The Durendaphlor

When they reached Finn, they found him sitting with his back against a tree staring at the bulkhead door.

"Tell me you saw that."

Hope took a Genius moment to consider. She could tell him, 'Yes of course she saw the light show.' But she decided it was best to let him tell her what he meant first.

"Saw what, Finn?"

"Seriously, Sis? I'm walking back from cleaning the boat and all of a sudden, it's like the Fourth of July. The forest sky lights up and..."

"You did see it!" How could she wait?

Finn nodded, eyes still on the bulkhead door. "Strange thing is I think it's coming from the cellar of The Boathouse."

"Don't be ridiculous, Finn. It's from my meditation." Two nods of her baskets.

He tilted his head to look at her, "Go on."

And Hope told him. The Dandelion, the color lightshow, and the grey cloud, just about all of it.

"Sis, first I'm glad you didn't say anything to me sooner, I'd have just thought you were crazy. But now... well..." He lifted both arms and shrugged.

"There's more Finn. I haven't known how to talk about it. It's not exactly sensible. But the morning of That Day, when Mom was driving away, that was the morning I saw this color show. Well, while she was driving away, I saw a grey cloud like in my meditation above her car as she drove away."

"Interesting." Finn went back to staring at the bulkhead door.

That was all he had to say? Maybe she didn't express it well enough. "I know it sounds odd, but I think that cloud is connected somehow to what happened to Mother. I came out here with Langston to talk with you about it. I thought maybe you could help me make sense of it."

He nodded still looking at the door, "I'll help you make sense of it if you help me make sense of this. Remember years ago, when Gramps first took me to The Boathouse. It was the first time I ever saw a cellar door like this. I told him, 'That's not a door. It looks more like someone rendered a hole in the floor.' He thought it was so funny. I started calling it..." He stood. Leaned a little towards the bulkhead door and whispered... "The Durendaphlor."

As he did the color lightshow lit up the doorway, then dimmed to its normal color.

"Okay, that's new." Hope said.

Langston barked once.

"Langston sees it too?"

"Yes," two nods of her baskets, "I thought maybe he got enlightened, too. But now I'm having second thoughts."

"First of all, Sis," Finn was now pacing while talking, "Of course Langston's enlightened, he's a dog. Second of all, I have no idea what any of this means other than you see it too so I'm not crazy. Third of all, if it's got something to do with what happened to Faith... well... we ought to check it out."

"Yes, I would love to study it. But how?"

"How about this? I say the word, the door lights up, and we go through while it's lit."

"It's just the cellar door, Finn."

"Or is it?"

He had a point. Hope needed more information. And when Hope needed to find an answer, nothing got in her way.

She walked to the edge of the door, Langston followed, Finn was close behind.

"This is either going to be totally anti-climactic or we're about to go into Wonderland. I'm hoping," he always smirked when he punned her name, "for the latter."

Then Finn said: "Durendaphlor."

And The Poet, The Hound Dog, and The Genius walked together through The Durendaphlor.

...🐉...