Chapter 38: The Secrets of Our Gardens (Part 2: Accursed Springs

Chapter 38: The Secrets of Our Gardens (Part 2: Accursed Springs)

(Robert Quick, August 7th, 2011)

We continued following the dirt path which had leveled out nicely, until Sid stopped us again.

“From here you can see the training ground of accursed springs.”

I looked at Sid. “Why would we have that here?”

“I think you are under the mistaken impression that the House is essentially good. Worse, like many new writers, you think you’re 58 in control of every part of the story.”

“Isn’t that true? I mean, we made the House.”59

“Did you?”

I didn’t answer, unnerved by the discussion and instead surveyed the thick stalks of bamboo, each one standing without uniformity, in a pool of stagnant water. “I thought that was in China. Or Japan.” I said absently. I wasn’t really sure on how other works of fiction interacted with the House.

58 In the comments: Jeanne Morningstar: “Some interesting reflections. My take on the House is that it’s all dangerous, even the “good” parts. Maybe especially the “good” parts. It was built, after all, on ground that once belonged to Faerie and made from their wood, and something of Faerie still remains with it. I would still love to visit there, though. As long as I manage to avoid being eaten by the topiary minotaurs that periodically infest the hedge mazes. Or going insane from learning the secret of the universe after gazing too long at the patterns of light cast by the stained glass windows. Or falling into the Spring of Drowned Zombie. I do wonder whether the Asian master is a little on the stereotypical side, though. But perhaps ‘he’ might be a crossdressing Jenny Everywhere.”

59

In an apparent straightforward acknowledgement of Welcome! as a canonical part of the narrative of Our Strange and Wonderful House, Robert Quick here treats his hitherto-unnamed point-of-view character and narrator as an avatar of himself, a writer who contributed to inventing the House, which somehow becomes real (or at least able to be visited) as a result of being written about. 78

“All three are correct, depending on your perspective.” Sid said cheerfully.

“Oh. Good.” I wasn’t sure what I was glad about but I was glad. The world was still spinning and everything was all right. Everything would be all right.

Ahead lay the towering form of the Bodhi tree.