For Marty with appreciation for his heart felt encouragement and enthusiasm.         

                                                Old Woman of Mad River Road

The old woman chose to name herself Dreamer in order to tie herself to dreams for a time. Dreamer went deep into the darkness of her own mind, leaving behind the cottage on the shore, the garden, and the cries in the starry night. She stared past spirits swirling relentlessly in her thoughts. She watched stars fall from heaven. She watched many lifetimes dance their stories and adventures. She felt despair like a thick smothering place in impenetrable blackness. She felt passion, power, and joy like lightning bolts which she hurled into the dark. She spread herself out around the world, and in her belly and heart: suffering and joy, life and death, pain and pleasure melted.

Until she felt nothing, saw nothing, and sank into the deepest darkest ocean of nothing, where she remained silent and still for a long, long time.

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In the morning 15 year old Blue woke startled by the sound of crows outside the window. She lay still, listening hard past the low rhythmic hum of the surf in the distance, hoping that she would not be discovered. She held her breath listening. She had been walking for a long time in a fierce wind and thickly pounding rain and found the cottage after sunset. The door was open slightly and inside it was warm and dry. She had carefully watched and listened long enough. The cottage was empty. She looked around briefly, but her need for sleep in that thick quilted bed could not be denied. She slept like a log. Now she relaxed again, feeling that she was still alone and safe, and began looking around the room.

There were many jars of herbs, flowers, vegetables, and liquids of many colors and hues. There were bundles of herbs hanging from the roof beams. Blue had never seen so many jars and bottles and containers in one place and yet it felt familiar and comforting. Her nose filled with the aroma of a small bundle of lavender lying next to her pillow. She let it fill her mind and body and felt her aching muscles relax a bit. She was sore, figuring she had walked at least ten hours yesterday. She dreaded looking at her feet.

Hunger finally caused her to drag herself out of bed and put her feet gingerly on the floor. Not too bad! She headed for a bowl of apples and picked one. There was a sudden shuffling noise from the floor at the end of the wooden counter. She froze. Out stepped a funny looking bird, with brown and white tail feathers that pointed straight up. It was not the kind of bird one would find on the Coast, looking more like a giant quail. It shuffled in a little circle and made a cooing sound.