Dilemma of Dreams - 10

An adult speculative Christian post-Armageddon fiction
Dilemma of Dreams
Chapter Ten: Complete
Preparations for Travel

Coming from town, I moved through the inn desiring some more hors d’oeuvres, but I stopped before the door to that room as I heard the voice of Dimerkess declare, “You could have told us that sooner! Honestly, from my heart, I believe that the only reason You told us now was because we were coming to that conclusion ON OUR OWN!”

I opened the door to the room to see Peralte sitting with an amused expression on his face. Dimerkess had been standing up with a finger pointed toward the ceiling. He turned to me with a surprised expression, but it was Peralte that spoke.

“My, my, the change is for the better.” He moved up to me as he said, “It still looks – girlish, although more of a lady of ten. I would say that the look suits you.”

I admitted, “I believe that the lady at the salon was surprised, as I wanted it thicker and not just the curl. Since I asked for it, I got it, but I do not believe the beautician knows how it was managed.”

“Yes, well, the problem can go deeper than that. Those that do understand our connection with the divine and want it for themselves, no longer have a simple process to obtain it. I sometimes feel that it is best for them if they stay mystified.”

Dimerkess replied, “Yes, but if they continue with that mindset, they will never obtain salvation. It is thus best if we do such miracles in their presence. Your hair is nice, Vetacha.” I actually expected him to call me Mesapher, but was not surprised by his following words. “We leave in the morning.”

I looked to the table disappointed to not see a supply of food as I asked, “Will we be walking?”

“Walking? Oh, yes, you like to walk, don’t you? A walk will probably do me good.”

Peralte interjected, “And there really are no roads to or from the town.”

“I still rode a horse.”

“Really?” I exclaimed, but thinking of others I asked, “Can Assadra ride a horse?”

I had ridden horses, but not really either. The large plow animals would allow you to sit on their backs, but what little riding I did of them could not compare to what those in the Western novels did on their mounts. Thinking of actually spending a day in a saddle had me wait for a response.

Dimerkess answered, “Yes, she can ride a horse. Don’t let her form fool you. She is more than able to have it perform as required.”

Peralte’s comment, “I would definitely agree,” did not seem to please the man.

“I am however not certain that I need her services any longer.”

“Try sending her away.”

The voice of the lady came from behind me as I heard the door open, “Yes, Dimerkess, try sending me away.”

“I would just prefer Jeraketh to be with us.”

“Then call him, just don’t try to send me away.”

Dimerkess grumbled, “Then I will have him bring another horse.”

Peralte winked at me, then said, “Vetacha and I would like western saddles with full regalia.”

“That sounds delightful. I believe that I will as well.”

Assadra blurted out, “European for me.”

“Of course.”

Considering that topic concluded, I asked the question on my mind. “What are we going to eat?”

Dimerkess looked at the table. It was set in the middle of the room with settings for a group of six. I wondered just how soon Jeraketh would arrive and if he would be bringing another. Dimerkess turned back to me to answer the question.

“Fish. I went fishing and caught a number of trout. Considered that it would be a nice change of pace.”

Peralte commented, “It is not six yet, Vetacha.”

I replied, “Have I really been keeping that schedule?”

“No reason to have changed it.”

I looked to Dimerkess, and he replied, “I would make you wait until seven or eight.”

I responded, “I can wait. I am going to relax in the pool.”

Peralte said, “I will join you, Vetacha.”

Dimerkess looked around, then allowed, “Yes, go ahead. She probably needs to be informed of things. Assadra, you can do what you want.”

She replied, “Of course I will do what I want.” She then turned to Peralte to say, “I would like to be informed as well, but I do well enough taking things as they come. I will thus leave the two of you alone.”

I blurted out, “You might as well come, as we aren’t going to do anything.”

The lady purred as she said, “Yes, but I would. I will thus leave the two of you alone.”

I followed Peralte up to our room. He showed me a lovely red outfit that he bought for me as a swimsuit. I mentioned not needing it for the pool down below. He agreed, but just commented that lack of a swimsuit was no longer an excuse for me to stay out of the water. I saw him put on a nice brownish green set of shorts. Instead of commenting on his attire, I however mentioned something else I wanted in my wardrobe.

“Can I get a cowboy outfit?”

I knew that Peralte’s ladies had been handling things for him without me seeing them. I however did not realize how easily they could move about. Upon his call, Pezraneeta appeared in the room. He had me talk to the lady and discuss the specifics of the outfit I desired. The only time that the lady turned from me as if seeking approval from Peralte was when I requested the primary color to be white. I had noticed that he did not wear white, but I definitely wanted a white hat with an outfit that complemented it. Before she left, Peralte told her to make his outfit yellow. She bowed, then was no longer in our presence.

After seeing her go, I commented, “It must be nice to travel like that.”

“We are not to go around like that, because it has us avoid interacting with the people. We actually see them so little anyway, but if we just blipped between places they would never even know of our existence.”

I picked up the robe, and remembering that it trailed on the floor, I asked, “Does she know my size?”

Peralte had me put the robe on. It fit comfortably. The shoes did as well. I looked at the attire suspecting divine magic, although Peralte confessed that since I did not complain of the color or style that he told his ladies to make me the same in my size, which they gained by looking at what clothes I had.

The water was as clear and warm as it had been yesterday. Peralte had brought a book on gold prospecting, but set it down saying that he planned to talk a while first. He played with me for a time. Nothing frisky, but just some simple activities. While I was naked, I never felt him touch me where it would be improper. I actually desired some act suggesting that our relationship was becoming more intimate, but that was one wish that went unfulfilled. Acting as if tired, he then settled in a spot before speaking.

“It works against your plan on following me to my home, but we will be leaving my mountains. God told Dimerkess that we needed to head over to a reality created by Leotion. He actually made something similar to your reality, so I felt that it was the best choice of becoming suspect.”

“Wild West?”

“No, more Mongolian steppes. You still have horses, and rivers, and towns, but everything is different as well. Still, it was something basically tossed together with little thought and not exactly managed.”

It actually hurt me to hear that. I however held my place in the water accepting that it was true. I did what little swimming I could in the water while considering how I would improve my world. I really could not think of what I would do different. I was not an artist even of the quality of Peralte. I guess that I could write, but I did not believe that effort would be any better than a rough sketch. Not hearing Peralte say anything more, I decided to ask a question.

“Could you help me work on my next world?”

“Hopefully, you simply being with me on this mission will be of help. Still, Vetacha, if you continue to be my companion, I will be present to provide what advice you desire.”

I suddenly thought of myself as silly, and to save face I said, “Oh, yes, that is correct. Should I get a notebook to write and draw plans like you do?”

“I find that it helps. I have a spare that you could use. Let me suggest that you begin by simply attempting to reconstruct what you had. It might prove instructive.”

That answer did satisfy me. I moved again through the water. I felt the additional weight from the liquid soaking into my thicker tresses, but did not find it bothering me. More than the satisfaction with the change, I found a stronger sense of pleasure in Peralte spending time with me. I thus turned in the water to speak to him what I felt he needed to know.

“I did like it.”

He did not ask me what I was talking about, but spoke fully understanding what I meant. “I sensed that. If you remember, I was there for a few months. I thus saw you moving about frequently. Never did I hear you complaining. I really did try things to help you keep it active. I now believe that it would have failed anyway, but if I had your support maybe something would have given enough substance for Dimerkess and me to realize the actual problem and deal with it before your reality collapsed.”

“That is what we are going to try and do for Leotion?”

“Yes, Vetacha, that is what we are going to be doing for Leotion.”

Considering that the man might have the same mentality as me, I asked, “Do you think that he will arrest us?”

“No, maybe… I don’t know. I however expect him to be more interested in why we are there than you were. You did not talk to me then, Vetacha. If there is anything that makes me feel you have changed, for the better, it is the fact that you will speak to me.”

“It was my world…”

Peralte had finally hurt me. All this time I had been cheerfully being with him without any trouble about his actions or choices of topics. I actually felt like crying, but instead I worked at facing the emotions. I had been naked in his presence, but suddenly I felt exposed. Wanting to prove that I really would trust him, I worked past my pain.

“It was my world. All those years of reading Westerns. They were my only comfort. I didn’t want you there, Peralte. It was my world! I was happy. Why did you have to intrude!”

“I wanted you to keep it. I really wanted you to keep it.”

“Sheriff Mesapher. Do you realize how happy that made me? I was really the sheriff.”

“You never arrested anyone.” He looked at me with an odd expression knowing that I had arrested him, so clarified his statement, “I mean that you never had any rooting-tooting bad guys to go up against. You never even shot your gun.”

“I imagined myself doing it. I would take walks thinking about doing it.”

“You never even had a horse.”

He had tried to make a point, but I stressed my own point to him. “You don’t understand, Peralte. All I had were books. I never had a horse, a cattle drive, a gun, a badge, I had nothing. I worked and worked and worked, and I had nothing. All was for God. I had more in that town than I ever had in life.”

“Come here, Vetacha.”

I moved to him. He indicated for me to lie upon his chest. I did so. He then used his hands to paint his mountains. I had seen his drawings, and that mental reference helped me visualize what his hands were trying to display. He then mentioned Lake Sebestra. When he asked me if I remembered the trees, and I said that I did, he spoke of those being his test species to begin the work on the massive forest. Again, I had seen his drawings for the forest, so could follow what he was trying to show. He then stabbed in the air and told me that there could be badlands giving way to desert and prairies, so there could be my Wild West. Whenever he wanted me, he could ride out to claim me, and I could find an excuse to head up into the mountains whenever I wanted him. Thinking that he was painting a lovely picture, I lied on his chest and moved my hands to help him add to his vision.