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.