15. He woke up at 12:15, his sheets tied in knots around him. He got out of bed and went to the bath room. He ran the water over his hands and pulled the water up to his face. He put his mouth under the water and drank. He looked at his eyeballs in the mirror. His pupils seemed dilated. He went back to his room and got himself ready for work. He left his apartment and walked down the twelve flights of stairs. He walked to work letting his thoughts mull over his recent experiences. He didn’t know what to make of them. He turned north and then west.
He found himself at the office and once again there was no one there. He unlocked the door and went over to the filing cabinet. The two desks sat silent and empty. He put on his coveralls and took the bucket of paint and paint brush. He walked over to the wall and turned right. He set the paint bucket on the ground and pried off the lid. He stuck the bristles of the brush into the white of the paint. He was almost out of paint again.
He felt himself trying to replicate the motions of the day before that had sent him into a trance. Maybe he was becoming addicted to it. He bent over, soaking up the paint, stood up, exhaled, and applied the brush to the wall. He inhaled as he bent down to put the paint brush in the bucket. He did this over and over, painting, moving and breathing.
He bent over, dipped the brush in the paint and when he stood up, there was no wall. There was no paint brush in his hand and no paint bucket on the ground. He was standing in front of one of those wooden huts. It looked a little better constructed than the ones he had seen the last time he was there. And when he looked around he saw there were more of them. They looked almost like houses.
There were people gathering in a clearing. There was someone there who was at the center of everyone’s attention. They were waiting for the person to speak. He walked in the direction of the clearing and felt his surrounding undulate as if he were walking underwater and everything around him were waves. He remembered that this was a dream but not a dream. He tried to both relax and concentrate at the same time. He took another step and it was like any step he’d ever taken.
He wondered as he approached the clearing whether or not the people of the dream could see him.
A boy ran directly towards him and before he could move out of the way, the boy had gone directly through him.
It was an odd sensation. The boy had come out of nowhere and he’d had no time to even flinch. And then the boy and he were one. And then the boy was running off behind him.
At the instant that he and the boy were aligned, he had thought, I must get my sister! And then the thought was gone.
The boy was returning and he stepped out of the way and saw a little girl holding the boy’s hand and they were both running to the clearing.
In the clearing he stood off to the side so that no one would accidentally step into him and listened to the person holding everyone’s attention.
"The Almost Venerable One has summoned pilgrims to the temple. The Almost Venerable One has declared that the shrine is open to them that seek it. Only two shall enter the shrine and they must pass a test to prove themselves."
There was a low commotion passing through the clearing. Actually enter the shrine? Where the Internal One lives? Where no one had gone before? It was not a task that anyone took up lightly. People asked questions of the retainer.
"What does that mean: ‘only two shall enter the shrine’? Does that mean two ever or two at a time?"
"The number of those inside the shrine at any time shall not deviate from the number two. Any and all are welcome to enter the shrine. So long as they are pure and can pass the test. And so long as they are two."
The townspeople talked amongst themselves and broke up into small groups and considered alone to decide if someone was worthy to enter the shrine.
Finally, two representatives were chosen and they headed off in the direction of the temple. They walked north and west and he realized that he must have materialized in the dream somewhere near his own apartment.
They stopped at other clusters of homes along the way. Each time the retainer would make the proclamation and more pilgrims would join up. Sometimes two pilgrims would come and sometimes four or five. The odd ones hoped to get paired up in the temple or perhaps just came to pay tribute and watch.
They walked over a knoll and he could see the temple for the first time. It was a huge stone structure, glistening white in the middle of the dark woods.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shimmer. He looked over and saw the shape of a person and as he looked, he recognized the girl from the gas station. What was she doing there?
"Hey!" he yelled before he thought about what he was doing.
The girl looked at him and then vanished. Neither the pilgrims nor the retainer seemed to notice his yelling or the miraculous appearance and sudden disappearance of the girl. They continued walking towards the temple. And so he too, looking back at the spot where the girl had been, followed after.
At the front of the temple was a large entrance. He was dying to know what it was like inside. He stepped forward but got no nearer the entrance.
The pilgrims and the retainer had entered and he could no longer see them. Other pilgrims were coming through the woods, two by two or in groups. He wanted to join them but something was holding him back. He tried to concentrate but nothing changed. He felt desperate. He felt a compulsion to enter the temple. He was being called by the shrine itself which rested somewhere in that immense stone temple.
He lurched forward trying to break free of whatever was holding him back and felt a sharp sting on the side of his face. He felt the sting in the dream for only one second before he woke up.
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He found himself at the office and once again there was no one there. He unlocked the door and went over to the filing cabinet. The two desks sat silent and empty. He put on his coveralls and took the bucket of paint and paint brush. He walked over to the wall and turned right. He set the paint bucket on the ground and pried off the lid. He stuck the bristles of the brush into the white of the paint. He was almost out of paint again.
He felt himself trying to replicate the motions of the day before that had sent him into a trance. Maybe he was becoming addicted to it. He bent over, soaking up the paint, stood up, exhaled, and applied the brush to the wall. He inhaled as he bent down to put the paint brush in the bucket. He did this over and over, painting, moving and breathing.
He bent over, dipped the brush in the paint and when he stood up, there was no wall. There was no paint brush in his hand and no paint bucket on the ground. He was standing in front of one of those wooden huts. It looked a little better constructed than the ones he had seen the last time he was there. And when he looked around he saw there were more of them. They looked almost like houses.
There were people gathering in a clearing. There was someone there who was at the center of everyone’s attention. They were waiting for the person to speak. He walked in the direction of the clearing and felt his surrounding undulate as if he were walking underwater and everything around him were waves. He remembered that this was a dream but not a dream. He tried to both relax and concentrate at the same time. He took another step and it was like any step he’d ever taken.
He wondered as he approached the clearing whether or not the people of the dream could see him.
A boy ran directly towards him and before he could move out of the way, the boy had gone directly through him.
It was an odd sensation. The boy had come out of nowhere and he’d had no time to even flinch. And then the boy and he were one. And then the boy was running off behind him.
At the instant that he and the boy were aligned, he had thought, I must get my sister! And then the thought was gone.
The boy was returning and he stepped out of the way and saw a little girl holding the boy’s hand and they were both running to the clearing.
In the clearing he stood off to the side so that no one would accidentally step into him and listened to the person holding everyone’s attention.
"The Almost Venerable One has summoned pilgrims to the temple. The Almost Venerable One has declared that the shrine is open to them that seek it. Only two shall enter the shrine and they must pass a test to prove themselves."
There was a low commotion passing through the clearing. Actually enter the shrine? Where the Internal One lives? Where no one had gone before? It was not a task that anyone took up lightly. People asked questions of the retainer.
"What does that mean: ‘only two shall enter the shrine’? Does that mean two ever or two at a time?"
"The number of those inside the shrine at any time shall not deviate from the number two. Any and all are welcome to enter the shrine. So long as they are pure and can pass the test. And so long as they are two."
The townspeople talked amongst themselves and broke up into small groups and considered alone to decide if someone was worthy to enter the shrine.
Finally, two representatives were chosen and they headed off in the direction of the temple. They walked north and west and he realized that he must have materialized in the dream somewhere near his own apartment.
They stopped at other clusters of homes along the way. Each time the retainer would make the proclamation and more pilgrims would join up. Sometimes two pilgrims would come and sometimes four or five. The odd ones hoped to get paired up in the temple or perhaps just came to pay tribute and watch.
They walked over a knoll and he could see the temple for the first time. It was a huge stone structure, glistening white in the middle of the dark woods.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something shimmer. He looked over and saw the shape of a person and as he looked, he recognized the girl from the gas station. What was she doing there?
"Hey!" he yelled before he thought about what he was doing.
The girl looked at him and then vanished. Neither the pilgrims nor the retainer seemed to notice his yelling or the miraculous appearance and sudden disappearance of the girl. They continued walking towards the temple. And so he too, looking back at the spot where the girl had been, followed after.
At the front of the temple was a large entrance. He was dying to know what it was like inside. He stepped forward but got no nearer the entrance.
The pilgrims and the retainer had entered and he could no longer see them. Other pilgrims were coming through the woods, two by two or in groups. He wanted to join them but something was holding him back. He tried to concentrate but nothing changed. He felt desperate. He felt a compulsion to enter the temple. He was being called by the shrine itself which rested somewhere in that immense stone temple.
He lurched forward trying to break free of whatever was holding him back and felt a sharp sting on the side of his face. He felt the sting in the dream for only one second before he woke up.
next