On Balance Weighted- Thanksgiving

So the brothers walk on, past the storm now, carrying staff and sword, snake and flame contained. While I expected a shoreline reuniting, my brother seems unconcerned by the empty beach, or the delay. "The day is sunny yet cool, let us enjoy this walk, winds carrying only the sound of the waves, and that which we might add. I promise the trove is just ahead- 1, 2, 3 and we're already there!" I consider the wisdom in these words as we walk away from our trusty and well anchored vessel, and acknowledge that I have never possessed a grand sense of timing, though I feel some sense of pride that I have always stepped up and kept the beat, when handed the mic. We walk along in silence for a time, two sets of footsteps and the single accompanying periodic press of wood, marking our unique path through these sands.

We walk along in silence for a time, on these surreal shores, empty excepting our own presence. Our destination feels both nebulous and certain, as our feet feel well equipped to carry us without direction. My mind wanders, and day turns to sunset, turns to night. Suddenly I stop and come out of this mental haze, to notice that it was my brother's lead I followed, still now just a half step ahead but stopped now, looking up at the stars. I follow his gaze and marvel at the starry night. I realize that something feels different, and look at my hands; the snake staff remains, and everything looks normal, but somehow it feels like a dream. Can one simply walk into a dream though? Can a mind wander from point A to point B and find that, somewhere along the way, they stepped over that mysterious threshold of the lim without the scene changing in any immediately measurable way? How might such a thing be done? Would one find themselves ever "waking up" or would the home for such a term have traveled with them? What would be the ramifications of such a journey, for the reality that they and others experience from that point on? I keep these questions to myself for now, the night is cool and comfortable like the day, and the waves are still the only sound carried on the breeze; I see no reason to test tangibility or assert myself as a dreamer here in any way. My brother begins walking again at the same pace, as if having caught the precise moment that I decided to continue the walk as is, whether it be one through dream or waking realm. I place the tail of the snake staff into the sand ahead of me to begin this next leg of the journey, and resume my cadence- *step step press, step step press, step step press*. My mind wanders with purpose now, wondering what my soulmate might be doing on a night like tonight, or if such a consideration even applies on these foreign shores, foreign time being what it is. My mind also rests on Hope, reminded of a similar walk on the beach foreign to me that she and I shared, and I hope it is nice where she is. The star of Origin Story flashes into my mind as well, and the dream we shared under the sun after her expert portal work, by a beach not too dissimilar from this one. I think about Thanksgiving imminent, all the promise this day has held since I saw it properly, and all the adventures it has seen conspired upon and unfolding by dream, day, and page. I wonder too what my brother wonders about as we walk, though I imagine it is much the same, from his unique and distinct point of view. I find myself curious as well, remembering the Night of Mysterious Objects, if my companion dreams on nights like these, and what he may choose to do after this stroll down the beach concludes. In this same haze, the uncertainty between dreaming and awake, I speak a poem, feeling as though I leave it on the shoreline.

"Where to go from here?

Honored guests to each other

But not in hometown

These strange scenes crafted

That pages might fill with ink

Beautiful things penned

Is simple stroke missed

In unwillingness to cheat?

I won't believe it

Can remain hidden

This space between our heartbeats

Heard evermore clear

So I keep (searching/writing)

Knowing that agreement comes

And crowd stays silent

Mockers had their time

Perhaps they shout even now

Along unheard lines

While we step step press

On comfortably quiet shores

And choose our next scene

I (dream/think) of my bride

Our family, with her bright eyed

Friends ready to feast."

"We're here." My brother announces with a fitting calm in his voice. I look up to notice daylight has once more sprung up, and that the beach now extends directly up to a short cliffside, as if the ocean's crown. I recognize the metal stands lining the sandy frontier, each with their own serving tray atop, and I press on my staff as I tiptoe skyward, to confirm the house is the one I remember and sought. I smile widely "It's Thanksgiving."

He spots and points out a pathway up to the grass to our right. We make our way over to it, at the same unhurried pace. Nearing the frontier though I stop in my tracks and my mouth goes agape. It is the star of Origin Story, right where I last saw her in the dream. I thought she was simply watching the sea but, from her equally excited expression, it seems she was waiting for me. "Catch!" My brother turns and catches my staff in one hand as I toss it to him, my fox feet fast carrying me toward my loved one just ahead. She springs to her feet and takes a couple steps towards me but I am already there, wrapping my arms around her in a huge hug. "You made it back!" she says excitedly. "I didn't know you were waiting for me, or I would have come straight away." "I know; that's actually why I didn't say anything. I know you've been chained to that clock for so long now, I thought you might enjoy just opening your eyes to find yourself already at your destination for once." I look her in the eye and take a step back, but do not drop her hand. "If such leisure was your gift I will gladly accept it. I hope you weren't waiting too long." "Nothing I can't handle. Our adventures have taught me patience, to an unearthly degree." We walk slowly, hand in hand, in no rush to rejoin the Thanksgiving celebration. We talk of many things, in what seems like too short a span to have accomplished such a feat, but my mind rests on her now, feeling myself untethered from such external pacing, as she had hoped it, I, would become. Step by step we speak of portals and pretenders, clear signs and straight shots, and the exceeding joy, after walking so many years and dreams and realms, containing hordes of those often half aware at best, of finding one whose eyes shine back like your own at first sight- bright, eager, and true.

We near the point where others may start joining our conversation, but right at the nebulous threshold I hear my brother call out from behind us "Hiya!" I feel what is clearly my staff bounce flat edged off my inner shoulder blade and I try to make a quick turn to snatch it off the bounce, while still in the air. I manage to clip it with my palm, but don't make the grip; it sails a short distance toward the short cliffside. When the staff lands in the grass it turns into a massive snake, one I recognize from our first dream together so many years ago. The snake turns to me briefly, as if coveying a gratitude for something beyond my understanding, and then seems to almost saunter off toward the rocks, as best as a snake can saunter anyway, before meandering rock and grass in such a way as to subtly obfuscate their unmanageably sized, and often feared on instinct (by mankind), appearance. The three of us watch in an almost awed silence as they traverse the party, underneath the food set up, not noticed by a single party goer along the way.

I turn back to my brother and, in a playful tone, exclaim "Da heck!?" He just shrugs, somewhat like a sassafrass, but adds "I thought you might pull off the catch anyway." "Ah, it's no problem, he does his own thing anyway, we just tend to walk together on long nights like these. We'll see him again, when he chooses to return, or perhaps when the night is so quiet that his soul is the only voice I still hear amidst silent sleepers." The others nod and we wordlessly confirm that the next move is to mingle. 

As we turn to proceed into the party's crowd, however, the sun lit skies brighten further and a loud "RERRH!" can be heard overhead. This definitely catches the attention of the crowd, as all around we look up to see The Phoenix in full, flying overhead. The people marvel and tremble at the unique sight for this realm but then, as if this were not enough, the sky becomes dotted with tiny Phoenixes following her, all of them seeming to be chasing after the snake. Even my jaw drops, having never seen her with an entourage such as this before. They pass overhead like a murder of crows; the ground would be shadowed by any other sort of avian incursion or display, but instead it looks almost like fireworks. More truly though it is a speckled inferno passing by, not a hundred feet or so overhead. As the last rows pass overhead, returning the sun to view, I say quietly "Now that's what I call quippish." The star of Origin Story rests her head on my shoulder, and my brother places his hand on the other, as we watch The Phoenix Swarm fade from view.

"My friend, I hope it is nice where you are

That journey's a dream, wonderful and free

And when it is time, you're guided by star

Straight to Thanksgiving, and all yet to be

For brothers are with you, even when far

Like a long linking chain through the halls eep

Tune and agreement wherever you are

Family unflinching in flame or pit deep

Numbers and traditions all cast aside

For this love is not so simply counted

Nor contained, lured, or forged, though fools have tried

Each round seeing stakes evermore mounted

So walk with beautiful rage of knowing

When work's done, exactly where you're going."

The words feel as though they settle on the land as if dew, and the three of us proceed once again toward the party, crowd seeming none the wiser, but perhaps a bit more filled with joy. Before we reach them though I stop once again and point, nudging my companion, hardly able to believe that what I see is not a vision just for me. Smiles in my periphery confirm though that they see it too- Hope and The Phoenix, walking side by side bright eyed, through the crowd to meet us. We proceed no farther, standing stunned to a degree, myself sensing a kind of uncanny simplicity to the path they walk from where I can only imagine they have been. It feels almost as if the crowd is being effected by these two as they pass through, becoming unnaturally aware, as if something within is waking up, even as the number of partygoers looks to be multiplying as well. If the ladies notice they do not shift from their expressions or easy pace. Right as I sense the tides nearly overflowing the embankment of this scene and I am about to react, the star of Origin Story snaps her fingers, and from the same direction where Hope and The Phoenix arrived, a legion of kittens and puppies, baby bunnies and piglets, chicks and ducklings all rush the crowd, tweeting and meowing and otherwise announcing their presence as if an adorable battlecry. The crowd becomes immediately, thoroughly, and understandably distracted, as each now seems to be determining who they might take home. I turn toward my daughter, beaming, and she just beams back "A little something we cooked up. Don't worry, we got you." 

I turn back to find Hope and The Phoenix standing just ahead, and I rush forward and give them each a hug as we reconnect. "That felt so fast!" Hope gives me a narrow eyed smile, as if to indicate I am right, but have no sense of the degree, from their perspective "You have no idea." I smile like a goofball, always most excited, I think, when I hit the nail on the head whilst not even sure I'm holding a hammer, or that there is a nail, while also swinging in the dark- this feels a bit like The Bard's specialty, but, if so, I am not the right person to ask, or say with any certainty. The Phoenix meanwhile rushes to hug the star of Origin Story. From just beside I hear her whisper "Please feel free to come back, any time, you are most welcome." My companion just smiles, always seeming, to me, to possess a wisdom and a poise beyond her years, as if she were born for this, a savant from her very first day. I, not missing an opportunity to give The Phoenix the business, throw my hands to my hips and with a feigned look of betrayal say "I thought I was the most welcome!" She gives an exaggerated exasperated sigh and replies in an artificially heightened tone "More than one can be most welcome!" I crack a smile first and then she narrows her eyes at me "Now, anyway." She cracks a joyous smile at this cryptic reveal but then, as if sensing a shift that she knows is outside my perception, her expression shifts to a grin. "Besides, I get the impression you may be otherwise engaged for a while." 

My inquisitive look prompts her to shoot a side eyed glance back at the crowd and I turn to see, as if a kid on Christmas, what surprise may be yet in store. Ahead of me I see my faithful companion, in his human form as I've recognized by daylight and dream, walking side by side with my soulmate. My heart shines, as if barely contained by my eyes, which in turn shine starry despite the midday sun, at both of them. When they clear the crowd he gives her a hug and whispers something in her ear. She whispers in kind and he steps back, morphing once more to snake, to staff, then falling to the grass. As if no longer able to stand the distance, though I am now stunned by her unimpeded path, my soulmate wastes no time and rushes headlong at me. I have just enough wherewithal to catch her as she leaps into my arms, and plants a kiss on my cheek, the corner of my mouth, and then squarely on my lips, reminding me that it is Thanksgiving we celebrate here today. 

I hear my brother behind me call out "Cheers!" and the star of Origin Story, visibly blooming with joy, skips ahead toward the staff. Hope surges and wraps her arms around both of us "I knew you could do it!" and The Phoenix beams with pride, before shading her eyes with her hand and looking up toward the sun. As the star of Origin Story returns with the staff The Phoenix says "It's a lovely day, something else for me to get used to, it seems. What shall we do with the balance of it?" As Hope steps back, the star of Origin Story comes to a halt and completes what looks kind of like a circle around my soulmate, still up in my arms, and I. "Balance of the day, hmm?" I shoot my brother a glance and he just winks and nods back, a plethora of stories of our encounters reflecting back and forth between us with a simple shared gesture. "There's a whole buffet here, and I feel like I haven't eaten in ages. Anyone up to share a meal?" As my crew responds I feel the sun shining on my skin, and my soulmate's skin against my own. I break away from her gaze just long enough to spot a folding table and chairs, still empty, as if set specifically for the lot of us, and I thank God for blessings beyond, but not exclusive of, my wildest dreams.