Laudanum
Laudanum stared at the blank page in
front of him. From the kitchen he could hear the muffled voices of his parents
as they tried not to lead on that they were fighting. He wished for a normal
life. Nothing here seemed normal; and every time he heard his name he was
reminded of it. No normal parent would name their child Laudanum. It was a
wonder his baby sister was christened ’Rose' and not something like ‘Latrine'
just because his parents liked the way the word sounded.
He brought his attention back to the
page and stared until his vision blurred. Then he closed his eyes and stared at
the darkness around him until he could perceive nothing but that black abyss. If
he did it correctly, the other world appeared. It was a strange world hidden in
the darkness behind his eyes, but a world where he felt more at home than in
his own bed. He did not know if he had been the creator; he was quite sure he
wasn't.
Yet he did seem to have some say in how it looked and the things
which happened there. He added a few people here and there, a couple of dragons
and a mythical quest or two. Those he
did create. But the rest he was not so sure of. He remembered the first time he
visited the place. It had no mountains then, but was simply grassland as far as
the eye could see. Then he thought ‘mountains’ and the next moment they were
there. A deckled blue edge appeared on the horizon and he was at first not sure
what it was until he moved closer and the edge became stone stretching away
into mist. One peak even had snow on top. He had never even seen snow. He changed
the weather patterns that day with his mountains. He also crushed a few
villages and one ended up straddling cliff edges high in the mountains.
After that he tried not to think too
much while he visited. But, sometimes, a thought did slip through. And, today,
it rained. Not the light drizzle that cooled summer mornings or even the heavy
downpours which came at night. This was torrential sheets of water whipped
about by wind which beat the leaves from the trees and churned the dust into
thick mud. It was freezing. Up in the mountains an avalanche slid down the
great mountain and the ground trembled as if from a great fever.
He thought as hard as he could about
sunshine, rainbows, and the absence of water. Soon the rain stopped. The mud
sprouted into orange and purple flowers as far as his eyes could see. But now
the sun was too warm. He needed to cool everything down.
A slight wind began to blow and
flowers rippled like waves. The plants needed water. Just enough water, he
concentrated, and could feel the water from underground springs and rivers
rising towards the surface. The sun not too warm, he thought and could feel the
sun's rays fading, although sudden flashes of light streamed from the mountains
like northern lights appearing at midday.
“Not too warm,” he mumbled again, staring at the world behind his eyes.
“He’s been like this for days now doctor,” Laudanum’s mother said. “Is
there nothing we can do?”
The doctor took his small torch and shone it into Laudanum's right eye.
Then he shook his head.
“Not until we can figure out what is going on in there,” he said. “There
is a response, but so slight…” his words trailed off as the boy mumbled again.
The nurse lifted one of the blankets off of him and drew the curtains.
Laudanum watched the streaming
lights with glee. It must be some source of magic of this world that he had not
discovered yet. He focused on the light for a moment before he decided that he
needed some shade. He thought of beautiful woodland he had seen in a picture
once and fully grown trees sprung from the ground all around him. In the
dappled shade he smiled at his handiwork.
 |
| Laudanum watched the streaming lights with glee... (with thanks to this blog) |
Behind the story
Although this story, in its first incarnation,
was written a good four years ago, I can still remember what sparked it. Much
as Laudanum unwittingly crushed a few villages, I once wondered aloud (while
working on a map of a fantasy setting) if the people minded much that I just
moved their river to the north and instead gave them a fountain. In my mind, as
I erased the pencilled line from beside the town, I saw the perplexed people
scattering from the disappearing water, leaving behind a muddy track, some
washing and a row boat or two.
When asked “what people?” and “which
river?” after airing this thought I realized that it was probably not
quite a normal worry to have.
I did give them a very nice fountain, though. It doesn’t
even dry up in the winter...
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