Fragment #10 - The Snake and the Eagle

I’m back in the labyrinth. The jigsaw of my mind is unravelling. I walk through the endless corridors. The walls are sweating, and so am I. I feel a pain in my back. Someone is stabbing me. There is no-one around me, though.
I thought I had escaped all of that, but again I’m in this maze, not knowing where to go. The stones are breathing, I can hear them. They are telling me where to go. I follow their song, I follow their soulless melodies.
In front of me is a door. I put my hand on the knob, feel my body contracting, and suddenly, I’m somewhere else. In a valley; a green valley I’ve never seen before. In the middle of it is a tree. Red ribbons are attached to it. This is your tree, a voice tells me. As I come toward it, a see a snake unravelling around his trunk. It has red eyes. It speaks to me, but I can’t understand its language. I just feel my body aching. Do not come close to it. He is the Great Sickness. Take care. I shout at it, making it slither away, hissing. I feel the wind blowing in my hair. In the sky over me is a huge eagle. I smile at him. I know he’ll soon be here. I can sense his vibes telling me not to care about the others.
The tree is moving now. I feel I have to do something. I touch its bark. It’s vibrating under my hand. It’s speaking to me. A tear drops out of my eye. I rub it with my finger and touch the bark again. Now my skin changes itself into bark. I enter the tree. I’m part of it.
The Earth is speaking to me: “Trees live together, in forests, as wolves live in packs. A Tree without its forest, a wolf without its pack, does nothing but die. Find your forest. Find your pack.”
Someone is knocking on my door.
“Jed! Jed, are you all right?”
I open my eyes. I don’t know what had happened, but I am on my back, on the ground of my room, my door closed. Granny is upset. First thing to do is to answer her.
“Yes, no problem!”
I come to the door, and open it. Granny seems terrified.
“I heard a thud! I thought something had happened to you.”
“No problem, Granny. I just fell asleep without even knowing it. I’m tired these days.”
“Well, you should sleep, rather than walking endlessly in the village and the Heath. Especially at night, it’s dangerous, you know.”
“I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow.”
“Oh yes. And please, don’t lock your room. It scared me.”
I come back to my bed, take the London TimeOut from the top of my desk, and begin looking for some Saturday Hallowe’en party.