Eric--Part Twenty

Splog # 100

Twenty

   No. Not quite. Though he felt near to bursting with energy and his body seemed to be radiating heat and light, his head felt...different. As though from his neck down, he was no longer himself. No longer Eric. But in his head, in his brain, in his mind he knew who he was. His name was Eric and he was fourteen years old and just a short time ago he had been sitting on a beach and reading about history...

   And then a light just beyond the glow of the sword caught his eye. Actually, there were two lights. One was red and one was green. And as his eyes moved beyond the sword, he saw that the glow in the sheep's eyes had transmuted from a couple of golden stars into a pale emerald and a bright ruby. But as his eyes remained fastened to the colored lights, he realized that it was the ruby light that was pale while the emerald light was shining fiercely at him. And as he started dreamily into the sheep's eyes, they slowly and regularly pulsed through his own and into the interior of his skull, which started to tingle and vibrate as it too filled with light and energy. His eyelids began to close as his brain felt itself begin to brim over. And when he felt he could absorb no more, his eyelids slid gently shut and he found himself in what should have been darkness but manifested itself as a light fog with shadows vaguely scattered throughout it and here and there a twinkle of distant light. He was now a vessel stored to capacity with energy. But the energy was in a quiescent state. It was there but it was dormant and utterly under control.

   He turned outward from the fountain, the sword still raised in his hands. His eyes remained closed but he could sense Bev standing on his left and Nol on his right and other people scattered throughout the clearing. But he could more than sense them. He could hear their breathing and he could detect slight differences in the scents of some of the people around him. Bev had a smell that made him think of peaches and Nol's scent reminded him of brown paper. Also, his sense of smell told him it would probably rain soon.

   He could tell that everyone around him was waiting in expectation of whatever his words or actions would be. But he felt no pressure to do or say anything. When the time was right, words or deeds would come.

   And then the words were there. Words of a song he'd heard standing outside a small building...

   "There's no need to be blind./Clarity is in the mind..."

   He spoke calmly, clearly and with deep conviction.

   "Colors stolen from the eyes/Disappear into the skies..."

   He opened his eyes knowing what he would find. Everything remained as it was when they'd been closed. He could hear and smell and sense a great many things around him but what he could see was fog and scattered shadows and tiny distant lights.

   "Cor is here," he said.

   "But where is Mae?"

   No one responded. No one moved a muscle. And once again Eric began to hear the voices that had first sounded when he'd raised his head from quenching his thirst at the fountain. Two distinct voices, calling to each other. One male. One female. Cor and Mae.