Hints of the Dreaming man

Gabriel
scurries
through
the
forest,
through
the
trees
all
floating
their
leaves
above
his

head.
He 
chases 
her,
wandering
deeper
into
the
woods.
He
 struggles
to
keep
up
with

her,
seeing
the
image
of
a
long
flowing
blue
dress
slipping
away
in
the
distance.
She

pauses
abruptly,
and
disappears
behind
the
trunk
of
a
gigantic
oak
tree.
He
pauses,
and

admires
the
pure
beauty
of
this
atmosphere.
The
surrounding
green
land
slowly
fills

with
fog
as
He
stands
looking
at
the
base
of
this
gigantic
tree,
It
towers
40
stories
above

the
earths
forest.
Her
eyes
peer
out
from
behind
the
tree,
and
she
stares
deep
into
his

from
afar.
She
gestures
for
him
to
come
closer,
and
as
he
does
she
starts
digging
in
the

ground
with
her
fingers,
suddenly
unveiling
a
door
in
the
ground.
She
looks
deep
into

him,
her
face
young
and
eloquent,
her
eyes
stare
a
dark
brown,
darker
than
the
bark
of

the
tree
in
which
surrounds
her.
Her
black
hair
floods
down
her
pale
cheeks,
softly

fluttering
in
the
wind.

“Why
are
you
following
me?”
she
whispers.
“I
know
this
place,
I

have
been
here,
and
I
want
to
be
set
free.”
He
says,
as
his
voice
echo’s
through
the
trees

and
the
silent
sound
of
nature.
She
suddenly
looks
down,
and
begins
frantically
pulling

vines
off
the
door.
He
watches
her,
oddly
interested.
She
opens
it
slowly
and
gestures

for
him
to
enter.
He
walks
closer
and
looks
at
the
door;
the
light
red
wood
door
holds
anaged
layer
of
soot.
He
enters
and
finds
himself
in
a
dark
empty
room.
Suddenly
the

door,
flooding
light
in
from
outside,
shuts
behind
him
and
he
is
swimming
in
darkness.


A
figure
moves
around
near
his
feet,
the
sounds
of
footsteps
creaking
on
the
wooden

floorboards
surround
him.
Suddenly
the
woman
is
unveiled
by
the
ceiling
light
from

above.
She
stands
still,
her
eyes
staring
into
his.

Her
face
and
physical
features
are

aged,
but
her
eyes
look
into
his
just
the
same.

Her
lengthy,
wrinkled
fingers
hang
fixed

on
the
string
attached
to
the
dangling
bulb
in
the
center
of
the
room.
The
light
emits
a

circular
pool
surrounding
her
on
the
ground,
everything
else
falls
off
to
blackness,
and

the
floorboards
snake
forever
in
a
maze
of
dark
lines
on
a
brown
wood.
Her
shadow
is

dark
and
looming.
He
stands
silent.
She
frantically
disappears
into
the
darkness,
and
he

slowly
walks
forward,
watching,
following,
as
her
figure
turns
into
a
shadow
into
the
distance.
A
loud
screeching
is
heard
as
she
quickly
pushes
a
small
table
into
the
lit
circle

of
the
room.
From
a
small
drawer
she
pulls
out
a
porcelain
plate,
a
set
of
gold
forks
and

knifes,
and
a
silk
napkin.
He
moves
closer.
She
runs
off
again,
more
screeching
is
heard

and
she
returns
with
a
wooden
chair,
in
which
she
gestures
him
to
sit.
He
looks
at
her,

and
sits,
staring.
She
runs
off
into
the
darkness
again.
He
looks
intently
at
the
empty

plate.
Its
white
circular
image
begins
to
intensify.
He
stares
at
it,
suddenly
feeling
a
cold

wind
blowing.
The
white
fills
every
crevice
of
his
perception,
and
suddenly
he
is
floating

in
a
frozen
white
cold
world.
He
looks
down
and
slowly
his
eyes
adjust
to
the
brightness

of
this
white
space.
Engrained
in
the
ground
are
skin‐like
wrinkles,
and
he
suddenly

realizes
glass
separates
this
image
from
the
substance
that
his
feet
stand
on.
He
isn’t

floating.
He
is
encased
in
a
rectangular
glass
box.
He
looks
up,
and
a
gigantic
eye
stares

down
at
him
with
curiosity.
A
giant
of
a
man
holds
him,
in
a
glass
box,
in
his
hands.
“My

name
is
Alexander”
the
man
says.
Gabriel
looks
down.
In
his
hands,
he
holds
a
glass
box.