Travels Through An Imaginary Landscape

The Sound of Screaming, Part One

          “Bye then.”

          He shrugged and continued to walk on. He’d got no more than fifty paces before he stopped on the top of a small rise in the ground and stared out through the trees. “Wait a minute,” he called back to me. “What’s that over there?”

          “Really Redgrave, you don’t think I’m going to fall for that one, do you?” I protested with a shake of my head.

          “No seriously, just through the trees there. I can see some houses, must be some kind of village. Come and have a look.”

          He sounded convincing but then he did have something of a reputation as an actor. It was curiosity, though, that eventually drove me off my tree stump and led me to walk over to him. He triumphantly pointed through a slender gap in the trees. “See?”

          From the small rise we could see down into a brief clearing about half a mile away in which were clustered a handful of homely cottages. There was smoke rising from one or two of the chimneys but no other sign of life was visible.

          “Alright, so there’s a few houses,” I conceded in response to Michael’s expectant gaze. “It’s not quite a bustling cityscape, is it?”

          “It’s a start,” he shrugged and, without waiting any longer, he strode off through the trees in the direction of the hamlet. “Come on, let’s go and explore. I bet you they have something to eat down there.”

          “No doubt something that grows on trees,” I muttered as I reluctantly trudged after him.

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          It took us a bit longer than anticipated to get to the village in question as the forest soon closed in on us again and away from the rising ground it was difficult to keep our bearings. But eventually, after one or two untoward detours, we pushed through a tangle of branches and found ourselves at one end of a short muddy street.

          “Is this it?” I asked dubiously as we proceeded cautiously down the street, staring into the blank windows of the cottages lined up on either side.

          “It’s alright,” insisted Michael, not entirely convincingly. “It’s just a bit… rustic.”

          “It’s like something out of Grimm’s fairytales. With the emphasis on the grim.”

          “No, here we go,” Michael pointed hopefully to a sign above the doorway of the last cottage in the row. “Edward’s Imaginary Emporium – General Stores. This looks like our best bet.”

          “You’re joking, aren’t you?” I retorted, staring at the smudged front window which offered no clue as to what might be inside. “That place looks like it hasn’t seen a customer in centuries. Do you suppose it’s even open?”

          “Only one way to find out.” Michael pushed at the door and it swung open to the jingle of an old fashioned shop bell hanging above.

          We proceeded cautiously inside. It took a moment to readjust our eyes as the grimy window didn’t allow much sunlight to penetrate and there didn’t appear to be any other means of illumination. The interior made me think that an explosion had occurred in a junkyard and someone had elected to build the shop around it. There were shelves, tables and cabinets scattered randomly throughout, each piled high with an assortment of bric-a-brac which in turn was nestling beneath a hefty layer of dust.

          “Hello?” called out Michael between coughs. “Anyone about?”

          There was a succession of bangs and crashes from somewhere deep within before suddenly a head popped up from behind a shelf full of old copper kettles. It was surrounded by a shock of white hair and displayed a grey straggling beard. The face regarded us keenly for a moment before bursting into a broad smile. “Ah, customers!” it exclaimed delightedly. The head rose from it’s awkwardly cramped position, revealing a body encased in a large green apron, and glided effortlessly forward between two tottering piles of junk with a proprietorial manner that led me to assume that we must have found the Edward of Edward’s Imaginary Emporium. “What a fine looking young couple,” he continued after a closer inspection. “How are you both? Where are you headed? What are you after?”