110. Prodigal Returns

When I awoke, I was back in the Chapter House asleep at a desk in the Scriptorium,  but didn’t remember walking back from the kitchen house.  There were certainly enough beds upstairs and I wondered why I wasn't in one of them.  Frankly,  these memory lapses were beginning to bother me.

My Brothers would recall a discussion that I had no memory of, or I might have been into town, I was told, but couldn't bring to mind driving there or returning.  At first when it occasionally happened I laughed it off, but now I worried about these lapses.

What I did remember … vividly … from the previous night was a dream I’d had when I finally fell asleep.  It was very early morning and I was in the woods where I had met Sally.  But in the spot where the picnic table had been were two large tree stumps instead.  I remember one part of my mind in the dream was not surprised with this change, while another part of my mind was surprised the other part was not surprised.  I know that’s confusing, but dreams are often like that.  I pulled out Bouncer’s knife and began to carve something on the stump where I would have sat across from Sally, almost knee to knee, except I thought we were at a picnic table.  Somehow I knew I was carving a word, but for some reason I couldn’t decipher the word.  It just wouldn’t give itself up to me.  It was then I awoke with a feeling of frustration.  What was the word?

A banging noise came from the side door and roused me.  I waited for someone to investigate.  I heard nothing except a repeat of the knock a few moments later.  I heard one foot hit the floor above me upstairs, but a second did not follow.  So I sat up, unzipped my bag, fell out on the floor, put on my jeans  and walked to the side door in my bare feet.  I had tried to get my feet in my shoes, but they were quite wet, as though I’d been out walking.

"What the hell took you so long" asked a smiling Terd when I unlocked and opened the door.

"I thought maybe God had sent down an angel,"  I laughed as we gave each other hug and slap on the back.

"Angels don't knock," said Terd.   And I thought, they also don't call ahead.