers think we've gone fishing." His father shouted. The pair had risen above the cliffs and his father began looking for a clearing in the trees where there would be a large mossy cave. Once they found it they softly landed, his father warning him to shake off all the dust so as to not attract more attention. There was a large stone structure with a wooden door carved into it, moss covered the roof and all the walls. The building was clearly at least a hundred years old and sat at the edge of a large clearing. It was surrounded by trees so thick not even a bird could pass through.

    "Stay here!" His father yelled over the howling wind. His father moved slowly over to the structure and knocked on the door. A horrible looking old women with a hunchback opened the door, and beckoned him inside with knobby long fingers. His father had remained inside for a long while, and Arthur had sat counting the stones.

     "9876" he thought allowed when he finished going around. "A great many stones for such a clearing." His father had come out, without his wedding ring, but with a new satchel. Then they flew back to their boat and towed home. Arthur hadn't been to that clearing again, but he was sure that his father had, as more and more of their household valuables went missing.

     "Cassandra, the see-er" His father had called the old women.