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Forgotten Realms
It was dark, the night on which this realm was found. When I say realm, I mean it in the sense of another place not truly of this earth, so do not get me wrong. It was a night as any other, I was driving to work after already having been to work that evening, tired and perhaps a bit hungry; another thing that seems to be the usual these days.
My hands tapped on the steering wheel of the silver Subaru I drove, beating in time to the latest hit on the radio, as I can rarely keep my fingers still anyway. I can see myself singing along with the song, rather badly, I can only imagine, but singing anyway. It was almost 11 p.m. at night; who was to hear me anyway?
Now, in order to fully comprehend this realm, this otherworldly place that I found, there should be a bit of back-drive story. The path to work is a 3-mile drive through the country, then about a 2-mile drive through various residential areas to the outskirts of my town. This can prove to be… un-fun during the summer, because along those scenic country roads there are cows, chickens, and places that house those species of animal.
It doesn’t smell nice.
Rather it stinks.
Badly.
For this reason, I normally drive with my windows up and the A/C blasting frigid air against my skin. Uncomfortable, but it keeps me awake plus kills the odor, or else it numbs my senses so that I don’t smell them. On this night though, this special, never-going-to-forget night, I somehow managed to survive the trip with my windows down.
I think it was the summer night, the cool air that lessened the effects of the death-smells, and made the ride an enjoyable one. I loved driving down the road, one arm hanging over the door, wind whipping my hair away from my face, voice taken by the gusts of air. Even I could stand my own voice that night.
So there I was, windows down, nothing on my mind but the lyrics to the current song, hand beating against the steering wheel, I think it was the song ‘I hate everything about you’, a very beat heavy song. As I said, I wasn’t thinking about anything, one of the few times that my mind was working overtime to sort out my hectic life. Then I turned down one of the residential streets that would lead me to the middle of town.
And I entered it.
This realm, this place, was as nothing I have ever known. Instantly I was 10 years old and walking down the road with my friends, laughing and smiling, towels thrown over our shoulders as we made our way to the pool. I watched as the happy little boy, skinny and a tab bit gangly, laughed about nothing important, enjoying the summer days of no school and times with friends. I saw him again riding his bike up and down the roller coasters, groups of dirt hills set in a sprawling magical forest. The forest itself was filled with creatures of myth, and enemies of evil design.
The evil couldn’t touch him though, in those summer days and nights of joy. I felt the happiness overwhelm me, and wondered what world I had stumbled into. Had I somehow drove through a rift in time and space, to watch my life play back in front of my eyes?
I was aware of my car stopping, the sound of rubber on gravel surreal and not reality, for reality was staring me in the face. A pair of sparkling blue eyes, full of innocence and untainted love joked and played in mansions of vampires, though the evil beings had of course long left. I smiled as the young lad defeated unseen enemies and protected his first love, then watched as he held her hand and skated down the sidewalk. It was nice to watch him sit in the back of her parents truck and swap tales for hours, his best friend for many years, though gone now.
That boy, that lost youth, I watched him grow slowly, until suddenly it was gone. Just like that the images faded into nothing, and the sounds of the radio penetrated back into my senses…
Something was different though.
I smelled it.
The soft scent of honeysuckles, a smell that had washed me away 12 years into the past, a smell that caused me to smile and dream…
And in the smile and dream I saw her. My mind, which had refused to think before, now filled itself with only thoughts of dark eyes and dark hair. I felt a surge of something, happiness, wistfulness, soft joy untainted… it was there, with her, with that scent of honey-blessed flowers.
After a few minutes of just sitting there, almost in a daze, I let my car drift away, feeling a keen loss when the fragrance remained…
Now, even now, I feel a slight sting of tears, and I can smell them… that place, that realm. I can see it even now; I can taste the scent of honeysuckles, of promises and dreams, of the past and the future.
That night I drove to work, that night I found that other place, when I thought I witnessed all of that alone, I realize that I did not. I was not alone when I watched my other self run and play, for she was there, in the scents of youth, the fragrance of summer, and the essence of this life.
It was dark, the night on which this realm was found. When I say realm, I mean it in the sense of another place not truly of this earth, so do not get me wrong. It was a night as any other, I was driving to work after already having been to work that evening, tired and perhaps a bit hungry; another thing that seems to be the usual these days.
My hands tapped on the steering wheel of the silver Subaru I drove, beating in time to the latest hit on the radio, as I can rarely keep my fingers still anyway. I can see myself singing along with the song, rather badly, I can only imagine, but singing anyway. It was almost 11 p.m. at night; who was to hear me anyway?
Now, in order to fully comprehend this realm, this otherworldly place that I found, there should be a bit of back-drive story. The path to work is a 3-mile drive through the country, then about a 2-mile drive through various residential areas to the outskirts of my town. This can prove to be… un-fun during the summer, because along those scenic country roads there are cows, chickens, and places that house those species of animal.
It doesn’t smell nice.
Rather it stinks.
Badly.
For this reason, I normally drive with my windows up and the A/C blasting frigid air against my skin. Uncomfortable, but it keeps me awake plus kills the odor, or else it numbs my senses so that I don’t smell them. On this night though, this special, never-going-to-forget night, I somehow managed to survive the trip with my windows down.
I think it was the summer night, the cool air that lessened the effects of the death-smells, and made the ride an enjoyable one. I loved driving down the road, one arm hanging over the door, wind whipping my hair away from my face, voice taken by the gusts of air. Even I could stand my own voice that night.
So there I was, windows down, nothing on my mind but the lyrics to the current song, hand beating against the steering wheel, I think it was the song ‘I hate everything about you’, a very beat heavy song. As I said, I wasn’t thinking about anything, one of the few times that my mind was working overtime to sort out my hectic life. Then I turned down one of the residential streets that would lead me to the middle of town.
And I entered it.
This realm, this place, was as nothing I have ever known. Instantly I was 10 years old and walking down the road with my friends, laughing and smiling, towels thrown over our shoulders as we made our way to the pool. I watched as the happy little boy, skinny and a tab bit gangly, laughed about nothing important, enjoying the summer days of no school and times with friends. I saw him again riding his bike up and down the roller coasters, groups of dirt hills set in a sprawling magical forest. The forest itself was filled with creatures of myth, and enemies of evil design.
The evil couldn’t touch him though, in those summer days and nights of joy. I felt the happiness overwhelm me, and wondered what world I had stumbled into. Had I somehow drove through a rift in time and space, to watch my life play back in front of my eyes?
I was aware of my car stopping, the sound of rubber on gravel surreal and not reality, for reality was staring me in the face. A pair of sparkling blue eyes, full of innocence and untainted love joked and played in mansions of vampires, though the evil beings had of course long left. I smiled as the young lad defeated unseen enemies and protected his first love, then watched as he held her hand and skated down the sidewalk. It was nice to watch him sit in the back of her parents truck and swap tales for hours, his best friend for many years, though gone now.
That boy, that lost youth, I watched him grow slowly, until suddenly it was gone. Just like that the images faded into nothing, and the sounds of the radio penetrated back into my senses…
Something was different though.
I smelled it.
The soft scent of honeysuckles, a smell that had washed me away 12 years into the past, a smell that caused me to smile and dream…
And in the smile and dream I saw her. My mind, which had refused to think before, now filled itself with only thoughts of dark eyes and dark hair. I felt a surge of something, happiness, wistfulness, soft joy untainted… it was there, with her, with that scent of honey-blessed flowers.
After a few minutes of just sitting there, almost in a daze, I let my car drift away, feeling a keen loss when the fragrance remained…
Now, even now, I feel a slight sting of tears, and I can smell them… that place, that realm. I can see it even now; I can taste the scent of honeysuckles, of promises and dreams, of the past and the future.
That night I drove to work, that night I found that other place, when I thought I witnessed all of that alone, I realize that I did not. I was not alone when I watched my other self run and play, for she was there, in the scents of youth, the fragrance of summer, and the essence of this life.