to a small run down house adjacent to the railroad tracks, and a vacant lot.
"We're here."
As soon as we arrived, the door burst open, and two dogs ran out of the house and came up to the car on either side. Whatever drowsiness had been present inside of me was immediately dismissed by the appearance of the dogs. They were loud, happy, and beautiful.
"Aren't you concerned about them running away?"
"They do that on a regular basis, but they come back home again because we are family."
I watched as he opened the door and all pretense of project based worry left his expression.
"Oh, hello! Good to see you too."
Licks, scratches and kind nips on the hand all followed summarily.
Naturally, my presence had not gone unnoticed. As soon as I made any movement to get out of the car, both dogs were on me. They pushed their nose up into my crotch and jumped up onto me, scratching at my chest with their paws. In spite of the attack, there was no malice in their interaction. The dogs were wet, and smelled like they had just gotten back from playing out in the rain. I was smelled, and decreed "not a threat" by one of them. The other sneezed after smelling me, and backed away with its ears flattened against its back.
"Don't mind her... if one of them likes you well enough, the other will come around to it. Come on in, I'll show you around."
The rain was still coming down from the sky, though the showers were gentle, and patches of sunlight shone through the clouds. The scenery was idyllic, and I felt that apart from the abrasive interruption from the dogs, the whole experience might not have been much more than a continuation of a pleasant dream.
More strange things...
The observation was targeted at a windmill located outside of the house. It was composed of the rays of an alchemical sun, and the centerpiece was the maw of some mythological creature.
"Abraxas," he replied, opening the beak of the creature and pulling a few letters out from a box located inside of the monster's mouth. "The post office loves it, even though they don't know why."
I looked at him inquisitively, which was all the encouragement he needed in order to continue forward with his explanation.
"Abraxas is a gnostic entity whose function is to unite the dualism present in the world. No God, No Devil, both are absolved in a single concept. The mailbox is a joke of mine."
"What's the joke?"
"Each time they put a piece of mail inside, they are giving an offering to Abraxas. My hope is that on some level that helps them contend with the forces of darkness in our world just a little bit easier."
I paused.
There wasn't anything particularly funny about that joke. I wished that I could have because when you are busy flattering someone, it is often a good idea to think that their jokes are funny, but I got the sense that this guy had a bullshit detector of some sort inside of his brain. I didn't want to risk coming off as inauthentic if I could help it.
"I don't see the humor."
"It's all right. My jokes aren't really that funny. Come on in."
Interesting thing about the inside of his house is that apart from all of the useless and weird shit, his home actually felt comfortable.
As soon as we went in, he immediately set about watering his indoor plants, and opening windows so that fresh air could come into the building. In addition to the dogs, he also had a few pet rats that hung out in cages that were as interesting as they were expansive. Likely the most comforting element of Erol's home was that there was an incredible amount of life present within it.
I meandered around, looking at crystals that hung from the ceiling, and strange skulls that were posted against walls.
"Found most of them. There's a lot of beauty around here if you know where to find it. This is probably one of the most magically dense areas on the continent."
"How do you figure?"
He paused again, as though evaluating me. During his reflections, I knelt down to pet one of the dogs
"We're here."
As soon as we arrived, the door burst open, and two dogs ran out of the house and came up to the car on either side. Whatever drowsiness had been present inside of me was immediately dismissed by the appearance of the dogs. They were loud, happy, and beautiful.
"Aren't you concerned about them running away?"
"They do that on a regular basis, but they come back home again because we are family."
I watched as he opened the door and all pretense of project based worry left his expression.
"Oh, hello! Good to see you too."
Licks, scratches and kind nips on the hand all followed summarily.
Naturally, my presence had not gone unnoticed. As soon as I made any movement to get out of the car, both dogs were on me. They pushed their nose up into my crotch and jumped up onto me, scratching at my chest with their paws. In spite of the attack, there was no malice in their interaction. The dogs were wet, and smelled like they had just gotten back from playing out in the rain. I was smelled, and decreed "not a threat" by one of them. The other sneezed after smelling me, and backed away with its ears flattened against its back.
"Don't mind her... if one of them likes you well enough, the other will come around to it. Come on in, I'll show you around."
The rain was still coming down from the sky, though the showers were gentle, and patches of sunlight shone through the clouds. The scenery was idyllic, and I felt that apart from the abrasive interruption from the dogs, the whole experience might not have been much more than a continuation of a pleasant dream.
More strange things...
The observation was targeted at a windmill located outside of the house. It was composed of the rays of an alchemical sun, and the centerpiece was the maw of some mythological creature.
"Abraxas," he replied, opening the beak of the creature and pulling a few letters out from a box located inside of the monster's mouth. "The post office loves it, even though they don't know why."
I looked at him inquisitively, which was all the encouragement he needed in order to continue forward with his explanation.
"Abraxas is a gnostic entity whose function is to unite the dualism present in the world. No God, No Devil, both are absolved in a single concept. The mailbox is a joke of mine."
"What's the joke?"
"Each time they put a piece of mail inside, they are giving an offering to Abraxas. My hope is that on some level that helps them contend with the forces of darkness in our world just a little bit easier."
I paused.
There wasn't anything particularly funny about that joke. I wished that I could have because when you are busy flattering someone, it is often a good idea to think that their jokes are funny, but I got the sense that this guy had a bullshit detector of some sort inside of his brain. I didn't want to risk coming off as inauthentic if I could help it.
"I don't see the humor."
"It's all right. My jokes aren't really that funny. Come on in."
Interesting thing about the inside of his house is that apart from all of the useless and weird shit, his home actually felt comfortable.
As soon as we went in, he immediately set about watering his indoor plants, and opening windows so that fresh air could come into the building. In addition to the dogs, he also had a few pet rats that hung out in cages that were as interesting as they were expansive. Likely the most comforting element of Erol's home was that there was an incredible amount of life present within it.
I meandered around, looking at crystals that hung from the ceiling, and strange skulls that were posted against walls.
"Found most of them. There's a lot of beauty around here if you know where to find it. This is probably one of the most magically dense areas on the continent."
"How do you figure?"
He paused again, as though evaluating me. During his reflections, I knelt down to pet one of the dogs
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