Reverie

By Kell

A little more powder in the pipe. Tap tap. Dust off the rim. Hat angled appropriately so it wouldn't trap smoke, but still keep the light off. Sitting spot: absolute perfection with room for tail. Secluded. Lush. Marn gave out a long, bedraggled sigh and pulled in a deep breath of dreamspew.

The image fluttered into his head piece by piece. A dream somewhere else… It was a bird on a wire—no, a flock of birds in a cold wind blowing, huddled together for warmth. Below walked someone shaped like a pomp without all the fur, all bundled up and tromping around in boots. A machine with bright eyes whizzed by the walkway on its own, much wider path, and soon there were more to follow. Marn could taste snow on his tongue, now. He was settling in, he'd found the anchor.

Though the dreamy overlay gave his vision a pleasant, tingling sensation, he couldn't keep his eyelids open for long. The deeper focus of the experience had arrived and was making itself comfortable. So too was he; nodding off with pipe in hand. What journey would he follow along with today?

The person in the warm clothes walked beside a stretch of buildings plastered in signage and windows. Marn had seen similar things before, but he couldn't make sense of them. On marched his mark, hands stuffed deep in pockets, little clouds of breath hanging in the chilled air. Then came their destination: a small building with a graphic of a steaming cup. A bell jingled as they stepped inside.

A nice little view of tables and potted plants greeted them, and near the back was a counter where someone was hard at work brewing hot beverages. They sloughed off their jacket, hung it off a chair's back, and approached to order. Pleasant scents filled Marn's nose. He always did like coffee.

As the 'dream' carried on, he slept deep and well. Smooth music punctuated by the clink of utensils…perfect, perfect. Before he knew it, the effects tapered off and he was left to enjoy his nap.