The Old Lantern Dreams. 5. Enchanted Prince

"TALES OF GHOSTS"

about Love and Death from the Land of Mists
a collection of short stories
in the “Playing Another Reality” series

"The OLD LANTERN's DREAMS"

5. ENCHANTED PRINCE

I’m looking for my home… Everyone has their place here, but you have to find it by going through the Land of Mists. Yesterday the fog started to dissipate, and the bright stars led me to the lake.

I sat down at the water’s edge to rest a little. The Moon illuminated the opposite shore, where an ancient castle became visible. The gray ivy-covered stone walls reflected in the calm surface of the lake. From time to time, a dim light appeared in the towers, but then it disappeared, thus the castle once again plunged into darkness. Someone had lived there too. Apparently he had descended to Earth and not returned yet. Usually, empty houses are kept by Guardians. Sometimes they allow travelers to drop in for tea or even to spend the night, if the fog gains density or the weather deteriorates sharply. That evening the weather was amazing, and the fog cleared away, so I decided to spend the night on the shore.

A silver bridge appeared over the lake, and above it, a lone lantern was swaying from side to side in the breeze. I couldn’t figure out what the lantern was hung up to, because there were no more clouds. It seemed to be about to fade out, although many moths swirled around it. Soon, a plaintive, lingering howl was heard throughout the neighborhood. It came not from the forest, but from the castle itself. The howl was neither dog nor wolf like. A werewolf-sorcerer?! I felt uncomfortable and wrapped myself in a fluffy shawl.

To the right, in the thickets of reeds, something rustled, a splash of water sounded. Very young mermaids with long hair, silvered by the Moon and decorated with algae, swam ashore from the whirlpool. One of them swam up to me with a bouquet of white flowers, “Make a wreath of them, Ghost! And you will forget all that happened to you beyond the Boundary!”

At the same moment, the Waterman appeared on a tiny island in the middle of the lake. The mermaids surrounded him and began to sing their wonderful songs. The Waterman scanned me with a glance, revealed nothing dangerous and smiled, “You are not from our whirlpool, that’s a pity!”

Suddenly, a young man appeared at the edge of the forest. A real prince! It was clear from his appearance, he had come to the lake by accident, from the Human World, most likely, having lost his way in a dream. I even wanted to ask the prince how he had managed to pass the Threshold Guards, because during sleep people usually got access exclusively to the Land of Dreams, which borders with other countries, including the Land of Mists, were carefully guarded, but …

The Waterman waved his hand, and the fun immediately stopped, the mermaids froze. The young man stepped into the water and caught one of the mermaids by the tail, not assuming that even in dreams there were laws and rules, violation of which could sometimes result in the saddest consequences. The mermaid screamed, the Waterman muttered something, and the young man disappeared. However, instead of him on the same place, right in the lake, a dry tree appeared.

I heard a whisper in the grass. The field mice were discussing the Waterman’s spell.

“Only a true princess from the Human World, capable to love with the Divine Love, will be able to disenchant the prince!” summed up the mouse in the pink polka-dot dress.

“And who dares to make such a dangerous journey from Earth to this lake and can feel a human soul in the tree?” sighed the mouse in the lilac polka-dot dress.

After chatting a little more, the mice ran off to their own business. The mermaids and the Waterman disappeared into the depths of the whirlpool, and silence reigned again.

Soon another long howl sounded in the castle, and a ghost, wrapped in a white sheet, flew out of the highest tower window. It wasn’t scary at all, it was rather a pretty ghost. The white sheet flew over the lake several times and looked in surprise at the dry tree sticking out of the water. The ghost made a few more howls, but, probably, got tired of them too, so quieted down and landed to the shore, dangling his snow-white legs into the water. After mourning in silence, the ghost picked up a twig from the ground, and wonderful sounds of a flute poured over the lake. The elves swirled around the ghost, dancing to the music like moths around the lantern above the silver bridge. The flute was occasionally interrupted by heavy sighs.

“You can’t imagine for how many centuries I have been the Guardian of this castle!” the ghost complained to the elves. “Yes, the owner cannot return home. He’s imprisoned in the Dungeon until the final decision of the Judges regarding his witchcraft forbidden on Earth.”

At dawn I was slowly sinking into the Land of Dreams. The last thing I remembered that night was the sheet of the ghost, hanging on one of the walls of the ancient castle to be dried after bathing in the lake.

I had a rest in the Land of Dreams and woke up in the same place where I had fallen asleep, but… instead of the castle on the opposite side, there was only a pile of stones, gradually absorbed by the stream of Light, and it meant only that the owner would never be back…

I continued on my way and even thought that the night’s incident with the prince from the World of Illusions had been just my dream in the Land of Dreams, but… looking back, I saw a dry tree, sticking lonely out of the water.

You will say it might have been there before. Perhaps… However, I’m sure, if you find yourself by that lake tonight, you will definitely find there as well a bouquet of forgotten by me white flowers, the mermaids’ gift of yesterday…

1990