Cold Thoughts (Open)

by **Richard Romain** Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:03 am

Richard was feeling the cold but he didn't shiver.

He didn't allow himself to shiver.

It was his own fault for entering and staying in a room that was named "The Cold Room", after all the hint was in the name. So it was no surprise that his breath frosted and fogged in front of him as he merely stood in the centre of the room, feeling the atmosphere. It was a type of meditation that he undertook everyday. It helped to clear his mind so that he could devote all of his considerable intellect on one problem at a time.

With this approach Richard selected one problem. He focused every aspect of his mind on it. He thought of possibilities, of probabilities, of certainties, of opinion and of fact. And then he broke the problem down. Analysed every part of the problem. Then, and only then, did he work out his plan of action.

He hadn't had a lot of time to do this exercise as of late but even now he slipped into it like a hand into a glove.

by **Tess McCartney** Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:44 am

Tess shivered as she walked towards the Cold Room. Honestly what had brought her here. Were dreams that important to her? They obviously were; she had dreamt of her in the room and she was simply sitting there, eyes closed and breathing in an out. She had not felt the cold.

Dreams are just dreams! she thought to herself and sniffled.

As she opened the door she jumped a bit in surprise to see that someone was in there. It was Professor Romain, and she wondered just why he was so quiet. She then felt the light bulb in her head light up and she realized he was meditating. Perhaps she should leave and return later. As she was closing the door, a sneeze was emitted and she closed her eyes tight in embarrassment.

by **Richard Romain** Sun Apr 29, 2012 6:52 am

When the door opened Richard felt the disturbance in the air. A gentle breeze touched his back and pulled him out of his meditative trance. The sneeze also helped.

Smiling a little bit he turned to see Tess standing in the doorway. He gestured for her to come closer as he turned to stare into one of the mirrors along the wall of the cold room,

"Hello Tess." he greeted his apprentice, "Couldn't sleep? I think I have a remedy for rest if you'd like to hear it."

by **Tess McCartney** Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:00 am

Tess let out a sheepish grin as she was caught. She suspected that she was going to lose points for her house, but c'est la vie she supposed. She closed the door behind her and walked towards him. As she reached him, she sat down beside him tugging her pajama pants to cover her feet more.

"And what would that be Professor?" she asked.

She wasn't scared or nervous around Professor Romain, it was probably because he was the first professor she sought out to talk to, he had been her mentor since before the apprenticeships began and he was easy enough to talk to. She simply stared at the mirror, copying his movement.

by **Richard Romain** Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:09 am

He chuckled a little bit at the sheepish grin she gave him. No punishment for not being able to sleep in his book. Plus she was in his House so if he took points from her he was damaging his own house. And he liked his House being in the lead. He smiled a little bit and pointed to the mirror, to their reflections,

"Tonight I'm going to teach you how to meditate on your problems and solve them in no time flat. Using the mirror." he smiled a little bit, "From this distance you should be able to see your eyes in your reflection. Can you see them?"

by **Tess McCartney** Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:16 am

She was excited that he was teaching her something new and she nodded with a small smile on her face. She copied his body language and mimicked his sitting position. She took in her reflection she saw her eyes, holding no tiredness whatsoever, but rather curiosity.

"I do" she murmured.

by **Richard Romain** Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:20 am

Seeing Tess imitate his position so quickly made Richard chuckle a little bit. She was even sitting wrong for someone of her height by imitating his sitting position as best she could. Gently he guided her face into the proper position so that she was able to stare her reflection in the eyes,

"Now... you are staring into your own eyes." he looked at their reflection, "Do not look anywhere else. Only look into the eyes of your reflection. Focus only on your own reflected eyes. I want you to tell me when you can't see anything but your reflected eyes."

by **Tess McCartney** Sun Apr 29, 2012 7:33 am

Tess shivered as his cold hands touched her face. Honestly how long had he been in here? Still, she moved willingly as he wanted her, and feeling uncomfortable her body moved towards her original position, her eyes still locked on the position he left her.

"I will" she replied.

She stared at her own eyes, and continued to stare. It was almost uncomfortable at how she kept staring, her feelings there, her blocking out other areas of her face. She tried not to blink, for she knew it would break her concentration. Her facial expressions, her facial features were becoming blurry and as she blinked for the last time, she realized that her peripheral vision was only concentrating on the area.

Her breathing became slower, her heart beat slowing down as well and she soon saw nothing but her irises.

"I can't see.." she trailed off.

by **Richard Romain** Wed May 09, 2012 3:29 am

Richard felt Tess shiver at his touch and couldn't help but chuckle a little bit to himself. He had been here for a number of hours after all, he supposed he would be very cold. But regardless he moved and positioned her until she was in the perfect position,

"Good."

He could tell that she was advancing well now. Her pupils were dilating and her body was relaxing as if she was falling asleep, but she remained upright. He was, therefore, unsuprised when his apprentice told him that she couldn't see,

"Good." he said again, "Now I want you to think about an object that I tell you to focus on. Try to think of it as if it were in front of you right now, but do not take your eyes off of your eyes. Think of this object in three dimensions, think and focus on every angle of it before you say that you are willing to move on. Now your first object is..."

"A tennis ball."

by **Tess McCartney** Wed May 09, 2012 5:39 am

When he re-positioned her, she no longer reacted as bad as she had before. The cold was reaching her already and she was getting used to it. She did not look away from her eyes, but when he heard his suggestion she felt herself hiccup a bit in thought.

A tennis ball? she thought.

She was surprised, but she decided to return to her previous position. She stared off back once more into her eyes to return towards her eyes. She then began to see the tennis ball. She began thinking of the sphere, and once that occurred she imaged feeling the texture and she then began to see it rotating. She was surprised how real it looked. She didn't want to talk, fearing to be distracted, but she waited for more direction.