hummingwolf | Memories of a waking dream

I have in my possession a coin made for me some years ago at the local Renaissance festival. On one side is the Raven, described in the mint's catalogue as "Magical Trickster Spirit Being; embodiment of the Creator and emissary for the Great Spirit." On the other side is the Unicorn, "Symbol of innocence; the horn representing Reason of Intellect that can be used for defending the innocent or punishing the guilty." When I first held my coin, my friend who was with me--someone who has known me too well for too long--said, "Innocent Trickster? Yeah, that's you." And so it seems.

Once in a waking dream I walked into a shop, one filled with books and musical instruments and all manner of good and beautiful things. The old shopkeeper asked me how I would pay, and so I handed her my coin.

"Are you here as the Messenger or as the other?" she asked. One or the other of us flipped the coin, which landed Raven-side up.

"You are the Messenger. What is the Message?"

"I don't know."

"Come back when you find it."

Some while later, I saw someone who had been a friend but who would no longer speak to me. She had once called me to tell me she would kill herself. I had called the police, and she never forgave me for the betrayal.

I went back to the shopkeeper and pointed to the woman who had been my friend. "The Message is: She must live."

"Are you certain? That is the Message?"

"Yes, I am certain."

"You know she will hate you?"

"Yes."

I wonder where she is now. I wonder if she can forgive me yet.