Notes from the Future: Compound III

and I am awakening and there is a warm cloth pressed to my forehead and someone is rubbing my hands and there is the smell of coffee brewing and Mother Henrietta is checking my pupils with a little light.

"I'm sorry, dear," she says. "I mistakenly ordered the extra strong Chamomile for you, we have bred our own which is so much more potent than most; it's only adverse side effect is that people tend to lose consciousness while their brains assimilate new information. However, you should be feeling right as rain, or better, within a few moments."

Mother Henrietta sits back down and seems to be waiting for something. I don't know what she expects, I feel completely drained and ready to sleep for nine days straight --

"Holy CRAP!" I shout, sitting up suddenly!!! My entire brain seems like it just woke up with the sun chirping and the birds shining!! Everything is bright and pretty and I suddenly know that I can get Tad in the car if we unload some crap and keep him stationary! ... but that it will be weeks before he can be moved. There is no point in trying to go any time soon. And the more I time I spend here, the more I will learn about how and when best to make a break.

"And now I'm calm," I say aloud. The sudden rush has faded and I feel calm, ready and alert.

"You are indeed. We're brewing coffee, so that we can get though our story without knocking you out every ten minutes," she chuckles softly and the coffee smells like heaven. "May I continue, or do you need a few more moments?"

"I think I'm fine," I say, looking around at the group: the Bearded E's are sitting next to one another, to the left of Mother Henrietta. To my right, thankfully, is Nice Rachel.  To Mother Henrietta's left is Young Nurse Rachel. Max is curled at my feet, though at the moment he has tilted his head back and is looking at me upside down, ears and jowls all crazy like he's flying and smiling. I say, "Hello Crazy Dog," and he wags his tail three times, thump, thump, thump. Everyone laughs. I feel safe and secure in this group. I wish Tad would wake up so we could talk to them together, though he would probably end up telling stories that become increasingly dirty until he's reenacting the porn clip with the spiral Nerf football. Somehow, all Tad roads lead to the spiral Nerf football porn. I suspect that he has a mild form of Tourette Syndrome.

"You will find, when he awakes, that Edward has been on a long journey," says Mother Henrietta. "He will know, intuitively, much of our story. But we must share it with you verbally, because we do not have time to put you into a deep enough trance state that you would glean our history from the stones of this place."

I breathe. I listen.  Mother Henrietta takes a breath, and begins.