I had the most bizarre dream last night.

It took place in a town that I had been to before in other dreams I have since forgotten. In this one I was reminded of (or possibly introduced to) its name: Hateford.

I was drifting down a thin creek in a small rowboat when I reached a clearing. Behind me the banks grew steeper and roots jutted from them. A canopy of thick trees filtered out the light and I was soon dazzled by the new light ahead of me. I passed under an arched, wooden bridge into a small town.

This town had no roads or pavement, and was surround by tall cliffs, raising straight up from behind the houses or water. The ground and land was mottled alternately with blackened scorch marks and with lush green grass overflowing and creeping from their patches... And there were nearly-luminescent flowers of every type and color imaginable.

As I rowed in through the only entrance under the bridge, I examined my surroundings. Two wooden houses were perched in a crevice to my right between two thin and tall sandstone outcroppings. Beyond them, accessible through a wooden path hanging slightly over the water, was a birdhouse mounted on a pole. The front wall was gone and inside were two birds on a perch, a crow on the left and a vulture on the right. Both were taxidermied and quite dead. I recall a small beaded chain, like that of a lamp, hanging from its bottom.

I believe I passed under another arched bridge, but of this I'm uncertain. Now I reached a further cleared area. To my left was a wooden inn of some sort... It looked warm and comfortable. To my right was a cluster of small, unidentifiable buildings. They had large, yellowed glass windows displaying... Nothing that I can remember. It may have been nothing, but I concluded that they were shops.

Several people came out of the buildings on both sides and greeted me. They seemed to dress in older styles of clothing, like more colorful alternatives to Victorian garb. The most noticeable was no doubt the Mayor. He wore a long trench coat, patterned with bizarre colors and interlocking, distorted shapes. As a symbol of authority he carried a long copper rod as a staff or walking stick, which, coupled with his white foot-long beard gave him a nearly wizardlike appearance.

He lead me out of my boat and welcomed me to Hateford.

As it got dark, a man began passing out incredible candies. I've never tasted anything in my dreams besides this, but even as I write this I want another. It was a circular white thing that resembled saltwater taffy, but he referred to it as a truffle. It tasted somewhat like vanilla, but with a berry-like flavor mixed in and something else I couldn't identify...

I only had one, but many other colors were handed out to the people throughout town. Everybody was eating them constantly.

It wasn't long before I went to bed in the inn. I watched out my window as the flowers blossomed all over the once-barren cliff. They rose from the scorched ground, from the clusters of grass, and from the empty sandstone equally. Everything became luscious and beautiful as the stars came out.

Along with the normal stars, brightly colored, larger stars burned in the sky. They could be found in yellow, red, blue, green, and many more. I watched them move across the sky as the hours passed until the Yellow Star was at its peak over the cliff. As it climbed to the top, I noted the Mayor and the man that sold the candy hiking up the cliff. They stood at the top beneath a just-grown tree and spoke to each other.

The seller made grand sweeping motions with his hand towards the sky and towards the world beyond Hateford. He directed the Mayor to point his copper staff to the Yellow Star high above. As he did so, the tip of it began to glow a brilliant yellow. It stayed like that for several seconds before, in an instant, it spread down the rod and to his hands. It enveloped him and an incredible blast of yellow lightning shot from the end and to the star high above.

The Mayor was gone. The rod fell to the ground as the Yellow Star burned just a little brighter...

At this point I woke up.