The No Name Diary

If there were only these words left, I’d like them to be dedicated to life striving to be, an all-pervading conscious force imbued in all things. An essential energy, like a wave of water, one which you can ride on, but only if you uphold the principles of being.

Another week, the routine, the kids, the gently growing rhythm of a calmer and more disciplined life. The late exchange of a Christmas gift with one of my friends in a bar; we both take along exactly the same box of nougat for each other, both say how much we like it. Little Maia organising things as we get out of bed blurry-eyed in the morning. Find the coconut butter behind the bedroom door a few days later. Find the No Name Diary in their little kitchen under the stairs, and open it again…

It’s evening and Laif descends into a green valley, leaving the cliffs and the boat she arrived on behind her. As she goes down, the maze-like pattern of the mist ceases to be visible and becomes uniform. She can feel the moisture on her face, see the droplets on the blades of grass. The vague outline of that horse draws her forward; the sole destination in the otherwise empty and barely distinguishable landscape. Once she arrives at the horse, it snorts hot steam from its nostrils and mouth. A beautiful black beast, strong and sleek with a mane and tail of silver grey. Its eyes are dark, but looking into them the faint circular outline of a tree trunk and its many rings surfaces. She offers her hand to be smelt and the horse nuzzles against it, she wonders what the horse’s story is, and if she could ride it, but fears. The darkness closes in further and Laif steps back, only to trip over a real tree stump that has now appeared behind her. The horse remains where it is, and just then an enormous dark shadow moves over them. Laif looks up to see a bird of unimaginable proportions filling the sky, passing ahead and disappearing swiftly into the night. She stands there a while watching, thinking, then gets onto the stump, hops onto the horse’s back and swings a leg over to sit upright and take hold of its mane. With no instruction, the horse immediately turns and starts to walk further inland. The sky opens. Stars and a crescent moon appear which highlight the contours of the clouds that are drifting away. A studded, sparkling canvas is left above. Soon Laif will arrive at that cloaked figure she had also caught sight of coming down from the cliffs.