Continue The Tale - Part 5

With the magic book in the duffel in the passenger seat, Dale drove without paying any attention to where he was going.

"Ms Merryweather, you there?"

"Yes, but I need your help! I tremble when I dare to imagine what that maniac Sir Haltenstedder may do with me when he returns! He wears an insatiable expression on his face. It scares me down to my toes. And, his mouth, it's giant...like a mutton," her voice trailed off into a flurry of sobs and hysterical gasps.

"But how can I find you?" Dale screamed hoarsely. He was on some highway, headed probably northeasterly. His head felt light, his body moist and numb. His heart beat like a grandfather clock, subdued but sickly steady.

"Dale, when I look in the sky I see a smooth, round, full pink moon shrouded in pastel clouds. And there are big black ravens circling. On the horizon, dark clouds. Storms are heading this way. Is this what you see?"

Dale looked up at the sky. It was blue and sunny, a few wispy clouds, glaring sun, a typical Floridian summer afternoon . "No, not really. I see a regular sky..." Several seconds passed. Beads of sweat formed on Dale's upper lip and dripped down onto his khaki'd thighs. He had the cruise control on.

"Dale...close your eyes," the voice coming from the duffel now dropped into a deeper register, "Dale, I need you to listen to me. Do this exactly as I say and listen to my voice. Close your eyes. Look into the moist dark of your own closed eyes. Slightly cross your eyes up into your forehead and look into the moist dark of this space. Let this darkness... enfold... upon... itself"

"But Ms Merryweather, I'm driving, I'm on the highway."

"Pull over! I'm not twiddling my thumbs here Dale, I'm in danger!" Again, he could hear her bosom heave with sobs and gasps.

Dale closed his eyes as instructed and began to tune in to this moist darkness. His body now was now fully numb, slack, heavy as a bag of rice. He was disappearing. Gentle pulsings and vague shapes of orange and amber morphed and danced subtly. His breathing become a soft, regulated wheeze like that of a person in a coma.

Cars on the highway zoomed by Dale's parked Miata, sometimes causing the humid wind to gently shake and rock the vehicle. Dale sat there, looking for all the world like a man taking a catnap. As time elapsed, Dale continued to drop into the dark moisture. He was gone.