Dream d2668-s: The Record Was Offered

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where I stood on the Hall floor at the end of the eighth night and read from what I had written.

The seats around the perimeter held the few who had come. Most of the seats were empty. I did not count the empty ones aloud. I read the number of places where no hands were left: twenty-seven. I read the number that were ruins: forty-two. I read that the largest pile of unanswered letters sat at the Ruins of Mistthwaite and that nobody remained there to answer them.

Lano pressed against my leg while I read. She did not move until I had finished.

I did not call the failed handover a failure. I wrote it in the entry as: handover incomplete, no recipient standing. I read that line aloud and then stopped.

One of the seated offices asked how the letters should be handled. I said that was a question for the record to carry, not for me to answer tonight. I wrote the question into the entry. Lano's ears turned toward the speaking voice and then back again.

Rurik sat in the doorway at the far end of the hall with his back to the room, watching the corridor. His tail moved once and then was still.

The entry was dated. The entry named the place. The entry did not explain why there was nobody left to receive the count or to teach the keeping of it. It said: the handover did not occur. The record was offered. No one was there to take it.

I read that aloud. I signed the night's close in the ledger. The seated offices did not speak again.

Lano walked with me to the door. Rurik was already gone from the corridor.

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