By the end of the day, I was completely exhausted. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow, only to be woken a short time later by voices and laughter. The sounds came from the living room. I wondered why the Mentor had guests at this hour, and why he didn’t tell me about it. I rolled over in bed, but couldn’t sleep. The voices were too loud and so was the music. In the end, I got dressed and looked out into the living room. It was dark and empty, and it now felt like the whole crowd was in my room. It was very unsettling. I put my ear to the bedroom wall and listened. The voices spoke in English, and I didn’t understand half of it. Something about the harvest, wine and mortals, but I wasn’t sure. I went back to my room and tried to listen from there. The voices were coming from inside the wall.
All of a sudden, right in front of my nose, a face appeared. It came out of the wall! It was the face of a middle-aged European man. He looked quite material and tangible, and certainly not like a ghost, although I wasn’t really sure how a ghost should look. The man winked at me and said, “Boo!” In fear, I recoiled and fell to the floor. He laughed and disappeared.
The fun lasted until dawn, and I didn’t sleep at all. I didn’t doubt my sanity, and I knew what was going on was not a dream or fantasy. Everything was real, but I didn’t understand how.
At 6 am when dawn broke, I got up, had breakfast and went outside. It was a little bit windy, but overall, the weather was good. I looked into the stables, but the horses were gone. Had the Mentor taken them? Next I walked through the vineyards, but everything was fine. By noon, I was back home and went to sleep on the living room couch.
A noise from the kitchen woke me. It was already dark, but some light was coming from the kitchen. I rubbed my eyes, got up from the couch and walked in. The Mentor was setting plates at the empty table. He looked tired, but happy. Alicia was curled up under the table and wagged her tail slightly when she saw me. I leaned over and patted her on the head. Five seconds later, when I looked back up, the table was already laid, and the Mentor was sitting in his chair holding a glass of red wine. Now, when I think about it, it seems strange, but at that point I was not at all surprised. I just picked up my glass and sat down in front of the Mentor.
“To the harvest,” he toasted.
“To the harvest,” I echoed.
For a while, we ate in silence. I was tormented by a question that I didn’t dare to ask.
“I think it’s time I told you something,” the Mentor said, finally breaking the silence.
He leaned back, and at first, I didn’t understand what was happening. Our surroundings had grown. Now we sat at a long oak table in a spacious dining room. Its stone walls were decorated with old, faded tapestries. The fire was burning in a huge fireplace, driving away the darkness. In front of the fireplace, on the bearskin, Alicia was lying, her position unchanged. I looked around, fascinated. I knew it! I knew all along that a real adventure was somewhere close by! The Mentor was watching my reaction with interest.
“Is this real?” I finally asked.
“Yes, Walter, the house you’ve lived in for almost four months was a simple illusion.”
“Illusion?”
“Which you created yourself. I’ve only shown you the direction, and your imagination drew up the missing details. If you want, I’ll teach you how to create illusions and control the minds of people.”
