2. Invisible George Part 2

George's Dad was right he didn't have to go far, as he made the last few steps he felt the fur of his body rise up & he started to feel ticklish all over, there was a strange humming sound, it was loudest in front of him, and a little fainter to the left of him. All of a sudden he let out a yelp & for a split second there was light all around him & it disappeared, leaving George both shocked & feeling prickly and numb in equal portions.

"George!" "George!" "George!" he could hear his Dad shouting, quietly at first then gradually louder, he was a bit dazed & his ears felt like they were filled with tree sap.
"George"
"Yes Dad" he eventually replied "I, I'm ok!"
" what happened!"
"You reached the thorn king, now you wait"
"The thorn king isn't very nice, those didn't feel like any thorns I've ever felt before."
"Like I was going to say, it's a metaphor, it isn't a king, but it only pricks you once".

George's Dad was right, it wasn't long before the tree canopy above was letting rays of sunshine break through it's branches.

George found himself standing mesmerised . The rays of light moved across surfaces, revealing such amazingly bright colours. It was still cold, but seeing such colour & brightness filled him with warmth.
It was strange for him, because it was a familiar warmth. One that brought memories to the forefront of his mind, of times, perhaps, not so long ago. At first he thought he was remembering an old dream, but then he realised he was remembering something important, something real.

The sun's rays though they started to shine through slowly at first, soon lit up the whole forest. He was still stood in shadows but he wasn't scared about the sun at all, he knew it felt right. Over to his left where the faint humming was coming from, George presumed, was the pool of reflection.

George realised why he had to wait, not just to see the pool of reflection, but because it was over a bridge & there were no vines to guide him across in the dark.
The pool was mounted on it's side and George thought magic was holding it in place, why else didn't the water fall out.

As the sun slowly crept across the surface of the pool, he notice a pale blue hue appear around it's edges.
There were figures carved into the stone that surrounded the pool. Like giant creatures pushing from either side, further across to either side there was writing and more pictures. One in particular caught his attention, it looked strangely familiar, after a moment he quickly turned to look back into the shadows where he was earlier, then back again to the picture on the wall.
The picture appeared to show a creature, one hand on the Thorny King, the other was on a wall.

He returned to the King and wondered if he should bow and how else should he talk to him. Looking over at the picture of one hand on the king, it didn't take much to remember that when he touched the king before he got a huge shock & didn't want to do that again. In the picture the creature had it's other hand on the wall, George looked over to the wall. Sure enough there was a hand print shaped indentation, but George's arms were too short, he couldn't reach between both. He studied the wall for a few minutes, it was remarkably smooth, unnaturally smooth, it was cold to touch & he was sure it was moving, vibrating like the ground shakes when the volcano gets angry. But the ground wasn't vibrating, just the wall when he touched it. Looking back down the spiralling vines, he could see it was a staircase with a hand rail similar to.. his memories kept returning, he was understanding things, but he couldn't remember what it was called or why, or from where.

This whole place was made, he knew this much, if only he could reach between the wall & the king. King? he thought, what a metaphor that is, it was a generator of pain & light but it was no king.
He readdressed his situation, he needed to reach between the wall and the generator, but how eluded him, so his attention returned once again to the pool of reflection, that's the reason he was here, the generator could wait a while.

By now George's Dad was wondering what he was up to
"George" he shouted
"Yes Dad I'm here"
"You alright son?"
"Dad, it's amazing up here, there is so much to see, there is a picture on the wall that shows a creature touching the generator & the wall. Dad! You must touch the wall first, then the generator"
"The what?" His Dad replied
"The generator, it's a better metaphor than yours"
"For what?"
" for the thorn king"
"Come on up, your arms are longer than mine"
"But can you see it George? Can you see YOU!"
By now George was across the bridge gazing into the pool up close.
"George! Can you see you?"
George heard his Dad & averted his attention to the surface of the pool, at first he saw a blur but when he moved a fraction backwards, then, there he was.
Invisible George, really was visible, a creature with two furry legs, two matching furry arms a furry body, a hoop on his head, a bald sad looking face with bulging eyes, was staring back at him.
He placed his hand up against the surface of the pool, almost believing he could touch himself.
"Dad, I see me, I see me, but I can't touch me though!"
"It feels strange, is it magic.

George's Dad shouted up, "don't touch the reflection"
"It's ok Dad it doesn't hurt or anything, it's kind of weird to touch, it's like the skin from one of Mam's milk pudding's, softer yet tougher."
"DO NOT Touch the reflection George"
George wasn't listening, he was transfixed by the strange sensation beneath his finger tips. It seamed to tingle, like the sensation from earlier but it was more of a tickle than a shock.

From the moment he somehow sensed George might actually now be in danger his Dad ran, shouting almost all the way, but George never once answered. Now the spiral tree was lit up, he could see each of the symmetrical steps before him spiralling around the central column. He occasionally grabbed the hand rail for a quick pull up, but generally he didn't need it. Although it wasn't far, right now it felt like it, as he past the generator at the top of the staircase he could see the pool just across the short bridge. But it was too far.

George gazed into the pool, totally mesmerised, he thought he saw something moving, he was curious & followed it, first with his eyes then with his hands.
When it seamed to stop in front of him, he leaned forward with both hands on the pool & loosing his balance found himself moving further into the pool.
His heart began to race and he started to panic as the surface of the pool slowly wrapped itself around him.
He only had a brief moment to shriek a cry of help to his Dad, that was quickly silenced when his face reached the pool.
His body was now almost completely enveloped, only his tail remained, and that was only long enough for his Dad to see him slowly disappear into the pool of reflection. His Dad desperately reached for his tail, but he barely stroked it's tip as it disappeared.

George was now in full panic, it wasn't like water, his eyes burned, his lungs burned and he was helpless.
Then something tried to grab him, he slashed at it, bit it & even found himself clinging to it with all his might as it pulled him deeper into the pool, everything grew lighter & 2 blurry figures stood over him, one appeared hurt and it's arm was bleeding badly.
They were speaking but he understood neither of them, he knew it was his time and everything went black - as George's life slipped away