Dream d2785-s: The Other Slope Also

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where I stood on the crest at the first pale edge of light, and the valley to my left held the drawn country, and the valley to my right held the rest.

Lano sat beside my boot. Her nose moved against the cold air coming up from the lower ground.

The drawn country: sixty-five places on the sheet, ten of them showing a light. The other fifty-five dark and still at this hour.

The undrawn country: a hundred and seventy-four places with no mark against them. Twenty-nine of those showing a light from where I stood. Sixty-one worked within the last month, the foot-traffic recent enough that the ground would still show it.

I held the sheet flat against the wind. Seven marks on it aimed at ground no reader could reach. I wrote this in the margin on the reverse.

Larkbarrow was the newest place with no entry on any sheet. One day. Its smoke made a pale thread above the far ridge-line.

Lano stood and took a few steps down the undrawn slope, then sat again and watched the lower ground.

The light came fully over the crest. Both valleys became visible in the same movement. The drawn country showed me its names. The undrawn country showed me its lights.

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