Read Online Charlie's Dream by Jamie Rowboat - Free Book Online Page B

me, I know. As soon as you started talking about this old lady that you know, my heart started to flutter without any real reason. Then you mentioned the name of her nursery and I knew for sure. You see, that was our original surname before we were adopted. It came from the French language and was originally 'Grandligne'. It was changed when we lived in England and we always agreed that we'd never use the name unless we lost contact and needed some clear guidance to find each other."
    "Good grief," said Charlie in amazement.
    "We haven't seen each other for more than a hundred years. She moved back to England from India in order to continue her work as a botanist. Since she moved back to England, we've had no real contact and I was beginning to think I would never hear from her again. I'm sorry, I didn't mean for things to go like this today. You must think I'm very strange and that this whole affair is just madness." said Shamir.
    "A crazy dream is how I'd put it at the moment, but if Gemma really is your sister, then the coincidence is just too bizarre to overlook. The whole story sounds utterly unbelievable anyway. Wizards who live for hundreds of years and elves who live in a magic valley. But, you know what? I'm just starting to get interested."
    "That's my boy. Now please, Charlie, tell me everything you know about her, absolutely everything," pleaded Shamir.
    Charlie sat in Shamir's faded leather chair and tried to remember everything he could about Gemma. He racked his brain for stories he'd heard from his parents and he tried to recall as much as he could from his own time with her. He didn't know how large it was, but he knew she owned a piece of land outside town, as well as the nursery. It had been quite big news in the community at the time. No one knew who had bought the three large parcels of land on the outskirts of Chelmsley. Everyone thought it must be a developer from out of town and braced themselves for the inevitable housing estate. As time went on, peoples' interest waned, the land remained happily untouched and no one ever noticed the occasional visits by someone in an old Mercedes.
    "What a fine jigsaw we have assembling itself," said Shamir, after Charlie had scraped every possible memory from his brain.
    "That's okay for you to say, but at the moment I seem to be stretched between two separate parts of the picture. I want to stay with the experience, but I have a life that I can remember and I miss being in it. What about my parents? It must be horrible for them, and Marie, I can't bare to think about her, she'd just agreed to be my girlfriend. How long will this all go on?" said Charlie.
    "Charlie, I know this is really hard for you, to be wrenched out of your life in such a violent manner. The truth is, you cannot exist in both places for very long, a few days, maybe a week, any more would be too much of a strain," replied Shamir gravely. "But take heart, you have made it into this world, and the stronger and more real your grasp of this place, the greater the chance there is of us getting you home safely," he continued.
    "So, you don't think I could just go home now?"
    "No, Charlie, I think you are here for a reason and when you have achieved what you need to here, you will know it's time to leave and it will be supported. If the timing is not correct, even your love for Marie and your parents will not be enough to get you back."
    "Okay, so what now?"
    "I think we should get out into my garden and do some planting. We need to stop thinking about all of the possibilities for a while and do something simple and natural, if you feel up to it?"
    "Yeah, okay. I'm a bit overwhelmed by it all right now. Perhaps some time in the fresh air will do me some good," said Charlie, with a faint smile.
    "Yes, Charlie, I think it would do us both good," said Shamir tenderly.
    They put on some old clothes that Shamir had prepared and crossed to the far side of the garden, where a large stone wall separated the