Lundeeria : Chapter Two

Chapter 2: Dream Seekers

When at last everyone was settled and quiet, the council members came to the center of the crater. They took their places and the meeting began.

Being the oldest member of the council, Tortoise spoke first. He walked in a dignified manner to the spot reserved for the speaker. In a deep, strong voice, he began.

“My dear fellow Lundeerians, some of you may already know why this meeting has been called. For a while now, we have been hearing reports of dreams. These are not ordinary dreams. They are not dreams of what happened during the day or of friends and family. Apparently, these are not even dreams of life here on Lundeeria! These are dreams of another land. A land called Earth.”

“Needless to say, this is all very strange. How can so many of our fellow citizens be dreaming of the same things? We have heard that in the dreams there are creatures like us: animals, fish, birds, reptiles, and insects.”

As Tortoise spoke, the listeners nodded their heads in agreement. Soft murmurs and the rustling of many creatures being together were the only sounds coming from the audience.

“There does seem to be one difference, however. In the dreams, there is an animal who appears to be causing problems. Very serious problems. But very honestly my friends, it’s confusing. How can these animals, which we have heard being called “humans,” cause so much trouble? It’s hard to understand because we know nothing of this animal. It does not exist here.”

“Many of you are having the same dreams. How can that be happening? And why is it happening? It must mean something, but what? And what, if anything, can we do about the dreams?”

“We members of the council have given this matter much serious thought. We have decided that there is only one way open to us. We will try to find the answers to these questions using an ancient practice. My fellow Lundeerians, the problem is dreams. So we will seek the answers through dreams.”

“We will engage in Dream Seeking.”

The Lundeerians looked at one another in disbelief.

Tortoise continued, “My friends, Dream Seeking, as you all know, has been done only once in all of Lundeeria’s long history. It was done at the time of great danger and much fear. It was a time of uncertainty, the time before peace between all animals—all Lundeerians—became our way of life.”

“My friends, a sense of unease is again entering our lives. We all feel it. We need to quickly find out what is happening. Then, hopefully, we will know what we can do about it.”

With this, Tortoise returned to his place among the other council members. He nodded to Gazelle, who walked gracefully forward to stand before the assembly.

In a warm, lilting voice, she began. “Dearest friends, once we saw that we had to do Dream Seeking, we realized we would need someone to guide us. We would need a creature who is of the night, a creature used to calling out when most others dreamt. Someone skilled at catching and holding our thoughts with her songs.”

“We need Nightingale.”

As Gazelle looked up, Nightingale flew down, passed over Gazelle’s head, and perched on a nearby tree branch. She sang one long beautiful note, her voice clear and pure. It was heard by every Lundeerian.

“With Nightingale singing to us, everyone will fall asleep. Everyone, that is, but Nightingale and myself. She will place moss in my ears so I that cannot hear her singing. This way, I will be able to stay awake to see what happens. When the time is right for all of you to wake up, Nightingale will stop singing.”

“But my friends, I must first ask, is there anyone who does not wish to join in the Dream Seeking? No one is required to do so. But please understand that for this to work, we need as many Dream Seekers as possible.”

“Frankly, we are worried that something is very wrong. We do not know what it is. We do not know what we will learn in our dream seeking. But everyone on the council feels we must find out. We fear that some being desperately needs our help. And even worse, we fear that many beings may be in need of our help.”

Gazelle stopped talking, looked out over the assembly, and waited patiently for their answers. The crater was filled with the murmuring of all the creatures of Lundeeria. Gradually, the sounds faded away until all was perfectly silent.

“Dearest friends, are there any among you who do not wish to join in the Dreaming?” Gazelle asked.

No one said no. No one shook their head. Not one Lundeerian left the assembly. Gazelle turned and looked at Nightingale, as did everyone else.

First, Nightingale carefully placed some moss in Gazelle’s ears so she would stay awake. Then, Nightingale closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and began to sing.

She sang of the beauty of the night. She sang of the courage and concern of all her friends. She sang of the peace of Lundeeria and the happiness of all who lived there.

Then Nightingale began to sing of sleeping, and of dreaming. Finally, she sang of Earth and those who lived there. Soon, with the sole exception of Gazelle and Nightingale, every living creature on Lundeeria was dreaming. Through the night, they all slept and, as one, they dreamed of Earth.

And throughout that long night, Nightingale sang and guided them in their dreaming.

(To be continued...)