Word Count: 6,901
Since waking up a few minutes ago, I seem to be unable to recall anything about myself, how I got here and why I was completely nude. A quick look at my surroundings told me I was in the valley of an enigmatic mountain range. The mountains rose so high I could scarcely see their sharp jagged peaks. Patches of lush green grass scattered about the valley floor, but pristine snow still covered part of the ground and most of the mountains. How I was not freezing, being as I was absolutely naked, I did not know.
I did not feel the merest discomfort from being unclothed. The temperature seemed perfect. The grass was very soft and even seemed to impart some sort of energy into me as I walked through it with my bare feet. No insects swarmed in the air, ready to bite or sting me for whatever their reason may be. I did not walk for long at all before I realized even the sharp rocks making up much of the valley floor caused me no pain at all as I trod over them with my exposed feet.
I walked for days without seeing any sign of others. I was scared of dying of thirst and hunger, but even after three days I felt no need to eat. I had an appetite, but I was not hungry at all. In all that time, I did not sleep once. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew things were not right.
I finally decided to attempt to climb up one of the mountains in order to try to get a better look at my surroundings. Without any sort of gear to aid me, I found it to be exceedingly easy to scale the steep slopes. I felt like I did this my whole life. Sharp jagged rocks that should leave my hands and feet damaged at the least did not harm me at all. I jumped from handhold to handhold with the skill of a mountain goat.
I was not sure how long it took me to meet the summit. Feeling no hunger, no exhaustion, no pain and the fact the sun never seemed to fully set behind the horizon before sunrise came from the other direction left me with very little with which to calculate time.
From this ice-covered mountain peak, I saw the massive mountain range continuing as far as the eye could see in one direction, but they appeared to level out into plains possibly a ten to twelve day walk from here. I scaled back down the steep mountain slope with the same ease with which I ascended it. I knew there was no possible way I could climb that kind of mountain so safely, quickly and effortlessly, yet there I was.
I walked through the long dusk-to-dawn phase of the day until several hours after full light. I climbed through rock outcroppings, snow that came up to my knees, and beautiful patches of soft lush green grass. Suddenly the ground began to quake causing a rockslide to come careening straight to the valley I happened to currently occupy.
The roaring boulders rolled straight down the mountain to stampede right where I was standing. I knew I had no hope and death was an absolute certainty. I do not know by what miracle I was saved, but the boulders hardly gave me a nudge as they bounced off my exposed body. At that point I was sure this had to be a dream.
Two solar cycles – I hesitate to call them days any longer – before my estimated arrival at the edge of the mountain range, I saw the first people since the moment I became conscious a week or so ago. Their society was a magnificent thing to behold. Giant evergreen trees grew generously on the side of a steep slope in this section of the valley. These people built a civilization in the branches of those trees. It appeared they moved from tree to tree and to various levels my means of rope elevators, pulley and basket systems and a series of ramps and walkways.
I approached the enigmatic mountain forest and before long I could see dwellings built throughout the trees, from their roots to their branches. The closer I got, the larger the trees became. I thought it impossible such trees could grow to this size while clinging to the side of a mountain, but there it was.
I guess the inhabitants of this city in the trees saw me coming, because as soon as I reached the shade of one of the gigantic evergreens a giant woven basket began to lower from above. When it reached my level, I was rather taken back due to the enormity of the thing. It did not look at all that large from a distance. It could easily accommodate several dozen people. Without further hesitation, I walked into the opening of the basket. Once I was safely inside the basket began to rise.
It reached a large rope and plank bridge several hundred feet off the ground and came to a stop. Clearly no one was getting on, so I assumed that meant this was where I was supposed to exit the lift. I climbed out of the basket elevator and onto the bridge. Not sure which way to go, I picked a direction randomly and began walking. I walked from the branches of one tree to another before I finally came upon someone.
Standing in a large open platform area I saw three beings. I don’t know what they were, but they were not like me. These things stood half my height over and were covered in a slightly shaggy, green fur. I assumed these must be the ones who created this magnificent treetop city. The size of the elevator-basket made more sense after seeing these people. I suppose I should have been afraid of such strange creatures, but I sensed absolutely no danger to myself at all.
One of them said something to me. He held up one hand and repeated a fairly long statement twice. I assumed he must be greeting me, as he made no hostile moves toward me. I was afraid of getting the statement wrong and somehow insulting them, so I decided to speak in my language and hope they understood.
I held up my hand as they did and greeted them. I told them I had no idea where I was, and that I wandered the rough landscape for several weeks now. I explained I had nothing to eat since I came around and wondered if they might have some food to share.
“If you desire food, the trees bear many fruits, nuts and berries,” the second one said.
“This is wonderful,” I said with excitement. “I hoped you would be able to speak English.”
“We can now,” said the third, the only female present. “But we are not speaking your language. You are speaking ours.”
“How could I speak your language?” I asked, but this time I listened closely to what I said. I indeed spoke the statement I intended to speak but found the sounds coming out of my mouth did not correspond to English at all. I was really speaking in their language with no effort; I did not even notice that was what I was doing.
“All here in Ivory Plains are able to communicate with all others,” the second of the large green humanoids said. As his eyes scanned over the treetops and continued, “If you listen long enough, you can even hear the voices of the animals and trees.”
“Ivory Plains?” I inquired. “I don’t know who I am, and I don’t know where I am.”
I explained my situation to them. I told them about everything that happened since I became conscious those weeks back. I explained everything up to the point of meeting them.
The first of the three and the female exchanged glances before again turning to look at me.
“You know what’s going on here, don’t you?” I asked.
“Yes,” the female replied. “But we cannot tell you.”
I knew I should feel anger, frustration, anxiety or something, but instead I retained my cheerful attitude and hopeful spirit. If they said they cannot tell me, then I believed them. Not wanting to be a bother to my hosts, I did not press the issue any further.
I spent a full day in their company. I enjoyed some delicious fruits and nuts they made available to me. I was not hungry, not even after all this time and walking, but it was still nice to have a full belly and a satiated palate.
Eventually the Randu, as I came to learn the green humanoids called themselves, lowered me back to the ground in the massive woven basket. When it reached the ground, I exited, and the basket was immediately raised behind me. With a wave goodbye, I continued my journey to the open plains.
The one thing that did bother me was not knowing who I was. Did I only begin to exist such a short time ago, or did I exist prior to that? I could not remember anything before being here, but I had a sinking feeling that I was not from here. Something, actually many things just did not seem right to me.
Four more solar cycles later I finally reached the edge of the mountains. No foothills filled the region. Instead, the mountains ended abruptly giving way to a great open plain. The grass grew consistently six inches in height. I expected it to make me itch as it scraped against my still naked body, but like so many other things it did not cause me any discomfort at all. As a matter of fact, it felt soft and comforting.
Far beyond the plains I saw more mountains. Immense mountain ranges created a horizon line at the opposite edge of the vast, open grasslands. Everything seemed so incredible, like it was pulled from the pages of some fantastic storybook.
The grass was not so evenly tall as I first suspected. The ground sloped ever so gently but the tops of the grass remained at a consistent level. Only a few hours into my trek through the tall blades and I was more than half my height below the point where the grass terminated at its tips. Despite the taller, denser growth I found I still had absolutely no difficulty pushing my way through.
I traveled this way for two days, and on that second night another quake shook the entire landscape. This time there were no boulders to roll down from the mountains. It’s not like it mattered anyway. When I was caught in the slide of massive boulders, the stones glanced off me leaving me unscathed. It did seem like this earthquake was more intense and lasted longer than the previous event.
After spending two more days walking through the grass, suddenly I stepped into a clearing. It was not really a clearing per say. It was a small village woven completely from the large grass that filled this part of wherever I was. At least a dozen of these domed grass structures I could see occupied the area. The walls were thick from the extremely numerous layers of the tall broad blades. The grass was still attached to the ground and a living vibrant dark green. The lengthy blades in between the buildings twisted and wove into freestanding pillars which created pathways resembling the part in someone’s hair.
I did not see any of the village inhabitants for a few minutes, and it is no wonder why. The beings were only about three feet in height. They resembled a mix between a monkey and a human, but their entire visible body was covered in green scales with black around the edges. Their scales were the same color as the grass that seemed to cover these plains allowing them to blend in easily.
Three of them approached me, and what I saw should have scared me, freaked me out or something. Instead, I reacted very calmly and collectively. The beings had no mouth or nose. Gill-like slits on their necks acted as breathing organs. As they looked at me inquisitively, I had the feeling they were trying to tell me something that I could not hear.
The three turned to each other and appeared to be having a silent conversation. After a few minutes, two of them began to walk and motioned for me to follow. The third took hold of my wrist with its six-finger hand and led me behind them.
As we walked, I came to realize this was more of a city than a village. The thick buildings and the generous number of pillars prevented me from seeing very far, so I only had a rough guess as to how large this place actually was. My greeters walked me in between the buildings and pillars for twenty minutes before we finally reached our destination.
This structure was larger, and more fancily designed than the others. The outer weaves of grass created depictions of the life of these beings. The walls were three feet thick, being comprised of many layers of sheets of woven grass, still attached to the ground and living. Inside the depictions were larger and of better quality than those on the outside.
Did they weave all of this by hand, or did this species somehow have the means to coax the grass to grow as they wish?
Small stools, yet again made from the live woven grass, spaced evenly around the room. Others joined us and began taking seats. I was not sure what to do. The two who led the way here were no longer in the room. A couple of minutes later those two returned carrying what essentially looked like a bean bag and put it on the floor to give me a place to sit. Their stools were simply much too small for my larger frame.
Once I took my seat, they began tracing what I would call runes into the air. A faint trace of smoke followed their fingers as they wrote these words into the air. I didn’t know what to do, so I did not do anything. I watched and took in the wonder of what I was seeing. This went on for several minutes, and then I thought I began to hear voices. Actually, it was more like I was seeing images in my head of what they were trying to tell me.
I tried opening my mind to their communications, and it worked. Suddenly the images became clear, but I still heard no sounds. These creatures had no mouths, and I saw nothing on them that looked like ears. I think they were deaf-mute.
Even though this image communication was something to which I was absolutely inexperienced, it did not take me long before I was fully proficient. I explained my situation to them from the time I woke up to now. I told them I did not know where I was, and I was on a quest to find out.
Suddenly I saw the image of a group of about 300 humans making their way across the plains. They were clearly a nomadic people as they pulled skids loaded with their belongings behind them. I did not think, after as long as I already traveled, there would be any humans here, but finally I knew I was not alone.
In what I guess could be called their language, I asked them if they knew where I could find these other humans. They traced some more runes in the air with their fingers. The images I saw now were from the perspective of the top of one of the nearest mountains. It showed the nomads were not too terribly far from me.
I told them I had one last question; could they tell me how I got here. Like the others, they said no. I did not even bother to argue. As with the Randu, I believed them when they said they could not tell me.
The little, scaled beings invited me to spend the night in their hamlet but told me I needed to leave in the morning if I wanted to catch up to the other humans.
My hosts were ready to see me off bright and early. They had for me a gift of a shoulder sack made from thin strips of the grassy reeds. Inside they placed six pieces of fruit. Three were golden and somewhat resembled pears, and the other three looked kind of thorny with a coloring of beautiful pinks and purples.
Since they could not communicate with me on any higher level without the combined power of their minds, I could not ask them what they were. To be honest, I was not sure why they were even giving me food. Since I woke up in this place, I never had any actual need to consume anything. The ground itself somehow imparted the energy into me to keep my body sustained.
I thanked them for their gifts, although I did not know if they understood what I was saying. Several of the beings escorted me through their city for thirty minutes before reaching the edge of their woven city. From there, they pointed me toward the direction of the other humans and gave me a gesture I assumed was bidding me farewell. A small mountain peak off in the distance was slightly off from the direction I was given. I made my way toward it keeping the peak slightly to my right as I walked.
The continually sloping ground and steady level of the grass began to give me the sensation of traveling underground. Even though the grass was much denser here than any place I encountered as of yet, it conveniently bowed and curved in groups so as to produce something of a cavern network. I was deep in the darkness created by the dense foliage when the ground again began to quake.
In the grassy plains I did not have to worry about boulders coming from the mountains, but I never really had to worry about that anyway. So far nothing in this place seemed to have the capability of injuring me in any way. The rumbling thrashed the ground beneath my feet, but I had no difficulty remaining standing. The first two quakes after my waking scared me as I worried about serious or even deadly injuries, but this time I felt no such fear. Instead, I rather enjoyed the thrill of riding the thrashing ground as I easily remained erect.
Once the event was over, I decided to take a seat and try a piece of the fruit my most recent hosts gave me. I chose a piece of the golden fruit, which I found to have a flavor more like that of ripe berries than that of a normal hanging tree fruit. It was quite tasty and fulfilling. For whatever reason, I had no need to eat; but it was nice consuming such a delicious piece of fruit.
No sooner did I finish eating the scrumptious golden fruit did I find myself becoming sleepy. Since I was able to remember, I never felt any need for sleep. I could sleep if I wanted to, but never once did I feel it necessary. That was until now. I could not say for sure, but I was quite positive the gift from my most recent hosts had some sort of sedative effect on me. I became so used to not needing any slumber, I found myself afraid of falling asleep. Struggle as I might, it was a losing battle. Before I knew it, I drifted off to a strange dream world.
I could see nothing but a faint white blur. I heard noises of various sorts. Some I seemed to recognize while others I did not. Every few seconds or so I could hear a beep. There were voices that sounded as if they were amplified producing something of a hollow sound. Several other voices nearby spoke unintelligibly for how long I don’t know, but it seemed like forever. A louder voice cut through theirs, and all went quiet except for the steady beep I heard every few seconds.
When I awoke from my dream it was sometime during the dark period of the day. Buried eight feet below the surface of the grass, the darkness was almost complete. Before it faded away from memory, I tried to take note of the details of my dream, but the harder I tried to remember the quicker they slipped from me. I was not positive it was the fruit; but if it was, I had two more chances to dream.
I wanted to eat another piece immediately, but what if this was all I got? Would I have to go back to those strange, reptiles I will call them for a lack of a better word, if I wanted to dream after this? Would they even give me more fruit if I asked?
As much as I wanted to dream again, I was afraid this fruit was my only chance. I did not want to eat them all right away and never be able to dream again. I was sure, in this strange place, I did not have to worry about the fruits going bad. Now my biggest question was, what do the other fruits do?
By the time I got back to my journey, I retained only vague glimpses of the bizarre dream. I remembered beeping and muffled voices, but that was about it. I shrugged my shoulders and continued on in the direction the small, scaled creatures told me I would find more people like me. It was very interesting meeting beings of such varying sorts, but I could not wait until I once again saw some other humans.
After several hours of effortless travel through the tall, sturdy grass I encountered something new. A mound rose from the ground standing twenty feet in height and eighty feet at the base. None of the tall grass grew on the mound. In fact, the thick grass seemed to stop a few feet from the base all the way around. Instead, a very short, matted grass covered the mound.
Night time, or whatever equivalent there was of that here, was setting in so I decided to climb up the hill and see what I could see.
I was not sure what was happening, but I actually found it a little difficult to climb this hill. I scaled a mountain like it was no problem, but I was having difficulty getting up this grassy knoll. It took me a few minutes, but I eventually made my way to the top of the rounded hill. This placed me above the top of the grass line, which seemed to maintain a constant level despite the contour of the ground below.
There were other hills similar to this one scattered about in the distance, but something else took hold of my attention. In all the time I was in this place, I never got a really good look at the sky. Something was always blocking me from seeing too far in any direction. I never understood why there was not a full night with each day, and now I knew why.
The firey ball I saw in the sky and thought it was the sun, well it might be a sun, but not the sun. The illuminating sphere passed by and continued on in a straight line. Far beyond it I saw a dimmer, then a dimmer light which seemed to go on for eternity. If that was not enough, this was not even the only series of stars. Lines of ever dimming lights created a stelar grid as far as I could see. I stared in amazement until the new sun broke above the high, craggy mountains behind me.
I found me a comfortable spot in the grass to lay back and took a bite from one of the pink and purple fruits. It was a little tart but very delicious. It almost seemed to melt in my mouth, and it did not take me long at all to eat the whole thing.
I heard that familiar beeping very softly, moments before I fell to sleep. Once I began my slumber the sound became much clearer, but that made no sense for me to hear it before I fell to sleep. Perhaps I was simply anticipating it, so my mind made me think I was hearing it. What could that sound be? Every few seconds I heard the beep. For some reason that made me think of the way the “suns” in this strange world worked.
I could see nothing but a bright blur, so I tried to focus on what I could hear. There were two voices, that was for sure. I was unable to hear what they were saying though. It was as if my ears were somehow muffled. I could not move at all. It was if my entire body was paralyzed because I was unable to make even the slightest twitch.
Suddenly and unexpectedly a wave of indescribable pain shot through me. It was a pain unlike any I ever experienced. The anguish felt as if my skin were on fire and every major bone in my body was broken. I wanted to scream out, but I couldn’t. I could not even move enough to ask for help. This dream lasted much longer than I wanted it to, and when I did finally awake, I remembered every detail as if it happened in real life.
For a moment I considered throwing the other two pieces of the pink and purple fruits away, but I eventually decided against that. Granted it gave me a horrible nightmare, but I don’t think my last hosts would give it to me if there was not some reason for it. I thought perhaps I had an adverse reaction to the effects of the fruit, but I did not really believe that. I believe it did exactly what it was supposed to do. Why they wanted me to go through this I did not know, but there had to be some purpose behind it.
I once again, and with moderate difficulty, climbed the hill carpeted in the short, matted grass. I wanted to get my bearings by finding the mountain I was using as a landmark. I had no difficulty locating it, but there was a problem. I was quite sure it was much further to the right than it was when I first set out. That could not be, but there it was. After I made it back down the hill, I started walking further to the right of the mountain peak to compensate for the mountain being in the wrong place.
In my time here in this strange place, I encountered some most unusual situations, but I do have to say a moving mountain was by far the oddest thing I saw as of yet. Perhaps the land masses were somehow floating on a massive ocean. Could these frequent quakes be the result of such islands colliding as they drifted about. If so, that raised more questions than answers.
I pondered over the meaning of those two dreams as I continued along my way. I did not know what they were trying to tell me. Why I could hear, but only muffled voices, and why I could see but only a blurry white light I also did not understand. I wondered what effect eating both a gold and purple fruit at the same time would be. That was not something I thought I would actually want to attempt.
A few more days passed as I traveled through the grass forest and wondering about the moving mountain. I ascended one of the carpet-like grass covered hills any time I came around one. Each time I found the mountain that was once my landmark was indeed moving further to the right. I simply could not comprehend how this was even possible.
If I knew where I came from, how I got here and how long I was here, perhaps that would provide me with some answers. As it stood I knew no more about this place than what I experienced since waking up here. I did not know where I was, but I was positive this is not where I was from. I began entertaining the notion I somehow shifted or was abducted to some other world. That was the only explanation that seemed to make any sense. That was such a crazy notion though.
I hoped I was still traveling in the right direction. With the mountains moving, and the outlandishly tall grass that did not allow signs of usage, I figured I could be off by tens of miles by now. I just had to keep the faith and trust my instinct to allow the mountain landmark to continue moving off to the right.
With two more days of hiking, I finally located the camp of nomadic humans. I was beginning to think I missed them completely. No one was wearing any clothing. I was naked since I got here. I wondered if that was what happened with them too. None of the beings I met since my awakening wore anything, anything at all.
I stood there for a moment, but as soon as someone spotted me they began to call out and becon me to them.
People of various races and ages made up this piece-mail tribe. It really was an odd mix of people, but that was of no consequence. I was elated to find other humans besides myself. It was so good to know I was not alone. They did quite overwhelm me at first.
Everyone wanted to introduce themselves to me, and to ask me a bit about myself. At some points I probably had ten people asking me questions. Finally someone stepped forward and moved everyone away from me.
“Please, you must forgive us,” the aging man said. “It is not often, not often at all that we come across other humans.”
He then gave me an open-ended invitation to join the caravan. The old man told me not to give an answer now. Instead he invited me to stay with them for a while. When they found this clearing they decided to take a break from their wandering and remain in one spot for a while. Some of them were already at work weaving the grass around the clearing into huts. Tents made of bundles of the dry reeds were set up in the clearing.
Far on the other side of the encampment were multiple four legged creatures I did not recognize. They looked sturdy and strong, so I figured they must be the beasts of burden these humans used. If they were nomadic, they needed something to haul their wares. I figured I would learn what they are soon enough.
A banquet was held that evening after the last sun passed by. The celebration was one of new life and rebirth. Apparently this was a holiday to them. I felt bad because everyone brought food but me. I really felt out of place with them. Their customs were obviously much different than my own. I found the whole thing had a pagan-like quality.
Finally, after nearly two hours of prayer, everyone began to eat. I was reluctant since I brought nothing to contribute, but several of them told me not to worry about that and to go get myself some food.
When the celebration ended, I stayed up for a while talking to one of the elders in the group. I told him what I experienced since waking up that day. We talked about some of the other species that inhabit the area. When I finally asked him if he knew how I got here, the conversation came to a halt.
“You don’t know yet?” he asked me.
I told him no, but I keep trying to figure that out. I then asked if he could tell me how I got here.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot tell you that,” he replied the same reply the others gave me.
“Why? Why won’t you tell me?”
“It is not that we won’t. When we say we can’t, we really mean that we cannot tell you,” he explained.
That did not make sense to me at all. They all seemed to know the answer to my question, but no one would give it to me. He acted as if everyone were physically incapable of telling me. It was as if it were more an inability than a reluctance to do so. I knew I would get no more information from him on the matter, so I pressed it no further.
When the elder excused himself for the evening, I reached in my sack and pulled out one of the shiny golden pears. I rolled it around in my hands for several minutes, debating whether or not I should eat it. I was just about to take a bite when I heard a few people approaching me from the side. I returned the fruit to its carrier before they reached me.
I hoped they would pass by, but instead they asked if I minded if they joined me. Why not? I wasn’t going to dream, so I might as well have the company. I guess I was visibly upset, because one of them asked me if I was alright. Initially I shrugged my shoulders and told them I was fine, but after a little prodding I began to open up.
I explained to them everything, just as I did the elder. I told them how incredibly frustrated I was becoming because no one would give me a simple answer to a simple question.
“That question is not so simple here,” one of them told me. I was about to say something in reply, but he continued talking.
“Travel out to the edge. You will know it when you see it,” he said. “Rest and dream once you are there. That is how we both remembered.”
The two gave me more information on how best to reach ‘the edge’ but neither would tell me what the edge was. We talked all the way until morning. I found out they never met the Randu, and they described several I had yet to meet.
When the new sun appeared for the day, the two led me to one of the hard-to-climb hills to show me my destination. They pointed out the mountain I originally used as a landmark to try to find them, and told me to follow it. I thought they may be joking, but the looks on their faces seemed sincere. I thanked them, told them to say goodbye to the others for me, and set off in that direction.
Each day I could see the mountain moved to the right some, but I continued to follow it as instructed. The grass became significantly shorter, and I encountered no other beings. After following that mountain for nearly two weeks, I reached a point where the grass stopped, only to grow in small tufts here and there, and the ground became rough and rocky. Even though I fell victim to no injury for as far back as I can remember, I took care walking over the sharp rocks.
I was a day into transversing the rough ground when the next quake hit. This time it tossed me around much more so than any previous incident. I was not hurt, but I could not gain my footing for several minutes. This stony surface must be more susceptible to these tremors.
Midway through the second day I believed I was coming to what the two people kept calling the edge. It appeared the landscape ended in a cliff or a steep dropoff. When I finally reached my destination, I could not comprehend what I saw. This simply could not be real. What I saw was impossible.
The mountain I selected as a guiding landmark was indeed moving, as was every other mountain range for as far as I could see. They were not floating, they were not drifting, they were walking. Creatures unlike anything I ever imagined, creatures with bodies hundreds or even thousands of miles across roamed across an infinite ivory colored surface. The quakes were not what I thought at all. The enigmatic creatures walked on eight legs, and they walked very slowly. Each time one of the feet came back into contact with the ivory plain, it sent a shockwave through the creature’s shell.
Three days I spent frozen in that spot, trying to comprehend what I saw. There spread out before me were an innumerable amount of walking, living mountain ranges. I wondered if they all had the same sort of surface as this, or if each one was totally unique.
Finally on the evening of day four at the edge, I decided to eat a piece of the golden fruit and dream. It was quite refreshing. The flesh was tender, and it contained no seeds or fiberous core. It was not long before I was asleep on the rough ground.
This time the dream was different. I was standing in a strange room. Odd devices filled the room, and several people in white were tending to a body lying on a bed. I turned to see a lady enter and approach the person who appeared to be in charge. She was asking about the man in the bed.
That lady, I knew her somehow. She was my wife. I had a wife. So what was she doing here?
I looked at the bed, at the body laying still with tubes running into it and wires connected to it. I looked at the familiar ring on the right hand, and I began to understand. The body was me. I ran to my wife and tried to tell her I was alright, but she could not hear or feel me. For some reason her words came out garbled and backwards.
I tried to give my wife a hug, to embrace her one more time, but the dream wore off. I was back on the stony ground. I wished the details of this dream would go away, but I remembered it like it actually happened. I remembered it because it was real, but this was real too.
Where was I? This helped me answer where I came from, but not where I was. It obviously wasn’t hell, but it surely did not seem like heaven. I had to get back to the elder. I was ready for answers.
By the time I got back to the location where I met the humans, they were gone. I thought about the man’s invitation, and suddenly I knew exactly which direction to go. I walked for several days and caught up to my fellow humans. I quickly sought out the elder.
When I found the aged man, I told him everything I discovered.
“Good, then you know,” he said.
“Am I dead?” I asked.
“No,” he said as he looked down at my fruit sack. “As long as you try to hold on, you will remain in both worlds. He meant I had to give up my last two dreams; he meant dying.
I pleaded with him to tell me where I was.
“Now you know the truth, I can tell you. Every possible concept of a universe exists, an infinite number universes exist, thus every dream world is real. This was the dream you went to when you had your accident,” he explained.
“But can I wake back up?” I asked in a pleading tone.
Shaking his head the elder explained, “No. The fact you’ve been here so long means you are not going back. The most you can do is hold on and dream, but that will not last you long. You are almost out of fruit.”
“What were those things, what is this thing we are riding? I’ve never seen or heard of any such magnificent creatures before. What are they?”
“We call them the megaliths. I don’t know if they have a true name, but that is what the dwellers of the Ivory Plains call them.”
“How many of them are there?” I asked.
“The Ivory Plains go on for eternity, so I suppose the total number of them would be infinite,” the elder explained.
“Is it possible to travel to other megaliths?”
“Oh yes,” the elder replied. “When two come together, it is possible to move from one to the other.
“So long as you stay on your monolith, you are immortal. Nothing can harm you and you’ve no need to eat or sleep. You will stay young forever. If you travel to another megalith, you will begin to age once again,” he told me.
“How do you know this?” I inquired.
He looked at me with a smile and said, “Because, I was young once like you.”
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