Stacy--Part Fifty-Six

Splog # 203

Fifty-Six

 Just as Stacy became aware that she was standing inside the golden cauldron that she'd visited in her dream, a drop of water hit her on the shoulder. She started to look around and another drop landed on her arm. She looked up and a drop landed on her cheek. Without the sky darkening in the least from its strange whiteness, it had begun to rain. She moved to the edge of the cauldron, wondering if she should climb out and look for shelter. There she found the best shelter she was likely to find, where the cauldron bulged out below its rim. She was huddling as close to the edge as she could get when she heard a thin, high metallic sound. In a moment she could see that the cauldron lid, which had been covered with food earlier, was rising on its hinges. She stood up and stretched to see what was causing the adjustment but there was nothing in sight to account for it. "Well," she thought, "I'm glad the food has been cleared away or it'd be raining more than water. And it will be a better shelter with the cover on." Then she realized that it would probably be very dark and there would be no way to get out. She glanced at the lid as it reached the halfway point. She thought of trying to climb over the edge quickly, but what if its weight brought the lid crashing down? She watched the lid, which kept moving steadily, and knew she had waited too long as her view of the outside grew smaller and smaller. She pressed herself against the side of the cauldron as the sky shrank like a moon being eclipsed. She heard the sound of raindrops beating on the lid as it closed above her. To her immense relief, she found that the cauldron possessed a lambent light and she seemed to be confined in a dull golden glow. She could no longer stand upright with the cauldron covered, so she thought the best thing to do would be to sit and wait until the rain stopped. She poked her sneaker at the small bumps that seemed to cover the bottom of the cauldron. They didn't bother her feet in her rubber-soled sneakers but they sure didn't look like they'd be gentle to her backside. She crouched down to discover by sight and feel just how sharp they really were. They did look rather pointed. She placed a finger on the top of one and pressed gently. Just as she did, something poked through from beneath and touched her. She jerked away and found a small yellow shoot visibly growing up from under the cauldron. Stacy watched in amazement as the shoot slowly grew straight up for an inch or two and then began twisting around as though searching for the sun. As it grew taller, leaved formed and developed and when it reached four or five inches in height it stopped growing and budded.Within a minute, the bud had become a flower and Stacy could see the same thing happening as her eyes looked beyond the new-born flower. Not all the holes were pouring forth tiny shoots. Looking around, she guessed that maybe one in ten of the holes had new life rising in them. All the flowers, though they seemed to be of different varieties, were yellow. In fact, all the stems and leaves were also yellow. After a moment, she realized that her hands and socks were also yellow, her red shirt was orange and her blue shorts were green. Only her black sneakers retained their original color, though they did have a golden shine to them. Her legs were beginning to feel achy from crouching down for so long and she stood up, slightly hunched over, and looked around the cauldron seeking some relief from her physical constriction. Toward the point where the cauldron was hinged on the outside, there seemed to be a space near the edge that sloped upward slightly and was devoid of those little pointed holes. She carefully worked her way to that point, making sure not to step on any of the brand-new flowers. When she arrived at the space, it seemed as if it would make a good and comfortable resting spot.