Origin Story: The Lodge

I mean we always knew when we set out we would be writing our own story, so please buckle up and enjoy the ride. Who knows where this will end, only time will tell. So enough is enough, it's time to begin.

The Owl sits patiently in a tree, observing the scene playing out before it. Down below, the Tanuki is quietly easing one of the windows of the Lodge open. Like the Owl, the Cat, hunched down in the snow, is curiously observing the Tanuki try to get into the Lodge. See this Lodge has sat quiet for a long time, so the stirring by the Tanuki, is making these two creatures curious.

There is a funny thing about some spaces, that exist in some places. Us humans, some of us might feel the light touch of it, some of us not at all, and some of us lucky ones, we get to sink right into it. Fortunately for the Owl, the Cat, and the Tanuki, they get to live in it. And right now, they are trying to open that portal up wide.

The Tanuki finally pushes the window open and sneaks in. It's the dead of the winter, so his departure from the outside world is felt. The Owl doesn't want to show it, but feels its curiosity growing. The Cat's tail starts to flick in anticipation.

The Tanuki, knowing what the most important thing to do at this point, proceeds to do it. He balls up a bit of the old newspaper sitting there, and puts it into the wood stove. Fortunately there is a small pile of kindling. The Lodge might be asleep, but the magic is still there. He piles those pieces on. He pulls a match out of his pocket, strikes it on the stove, and sticks it into the paper. It starts to catch and curl, then sparks as the wood ignites. The Tanuki walks back over to the window where he clambered in. There was a small pile of firewood he was standing on to get in the window, and grabs some bigger pieces.

Now the fire is proper, and the Lodge starts to slowly awaken. The glow from the fire, filling its soul again. The Cat at this point can't resist the pull of the house, and stalks across the snow, before casually jumping through the window. Paws light, just a little tap. The Tanuki hears, and turns looking over his shoulder, with a sly smile on his face. The Cat moves directly in front of the fireplace, and sits staring deep into its depth, and then lets out purr, rolls onto her back and stretches out her legs in contentment. The Lodge purrs back.

The Owl, its curiousity pushed too far, leaves its post and flys to the open window, where it hops through, and settles in the corner of the room, on the back of a chair. The fire glows brighter, the portal has been opened. The Lodge is now awake again.

This is where our story starts. We didn't create this Lodge, nor this portal. We were drawn to this place, a portal from the other side of the room of life. It was whispering and we heard it. Portals are just absolutely incredible at carrying acoustics, or maybe we were just extra tuned in, or maybe the Lodge wasn't whispering, it was shouting.

By the time we got to the Lodge, the fire had gone out. The window, the Tanuki had pushed open, well the previous owners of the Lodge, they fixed that lock. The Lodge was again asleep waiting to be awoken.

We didn't know that this was the thing that had been whispering to us over all those portals. But she was beautiful, and she wanted us. We could feel that. From the moment we laid eyes on her, she called to us. I guess she is just an exceptional dreamer, pushing out of her containment, telling us that she was the one whispering to us all along. We didn't know yet, but we would know soon.

Later, that night, we balled up some old newspaper left by the previous owners. They even left a small pile of kindling next to the wood stove, we piled that on top of the paper. I pulled a lighter out of my pocket, and touched it to the pile. The paper started to catch. It curled as the fire pulled it upwards. The kindling ignited and started to crackle. The stove creaked as the heat filled it. I remembered seeing a small pile of firewood outside the window. I went, opened the window and grabbed a couple pieces, then slid the window shut. Those pieces brought the fire to a warm, glowing ball of life. The Lodge started to waken.

We sat on the floor, staring straight into the fire, gazing into its depth. Mesmerized by the heat, the glow, the dance of the flames. Who knows how much time passed, but we were woken from our trance, by a light knock on the window. tick tick tick. I stood up and walked to the window, I slowly opened it up, and then there was a Tanuki jumping onto my feet. His fur is full of snow and he shook himself off.

He gave me a look before he pulled a copper teapot, full of water and everything, out of his pocket, and set it on top of the stove. The teapot, immediately started steaming, before the Tanuki walked back over to the window, and let out a whistle. I heard a quick pitter patter of feet before the Cat had jumped and landed next to me. Next thing I knew I heard the woosh of wings, and then I was looking eye to eye with the Owl.

The Tanuki proceeded to shut the window, then walked back to the tea pot, and threw some leaves from his pocket into the water. A delicious smell filled the room. I went back to the middle of the room and sat down. Its seemed like the reasonable thing to do, as we sat in no small amount of awe of the spectacle taking place in front of us. The Cat slinked over, until she was right in between the two of us, and slid to her side, belly ready to be tickled, as she licked her lips. The Owl glided over to its favorite chair. The

Tanuki then pulled 6 cups from his pocket, and set one down in front of each of us. He walked back to the stove, and pulled the teapot, and filled each of the cups, one by one. The 6th cup, he left on the stove. The Lodge hummed its appreciation.

We sat in a stunned silence, but not a surprised silence. When you see the magic of the universe happening in real time, its the beauty. And we knew that this magic wasn't going away. In that moment, we understood we were the participants of something so much more magical that we could have even imagined. We weren't the owners of the Lodge, we were her stewards. The ones to keep the fire lit. To let her shine brightly to the world, and keep whispering into the portal. Whispering for the other souls out there that were listening in to the portals.

Slowly piece by piece, character by character our story will grow. It has just started now, but each action is a line being written. Each laugh, each hug, each dance. Each wall, each cushion. Each meal, each powder day. Each piece. See when the story began, we didn't know how it started, and now, we don't know how this story will end.

Wakaranai Lodge