tales for dreamers: messages from the otherworld

The ship sails into the harbour only on sunny days, bringing with it messages from the otherworld. 

It is only when the sky is an unblemished blue and the water reflects the colour of the sky faithfully does the ship come into view. 

The entire town gathers by the lakefront, eager for news from the otherworld. The world where the dead and the unborn reside.

Here live the ghosts of all those you’ve ever loved and lost. Here live the spirits of all those who are yet to come into your life, waiting, biding their time, until the moment is right for them to slip from the land of the amorphous to the land of the living.

The ship comes into a view on a sunny day like today, bearing messages from the otherworld. 

Its residents write about the grand time they’re having, all the fun they indulge in every day. But they also write to us, the folks in town, telling us how much they miss us, and how they’d do anything to come back to the land of the living. 

And that makes me wonder if afterlife is really all that awesome as they’re making it out to be.

They never invite us to join them on the other side. For that would mean wishing death upon us.

And everyone knows, no matter how wonderful the afterlife may be, it is not a destination of deliberate choice for most of us. Not until our time has come. A time rarely of our own choosing. 

Until then, we must sate ourselves with messages from the otherworld.

But that’s just as well. It gives us something to look forward to in these days of our lives too. 

Last week's image info: If you'd like to make 'an unexpected offering' to the strange coconut, head to the grounds of Paletta Mansion. With a little luck, you may find the coconut willing to engage you in witty conversation.