Speak Rain
Page 25
~~~
On the night of the eleventh, or more accurately the early morning of the twelfth there was a different response to the prayers in Daniel’s dream.
Daniel was standing in the middle of his street looking down into the valley and in the dream he knew immediately he was looking at the production plant building where he would be speaking to Ted and Janine’s contact and likely starting a job. While it was drizzly all about him, far across the valley near the mountains on the opposite of the large lake he saw beams of penetrating sunlight. Within the vision he flashed to the location where the sun struck and saw grasses lightly blowing and a few daisies in the fields as well as sunflowers growing up a hill at the base of the opposing mountains.
The old Indian was at his side then and placed his right palm upon Daniel’s left shoulder.
“Not the time to leave yet,” the old man said.
“Why not? It’s all falling into place,” replied Dan in a monotone, still staring about the valley.
“Not the time yet.”
They watched for a few moments together. As they did, Dan noticed the openings in the clouds moving across the lake north of him by many miles and was at once saddened and happy with the view of the sun reflecting on the small waves in the water of the lake.
“Gonna move north this time.”
“What is?” Daniel asked.
“That break there. Gonna move north now. It’s not the time to leave yet.”
“I have to go down there. Things are going to change for me finally.”
The raspy, aged voice changed to his own in reply and the figure, though now a vision of one of his other selves was stepping back from Daniel.
“You shouldn’t go there yet, Daniel. It’s not the time for it.”
As the figure that had sat with him dissipated Daniel sensed and knew without looking that a large, dark cloud was forming behind him from the ridge above his home and it was growing to cover his home and where he stood. He felt a strong wind and heard the howl as the storm approached him. Heavy drops of rain spattered his face and he knew, thought the rain no longer frightened him in the dream, that he would have to turn back to the storm and take care of Rachel and shutter up the house to fend off the wind.
He awoke, not entirely disturbed, but irritated with the vision. It did not dissuade him from his plans for the twelfth in the least though.