Oak Furniture and Lemon Balm at 27 Melville Street

Furniture at 27 Melville Street, Edinburgh

10.09.18 02:38-02:41 She is asleep, lying on her back, but suddenly aware of a sensation of a coiling energy moving from her feet to her abdomen, whereupon it pauses for a few seconds before continuing to her upper chest. There is then another brief pause before a final ascent to her crown. The entire movement from feet to head takes about thirty seconds. A picture then forms in her mind’s eye and she finds herself in the back garden of what she knows to be John Fullerton’s house on Melville Street, at about 10 in the morning. The garden area extends to about ten metres or so in length and five in width. Close to the house, there is a small, square pool for bathing into which she dips her toes, placing her sandals to one side. Further down the garden, there are half a dozen young maple trees. Flowers and plants of various species border a well-tended lawn. She hears the back door open, and John Fullerton emerges, wearing a pair of shorts and carrying a towel over his shoulder. She quickly withdraws her foot and the splash causes John to look up and notice her, exclaiming, Oh! I didn’t know were here, April and then, Why won’t you come inside?

 

In the dining room, she sees Georgina, today wearing a long white dress and taking some morning tea at a large table. April notices some of the other furniture, including a cabinet made of what John later says is oak, some leather-covered chairs, a few display tables and a rocking chair. Georgina, too, is surprised at the visit but quickly rises and hugs April, before offering her a chair and a cup of tea. Welcome to our place, April! I’m so happy you’ve visited! In the brief second they embrace, April says she is aware of Georgina’s form, noting the familiar cool sensation of her body but this time also its soft, cornflour-like yielding texture. Her clothing also seems to be made from the same substance, as if both body and clothing are made from the same underlying energetic material. April says the tea tastes wonderful, like the freshest herbal she has ever known. Georgina tells her, My daughter Isabella is upstairs. Would you like to meet her? John then climbs the wooden spiral staircase. Isabella! Come, come! I want to introduce you to my good friend. There is a brief pause and then Okay, daddy. Wait a minute. I’m just tying my hair. Both quickly come down and April sees a most beautiful young woman of around fifteen or sixteen years of age, with her long blond hair tied up, and wearing what appears to be a pair of pink pyjamas and white slippers. She approaches April and they hug. Oh! Nice to meet you! and then jokingly What planet are you from? She smiles at April’s nonplussed reaction and says, I’m just joking. I mean what country? John suggests that if they want to go bathing that Isabella might lend April some swimming clothes. Before they bathe, Isabella takes April into the garden and shows her what she says are lemon balm plants, the leaves of which can be boiled with or later added to hot water. This is what April has just tried. Isabella tells her the drink is good for the heart and for stress reduction and that the leaves can even be chewed. She says her mother, Georgina, uses oil made from the leaves to make her hair soft and shiny. I also love to watch the bees take nectar from the flowers of this plant. And without any chance to express her thanks, April wakes up.

Out-of-body in Melville Street, Edinburgh

27 Melville Street, Edinburgh

22.08.18 03:02-03:05 Early this morning, April is lying on her back with her eyes closed, having briefly surfaced in the gap between sleep cycles but otherwise remaining still. She says she feels quite alert but in a blank condition where no thought intrudes. As she relaxes in this manner, something begins to stir within her. Soon the darkness seems to deepen and she hears-feels a gentle whistling accompanied by the commencement of an alternating, upward moving wind-energy from the soles of her feet. It takes roughly one minute for this sensation to progress to her head and, when it completes, she finds herself standing on a rough road in front of a broad, three-storey house. The era appears relatively modern, and one or two older motor vehicles are present on the street. From behind and to the left, three people approach the house as if to enter, but on noticing April, stop to chat.

One of the group is Robert Fullerton again, but this time looking twenty years younger, and casually dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and black trousers. Next to him is a gentleman in a grey suit, white shirt and dark necktie. Holding his left arm is a golden-haired woman in a long-sleeved, full-length white dress. Robert speaks first. Hello April, my friend - nice to see you again! She is thrilled to see him as well and respectfully greets him with a Hi, sir! He smiles and repeats quizzically her use of the word sir, as if she should know by now that they are friends. No need for "sir" - just call me Robert. He introduces the two people with him, both of whom are regarding her in quiet curiosity. April, this is my younger brother, John. John, this is my special friend, April. John is an inch or two taller than Robert and his hair and mustache are slightly greying. All appear to be in their mid-thirties. She shakes John's hand, and notices the familiar stone-cold sensation in his touch. Robert then introduces the lady as John's wife, Georgina. She is about 5'7" tall and has her hair tied up in a bun, wearing only a little red lipstick for makeup. Two emerald earrings match an emerald signet ring on her left wedding finger. April asks, Do you have any children, madam? She, too, is unconcerned with formalities. Please call me Georgina. And yes, John and I have four sons and four daughters and she gives their names as William, Henry, James, George, Mary, Elizabeth, Isabella Graeme and Georgina. 
 
Georgina gestures to the house. We all live together here and Robert tells her the address is 27 Melville Street, Edinburgh. He adds that the place actually belongs to John, although he likes to visit. April asks Robert about the book from the previous dream, which he said he likes to read on top of the Waterboat House. He laughs and he tells her it is called Coaching Days and Coaching Ways, a book he says he loves. I am stunned when later I find an entry on Amazon for a relatively contemporary book of the same name by W. Outram Tristram, which purportedly "[e]xplores the roads of England between the seventeenth and nineteenth century [and] the social life of that time period...". Then I recall a similar incident, recollected in An Adjacent Place, where the eighteenth century British naval Admiral, John Byng, showed April books written by the modern military authors Barton C. Hacker, Daniel C. Smith and Dick Titterington. Time appears to impose no restriction on people living in this adjacent place.

Robert says he likes to stay at Carberry Tower, a place also in Edinburgh, and that he will take her there another time. Then she stirs in bed and the rough curtain next to the mattress brushes her face. She feels her signal disconnect and there is no time for her to be invited inside John's house.