* * *
Images flooded Rudy’s mind in rapid succession. Suddenly, everything coalesced into reality again, except it was a different reality than he had just been experiencing with his brother. It was as if he were suddenly dreaming right there in the middle of the road or even transported to another time and place—so vivid was what he saw and heard!
An old man with white hair with a kindly smile and an old melodic yet alien language spoke incoherent words. Rudy could smell the musky and pleasantly subtle, spicy scent of the man. He reached out and touched the warm and wrinkled face. The man looked him intensely in the eyes, then vanished as quickly as he had come.
Everything changed, and he stood in the gap between some tall pine trees where he saw marvelous mountains of ruby and rose spattered with shades of cerulean. The wind was coolly rippling the clothes he had on which were new, but old and worn at the same time. He could taste the dried meat of a dozehound as he chewed. He smelled the pollen from the pines. He looked down and could see his red beard against his chest, much fuller than he’d ever grown it.
The scene changed once more, and he saw a boy, only a few years old. The child was laughing with delight. Then things went dark.
He could feel a warm, tender hand squeeze his fingers as he gasped from the cold that suddenly seized him everywhere else. Rudy opened his eyes and saw a beautiful blond looking at him—her hair slicked back and wet. They were both up to their necks in a small pool of water that was invigoratingly cold. "I'm so glad you've come back, Rudy," she said as she kissed him. She pulled back and looked at him and blinked.
Rudy was stunned. She was remarkable and perfect—like a dream within a dream. Then he looked down into the water, and he realized the two of them were both naked. "Are you my wife?" he asked her with mortification. She answered him with a passionate kiss that made him tingle all over as her soft lips pressed against his own. As the sensation passed, he tried to hold onto it to no avail.
Another flash revealed vast, open grasslands carpet rolling hills as far as the eye could see. A herd of animals thundered across the plains, kicking up a trail of dust that hung in the air long after they disappeared into a narrow gap between the hills. He chewed on the sweet, nutty heads of grain that grew in abundance on the fields he stood upon.
Then an ocean stretched out in front of him. It was shockingly flat, yet crisp with white caps. He was awed once more by the rumbling repetitive crash of wave after wave against the green-tinged sands he stood barefoot upon. The wet sand oozed up between his toes as the cold froth washed over his feet. He took in the scents of salt and the sea with amazement. As the water receded, something sharp, saffron, and spiny crawled on three legs back into the frothy waters, turning in circles as it went.
Everything vanished and was replaced by the blue sky with a smattering of puffy white clouds. Leafless limbs encroached on the edge of his vision. He was home.