Through the Æther

Gaze deeply through the æther, through space both real and imagined, through the deepest reaches of time. In the vastness of the Dark, see a glimmering blue world warmed by a golden star. Look deeper. See the massive gnarled oak tree sitting atop a green hill, its branches clawing at the low flat grey cloudcover. 

Look deeper. 

Inside the massive tree, hollowed out, squated a child drawing shapes in the ashes of the hearth. The child is thin with copper hair which stood up like frozen fire. The child’s fingers were bone white with ash. A gnarled old hand spattered with age spots, dry and warm, set itself on top of the child’s. The twisted hand was encrusted with jeweled rings. The jewels twinkled in the red light of the fire. The hand belonged to Zazi. The child looked up into Zazi’s face, gold hoops pierced eyebrows and nostrils, the face framed by long wild grey hair, the tips brushed lightly through the ashes of the hearth.

‘Take care with symbols writ, Willa.’ Zazi said. ‘They hold power.’

The child knew Willa meant her. This was her earliest memory.

The Suit

in a case being called

the first of its kind

by legal experts

a design firm employee

has sued his employer

for time spent

dreaming about work

Ruben Valetta, age 45,

who works as a

graphic designer

has sued Toronto-based

Raw Silk Design

for the hours worked

in his dreams

filing a suit with the

Ontario Court of Justice

Valetta and his

representation are

asking to be awarded

the same hourly wage

he receives in his

day-to-day job

“I work all day

for these people

then come home

and dream about

the job all night

why shouldn’t I

be paid for

those (hours) too?”

Valletta told the

Toronto Moon

attorney Apollo Divinia

claims the suit 

has no grounds:

“Mr. Valletta will 

first need to prove

he dreams about work

then he would need

a record of some sort

of how many hours

he works every night

it is my understanding

dreams are quite short

in duration.”

Raw Silk Design declined

to comment on the suit