Memoirs of an open mind

Part six: The bigger they are

 

As she wandered along the old rocky road she could not help but think how sad the scenery was in this part of the world. The trees weren’t as green and the ground wasn’t as moist. No colors seemed as lush as they were outside of her village.

Celica suddenly felt a long way from home which sadly was not far away from the truth. She realized how much she missed her mom, the small village in all its imperfect glory. Perhaps her actions today would be meaningful enough for the community to exist somewhere else, if she did fail she knew there would remain little of her family and friends when she returned. If she returned, there might not even be time for returning home, she figured.

 

The road ended as suddenly as it had begun and suddenly she noticed the towering brick wall in front of her. It appeared as if out of nowhere and seemed to expand whilst she observed it. A true colossus in a strangely familiar shape, it was human-made after all.

Celica leaned against the wall for a little while. It stood firm, a truly intimidating structure.

She threw a rock at it, then a larger rock. Nothing happened. The sound from rocks colliding against hardened clay spread in small echoes throughout the forest and scared some birds who flew away.

Celica sat down again against the wall to rethink her plan, only to realize she hadn’t had any plan to begin with! What was she supposed to do? She looked up and saw a thin white line at the end of the skyline. Time was short.

She threw more rocks at the wall, all it did was create more noise. Then Celica started climbing up a tree with a moderate stone to drop from above, hoping the velocity of the object itself would be enough. She miscalculated her throw a bit, when she released the rock she also lost her balance and fell backwards onto the hard ground. She heard her ribs crack as they hit the rocky road. Celica could no longer feel her legs or move them it seemed. She started sobbing.

 

The first rays of sunlight could be seen on the horizon, she had failed and all was lost. It was over, she knew it as sure as she knew anything.

“I’m so sorry mom, I’m sorry Sir August. I failed you all.” she said as tears ran down her face.

Then Celica stopped crying, so suddenly it even surprised her. She figured it wasn’t all lost after all.

“But how?”

Her body had given up, her brain seemed to do so as well but her heart was of another belief. What was it she had forgotten?

“Oh… I’m so stupid.” she said. Then again but this time she said it a lot louder. “I’M SO STUPID!” she shouted.

Celica still had two wishes. She thought about them hard and long. Then she finally said: “I wish for Rrx to appear together with all fairies this world contains.”

She heard a small pop just behind her. Then something hopped into her line of sight as she lay on the rocky road. “Y call?” Rrx said.

Celica smiled. “Yes. Yes I sure did Rrx.”

Then came another popping sound, and another, and then hundreds, maybe thousands of popping sounds as the whole fairy population appeared nearby.

“One wish?” Rrx asked.

“Yes it was a wish Rrx. I figured you guys eat stone don’t you? Do you eat brick as well?” she asked. Rrx acknowledged this by moisturizing its bulging lips with that monstrous tongue. “Very well. Tell your friends…” Celica forced herself to pause. Her body was in a lot of pain and she started having trouble breathing. “…dinner is served. I would point at the wall but I think you know what I mean.” she gasped.

Rrx started drooling and nodded.

Everywhere Celica could here hopping sounds and happy cries of: “OBOY!” and “YES!” as the fairies approached the wall. Celica heard chewing and crunching but could not see since she had trouble moving her head without having to endure more pain than her body could endure. She dared not, she didn’t want to lose consciousness.

“Rrx? Could I make my last wish?” she asked the fairy still sitting idly by while its friends feasted.

It nodded and shouted: “Yes! Yes! Wish good. Wish strong.”

“Heal me once more would you kindly?” Celica wished.

It only nodded and once again smeared that disgusting saliva on her skin-the shoulder this time-and she began to feel the healing effect almost immediately. When the pain stopped Celica got up on her feet and looked at the crumbling wall in front of her. Nothing would stop the hungry little monsters from having the buffet of their lives.

“Good wish little one!” Gnarly-Jarl said as he appeared.

“Anything man-made can be torn down by anyone as long as it is a man-or a woman in my case-wishing for it I figure.” Celica said smiling at her friend.

“Exactly! Precisely! This human is a fast learner.”

“You couldn’t have told me what to do then?” Celica asked.

“No, that way the wish would have been mine and it wouldn’t have worked. Now it was all your doing.” Gnarly-Jarl explained. “But I am proud of you human!”

“Thanks.” Celica smiled even more.

 

Finally the wall came down in front of them. The fairies continued eating away in each direction not minding the bright light seeping through the huge crack they had created.

“They will all be fat and joyful for decades to come.” Gnarly-Jarl chuckled.

Celica just laughed.

The light broke through with its fullest might. Celica basked in it, she let it engulf her wholly. She felt a warm tingling feeling spread from her heart out to her fingertips. It was a sensation she would never experience again. She felt like floating in water without the presence of water, like flying through space and time.

Somewhere behind her-it could’ve been a thousand kilometers away-someone said: “Goodbye little one. It was an honor having you as my friend.”

She waved back; cast a smile in its direction. Then it all ended.

 

What happened to Celica you ask? First you need to know what happened to her family.

The whole population of the little village in limbo ended up above ground, out of nowhere it seemed. It was okay really, since none of the now living residents had ever experienced life they deserved it for as long as they had to live. And in their deaths they would all end up in the same place, or pocket. They didn’t even notice because no one ever left the village. They didn’t even near the woods due to the misfortune that was the disappearing of Celica many years ago. Her mother being the one remembering and mourning her daughter’s unfortunate demise the most. As for the rest of the world? No one noticed when the village appeared and no one seemed to care. It all looked very natural, almost as if it had always been there, in one form or the other.

And Celica? Yes the little one remained in limbo for a while, but not for long. She only stayed long enough to say goodbye to all her newfound friends before she too became a resident of the real world. Only her wishes were to continue exploring it and so she did. Celica knew returning home would mean staying home for a long time, she simply chose the world first. There she remained for many years, travelling and exploring, finding new friends as she went along. We spent a lot of time together, the little one and I. I showed her the secrets I knew from walking among shadows and she showed me life from a human point of view.

Yes, yes. It was all very sentimental and nice. Then she returned to her annoying village. When she came home she was already a grown woman. It mattered little as her mother couldn’t have been happier to see her long lost child. Although it took her a great amount of time to understand the stories Celica told her, unfortunately she never really gave herself the time to accept them. Celica’s mother died happy, at peace but ignorant of the many truths Celica had told. Maybe it was for the best to let the little one’s secrets remain her own. I am not one to worry about human matters and humans seldom worry much about my opinion.

Celica became a good leader for the villagers, under her watchful eye they all learned about the world outside of the small walls. When she too died of old age the residents of this boring village finally took the step into the outside world.

Ironic isn’t it? How one human can evolve earth’s most ignorant spot into perhaps the most enlightened? Yes, it is very interesting.

 

As for me, I keep to the shadows. Where I belong, I watch humans come and go. Some intrigue me, others bore me. But they all end up where they are supposed to, in the afterlife I mean. No one’s bothered us in limbo for many years now. Hopefully for many years to come, who knows? Only shadows and Gwarockies are supposed to be able to travel between this world and limbo, it’s the way of things.

Then again belief is a strong thing in a tiny human’s brain. Maybe one day there will be another wall building itself, and maybe then I’ll accompany another little one as well?

Nothing is certain; this world has still got some tricks up its sleeve.

When it all comes around, it is not much unlike a big garden. A garden occasionally disturbed with weeds taking up space and birds eating some of the best fruits. From time to time someone needs to swoop in and clear out the assailants properly. Pull out the weed and scare off the birds. Otherwise this garden might just get ruined, weed would grow everywhere and you’d never get rid of the feathery creatures. A garden overgrown full of feathers would be all that remained. And sure there’s beauty in chaos, you just have to figure out which way you want it to go. It is your choice after all, humans destroy what humans create. And humans can rebuild what other humans destroy.  

 

The End.