The Black Queen by Bill Mayer

I woke up at the devil’s hour last night. And a sense of some dream I couldn’t quite remember lingered like a ghost. As if knowing the mind’s weakened resistance to all things otherworldly at this time of night, the sense pulsed and preyed upon me as I struggled to forget and fall back to sleep.

With a sigh of defeat, I flung the covers aside, hoping that with them, I’d also cleared away all of the ominous energy lurking in the corners of my mind. If I weren’t such a skeptic, I’d even say the room itself had appeared to be fogged over with a heavy white mist.

Pulling on my hoodie, I stepped outside for some fresh air. I sat on the front porch under the full moon, listening to the comforting whir of swarming grasshoppers and rubbed my feet on the dog’s hairless belly. Just as my nerves were beginning to settle, a dark shadow darted out from under the Snake Root Tree and into the creek; had it not been for the glinting gold upon her head, I’d have thought nothing more of this nocturnal enigma. But there she stooped on the other side of the spring adorned in a richly ornamental wardrobe.

As I gaped at her in wonder, I was struck by the most vivid force of quiet power. Even beyond her magisterial attire, her countenance suggested such grandness of character and an intense spiritual vitality. Her expression was solemn but intuitive; her mannerism, reserved and secretive. There seemed to be some knowing look in her eyes making the top of my head tingle, hinting at some strange intimacy between us. With locked eyes, I was beginning to believe that I had indeed seen this creature somewhere before.

And it was then, in my study of her, that my forgotten dream leaped forward and I recognized her for who she truly was: the Black Queen. Once hidden within my dreams, she had now come into the flesh. Such adventures we had journeyed together in the nighttime of my mind! Why she had made such a dangerous passage from the dreaming world to mine, I don’t know. With a shiver of excitement, I took a step closer. Then, with a whip of the tail, she was gone. 

Artwork by Bill Mayer: http://thebillmayer.com/