The Awakening Forest

I could hear the pitter-patter of rain on the rooftop as I awake in my less than humble abode. The air is so chilly that I honestly don't want to get out of the bed so I lie there just a bit longer. My blankets felt like velvet hugs wrapping me in their warmth. How could I want to rise? Where I was just at seemed far better than here, I know that place isn't that far away. In fact, all I need to do is just get... out... of bed. If only I didn't feel like I was sinking into the sea of my blankets. Before I could sink any deeper I sprang from my bed as to shake the tiredness which was trying to subdue me into yet another state of temporary death.

Though I enjoy my sleep I prefer when it's on my terms in a location or realm of my own choice. You see my house is not your average home. It was built back in 1416, 20 years before I was reborn. There are more rooms than I can count, as well as the usual home amenities like a living room, dining room, kitchen, media room, indoor garden, art studio, and more. It was the only thing that seemed worth the large sum of money that I had fortunately acquired some time ago. The intention was to create a place where I was free to be myself, where I could finally shed the skin I wear to please the common folk. This is the one place that actually makes me enjoy my eternal existence.

Where I emanate from everyone is closed-minded and uninhibited. They lack the initiative to cerebrate all that there is to know about this realm, believing that there are things that are infeasible in this world. Reluctant to entertain any conceptions stuck in ancient ways of viewing things. I’ve endeavored to verbalize with the people of the treasures outside this dimension, but the words of enlightenment just burned out their brain's capacity to even cerebrate the most minute of conceptions.

Consequently, I built my abode to be my worlds. When I want to switch realities it’s as facile as ambulating into a room. 888 rooms each leading to a different reality. Where else would I need to be with all the places that I could be within the comfort of my own home? Each door is covert, you find them by the vibrations they emulate. If it matches your vibe at that time then it will draw you closer to let you see its true nature and let you pass to the next world. Now, there is one particular room that I have found to be quite interesting. Room Number 111, that is the room that my second birth occurred in. I find it to be a riveting experience, it peels your spiritual layers to the core to show you, the true nature of your being.

The day of my rebirth I ventured down the long hallway of rooms with my eyes closed using my third eye to guide me. This day the hall was quiet at the start and began to get noisier the closer I got to my destined door. I could hear the clamoring of each of my realities gradually colliding as the door began to radiate hues of green and blue. When the aura turned indigo I felt the gravity from the world take hold of my being, coxing it gently out of its current body with subtle vibrations.

Once I had completely shed my exoskeleton and was nothing more than a bare soul the door relieved itself to me. It resembled a gravestone, it had my worldly name, date of birth, and the current date. I was stunned for a moment, like a deer in the headlights, though I had known that this day would once come. I was fearful still when the door opened and a red light glowed passing through my present form as if to scan me. The scanning left a dark mark in the form of Initials “JD” on my being. As the door closed behind me I could feel the darkness creating a new body around my delicate form. I was then greeted by a tall ghoulish black rabbit with red eyes in a suit. He introduced himself as Drogo my spirit guide and guardian. He led me down a hallway that seemed to be breathing, and the purple-gray Victorian wallpaper was being chipped away by the darkness. The floor was of swirling pearl and grey marble, the arched ceiling seemed to be at least 20 feet high to compensate for the monstrous slate door at the end of the hallway. The door had a large knocker in the shape of a hand which held a sphere-shaped stone the appeared to have engravings.

As my being approached the door it creaked open to reveal a magnificent study with a fully stocked library. In the middle was a large cherry wood desk with a black suede button-tufted Victorian armchair. Atop the desk sat a single cup of french vanilla coffee and a note addressed to me. Drogo prompted me to take a seat and read the note. Before I could object he was gone and I was left alone in the room with a note that read:

Welcome to your Tomb. The Order of Awakening has been waiting very patiently for your arrival. Lady Daee will be in to see you shortly. Please enjoy the coffee and feel free to explore the texts around you as you wait. Hopefully, they’ll provoke a tale of your own to one day be transcribed.

- Owl [Secretary of OA]

By the time I finished reading the note, a small 10-inch laptop appeared in front of me. It was open to a new word document titled "How I Was Reborn." The perplexity that overcame me as I read the words on the small digital screen was quickly overpowered with the intense urge to type. But, what does it mean “how I was reborn”? I was only born into this life once. Unsure of what to write I paced back and forth racking my brain for ideas. In mid-walk I froze, a book across the room began to wiggle its way out from between its surrounding peers. Once free from its confines it fluttered over to the desk like a butterfly and opened itself to a picture of a woman in a hooded gown who resembled myself, the caption read: Lady Daee 1402. 1402? How could that be it is only 1379?

Confused I attempted to turn the page when the book shocked me, and the woman in the picture spoke. She said, “In order to browse this text one must will the pages to turn. If one cannot do this then you will go no further than this.” So naturally, I concentrated the energy within myself in order to project it onto the book. 10 intense seconds of concentration later and the page flipped as if a wind had blown it. To my disappointment, all of the following pages were blank.

Blank? How could they be blank? Again I concentrated my energy to attempt to flip the pages back before the picture of Lady Daee, those too were blank. I had never been so confused in my life. Not even given a moment's time to process my current situation, I could feel words itching through my veins. It felt almost as though they were crawling under my skin like parasitic insects. Letting go of all hesitation the unspoken words began to take over me like a form of ecstasy igniting new neural pathways forcing me into action.

To Be Continued...