Where were their thoughts?
Cetra saw her beach with its pier and fun park.
Billy still looked upon his perfect forest and heard the sound of his mother’s voice calling him home for supper.
Rod was disappointed, he anticipated a lot of cheese just as Cetra had suggested, but all he saw was his rocky desert home.
Gabby’s eyes showed tears and wonder. All her family stood before her in the town square, at least she assumed it might be all of them; each had a branded initial on their face and when she counted them, apart from her parents, her siblings numbered twenty five.
Barret, on the other hand, saw nothing more than a stone wall, and was perplexed by everyone else’s reaction to it.
Cetra turned and caught sight of Gabby. “It is not real, Gabby,” she said, and then, “What is it that you can see?”
Gabby stifled a sob and answered the question softly, “All of my family.”
So Cetra went to the girl and put an arm around her shoulder. “You can talk to them,” she said, “Look, they are waving,” she assumed. She raised her hand to wave back but Gabby remained still.
“You said they weren’t real,” Gabby reiterated.
“That is right,”
“Then I don’t want to,”
By now Barret had a question he’d liked answered.
“What is going on?”
Now Billy stepped forward. He described his vision, and then went on to talk about Cetra’s. “What do you see?” he finally asked.
Barret stumbled over his words for a moment and then waved his arms at the walls around them, “Stone walls and a door,” he said complacently, “And by the way, you forgot to close the door.”
“I did not,” Billy snapped and then spun around to see that the door was in fact ajar.
“Oh!”
“Oh is right Billy,” Barret said.
“But I’m sure I closed it.”
“Of course you are.”
“How about I go close it again,” Billy suggested, “Maybe the wind blew it open.”
“Maybe it did.”
“I must confess, Barret,” Billy said, “I’m almost sure I heard someone walking around out there.”
Barret grinned, “Maybe it was Bart Bigbod come back from the dead half eaten by Bloody worms.”
“That’s not funny, Barret.”
“And you think he’s followed us in here?”
“I did close the door,” Billy said quietly.
“Where’s he going to hide?” Barret said, waving his arms around at the room again.
Billy removed his gaze from Barret’s face and went back to close the door.... again? He listened for the click, and then pushed on it to be sure. Satisfied, he rejoined his companions.
“Why can’t I see something good like the rest of you?” Barret protested, “I feel like I’m in a cell.”
“Maybe you feel trapped,” Rod suggested before licking his left paw.
“Huh?”
“Seems we can see what may be on our hearts at present. I for one realise that, even though I am with good company and enlisted in a grand journey, in my heart I find myself missing the desert.”
“You think I’m trapped?” Barret said, “In what?”
“Well, for one thing,” Billy contributed, “you don’t seem to be interested in going home.”
“Bradley is my home,” Barret said.
“And,” Cetra decided to join in, “I do not think you are happy selling your things anymore.”
“That’s right,” Rod affirmed, “You’ve had a taste of the adventure now, young lad, just as I have. There’s no going back, you need to map out a new path for yourself.”
“Hoorah!” Billy cheered.
“Well thank you all very much for telling me that I need to get a life,” Barret huffed. “For your information I do enjoy the markets and its people, and no, I don’t believe I want to go home. I’ve done well for myself here....”
“Maybe so,” Rod continued, “but where do you go now after the adventure is over? Do you simply go back to selling your things as Cetra put it, will that suffice, will that make you happy? Or....”
“Or....” Barret jumped in, “do I continue wandering around the plain aimlessly...?”
“Aimlessly?” Rod protested loudly, “Young man, have you not yet captured the essence of this journey we’ve undertaken? Do you truly believe this has all been in vain?” He stood up on Cetra’s shoulder and turned around with his paws outstretched, “Look at where we are my boy, have we not reached our treasure? And then, yes, what happens after this...?”
Barret shrugged.
“We depart on yet another adventure to find even greater treasure.”
“Hoorah!” Billy cheered again and clapped his hands.
Cetra and Gabby followed suit, clapping and cheering and generally jumping up and down even more so than Billy did; and then, amid all their clamour, when the door suddenly opened wide and a dark, silhouetted figure stood within its rectangular void....
CHAPTER THIRTY NINE