The Mistycs
Episode Three: The Wild Orchid
As Dreamer prised his sleep ravaged eyelids open and shook his aching head, he mumbled to himself,
"I really love to hate cider."
Levering himself up off his cot bed he lumbered over to the frayed brown curtains. When he opened them
what he saw next was so startling that it shocked the hangover right out of him.
"Wiseman," the snoring bundle next to him did not respond so he raised his voice a bit and repeated,
"WISEMAN! Wake up dude and look at this!"
Wiseman stirred and opened his tired eyes in frustration at the unwanted alarm call, stretched his skinny but
sinewy arms, rolled over and fell with a loud crash to the wooden floorboards, waking Blossom in the process
who also sat up in alarm with a mild frown on her face, straightened her hair and demanded,
"What is all this noise you pair of drunk rapscallions? I was right in the middle of the most beautiful dream."
Dreamer turned with his palms upturned and in the air in a forlorn display of apology to to them both and replied,
"Sorry you guys, but if you come over here and look out the porthole you'll see why I woke you both."
Wiseman and Blossom joined Dreamer and they too exclaimed in bewilderment as they looked outside,
"What the….???"
"Exactly my reaction," affirmed Dreamer, "I do believe that we are afloat at sea on some kind of vessel."
Blossom contemplated this for a few seconds and then gave a brief nod of acknowledgement
and muttered,
"Then the mist must have answered my prayer."
"What was that Blossom?" enquired Wiseman, "did you say a prayer?"
"Well yes I did, right before I drifted into peaceful dreams in Baruvia I made a plea to the mist in the hope
that it would be benevolent enough to give us a boat to transport us further along on our mysterious journey.
After all, any progress is good progress, eh?"
Wiseman smiled in appreciation and replied,
"I see, my clever rose. Your purity does indeed gift you with immense powers of insight and mental reason."
"Well, yes, sort of my riddling wizard friend, but I am also aware that the mist is quite a vain entity that requires
occasional praise in recognition of its awesome power and I just thought that a prayer was the perfect way of
doing just that as well as stopping us all from getting caught up too much in that den of villains for too long either."
"What outright vanity from this strange thing that moves us at its leisure!" derided Dreamer as Wiseman held out
a warning index finger to chide and stop him,
"Hush now Dreamer, banish those kinds of thoughts from your mind and do not vocalise them. Remember what
I said about angering the mist? It is the only thing that can help us in this vast unknown world that we are in."
Dreamer hung his head in silent despair and said,
"I am sorry, have I ruined our quest with my rash words?"
"No matter. It cannot be helped now. What is said is said. Once uttered, words hang in the air like birds waiting
to swoop for their prey and can only be changed by the mind of the listener. Be more mindful my friend and all
should be well, for it is mindfulness that holds the power of words and it is only when we write them down that
we are able to control their power. Spoken without thought they can be brilliant predators. So speak less and
write more is my advice and see where that goes."
Dreamer still looked a little distraught so Wiseman clapped him on the back which made him stand tall and said,
"Fear not Dreamer! The mist can also be very forgiving as well. So just keep your speech positive and take care
with your words and try to articulate them with as much wisdom as possible."
Blossom was still gazing out of the porthole at the rich golden sunrise that was filling the horizon, oblivious to
Dreamer's brief but valid concerns. Now she spoke and her words were filled with awe,
"The mist never ceases to amaze me. Our cramped, fetid little room in a seedy saloon bar in an overcrowded
citadel located miles from the coast has now become a quaint but basic cabin on a small boat in the midst of a
vast and calm blue sea."
Wiseman echoed this sentiment,
"It is a truly wondrous thing to behold! I love the sea. The horizon lays all around you, but you can never
reach it. Like infinity with bounds."
"There you go with your wonderful riddles again Wiseman," commended Blossom.
"Sort of dear, but I really meant that the horizon is actually the edge that is not an edge, and always out of our reach."
Dreamer, who had been listening in, then added,
"The apparent edge."
Wiseman's eyes opened wide in amazement at Dreamer's intuitive observation and said,
"A perfect summary of our musings my logical companion. From this moment forth the sea shall be known as the
apparent edge. The edge that is not an edge. A sphere cannot have an edge, if you keep going you just come
back to where you started from. Just because something looks flat and completed it does not mean that it is so."
Dreamer scratched his forehead in a bemused way at such meandering ramblings,
"What are you trying to say Wiseman?"
The more experienced druid looked puzzled for a moment and then he replied,
"What I am trying to say is that this world is like an illusory paradise. You see?"
Dreamer scratched his forehead and inclined his head to the right and said,
"Erm, I think so dude. Why don't we go out on deck and look at this illusory paradise then that is surrounded
by an apparent edge?"
The other two nodded their agreement as Dreamer opened the small cabin door and they all stepped onto
the small, tidy deck into the clean, fresh sea breeze. After a few moments of sucking in the beautiful sea air
Wiseman spoke,
"Ah, my cider addled head feels much better now for this."
The three companions wandered around the deck in blissful appreciation of their new vessel until they
reached the ornate wooden wheel towards the stern. Wiseman stepped up to its carved and varnished
surface and ran his hands over the smooth wood of the spokes,
"In my admiration of our good fortune I almost forgot that a sea vessel needs a navigator. Could that be one of us?"
Dreamer and Blossom shook their heads and their combined silence spoke volumes about their lack of seafaring
skills so Wiseman spoke again,
"Oookay then! I shall learn. Learning new things is one of my great strengths, for the more I learn the stronger I
become. Do either of you object if I take the wheel?"
"No not at all. We trust you with our lives."
"That is encouraging albeit a little concerning, but thank you for your confidence in my ability."
"No problem Cap'n Wiseman! " exclaimed Dreamer with a mock salute, "could you show us the way to an island
so that we can find food and water?"
"Good idea Dreamer. As logical as ever my dear," concurred Blossom.
"I’ll give it my best shot," confirmed Wiseman and started to turn the wheel and scan the horizon and sky like a
seasoned professional. He stretched his right hand across his temple in true sailor fashion and looked lost,
"which way though? A map would be handy? Ahhhh...."
Wiseman rummaged in his pocket and until he found his rowan wand. He stood for a few moments and then
performed the strange ritual that Dreamer had witnessed just after they had met and then pointed out to the distant horizon,
"North by northwest is the way of the rowan, so I shall take that course."
Wiseman now fell into his new role of captain with the vigour of an old sea dog.
"Strange but wonderful man," whispered Blossom to Dreamer.
"I know," Dreamer whispered back with a wink and a small smirk as they returned back to the cabin to talk and wile away
their pleasant sea voyage until their captain found them a suitable island to stop at and refresh themselves. They sat
opposite each other at a small wooden crate with a lone candle on it that served as a table and after a few silent
moments Dreamer said,
"There is still something important about this boat that is missing."
"What?"
"A name. Every sea faring vessel should possess a name.”
"Got anything in mind?"
"Well, since I was searching for my lost love Belle, I thought it might be fitting to call her
something along those lines."
"Belle Adorus?"
"Oh no, no, no most certainly not, I was thinking something more like Wild Orchid."
"That is a lovely name for our boat, but tell me what is its connection to Belle?"
"Well the orchid is one of mine and Belle's favourite flowers that is well known for being both rare and beautiful - just
like Belle - roaming the meadows of the world like a wild and beautiful child. A perfect name in honour of my missing soul mate."
"Such beautiful reasoning Dreamer that makes me want to weep with melancholy and joy. Be careful of melancholy though,
for in excess it may destroy your wonderful soul."
"Oh without Belle my soul is already dying. I need to find her to be complete again. I have nothing but time without her!"
Dreamer started to break down with these sad thoughts, his whole body racked with a longing to find his soul mate. Blossom
put her slender arms around him and cradled him as a loving friend would until his tide of emotion had subsided and then said to him,
"Try not to get too down my dear, you have Wiseman and I now for support and help on your journey. A quest shared is a quest halved."
"Thank you for your comforting words sweet meadow child, you have a heart as vast as this sea we are traversing. I felt the power
of its awesome beat when you cradled me just then."
"The rose is a flower of love and comfort that protects those who are worthy."
"Indeed. So it is agreed then?"
"What's that then?"
"To name the boat Wild Orchid."
"After your heartfelt reveries and emotions I think that can be the only suitable name that we can bestow upon her really isn't it?"
"Should we ask what Wiseman thinks of it?" asked Dreamer in his usual over anxious fashion. Blossom chuckled and steadied his nerves,
"Why no! Wiseman is part of our valiant trio and although we are all different in our own unique ways we are all very much the same.
His tolerance for humanity will mean that he will be fine with whatever we call the boat. He is just happy to be Cap'n Wiseman for a while."
"Of course, how silly of me to be concerned about such a needless thing, he is indeed one of the greatest refiner of thoughts that I have ever met."
"Indeed. I love him because he is so genuine and never appears to utter anything that he does not mean, a true gent of old, even though
sometimes what he says may not always make immediate sense."
"Yes, the most competent druid and sea captain in our world anyway!"
"And he has always been......" continued Blossom, but she was unable to finish her sentence as she was drowned out by a loud, nautical cry
from up on the bridge.
"LAND HO ME HEARTIES!!!!"
Blossom and Dreamer nearly fell on top of each other in their impatience to join Wiseman on deck and when they did they saw that he was
guiding The Wild Orchid like a well seasoned pirate captain into the small cove of a tiny isle, where they could see to their mutual pleasure
and amazement a sun-drenched golden beach that undulated with small dunes that were covered in rushes that swayed in the breeze and
were interspersed with tall palms that waved out to them like long lost friends.
© Nathan Sandiford 2018, UK - writer
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