Your GPS May Have Lied to You
May. 25th, 2026 01:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pshaw_ravenMystery Springs!
Taste the Waters of Enlightenment - ahead, left on Luna Farms Road
On the beach!
Gas - Food - (some) RV Parking
It was always a good time to be on the beach. Rosy-fingered Dawn had risen from her bed and painted the sky with the day’s most subtle colors. Draco sipped his coffee as the edges of waves curled around his ankles before sliding back into the Atlantic with a soft hiss. Where did Eos go after dawn, he wondered. Perhaps she went back to bed. She would lie down somewhere beyond the horizon and pull a lapping wave over herself like a blanket. He recalled that she had a husband, or a lover, someone she left sleeping when she got up to bring morning to the world, but he couldn’t remember who it was.
He drained his mug and padded barefoot through the dunes and across the two-lane highway. The morning rush hadn’t quite started. A pickup pulled away, Draco and the driver exchanging waves. Inside the shop, Kayla was pouring beans into one of the coffee machines. “Kayla, you ever think about learning to be a barista?”
“I thought you just bought these machines,” she replied. True, he had only recently bought three of the things that allowed you to pick your roast, cup size, and everything, and they’d make a fresh coffee for you. No more of that gnarly hours-old stuff sitting in an urn.
“Yeah, but think of how much cooler we’d be.” Draco gestured broadly around the shop, in all its earnestly corny glory. Kayla laughed.
Since no one was in the shop, he went behind the register and got a fresh polo shirt to change into. Now he looked official in a yellow-gold tech fabric shirt embroidered with Mystery Springs and his given name, Derrick.
“Oh yeah, there’s a cat out in the garden. Do you want me to shoo it off?”
“A gray cat?” he asked.
“Yeah, big gray tabby.” Kayla peeked between the coffee machines as two cars pulled up, one after the other.
Groundwater flowed to the surface and filled a limestone cavern with water so clear you could see each pebble on the bottom. Draco had built some fences and planted up the area to create a tropical garden out of a movie, or a fairy tale set in a warm climate. While you could swim in the 72-degree waters, it was a big insurance risk, so no one was allowed to go near the springs, but a pump and filter could fill sixteen-ounce bottles with the Waters of Enlightenment for a mere dollar. The cat was on the other side of the protective barriers, crouching on a rock in rapt attention as fish darted around the limestone shelves.
“Mornin’ Is… hold on, you’re not Isabel. You’re a regular cat.”
The gray tabby chirped at him and walked over, purring loudly. He squatted down to scratch her head, and she lovingly rubbed his legs.
“You’re a nice kitty, where’d you come from?” The cat trilled a meow in response, and he was able to look at a tag hanging from her collar. “Sophie, huh?”
“Prrrrt?”
“Sophia, divine wisdom. A goddess to guide on the path of inner knowing. Jung’s anima. Quite a name for a little cat. Hmm, Eos and Sophia in one morning? It might be a pretty good day.”
The door swung open and Isabel walked out into the garden. Draco stood up and started to greet her, but the cat meowed loudly and trotted up to Isabel, standing on her hind feet and waving her paws. Isabel crouched, grinning. “Hello, little one!”
“Mornin’ Isabel. Meet Sophie, not sure where she came from.”
Isabel asked the cat, “Where *did* you come from, are you new here?” and it seemed like the cat answered her. “Her humans have just moved here, she says.”
Draco thought about this and said, “Must be the family down the road there, I saw a moving truck a while back. Tell her to be careful, some people comin’ off the highway drive like morons.” Not wanting to intrude on their conversation he went to a small shed and checked on the spring’s pump system - a small pump and filter that allowed him to offer cups of the Waters of Enlightenment without getting dinged by the state Department of Health. He heard Isabel quietly ask, “And what’s your *real* name? Ah, nice to meet you.”
The bell on the door jangled and a boy exclaimed, “Hey, a cat! Cool!” His teenage sister followed him outside, looking tired and sullen, but she smiled at the boy and cat. They must have had a pet at home, because he crouched down several feet away and put his hand out. The grey tabby strolled over and sniffed him, then happily rubbed her head against him. The girl also bent to pet the cat, and Draco got the feeling he was going to be seeing the tabby back here every day.
“Can we get a water?” the boy asked. “Two,” his sister said, “I’m not drinking after you.” They handed over their dollars and Draco drew up a cup for each one. “There ya go. You can throw the cups away by the door when you’re done. Enlightenment is not guaranteed. Hydration is.” The girl sipped hers and asked, "Enlightenment isn’t guaranteed? But it’s like … all over your signs.”
“Some people do find illumination in the springs, but not everyone does. It’s more a matter of preparing the ground of your own mind than anything.” The girl nodded and took a long drink, wandering back to the cat. Her brother had already chugged his cup, thrown it in the trash can, and declared he could feel his brain growing.
“What’s enlightenment feel like?” the girl asked Isabel. “Have you had any of this?”
Isabel smiled slyly and said, “Enlightenment feels different to everyone touched by it. And I have had quite a few drinks from the spring in my time.” She noticed the girl looked a little different than when she’d walked outside. Less sullen. A smile spread slowly across her face, even as her little brother tried to move a chair with his mind and farted. She crumpled her empty cup and said, “Thanks” before drifting back into the shop. Draco nodded, “I think she got a bit.”
Isabel agreed, “Good for her.”
Once the family had stuffed themselves back into their car and headed down the highway, Draco and Isabel had a chance to talk.
“And she ended up at my place by the lake.”
“I knew something lived in that tree, but never expected to meet it. Her.” Draco got out a skimming net and scooped some fallen leaves out of the water. “I grew up the next road down from Beekmann, him and Aggie was always real proud of their yard. Aggie’s flowers always looked nice, we could see them from our back deck. So does this … dryad, what’s her name again?”
“Egeria.”
“Does she look like a tree?”
“Not as much. She looks much more human. She might keep changing, but even if she doesn’t she probably wouldn’t look too out of place here.” Isabel had spent some time draping scarves over Eigera’s branchy hair. Her skin looked much less like bark, but the leaves and branches had not yet turned into anything like hair, and birds still perched on her head.
“Why now?”
Isabel removed her glasses and rubbed her face. “I’m on my eighth life, and I feared I might not be here to protect you all. I’ll find a young one to train while we deal with this.” She yawned and stretched, letting her guard down enough that Draco could almost see the whiskers sprouting from her face, and the space where her tail ought to be.
“What are we dealing with? I know something is going on, I can see it in my cards, but I don’t know what it is yet.”
“Reality is unraveling, Draco.”
Taste the Waters of Enlightenment - ahead, left on Luna Farms Road
On the beach!
Gas - Food - (some) RV Parking
It was always a good time to be on the beach. Rosy-fingered Dawn had risen from her bed and painted the sky with the day’s most subtle colors. Draco sipped his coffee as the edges of waves curled around his ankles before sliding back into the Atlantic with a soft hiss. Where did Eos go after dawn, he wondered. Perhaps she went back to bed. She would lie down somewhere beyond the horizon and pull a lapping wave over herself like a blanket. He recalled that she had a husband, or a lover, someone she left sleeping when she got up to bring morning to the world, but he couldn’t remember who it was.
He drained his mug and padded barefoot through the dunes and across the two-lane highway. The morning rush hadn’t quite started. A pickup pulled away, Draco and the driver exchanging waves. Inside the shop, Kayla was pouring beans into one of the coffee machines. “Kayla, you ever think about learning to be a barista?”
“I thought you just bought these machines,” she replied. True, he had only recently bought three of the things that allowed you to pick your roast, cup size, and everything, and they’d make a fresh coffee for you. No more of that gnarly hours-old stuff sitting in an urn.
“Yeah, but think of how much cooler we’d be.” Draco gestured broadly around the shop, in all its earnestly corny glory. Kayla laughed.
Since no one was in the shop, he went behind the register and got a fresh polo shirt to change into. Now he looked official in a yellow-gold tech fabric shirt embroidered with Mystery Springs and his given name, Derrick.
“Oh yeah, there’s a cat out in the garden. Do you want me to shoo it off?”
“A gray cat?” he asked.
“Yeah, big gray tabby.” Kayla peeked between the coffee machines as two cars pulled up, one after the other.
Groundwater flowed to the surface and filled a limestone cavern with water so clear you could see each pebble on the bottom. Draco had built some fences and planted up the area to create a tropical garden out of a movie, or a fairy tale set in a warm climate. While you could swim in the 72-degree waters, it was a big insurance risk, so no one was allowed to go near the springs, but a pump and filter could fill sixteen-ounce bottles with the Waters of Enlightenment for a mere dollar. The cat was on the other side of the protective barriers, crouching on a rock in rapt attention as fish darted around the limestone shelves.
“Mornin’ Is… hold on, you’re not Isabel. You’re a regular cat.”
The gray tabby chirped at him and walked over, purring loudly. He squatted down to scratch her head, and she lovingly rubbed his legs.
“You’re a nice kitty, where’d you come from?” The cat trilled a meow in response, and he was able to look at a tag hanging from her collar. “Sophie, huh?”
“Prrrrt?”
“Sophia, divine wisdom. A goddess to guide on the path of inner knowing. Jung’s anima. Quite a name for a little cat. Hmm, Eos and Sophia in one morning? It might be a pretty good day.”
The door swung open and Isabel walked out into the garden. Draco stood up and started to greet her, but the cat meowed loudly and trotted up to Isabel, standing on her hind feet and waving her paws. Isabel crouched, grinning. “Hello, little one!”
“Mornin’ Isabel. Meet Sophie, not sure where she came from.”
Isabel asked the cat, “Where *did* you come from, are you new here?” and it seemed like the cat answered her. “Her humans have just moved here, she says.”
Draco thought about this and said, “Must be the family down the road there, I saw a moving truck a while back. Tell her to be careful, some people comin’ off the highway drive like morons.” Not wanting to intrude on their conversation he went to a small shed and checked on the spring’s pump system - a small pump and filter that allowed him to offer cups of the Waters of Enlightenment without getting dinged by the state Department of Health. He heard Isabel quietly ask, “And what’s your *real* name? Ah, nice to meet you.”
The bell on the door jangled and a boy exclaimed, “Hey, a cat! Cool!” His teenage sister followed him outside, looking tired and sullen, but she smiled at the boy and cat. They must have had a pet at home, because he crouched down several feet away and put his hand out. The grey tabby strolled over and sniffed him, then happily rubbed her head against him. The girl also bent to pet the cat, and Draco got the feeling he was going to be seeing the tabby back here every day.
“Can we get a water?” the boy asked. “Two,” his sister said, “I’m not drinking after you.” They handed over their dollars and Draco drew up a cup for each one. “There ya go. You can throw the cups away by the door when you’re done. Enlightenment is not guaranteed. Hydration is.” The girl sipped hers and asked, "Enlightenment isn’t guaranteed? But it’s like … all over your signs.”
“Some people do find illumination in the springs, but not everyone does. It’s more a matter of preparing the ground of your own mind than anything.” The girl nodded and took a long drink, wandering back to the cat. Her brother had already chugged his cup, thrown it in the trash can, and declared he could feel his brain growing.
“What’s enlightenment feel like?” the girl asked Isabel. “Have you had any of this?”
Isabel smiled slyly and said, “Enlightenment feels different to everyone touched by it. And I have had quite a few drinks from the spring in my time.” She noticed the girl looked a little different than when she’d walked outside. Less sullen. A smile spread slowly across her face, even as her little brother tried to move a chair with his mind and farted. She crumpled her empty cup and said, “Thanks” before drifting back into the shop. Draco nodded, “I think she got a bit.”
Isabel agreed, “Good for her.”
Once the family had stuffed themselves back into their car and headed down the highway, Draco and Isabel had a chance to talk.
“And she ended up at my place by the lake.”
“I knew something lived in that tree, but never expected to meet it. Her.” Draco got out a skimming net and scooped some fallen leaves out of the water. “I grew up the next road down from Beekmann, him and Aggie was always real proud of their yard. Aggie’s flowers always looked nice, we could see them from our back deck. So does this … dryad, what’s her name again?”
“Egeria.”
“Does she look like a tree?”
“Not as much. She looks much more human. She might keep changing, but even if she doesn’t she probably wouldn’t look too out of place here.” Isabel had spent some time draping scarves over Eigera’s branchy hair. Her skin looked much less like bark, but the leaves and branches had not yet turned into anything like hair, and birds still perched on her head.
“Why now?”
Isabel removed her glasses and rubbed her face. “I’m on my eighth life, and I feared I might not be here to protect you all. I’ll find a young one to train while we deal with this.” She yawned and stretched, letting her guard down enough that Draco could almost see the whiskers sprouting from her face, and the space where her tail ought to be.
“What are we dealing with? I know something is going on, I can see it in my cards, but I don’t know what it is yet.”
“Reality is unraveling, Draco.”
