tales for dreamers: unusual offerings for unusual gods

These woods are unusual, and so are the spirits who rule these parts. So your offerings to them for stepping on their land must also be unusual.

It’s hard to say what the spirits would find unusual. They’ve seen everything. Well, almost everything. But they still love human stuff.

Any trinkets you may be wearing. Your designer hiking boots. That bracelet with charms that shimmer and sparkle on your wrist. The locks of your hair you’ve decorated with beads and feathers. The anklet that sits noiselessly, trapped in place by the socks you’ve pulled over them.

You place everything you treasure inside the tree stump. Every item disappears promptly, as the invisible spirits swoop down and grab the offerings you’ve made before you can change your mind.

But they’re still not sated.

You gulp down the last few drops of water and toss your empty bottle into the stump for good measure. It disappears too.

You pause to think for a moment. And you realize none of your offerings have been unusual. 

So you sit on the trail in front of the stump where sunlight and leaf-shadow dance with great delight. And you begin to tell your stories.

The spirits listen with rapt attention. 

You tell them everything about your life. Right from the instant you were born to the adventures you’ve had all your life until you recount that final journey that has led you here. 

That is when the spirits begin to reveal themselves to you, one by one.

Last week's image info: You can pass under 'a doorway of locks' at the St. Thomas Elevated Park, an hour and a half's drive southwest of Burlington. This is also where you'll find 'a place to store your regrets'.