Jamie
Past Tense, Present Moreso
...the bright light of a summer's afternoon. Blue skies can be seen through the windows, the sounds of a market in full swing waft in on a light breeze. Through two of the windows, towers spike into the sky, the third looks out over unspoilt countryside.
Three tall, arched windows pierce the side of the tower, beneath each a scribe's desk placed to make best use of the light. At each desk sits a grey-robed scribe, each with a page of ornate manuscript in front of them, working on illuminations with a selection of brushes, inks and pens. Only one turns and acknowledges the three figures standing, somewhat stunned, near the doorway to the lower levels.
In the centre of the room, an ornate spiral staircase leads upwards, faint voices drifting down.
Sweet smell of a Great Sorrow
Plumes of smoke rise and merge into the leaden sky:
A man lies and dreams of green fields and rivers,
But awakes to a morning with no reason for waking
