Professor's Cozy Cottage of Surprises

Mmmmm, I dream of a magical castle with hidden passages, personified objects, and mythical beings appearing at their will. I run my hand along ancient stone, full of stories and myths. The stone seems alive, warm under my fingertips. This place knows me, as if I were a recurring being life-after-life. Not haunted, like some, not scary – mystical, intriguing, awakening the imagination at every turn. Turreted towers appear and disappear, holding various things; piles of jewels to ogle one day, rich tapestries with gold and silver thread in another. Maybe one day a tower I’ve never seen before has a magic lamp in it, begging to be rubbed….

Perhaps the main hall also changes with the castle’s moods, creating space for all the myths we have known; one evening filling with long house tables full of food when we have the entire village over for events, floating candles above our heads lighting our meal. The same hall might be empty with merely a giant wooden wardrobe in the far corner, and a room full of Turkish Delight. Another visitor might enter and find an entire different room all together. That’s the wonder of magic castles that can change upon what we create in our mind’s eye.

Being able to life a thousand lives in a thousand rooms. I walk out onto the green to see a jousting contest between two knights. As the horses’ hooves pound toward each other, I feel the long cloth around me of a dress from the appropriate time period. This is no Renaissance revival, but the real thing. I marvel at the emerald satin, letting it spill through my hands as the resounding clash of metal rings in my ear. I look up to see the winning knight striding towards me; a rose in his hand for the Lady to grant a kiss.

The injured knight turns to mist, and his wounded horse dissolves into liquefied silver, reforming into a majestic unicorn. The great, beautiful beast looks at me, bows its beautiful head before galloping off into the forest. Smiling, I look down at the rose – and realize the winner of my fair prize has vanished. There is only the green, and I am only myself in my usual clothes, holding a flower that holds a reminder in its sweet scent. An echo of a neigh can be heard far off in the forest. I smile and return to the castle to see what awaits me next.