by Toker, Dor
The Mendelssohnian Theory
Dor Toker
The Mendelssohnian Theory/Dor Toker
Copyright © 2015 Dor Toker. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission, in writing, of the author.
Translated from Hebrew by Yaron Regev
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dortoker
Email: [email protected]
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Epilogue
Prologue
In the beginning, there was nothing.
A long time, endless in its essence, chaos governed all. All was nothing, and nothing was chaos.
Not immediately, not all at once, thousands of twinkling lights began to brightly burn, puncturing the darkness with the beams of their light, celebrating time and again the cycles of their birth and demise.
Two vast blazing bodies slowly sailed the liquid space, heading toward one another, and with a thunderous crash exploded into a million separate bodies, spreading all over the vast expanses. Flames of light preceded thick inflammable jet streams that punctured the darkness and burned the remote distances. At the center of the bubbling spheres of light, hydrogen and helium atoms crumbled into protons and neutrons, unforming and reforming. From among the nebulas of gas, new suns were born, and around them, circling planets were formed, attracted and repelled by the burning heart.
Between the second and the third planets, at the center of a system circling a large fireball, just now created in spaceless, timeless terms, a tiny black seed materialized. As soon as it appeared, the seed attracted gasses and particles of matter from the space surrounding it. Its volume increased until it formed itself into an elliptical ball, changing its position among the nearest planets and the sun.
The unexpected appearance of this new body forever changed the balance of the powers of attraction and repulsion between the planets orbiting the burning star.
Somewhere else, hundreds of thousands of parsecs away from the infantile solar system, the being called ‘Inseminator of Worlds’ nodded at his female partner, also an ‘Inseminator’. A smile rose on her face, and they both concentrated and reported their success to the center. Their mission was now complete, and they needed to wait for the evolutionary process to run its course. The estimated time before full hatching will occur: four and a half billion of the tiny planet’s cycles round its mother star.
Wisdom begets patience.
A creation story from the traditional writings of the Kner-Odin, the third millennium.
Chapter 1
“Tell me,” asked the girl, “do you think there’s anything out there?” in her voice, whispering in his ear, hope and curiosity mingled.
Unexpectedly, her question paralleled exactly the teenage boy’s own thoughts, and the coincidence surprised him and deepened his feeling that this was a special moment in his life. The expression itself ‘coincidence’, had never been so clear as in the moment they lay on their backs, touching one another without touching, their gazes concentrated on the dark skies visible beyond the transparent dome (Bubble ©) that had enclosed their lives since birth.
As far as the two youths were concerned, there was no other reality. They’ve learned a bit about the history of the world, and were familiar, just like any other boy or girl their age, with the sequence of events that led to the construction of the climate bubble that enclosed the Jewish Reservation, and protected them from annihilation. But they have never gone beyond the opaque inflexible walls of the bubble. Therefore, they were unsure whether the stars hovering in the sky were real or artificially painted on the ceiling of the dome. And because they had no way of knowing which of the stories told to them from birth were true, and which were invented by the feverish minds of their parents, teachers and the few Mendelssohnian rabbis they’d met at school, they chose to doubt them all.
The boy did not answer, and his friend’s question continued to echo between them. He did not know what to say and was afraid to ruin the moment with a foolish answer. It felt good to lay quietly like that beside her, at night and out of town, only the two of them looking at the universe above.
He hesitated and considered for a long time before inviting her to follow him to ‘his mountain’ as he referred to the small hill next to the farm in which he had once lived with his parents while they were still alive. He was admitting her into his holiest of holies.
The sudden death of his parents had brought a change in his official status and overnight he’d become an orphan, supported by the community of the capital, Kfar Saba.
A short time after the “Shiva” mourning period over the death of his parents had ended, he was sent to the city’s main boarding school, the Kinneret Boarding School, and was housed in a room with two other pupils his age. When the first night at the boarding school had descended, and the heavy breathing of his new neighbors could be heard in the background, he had realized for the first time that he was alone in the world. Throughout his life, his parents were always by his side, and he did not need anybody else. And now, he felt that they had abandoned him. He was alone. Tears ran down his cheeks while he lay on his back and stifled his sobs. He fell asleep as morning approached and woke about two hours later, baffled, as the two children in the adjacent beds rose and began to prepare for the new school day. He waited until they finished dressing and left the room, only then did he get up and get dressed. He walked out of the room and passed through the long and narrow corridor into the classroom he’d been assigned on the previous day. Once he had entered, he located an available desk and chair at the far end of the classroom and sat down, ignoring the stares of the other pupils. The teacher, who was in the middle of checking attendance, was quiet for a moment and waited until Adam took his seat. She nodded at him and flashed a little smile, then continued to read the students’ names. The boy did not make an effort to return her smile. On his face was stretched the same uncaring expression he adopted for himself a moment after he’d heard about his parents’ death. Whenever one of the adults around him attempted to console him, the boy would push them away with a nervous and impatient flutter. His gaze would turn opaque, and he enclosed himself with furious silence.
At the end of the lesson, he followed the rest of the pupils to the schoolyard and watched their games from the sidelines.
“Are you Adam?” he heard a voice behind him. He tur
ned around, surprised, and stared straight at the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. She took his breath away, and he could barely manage to nod in affirmation. “This is for you,” said the girl and handed him a folded envelope. She smiled a little smile, turned from him and went back to her friends. Adam followed her with his eyes until she disappeared among the other students. Only then did he open the envelope. In it, he found a Friday dinner invitation from Dr. Amir Lev and his wife, Alona. He had heard of Dr. Lev just like any other boy within the confines of the bubble. He was the head of the reservation’s Mendelssohnian engineer guild. His father had brought up Amir’s name on numerous occasions, and judging by his tone, Adam assumed they were more than mere acquaintances, but also close friends. Nevertheless, what interested the boy the most was the messenger girl. During their brief encounter, he had felt her penetrating gaze peeling him from all the protections he’d wrapped his body with since that terrible day, exposing who he really was.
Throughout that day and the ones that followed, the boy, Adam, could not take his eyes off her. He was fascinated by her beauty, with her careless demeanor, her confident gait, and infectious laughter; he attempted, only partially successful, to conceal his interest in her.
From listening to other pupils’ conversations, he had learned the girl’s name was Naomi. As he suspected, she was Dr. Amir Lev’s daughter. The moment she addressed him on the first day of school was the first hopeful moment in his aimless journey in the kingdom of sadness that reality had forced upon him, even though he assumed the girl was completely unaware of her influence on him. And indeed, during the family dinner, he’d decided to attend after many hesitations, Naomi did not notice his longing, but her parents, Amir and Alona, had indeed noticed the bashful glances of the youth. Adam felt the sympathy Amir Lev had for him, but he felt a certain reluctance from the mother and could not understand why. Both parents were surprised to discover the likeness Adam bore to his late father, and Alona had bothered to mention it aloud. In reaction, the mother received a barrage of fiery gazes from her husband and daughter while Adam felt a growing discontent in the sound of her voice. The way in which she’d hurled the likeness he bore to his father at him left no room for doubt about her opinion of the late father and his son who was standing before her. He thanked her with politeness and a seemingly indifferent expression, even though he was shocked by her direct words and the mention of his late father. Everyone else avoided mentioning him even with a hint. To all appearances, it seemed that mentioning the likeness he bore to his father had not influenced him, but inside him, the insult burned. She had embarrassed him and cracked the fortified wall he’d erected around his heart to remove and suppress his pain. The first chance he had, he parted from the family and returned to the boarding school.
Later that evening, a knock was heard at the door of his room. Naomi, who’d just returned from her home, stood in front of him silent and embarrassed. He overcame his own embarrassment and invited her in, but she remained standing at the entrance. “I apologize for my mother’s behavior,” she finally said and lowered her eyes to the floor.
Adam blushed. “That’s all right,” he tried to calm her. “You can’t control the thoughts of other people. Besides,” he added, “I’m sure she didn’t mean any harm.” He no longer felt angry with her mother. Actually, he was surprised by his reaction to her words; he should have expected some people might notice the resemblance between him and his father.
“Sometimes I don’t know if that’s right or not,” said Naomi. And following a moment of silence, she added, “I think she can’t control it.” Adam was embarrassed. Naomi was excited, and he realized that all the airiness he’d seen in her till now was nothing but pretense. Behind the mask of trusting freedom on her face, a sensitive girl was hidden. Without uttering a single word, he held her hand and invited her outside the dormitory. They walked around the complex of the boarding school till dawn, and then parted and each returned to their rooms without exchanging any words.
The next day and the ones that followed, they acted as if nothing had happened between them and were careful to hide their embarrassment from one another. A few days later, during gym class, the pupils went outdoors for a two mile run across the sandy areas next to the boarding school. The class ran as a single body, but Adam and Naomi hastened their pace and quickly left the rest of the runners behind them. Toward the end of the second mile of the race, Naomi pushed Adam in the direction of the sand dune. They rolled down the slope and lay still at the bottom of the hill without being discovered by any of the teachers. The rest of the runners had passed them by as well, without noticing their absence. Just in case, they waited for some time, and only when they were certain they had been left behind and were by themselves, they rose to their feet, brushed off the sand and began to march side by side. Once more, they were silent, and it appeared that silence suited them. They later explained to their classmates that they had taken a wrong turn, and by the time they realized their error, they’d found themselves to be far removed from the planned course. Since that day, they returned to meet several more times, always secretly, a little less quiet, telling each other about their past. She was the only one to whom he revealed the anger he felt toward his parents after their death for leaving him alone. The widespread version was that they had committed suicide, but the more Adam refused to believe that version, the more doubt trickled into his most secret thoughts and the more he was overcome by anger.
Most of the time, it was Naomi who would initiate their meetings. This time it was different. This time Adam had mustered his courage and invited her to visit the special place he’d once shared with his parents, and he was excited and elated when she’d consented. This time, he had decided, he would share his concealed emotions with her.
Now here they were, on top of his mountain, maybe soon to become their mountain? And his heart was beating fast.
He took an instrument to which two thin wires were attached, a little ear knob at the end of each. He inserted one knob into his own ear and offered Naomi the other one. “Insert the edge into your ear,” he instructed. She was unfamiliar with the ancient technology and hesitated for a moment. “It’s all right,” he calmed her down, “that’s how they listened to music once.” She obeyed him and he activated the instrument. Naomi became tense when a song began to play in her ear. “They were called Floyd and Pink,” the boy explained, “four hundred years ago, they were considered to be the most important musicians in the world.” Because she trusted him, Naomi immediately relaxed and examined the way he was listening attentively, a smile flooding his face. She surrendered to the music and relaxed her body next to his. “The music makes me brave,” he said after a few moments and did not elaborate. But he didn’t need to explain anything. Naomi felt exactly the same.
“My father owned a Nut telescope, (NUT-Narrow Ultra wave Tellespace ©),” he began to speak again without looking at his girlfriend by his side, “we could see the mining factories on the surface of Mars with it. I once even managed to see Europa, Jupiter’s moon, so close that I thought I could even see the Sailships there. Of course, that was impossible because the telescope, according to my father, was not powerful enough to see across such vast distances.” He drew silent and continued to stare at the dark skies above. Naomi shivered and her arm clung to his. She was taller, but their heads were close as they lay side by side. She turned on her side and her nose fluttered on his cheek. He didn’t even dare to move, but she’d noticed his excitement and smiled.
“I asked him whether Europa was the furthest point human beings managed to reach or were they able to leave the solar system and find aliens. Well, you know, the sort of questions a child would ask,” she nodded and he continued, “then my father told me about the Creators.”
“The creators?” she didn’t understand. “Who are the creators?”
“Oh, it’s just a stupid legend,” he dismissed the matter offhandedly, “the type of story my father would invent because
he had no energy to answer his son’s complicated questions.” Anger weaved itself into the boy’s voice, as well as restrained insult and hurt. Naomi could feel the force of his emotions passing to her from his body, touching hers.
She rose on her elbows and kissed his mouth. He was surprised and lay petrified, not daring to move a muscle. Naomi burst out laughing and embarrassed him. “So this is how it feels to kiss a corpse,” she said and Adman reluctantly smiled. “Come,” she instructed and sat up. He rose and sat in front of her. She took his face between her hands and bent to kiss him once more, this time he yielded to her touch and his lips parted. They kissed forever; at least that’s what it felt like to the breathless, dizzy Adam.
Suddenly, while they were clinging to each other, the place was flooded with a glittering artificial light. From among the rocks surrounding them, appeared, as if from nowhere, dark figures that surrounded them. They attacked the young lovers that had just now begun to discover their love, and forcefully separated them. Adam tried to release himself but was held by strong hands that pulled him back. He saw that Naomi was held by one of the attackers as well. The knob dropped from her ear while his remained hanging from it. He managed to hear her emit a sharp and frightened scream before her abductor sealed her mouth. Adam twisted wildly and attempted to break free, but his attackers were many and far more experienced. He was forcefully bound, his hands were tied behind his back and his head was covered with a black cloth. After he’d been thrown on one of the attacker’s shoulders, he was carried for some time, he couldn’t tell how long, until he was thrown roughly into the trunk of a vehicle of some sort. He tried to jump outside, but a hard blow from a solid object to the back of his head dizzied him until he lost consciousness.
A shrill whistle punctured the silence of the trunk and woke the boy up from his unconscious state. He opened his eyes, but could see nothing. The black cloth still covered his aching head. While trying to stretch himself in the small space he was lying in, a loud blast diverted the vehicle from its course. The vehicle, a ground hovercraft (Lowfly ©) as he’d guessed, spun round and round until finally, it rolled over. The trunk door bent and opened and Adam was thrown outside his jail cell. He landed heavily on the viscous road, whose softness testified to the fact it was paved after the year of fifty-nine. It was the softytar (softytar ©) that had absorbed most of the blow’s intensity, but the one that Adam’s lungs absorbed while he’d hit the ground was enough for a black tidal wave to drown his consciousness once more.