Thanks to the help of the white-eyed crow and the magic of the hollow tree, Lorenz, Alexander, and I were able to explore the Well of the Green Sister today! We all agreed it was a very strange way to travel, taking turns to enter the hollow, weird whispers and shadows rising around us, and then coming out on the other side at our destination, miles into the forest. But we shook off the unnerving sensation, and after making our way through the tall autumn trees, oh dear reader, I knew it was going to be one of those golden afternoons! You know the kind; they are singular to the fall when the air itself seems to glisten, and the tawny and ochre leaves shower like a gentle rain. To once again turn the key and enter that place, to wander the ancient halls, dusty light pouring in between the old rows of stone columns, and the sound of the rustling branches overhead... goodness, it filled my heart to the brim!
Alexander wanted to go to the bottom of the Well and see the magic spring up close, but Lorenz pointed out that we did not yet know the way. So we settled on exploring the rooms at the ground level until we discovered stairs or some other means of descending safely. Most the rooms were simply adorned. Each had one stone window and an assortment of worn furniture: an empty bedframe, a weathered table, a bare shelf. Clay pots and scraps of fabric sat in the corners. I told Lorenz it seemed as though people had lived here once. If they had, he replied, they didn’t leave much behind and it must have been a very, very long time ago.
One room did stand out to me in particular. It was larger than the others and had many windows that allowed the forest light to drift inside. There was no furniture in this chamber. A few alcoves were carved into the longer wall and between them a huge mural had been painted in fanciful, swirling lines. We recognized that it was a depiction of the great oak tree that grew in the courtyard still, its white leaves unaffected by the changing of the seasons. There were also painted plants and animals, some real, some mythical, all dancing around the tree, and I smiled to see that amongst them was also a crow. Alexander sat down in the middle of the cool, stone floor and said that the place felt full of memories. I knelt beside him and knew just what he meant. I wanted to hear the stories those stone walls could tell. What had they seen? How long had they stood in silence? But Alexander’s words gave me another idea too.
I thought of what Dorothy had said, dear reader, how the fall held “so many precious memories” for her, and I think I know what is missing from the remedy. You see, there are those things, those Impressions, which every season brings. In the fall, it’s the changing leaves and the crisp morning air. But it is our own experiences, our own happy memories of those things, which give it a special hue. I will go to Dorothy and try to gather the Impressions of her memories. It’s something I’ve never tried before, but if I can manage, it should do the trick. The Well of the Green Sister may not be able to reminisce about its past, but she can.