On Gryphon's Wings

During the night, the owl made its way to another branch on the tree and perched outside Alex’s window. It watched Alex, just as it had done every night for the past several weeks. Alex thought there must be a nest somewhere in the tree. Every night when Alex saw the owl following her from the study to the bedroom, she went off to sleep thinking nothing of it. But as weeks went on and she saw the same owl in the exact same place, her mind became restless, until all she could think about was the owl. Nights of insomnia crept over Alex. Many nights were spent tossing and turning beneath her silk sheet, with her mind doing the same. Thoughts of what tomorrow might bring and thoughts of how future events might unfold looped around in her mind. Even thoughts of home could not be silenced. Alex began thinking about home more frequently than she used to. It was the place of her childhood. It was the place where she met her husband and fell madly in love with him. She remembered the beauty and the magic of it. The place where she lived as a child was nothing like the world she lived in now. When the stress of life took hold of Alex, she remembered her home and soon an unquenchable desire to return there would come back to her—a desire she told to no one, not even her husband. The more she thought of home, the more she dreamed of walking along the lake where she and Cody would run in secret. She dreamed about having picnics there again by the stream and watching the robins flutter in the trees. She dreamed of the flowers and lilies growing on the bank. Those thoughts put here her at ease for a moment, but the next thing that came to Alex’s mind was full of darkness. While she dreamed of the lake, her thoughts took her to a place beyond the reach of time and space, and shadows clouded her thoughts. The thunder rang like the smiting of a great hammer, while lightning flashed before her eyes. Then she felt her body being caught up and taken away, while she was pulled through the sky leaving the beautiful scene she often dreamt of. Alex was taken to a large, long corridor made of stone, were the torches along the wall brought little light. The corridor ran for several feet into a cathedral as tall an oak tree. Thick pillars towered from the entrance to the end of the corridor. Looking down, Alex saw that the floor she stood on was made of thick glass layered beneath with obscure shadows. At the end of the corridor was a tall door made of silver with unique markings on them. Those markings spoke to Alex in a familiar way. She approached the door slowly attempting to get a better look at it. As she drew closer, she began to see the markings as a form of language. Her heart leaped in her throat when she realized what her eyes had seen—it was the language she was taught as a child, the language of her people. It was the language of her home. Tears fell from her eyes. For thirty years Alex had been away from the place she loved. And now, here in her dream, a vivid image of what she had left behind was right in front of her. She longed to go closer and touch the door and run her fingers over the marks that were craved into it. Midway down the corridor, Alex’s steps came to a halt. Out of her left ear, she heard the sound of a small child crying. She turned to her left and saw the child behind one of the pillars. It was a little girl about the age of seven or eight sitting against the marble pillar in a fetal position. It was obvious that fear gripped the child greatly for tears wetted her entire face and her entire body shook from the cold temperature of the room. Alex walked slowly over the child and knelt down beside her, “What’s wrong, my dear?” Alex asked. At first she thought it very odd that a child would randomly appear in a place like this, although Alex could tell the child was not lost. And even though Alex knew this was a dream, there had to be a reason for this little girl’s presence. The little girl looked at Alex, wiping the tears from her fear filled eyes. “He’s coming,” she said in a whisper. “For years he waited, but now he is coming. Everything you once knew, everything you once believed in, all will be threatened with he appears.” The words of the little girl were cold to the core. They sent chills up and down Alex’s spine. She stood up quickly and backed away from the little girl. What would possess a young child to say such things? The words were too mysterious to be understood and too dark for any child to utter. Alex wondered if this was all the result of her endless hours of study.