Dream d2996-s: The Swept Floor

I had a dream where...

I had a dream where the fen was low and the path dry underfoot, and the roofline of Kestrelhush appeared before the second bend, earlier than I expected, the way the survey record said it would from the south approach. I had the sheet in my coat. Lano walked ahead of me, ears high, nose working the reed-scent off the still water. Everything from the path matched what had been written at distance.

That is the last thing that did.

Rurik had come ahead by an hour or more. He was sitting in the gap of the gate when I arrived, eyes on the yard, tail still. I stepped over him. He did not shift.

The first structure I entered was marked in the record as cold, partial habitation, roof compromised at the west hip. Inside: the west hip was repaired, recently by the colour of the patching. The floor was swept. Someone had use of this building, and the record did not say so because no one had entered it when the record was made. I wrote underneath the original entry - near account, night one, west roof patched, floor in use, condition better than noted at distance. I did not close the original entry. Distance made that account honestly and I will not discard it.

Lano sniffed along the threshold, then sat outside. She did not come in.

I recorded the disagreement without explaining it. The record had been made from the fence line at the south approach. That account was what it was. This account is what it is. Both will stand in the record under the same place-name, without either one settled.

Kestrelhush, night one of eight. The near account and the far account now sit open beside each other on the same page. Seven more nights remain and either may be corrected further or neither may. I noted the time and closed the cover.

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