THE FIFTH REALM: TURQUOISE — An inner multitude

Skyblue spent long days exploring the realm. She looked, she smelled, she touched the bark of the trees, and she paid attention to the water. At times the world felt so close that she seemed to be inside each sound. Then a thought would come, another would follow, and before she knew it she was far away from the place where her paws stood.

When she realized what had happened, she grew angry with herself. Strange shapes would begin to appear around her, little creations fed by her inner argument. She wanted to be rid of them, but fighting them only made them stronger.

She returned to the cherry tree exhausted.

“Is there a place where all the words we’ve ever said and thought come together?” she asked one afternoon.

“Yes,” Helio replied.

Skyblue looked at the last few shapes she had brought to her door.

“If there’s a hell, it must be something like that.”

“The creatures of the enchanted lands have made many hells without realizing it. Awareness can transform them.”

The dragon fell silent. Then she tried to use the silence to check whether she had managed to quiet her mind, and the checking started another conversation.

At last she burst out laughing.

“It never ends.”

“That’s enough for today. Rest.”

“But I haven’t managed it.”

“You’ve seen something you couldn’t see before. Tomorrow is a new day.”