Chapter 9 — A Threshold

After running around the museum all afternoon we ponied up at the bar of the attached Irish pub and had a bunch of pints. A seriously good band was serenading us with frenzied reels and some forlorn, but not unhopeful, Irish pipes.

Eventually the band packed their instruments, sidled up to the bar and did shots of Jameson with us. They were amused by Markon and Eleanor, who had a drunk-mother-and-her-drunk-son vibe. The pair had an obvious glow about them now. Anyone around them who was remotely present noticed it, and that seemed to include drunk people and kids.

Earlier in the day a boy ran up and hugged Eleanor’s legs. A kid seeing her 2 days ago would have fear-puked. This little guy grabbed both her and Markon’s hands and pulled them into a “Ring Around the Rosie” circle.

“Pocketful of posies, we all FALL…DOWN!” he shouted, and Markon and Eleanor obliged, sitting quickly. The little boy did led them in the ritual twice, then went and grabbed another kid and brought them over. He kept leading them, laughing and squealing, and each new round he would bring another friend over to join the circle.

I lost them for a little while. I ducked into dark tunnel that wound it’s way through a fossilized tree trunk, at which point the tunnel morphed into a giant fish. I popped out of its mouth and found Markon and Eleanor in a circle of 30 children.

They had just done the “We all FALL…DOWN” and the kids were tumbling and laughing on the floor. Markon and Eleanor were sitting cross-legged but were levitating about 3 feet off the ground. They put their index fingers in front of their lips with a “Shhhhhhh!” The kids laughed giddily, ecstatic to keep this secret of floating friends.

The Irish band had a key to the museum. “Crash here,” they said. “Just try to leave in the morning before the families start showing up.”

“Don’t drive. You’re hammered,” added one of the members, pointing at me.

“Fuck off and also thank you for the music,” I managed.

I stumbled outside as Eleanor and Markon fell out behind me and headed to the now-empty museum for more fun. I was looking for a place to pass out while they were unaffected by the incredible amount of booze we’d just had.

I collapsed onto the bench and looked up. As I shut my eyes, my blurry vision caused a ring to form around the moon.

I closed my eyes and the circle remained behind my eyelids. I walked through it into a dream.