Nodding approvingly, the professor explained, "You will find, m'bach, that dreams are one of the most important expressions of a person's soul, the rawest expression of both their desires and their fears. Often, these two are connected so strongly that one cannot be untangled from the other. For example, with the dream you just related to me - would it have such power over you if it weren't appealing to some part inside of you? As humans, we are drawn to the dark just as much to the light, and it is the shadows that give the light shape and meaning."
He tilted his head to one side, and decided he would relate something of his own, to show Kurloz that he did understand. It was a risk, but it felt like the right thing to do now, the correct way to help bind this fascinating boy closer to him. "When I was a young man, perhaps a few years older than you, but not much, I had a recurring dream about my sister, whom I loved, and still do, very much. I dreamed that I took her down to the river that we used to play at as children, and I led her into the water, and then I drowned her - held her under the water as she struggled and cried and begged me to let her go. I could hear her, though she was under the water, in the way of dreams, and each time she pleaded, she took in more into her lungs, until she died, and then I carried her back to the big cauldron my mother used to mix the potions for the goats in the back barn, and I boiled the skin from her bones. Then I took the bones and put them in my trunk, and locked the trunk and swallowed the key."
"That dream terrified me. I would never want to hurt my sister, and yet I murdered her, quite serenely, night after night. But I could not simply dismiss it as a nightmare, something that would never happen. This dream was more powerful than the ordinary ones of being chased or falling, because there was a part of it that appealed to me, as well. My subconscious was telling me I had the desire to keep the people I loved close, as close as was humanly possible, and that went beyond the boundaries of life. Do you understand?"
no subject
He tilted his head to one side, and decided he would relate something of his own, to show Kurloz that he did understand. It was a risk, but it felt like the right thing to do now, the correct way to help bind this fascinating boy closer to him. "When I was a young man, perhaps a few years older than you, but not much, I had a recurring dream about my sister, whom I loved, and still do, very much. I dreamed that I took her down to the river that we used to play at as children, and I led her into the water, and then I drowned her - held her under the water as she struggled and cried and begged me to let her go. I could hear her, though she was under the water, in the way of dreams, and each time she pleaded, she took in more into her lungs, until she died, and then I carried her back to the big cauldron my mother used to mix the potions for the goats in the back barn, and I boiled the skin from her bones. Then I took the bones and put them in my trunk, and locked the trunk and swallowed the key."
"That dream terrified me. I would never want to hurt my sister, and yet I murdered her, quite serenely, night after night. But I could not simply dismiss it as a nightmare, something that would never happen. This dream was more powerful than the ordinary ones of being chased or falling, because there was a part of it that appealed to me, as well. My subconscious was telling me I had the desire to keep the people I loved close, as close as was humanly possible, and that went beyond the boundaries of life. Do you understand?"