The Sixth Chapter:
Of Dreams and Nightmare
As though a thousand vampires, from the day
Fleeing unseen, oppressed that nightly deep,
The straitening and darkened skies of sleep
Closed on the dreamland dale in which I lay.
Eternal tensions numbed the wings of time
While through unending narrow ways I sought
Awakening; up precipitous gloom I thought
To reach the dawn, far-pinnacled sublime.
Rejected at the closen gates of light
I turned, and down new dreams and shadows fled,
Where beetling shapes of veiled, colossal dread
With Gothic wings enormous arched the night.
~ Nightmare, by Clark Ashton Smith ~
* * * 12 April --- 16:45 * * *
With a thousand different thoughts racing through his mind, Kuroro slowly walked out of the dining cart and headed for his room. He unlocked the door and rested himself on the bed. Yet, before he had the luxury to close his eyes, there was a knock on the door. Reflexively, he approached the door and flicked the door switch. The metal slid to reveal the weary face of Shalnark. His eyes had turned watery and red with fatigue, indicating he had not slept the previous night. Following the signal of Kuroro, Shalnark sank into the chair right in front of the computer screen while Kuroro returned to his resting position on the bed. A conversation was supposed to commence at a moment like this but somehow both sides failed to take the initiative. Finally, it was Kuroro who broke the silence and asked,
Of Dreams and Nightmare
As though a thousand vampires, from the day
Fleeing unseen, oppressed that nightly deep,
The straitening and darkened skies of sleep
Closed on the dreamland dale in which I lay.
Eternal tensions numbed the wings of time
While through unending narrow ways I sought
Awakening; up precipitous gloom I thought
To reach the dawn, far-pinnacled sublime.
Rejected at the closen gates of light
I turned, and down new dreams and shadows fled,
Where beetling shapes of veiled, colossal dread
With Gothic wings enormous arched the night.
~ Nightmare, by Clark Ashton Smith ~
* * * 12 April --- 16:45 * * *
With a thousand different thoughts racing through his mind, Kuroro slowly walked out of the dining cart and headed for his room. He unlocked the door and rested himself on the bed. Yet, before he had the luxury to close his eyes, there was a knock on the door. Reflexively, he approached the door and flicked the door switch. The metal slid to reveal the weary face of Shalnark. His eyes had turned watery and red with fatigue, indicating he had not slept the previous night. Following the signal of Kuroro, Shalnark sank into the chair right in front of the computer screen while Kuroro returned to his resting position on the bed. A conversation was supposed to commence at a moment like this but somehow both sides failed to take the initiative. Finally, it was Kuroro who broke the silence and asked,
