Eric--Part Seventeen

Splog # 89

Seventeen

   As Eric lifted his head and wiped trickles of water from his chin with his hand, it seemed to him that he could hear voices floating in the darkness around him. He stretched his head back on his neck to concentrate. He started to close his eyes but realized that it was now so dark all around him that it would make little difference. He heard the gurgle of drinking sounds cease and then some rustling. Nol and Bev must be sitting on either side of him but he couldn't remember who was on which side. As silence reclaimed the clearing, he was again arrested by sounds that seemed like long drawn-out words. They could have been the wind sighing through the trees except for two circumstances. The first was that there wasn't even a slight breeze; the air was completely motionless. Also, the sounds had a fullness to them that made them more substantial than a whisper of wind. He even found that he could distinguish two distinct tones, one higher and one lower, like a woman and a man calling out to each other across a vast distance.

   Eric finally did close his eyes, straining every part of himself to decipher the vague sounds. The tones were starting to resolve themselves into words when he was jolted out of his intense concentration by a combination of voices immediately beside him.

   "Cor - " "Eric - "

   Nol and Bev had both started to speak at the same time. They each stopped on hearing the other and Nol said, "Sorry, I meant Eric."

   Eric put out his two hands and made a brief shushing noise. Everything returned to silence but the two voices that he had been listening to began to lower in volume, as though receding in distance.

   Eric's eyes had come open with sudden surprise on hearing the voices so close to him, and he saw that there was a point of light in the water of the fountain. It seemed to be rising toward the surface. It broke through and continued upward, marking a strong line of light that originated in the depths and rose about four feet above the surface and then stopped. It seemed to be resolving itself into a solid shape. Light flickered up and down the form as though creating layers of substance through illumination. Eric became aware of Nol standing on his left and Bev on his right, though he never turned away from the vision before him. The fountain and the clearing were visible by the shaft of light that had risen from the water. Then the light stopped flickering over the form and the whole thing started to glow brighter and brighter. Eric put his hands over his eyes as the glare became unbearable and finally turned his back on the strange phenomenon. The woods all around the clearing stood out against the black of the sky as though on the negative of a photograph. And then the light slowly began to subside.

   When Eric turned back, he saw what appeared to be a sword, illuminated as though from within, pointing straight up with its hilt resting on top of the smooth water. By the light of the sword, he could make out the statue in the center of the fountain. He first saw a horse and then, looking up, saw a sheep standing on the horse's back. That seemed a little strange, but there was more - a monkey standing on the sheep and holding a fish in his hands.

   After taking in this sculptural oddity, Eric turned to Bev and then to Nol. He had so many questions he didn’t know where to start. Bev looked past Eric to Nol and, almost in unison, they both shrugged their shoulders.

   "Eric," Bev began, "the first thing you need to know is that the sword is for you."

   Before he could begin to protest, she said, "Just watch."

   Bev stood on the edge of the fountain and reached for the sword. At the point when her hand should have come in contact with it, it simply passed right through, as though the sword really were made of light. Before she could step down, Nol mounted on the other side and repeated the gesture.