Fragments Gallery
Reflections of the Past
Reflections.
That's all they were.
I watched with interest as the reflections leapt around the great pine grove across from my hilltop. The reflections were of men, they were dressed in ancient regalia, and their faces held expressions of stern sincerity as they seemingly carried out their ritual. Around and around the trees they went in silence. I could see their lips moving so I knew in the past there had once been words to this dance, but those words had been long lost with the passage of time. Even with my gifts not all of the past is recoverable.
I guess I really should explain what I mean by my "gifts," especially as this is my first entry in this journal. Fiona suggested I keep a record of what I see; I thought I should give it a try. Anyways I guess the why isn't as important as the how.
I can see bits and pieces of the past. It has never been a gift I can control, but occasionally I will look around and see something that is not actually there. Take this ritual that is playing out in front of me. At the moment I am sitting on a nearby hill, I was actually out here in the countryside for a run before I happened to see this. So of course I stopped to watch for a bit, it's a good thing I happened to take my journal along with me today else I'd have to try to write this from memory. But I digress.
If I were to go over to the grove and walk amongst the pines I would in truth be alone. Those figures I see are reflections of the past. They are ghosts. They wouldn't acknowledge me, hell they could even walk right through me. However even though I see the past that doesn't mean I can hear it. I can see the ghost's lips move but I can't hear what they say. Someday I'll learn to read lips… but I haven't had the time yet.
My gift gives me… let’s call it a unique perspective. As result, as you can likely guess, I have to be careful in what I believe to be real. I wouldn't want to get lost in the past.
The figures have all converged in the center of the grove, I'm going to move a bit closer...
The ritual is now complete and the figures have all dispersed. The gathering in the center which I wrote of previously finally provided me with proof that what I see is really the past. As I grew closer I saw that they were gathering around another man in the center of the grove. This other man had a larger headdress than the others so I'd guess he was some kind of religious leader.
In front of this man there was a large hole and in his hands he held a hefty stone. When I got in closer I saw that the stone had some runes carved into its surface. The man placed the stone into the hole and then they proceeded to cover it chanting all the while. After which they proceeded to walk away. I could have followed but I wanted to stay and see if I could find that rock.
It took a few minutes, especially since I couldn't find anything to dig with so I had to use my hands, but I managed to dig a hole of approximately the same depth. At the bottom I found the rock rune markings and all.
I was shocked when I found it. Part of me had always believed that I had no "gift" and I was actually crazy but this was proof. Finally I have proof.
I'm going to take the stone to an expert to have it analysed. I'm curious now as to when what I saw could have actually happened.