Perchance to Dream

They sat upon wooden chairs under the chipping paint and peeling wallpaper in what used to be called the great hallway of the house, listening to a storyteller.

“Years ago, this home was always filled with people, parties, and down by the lake sailboats would gather on a summer evening. On special occasions the family would have dances, balls they called them, inviting their neighbors and their friends.

He sailed around the world and on one of his stops on an island in Greece met his bride. She was exactly as those who studied the Greek Classics could have imagined beauty incarnate. No one ever went away from her door hungry.

Their son had left university to study the world and become an explorer. He sponsored scientific expeditions, including the famous journey deep in to the Amazon Rain Forest looking for living breathing dinosaurs.

Princess was everyone's nickname for their daughter, who was soon to become a real princess after her planned autumn wedding to a foreign prince.

Then came the plague, the pestilence, each had his own name for it. This great hall became a sanatorium for the town.

His wife died first. The dead were burned to prevent the spread of the deadly germs. His son became ill next and disappeared in to the woods, his body was never found.”

The story teller stood up and put his coat on to leave.

“Did the plague get the father? Did the daughter become a princess?” The children asked the storyteller in unison.

“You can read the rest of the story in here.” He handed a book to them.

A cell phone went off as a young boy turned the book over and over in his hands finally asking, “How does this thing work?”