In the Dream-mists floats a charmed wood. Emerald light filters throughout the soft quiet. Like a natural chapel, the trees rise, glowing in the sunlight. Pews of fallen logs are cushioned by red-green-blue moss. No crucifix hangs here, but the vision of light blue beyond the highest tree, hints at the holy. Lush pathways wander in the four direction, then scattering like the roots of a tree. Crossing, growing together, separating again. Healthy darkness protects the wood from intrusion.

The dark brown loam is soft and pleasing to rest in. Misty sounds with no source dream their way through the thick air. Unspoken, unheard, the ghost memory of the clearing enters. The Mists of memory are all-encompassing, the mist of dream, unrelenting.

In startling clarity, a twig-snap sound shatters the haze. A shadow darts from path to path. Lights shine in a dazzling cacophony. Shouts raise. Roaring water falls in the mindless tumult of the wavering sky. Heaven and Hell meet in perfect chaos...

And then there is Silence. And there is Darkness...

The rememory continues in the darkness. A single, lightly pitched voice pierces veil of time and silence. Words spoken lilt from years away.

"Hapless traveler, Know me not..."

"You trip and fall... muddy and wet..."
A trill of laughter, a vocal smirk.

"Who do you think put that hole where you trod..."
Indignant pause, an accusation.

"I was the one who called rain to whisper in your ear that fine, clear day... And yet you do not recognize me... I am insulted!"
Anger rising... playfulness vanished

"No longer shall I wander with you causing twigs to snap and you to jump... No longer Shall I run from you and laugh went you find that elves float where humans don't. No longer shall I laugh!"

"Not to laugh...

What am I thinking! flitting and flying are fine and fun... but no one to share them with...? "

"Take me back, PLEASE... Not to laugh!!! You were the grandest entertainment that I ever found... I apologize for the mud in the face and the rain... sly but you have to admit the way you and that woman scrambled for your clothes was..."
pride melting into confusion

"why are you frowning? "

"I take back half the things I said about you..."

"PLEASE!!! Everyone needs a sprite to call their own."

"Now that's settled...

OPPS!!! Did I do that ???"

The act of rememory done, the clearing leaves hold on the senses. Sight and light return. The blackness fades back to the quiet paths. The blue sky returns. The clearing is freed in this act... The magic which holds it together spreads once more.