First Cycle - Spring

by Sarah Kassem

  Hala was holding a big red clam and she said that it was only a small part of a larger shell, which was normally closed like two hands and inside you could find a pearl. Viktor was surprised that she knew so much about shells. “Do you know Ariel?” she asked. When he shook his head, she said that she would show him the video, The Little Mermaid, and then he would understand.

  They found a dried starfish and a pair of red stones. When they found a dead fish, both were terrified. Viktor wondered if the reptiles had killed him, and he looked around anxiously. The beach was lonely and deserted and only if they looked in the far distance could they see another family.

  “It’s so beautiful here,” Hala said, looking out to sea.

  Viktor nodded.

  “When I grow up, I want to live by the sea,” she said. “I’ll play every day in the sand. And when I grow up, then I swim alone. And I’ll collect shells every day and wear them as earrings.” She held two sea shells beside her ears and Viktor thought that she looked adorable.

  “I’ll have starfish as pets. Not dead starfish, but live ones.” she continued. “I’ll also have Flounder and Sebastian, they’ll be my friends and play with me like they did with Ariel. I’ll have starfish clips in my hair.” She held the dead starfish in her hair, it sparkled golden in the sunlight and Viktor felt that she looked very pretty with her long, black hair.

  “Can you braid hair?” Hala asked and ran away briefly and returned with a handful of bright green seaweed. It was quite slippery and smelt terrible, but Hala insisted that it smells wonderful. Viktor decided that women have a very poor sense of smell. He then had to braid her hair and incorporate the seaweed in the braid because she wanted to have green hair. Viktor wrapped a few strands of hair with a few strands of seaweed and tied the end of the braid. It didn’t hold though and fell apart leaving Hala’s head a tangle of seaweed and hair. Viktor, however, found that the light green looked very pretty in amongst the black.

  She then wanted to pick a few of the white flowers that bloomed in a small bush on the sand dunes to make a bouquet for her mother, so Viktor did the same and also picked a bouquet for his mother as he remembered that it was her birthday. Hala put a few flowers in her hair and put one behind her ear and Viktor thought she was rather beautiful.

  Oded and Gem had now built an impressive castle. It consisted of 17 towers and a long wall that ran around the outside. Gem had sculpted a few streets very carefully around the towers and Hala then gently pressed some small shells into the towers and hummed a song to herself. Viktor stood there, watching her and he thought that she was very nice with the song and the shells, flowers, starfish and seaweed in her hair.

  Smoke suddenly blew over them and Viktor tensed, afraid that the crocodiles were coming, hiding themselves in a blanket of smoke. He looked around, alarmed, and wanted to run but then he saw that Oded was standing by the barbecue and fanning it to get the coals hot, making the smoke as he did so.

  Hamid, Malek and Viktor’s father also stood around the barbecue. Viktor saw Maricel and his mother standing with their feet in the sea. The waves swept around their knees and they slowly walked up and down the beach. Gem stood by his castle and was busy making tiny windows in the towers with a small stick. Viktor was startled when he realised that Hala was nowhere to be seen, and he wanted to scream that she was lost before he saw her in the distance sitting in the sand. He went over to her and she was making shapes with some sand moulds. Already she had countless butterflies and stars and apples and pears and they spread like a large rug around her. Into most of them she had pressed objects: small flowers in the butterflies; small shells in the stars; little red stones in the apples; and into the pears small pieces of seaweed.

  Viktor thought that it was all incredibly pretty. Hala seemed not to notice him, humming to herself while decorating her sand moulds. Her tiny hands up to her elbows were covered with sand, her long loose hair dragged in the sand while she perched over her moulds and the hair tips were white with it. Her legs were caked with sand to above the knee and she looked as if she had white lower legs and her pink swimsuit was not pink in some places, but the white-brown of wet and dry sand.

  Viktor ran to the flower bushes in the dunes and picked as many flowers as he could before running back to Hala and giving them to her. She was so pleased that Viktor rejoiced even more upon seeing her that happy. He watched her as she put his flowers in the butterfly wings.

  “Do you want to make a butterfly?” she asked him, and handed him one of the butterfly moulds. Viktor made a butterfly and while Hala decorated it, he made another one. And then another one. He tried to make as many as he could. Hala beamed and smiled and her teeth gleamed in the sun and her hair gleamed as she tossed it over her shoulders and Viktor suddenly felt a bit dizzy.

  When it was time to eat, Viktor watched Hamid cut open a large fish, taking out the spinal column. Viktor imagined the dead fish growing legs and running around spineless and boneless and he was creeped out by the image of it.

  After dinner, everybody took a nap, but Viktor decided that he would not sleep because when everyone was asleep, then there was no one to take care of the things, to watch out for thieves or kidnappers or crocodiles, so he took his hat, put it on, found the suntan lotion and put it on his shoulders, his chest and his face and sat down with his father’s sunglasses on. He crouched beside the sleeping people and watched Gem as he moved in circles around his castle.

  He looked toward Hala’s butterflies and was horrorstruck when he saw that the water was much closer to them then it had been before. He went over to them and saw that the water was in fact creeping steadily closer. He knew from school that there was a low tide and a high tide, the water coming and going and coming again, constantly crawling back and forth across the sand. Viktor ran to the garbage bag, took out a large, flat plate and returned to carefully lift the butterflies and stars out of the sand and put them further away. A few broke and crumbled but Viktor just remade them so it wouldn’t upset Hala. After he’d brought all the 46 butterflies and stars and apples and pears to a safe distance, a distance where he hoped that the sea would not come, he ran to Gem and told him about the rising water.

  “I know,” Gem said irritably, “Fucking sea! I’m building a dike!”

  Viktor helped him build a dike. He took the roll of garbage bags and they tried to waterproof the castle. The bags and the sand wall kept the water out for a while, but then the sea swept over the dike and flooded the streets of the castle.

  They stood and watched as the water swelled in the streets and, for a short time, it looked as if a huge castle complex would stand in the middle of a lake, then the largest tower tipped over, taking three more smaller towers with it, and then the whole system collapsed.

  Oded came up to them, and they all stood with their ankles in the water and watched it turn to a pile of sand.

  “You heard about Atlantis?” Oded asked Gem, who shook his head, sniffed and wiped his nose on his arm.

  Oded walked with them along the beach and told them the story of Atlantis and Viktor found it all a bit creepy. He looked out at the sea and imagined the golden city glittering beneath the waves. He remembered that when he had been in Venice his mother had told him that the city was sinking into the sea a few centimeters every year. And Gerald van den Berg had told him that the Netherlands were called the “Neverlands” because more and more water would come each year and as such the ‘low countries’ would sink a bit lower underwater. He thought about the Philippines and Bahrain, which had already broken apart and would probably soon fall into the sea. Viktor was glad that Hala and the others lived in Hedera Helix because there was no sea that could ruin everything.

  Later they all went to the main beach of Lantana Camara, which was 20 minutes away. There were quite a lot of shops and stalls there and Oded bought them all an ice cream. Gem wanted a chocolate one, Hala took strawberry, and even though Viktor really wanted the blue bubblegum one, he asked for a strawberry one as well.
After the first lick, he noted that he didn’t really like it and would have preferred the bubblegum one, but he knew he couldn’t throw it away and buy a new one as Oded would be upset. Hala was happy as she ate her ice cream and so Viktor licked his and said nothing, glancing at each bin as they walked along. Suddenly he pretended to stumble and as he did his ice cream flew out of his hand and he exclaimed “Oh no! What a pity!” as it landed with a splat on the sand. Hala offer him some of hers and as he licked it he decided that strawberry was the best flavour ever.

  A few crabs ran past them in the sand, running sideways. The gulls screeched and circled in the sky and floated on the water or sat on the rocks. He saw his mother and his father walking in the distance on the beach, they were both alone, and Viktor found the sight beautiful. Hala danced in the water and a small wave came and broke at her ankles. The water droplets rose into a fine mist and the sun shone through it and for a second it seemed as if Hala was surrounded by a hundred tiny rainbows. Viktor thought his heart would shatter into a thousand pieces that would become rainbows themselves. A big colorful beach ball danced on the surface of the water and glittered in the sun.

  Grandpa Gideon went with them to the rocks and showed them a tiny pond that had formed between the stones which was full of tiny fish. He sat down and dipped his feet into the water. The small fish arrived and nibbled on his toes and Viktor wanted to run screaming back to Helena that Grandpa Gideon was being eaten by fish, but his grandpa just laughed and said that it tickled and he should try it too. Viktor hesitantly took off his beach slippers and dipped his big toe into the water. A tiny fish came and nibbled on it and it didn’t hurt at all, so Viktor put his whole foot into the water and when he saw that he wasn’t in fact dying, he submerged the other foot as well. It tickled and felt weird and he asked Grandpa Gideon why the fish did it. His grandpa said that they would take away the dead skin and that after they would have very beautiful feet.

  The sun was making a slow descent toward the horizon and Viktor thought it was soon time to go home, but the others were still sitting on the beach, smoking and talking. His parents were back now and laughed and told him something boring. He saw his mother smoke a cigarette as well which was odd because she usually never smoked, but then he remembered it was her birthday and that no doubt she did because it was her special day.

  Oded was knee-deep in the sea and looking at the sunset over the pink and orange water. Viktor went to him and they stood for a while in silence. “One last swim before it gets dark?” he asked Viktor. Viktor nodded and they went into the sea. When it became too deep for him and he tried to tread water with difficulty, Oded took him on his back and waded deeper in. The waves rose and fell on them, pushing them first toward the beach and then back toward the sea. Viktor clutched Oded’s neck, burying his face in his golden hair to protect himself from the salt water that burned his eyes. “I got you, don’t worry, I won’t let go” Oded said to Viktor who pressed his face close to Oded’s head through his hair and closed his eyes as a wave went over them and they were forced underwater. For a moment he thought he would die, but the horrible feeling disappeared and he knew that nothing could happen to him as long as Oded was there. Everything was always in perfect order when Oded was there.

  Eventually, when it was already dark and the only light was the light of the moon and the distant lights of Latana Camara, they packed and headed home.

  In the car, Viktor looked out the window as they drove in the dark, and he thought to himself that the day had definitely been a million times better than last time, especially as the shells and the sun had kept to themselves.

  The radio was silent, his mother and his father were talking quietly, Hamid and Andala were talking even more quietly, because Gem was asleep. Viktor saw that Hala was also asleep, her head tilted slightly to the side, to his side. He pushed his arm forward, propping her head up, so that they had something like a pillow. She moved a little, turned and her right hand fell on his thigh with an open palm face up. She had a few sandy crumbs on hand, which glowed whitish in the light of the street lamps. Viktor brushed them away gently with his index finger. Hala muttered in her sleep, and her palm closed on Viktor’s finger. He tried to pull the finger away but Hala held it firm. He didn’t want to pull too hard, otherwise she might wake up. Soon though the pressure subsided and Viktor could have pulled his finger away easily. But instead, he left his finger where it was, and tried not to move.

  Gametophyte

  Viktor stood at the window and looked outside. It was already dark, cooler evenings signaling that autumn was well and truly making itself at home.

  Most of the trees he could see were covered in yellow or brown leaves, here and there scattered amongst them were also some red ones. The ground was equally covered and the leaves crunched underfoot.

  Viktor had just returned from running and he had to bathe because he was so sweaty. His routine was to go 30 times up and down Aquifolium Street, starting very, very slowly at first, just like Angh Park made them at karate practice. He then slowly increased his speed and on the last four laps he had to run as fast as he could. Rocco had been sitting on the stairs in front of the Reconquista and he’d looked up at one point from his guitar and yelled out: “What the hell are you doing, Viktor?”

  “Running!” gasped Viktor as he ran past him for the twelfth time. Eventually a few customers had arrived and so Rocco had gone inside, appearing briefly a bit later to check whether Viktor was still running. When he saw that he was, he just shook his head with irritation and went back inside.

  Viktor returned to the backyard and did some pushups, managing 18 and so two more than the last time. Then he performed a Sun Salutation, practiced the welcome position and the Senkutsu Dachi, all while calling out “Ossu!” as loud as he could. He finished then with another Sun Salutation. Maricel looked out when he was half way though and watched him for a while before yelling to someone in the tailor shop behind her, “Nothing. Just Viktor doing his gymnastics.”

  Now, after his exercises were complete and he had bathed, Viktor stood at his window, watching the magpies on the window sill, the owls in the trees and the eagles in the sky. He felt tired and hot and clean and he was happy. He was waiting for Cristobal to come, but as the clock chimed 10pm, he turned his light off and got into bed. Just before he fell asleep however there was a frantic knocking on his window. It was a hard, fast pounding, quite unlike any of Cristobal’s previous knocks.

  He ran to the window and pulled back a corner of the curtain to peek outside. Thankfully it was Cristobal and so Viktor opened the window and the hummingbird flew in and shouted, “Close the window, quick!” Viktor slammed the window shut.

  Cristobal threw himself on the bed and panted for a while. Finally he breathed “food!” and Viktor gave him a jar of honey which he had earlier hidden under the bed. Days before he had been shopping with Oded and had managed to persuade him to buy four large jars of honey. Oded had asked in astonishment why he needed so much honey and Viktor had said inconspicuously “I have to eat it for karate.”

  Cristobal ate fast and hectic, choking from time to time in his hast. Viktor was nervous.

  When Cristobal had finally eaten enough, he let himself fall on the bed and breathed in and out a few times.

  “Viktor, the Reptiles Association wants to meet you,” he whispered sometime later, his beak still pointed at the ceiling.

  Viktor stared at him wide eyed.

  “They want to meet you,” Cristobal yelped.

  Viktor continued to stare at the bird.

  “Tonight. Right now!”

  Viktor took a deep breath and tried to say something, then he exhaled deeply and remained silent.

  “We have to go right now,” Cristobal said and finally raised himself off the bed before fluttering into the air.

  “Why?” Viktor asked finally.

  “I don’t know! I just received the order earlier. I’ll take you there, they want to meet you at the well lit place we
’ve been visiting lately. Not the last time though, the time before that. The little square. Do you remember it? It’s not very far.”

  “Place Holoarktis?” Viktor asked.

  “Yes! That’s it!”

  “Why do they want to meet me?”

  “I don’t know! Maybe they want to see you or something. The kingfishers and the emperor penguins have both signed the order, they’ve approved it, so it’s definitely nothing bad!”

  “And if something bad happens?” Viktor asked.

  “Don’t worry. All the reserves from the bird of prey division as well as all the albatrosses that are in the area will be there. And the complete Corvusbrigade. And all the roosters that live within a twenty mile radius of here. There will be so many birds I don’t think they will even think of trying something.”

  Viktor blinked and then whispered hoarsely. “But I don’t want to go.”

  “You have to Viktor. If the kingfishers and the emperor penguins issue an order, then you have to follow it. Besides, it can end badly if you leave the Reptiles Association waiting and not show up to the meeting. You have to! Come on, put on your jacket, we have to go!”

  Viktor walked slowly to his closet, took out his jacket and put it on slowly. Cristobal urged him to hurry up. He pulled his sneakers on, wrapped a scarf around his neck and reluctantly followed Cristobal outside.

  There was a night fog lingering as they walked along Aquifolium Street in the same way they had 31 days before. Along Pacific Street and Cherry Avenue they went and in the distance they could see the lights of the little square, Place Holoarktis. Viktor felt scared and numb and stared apathetically into space.

  “What do I have to do?” he asked Cristobal as they drew closer.

  “Nothing. Just be polite and answer when they ask you something. And when I tell you something, then do exactly as I say. Be attentive and careful and everything will be fine.”