by Yossi Soika
Then I took three steps to the control center and commanded aloud, “Open chariot door!” and pressed the keys. But nothing happened. What is the code?
I tried entering numbers randomly; suddenly, I heard a voice saying, “Please place the identification key on the control screen in your right hand,” and a minute later a strange-looking diagram appeared.
“Dammit,” I exclaimed furiously. “How can I find the damn key?” Everybody is fast asleep and there was nobody I could ask about the key. The king! Surely the key is in his hands. Now I have an extraordinary chance to search his room. To the king! Surely, the key is in there. I must take advantage of this opportunity to search his room.
Without hesitation I raced to the king’s room but it was locked Why didn’t I think about this before, that it would be protected against unexpected invaders? I’m done for; there is no way I can break into the royal bedroom. For few moments I sat there, angry and disappointed, until suddenly I jumped up, fueled with enthusiasm.
Where are you, High Priest? Surely he also knows the secret of the smart-door. But, where does he live? Perhaps in the big Temple of Prayer? While pondering that, I left, walking slowly and carefully into the street. Time seemed like an eternity until I got to the Temple. The gates to its premises where open but I lost my spirit when I discovered the locked gates of the Temple. I must enter the Temple, I thought and went to look for some kind of opening, but again, as before, I was dismayed when I didn’t find one. All the windows were locked and blocked with massive iron bars. There must be a hidden entrance here. I’m sure I’ll find the secret entrance. I was sure that my feeling was not misleading me.
“But where are these openings?” I demanded aloud.
Once again I turned back and closely examined the structure of the Temple. I abruptly stopped when my eyes rested on a stone altar that was adjacent to the Temple, in its backyard. This is rather strange, why would there be a stone altar in its backyard and not in the middle of the yard? Could it be a secret entrance? Or have my feelings misled me? Without hesitation I stepped up to the altar and started probing it from all sides.
The altar was simple, six and a half feet in length, about three feet in width and height. Three tiny stairs led to the slanted top of the altar, which was dimpled with a little sunken notch. The notch was free of spines or protrusions. Something about it seemed unusual, but what was it?
I circled it like a bee, knocking on its stones, but nothing happened. To tell the truth, after an hour of futile attempts I felt wretchedly depressed. I sat on the stairs of the altar, my hands embracing my head, anger boiling to my bones. But then an idea came to mind – I must press the notch forcefully. So I stood next to the notch pressing down on it hard but nothing – nothing happened. I ceased my efforts when I noticed a hole the size of a pencil at the edge of the notch – does this hole mean anything? Or is it just a manufacturing defect? I picked up a tiny piece of wood and pushed it straight into the tiny hole.
“Swaaash...” I heard a faint whistle, and an opening was formed in the stone wall of the Temple.
“I found it! I found it!” I yelled repeatedly into the air of the city that was in the thick of its Sabbath slumber, and then I cried out again as loud as I could. Then, I brought the oil lamp closer to the dark opening and by the flickering lamplight I noticed a wooden ladder leading downwards.
I tried to gauge its depth but couldn’t, so I just stood there at the entrance to the hole, not sure what to do. Would it be dangerous to go down the wooden ladder? Perhaps its rungs are loose or half-corroded? And where does the hole lead? Perhaps it’s only a fool-trap. Endless questions darted through my head, until finally, after wavering over it, I lowered my foot to the first rung. After trying its resilience and jumping on it a few times the ladder still stood steady and sound. I mustered the courage to descend, climbing down carefully, holding the oil lamp, in an endless descent only after testing it some more. After reaching the bottom I realized that the hole had a Y-shaped junction with three stone-carved tunnels in front of me. I’m taking the middle one, I resolved and continued to walk through it. It was only slightly higher and wider than me. Undoubtedly these tunnels are used for exiting and entering, but where do they lead?
I walked about three hundred steps, which didn’t lead me anywhere. And then a stone wall that stood as a barrier blocking my way came into sight. What should I do now? Should I return and choose another tunnel? Time is running out fast…. I must make a decision right away. I hesitantly turned back…
“But wait!” I uttered. “Perhaps the wall isn’t so strong, why shouldn’t I try to break through it. I put down the oil lamp, stepped backward and stormed toward it with a short run in order to push the wall away with my shoulder. I strengthened my power of concentration and then with all my might I raced forward. It’s hard to imagine a nicer surprise than what awaited me when I collided with the fake barrier. Without warning I found myself in the room of the sleeping king. It was a shocking moment. What’s going on here? How did I get to the king’s room? Well, it’s only logical that there would be a passage for the king to escape in an emergency.
The sight of the sleeping king and his simply furnished room surprised me; but not for long – I immediately set off in search for the secret key. For long minutes I searched everywhere, burrowing into each garment; however, I found nothing. I was positive that the key was somewhere near, but where? Time flew and soon the cloud was about to ascend and the sun to rise, and perhaps it was kept somewhere in the king’s clothes? Without thinking twice I climbed onto the king’s bed, rolled him to and fro, searched the clothes he wore and finally pulled out the pillow from under his head, threw it on the floor.
Jaanggg, a blunt metallic jingle sound came from the pillow. I jumped from the king’s bed to the pillow, grabbed it, searched it with my hand only to pull out a spectacular golden box. With the utmost care I opened it and found a tiny metal piece with a set of three tiny red, yellow, and green lights. They were constantly blinking and flickering. I examined the rear side of its metal sheet and saw an image of a big, odd-looking saucer.
“This is it!” I called out ecstatically. “This is the key to the secret room.”
Time was wasting away and I still had to get back there…time is running out, I muttered, spirited by my throbbing heart. On my way up I accelerated my pace inside the tunnel. It didn’t take long and suddenly - a tragedy – my grip on the big candle loosened and it dropped, leaving me with only the smaller one with its faint dim light. I could hardly see where I was.
“What should I do?” I asked, my voice full of desperation and disappointment. But this short moment didn’t last long and very soon I stood up and started to fumble my way through the tunnel walls even faster, until I came to the junction of the tunnels and from there back to the ladder. I dropped my findings into my pocket, gently held the little candle and climbed up to the opening of the niche. I was embraced by the first rays of light that started to infiltrate from behind the cloud that blanketed the city.
“Oh no!” I called out desperately when I realized the haste with which it was evaporating and vanishing from above the city abodes. Soon the king will wake up and discover the theft! I must get over the city wall and escape… but oh no it’s too late – the city guards will catch me easily… and then I’ll be separated from my wonderful head…
The sounds of approaching voices came nearer and made me reenter the cistern from which I had just emerged. I must escape through the tunnel from which I arrived, but where to? My dilemma was whether to take the left tunnel or the right one. I descended hastily to the bottom of the hole and stepped carefully. Could I escape the king who would probably be searching for me everywhere? I was sure that on this occasion nothing could help me.
Not even my anticipated prestige. I was sure that I would be beheaded on the spot. That would be terrible. A chill ran down my spine and my legs moved automatically,
quickly as possible to carry me away from the threatening danger.
A Doubly Different Outcome
The feeling was devastating and I deliberated the fate awaiting me, with no water, food; with waning light that was about to be extinguished. Now I felt like a mouse in a fool-trap. I was sure that the king was about to discover the theft and send his soldiers after me. For a long time I probed my way along the damp walls and without knowing where my legs were taking me. My fear of the forthcoming events haunted me and the long walk started to take its toll on me. I felt my limbs giving in to an overbearing weariness and how my palms froze from the endless blind probing along the tunnel. And, just in these difficult moments my stomach started to rumble with hunger. Thus I marched on for a long time until I collapsed from exhaustion.
I felt fatigued and discouraged by an escape that had brought me nowhere.
What should I do? Should I retrace my footsteps? Should I ask for the king’s pardon for my recklessness?
“No!” I clamored repeatedly. “The king will not pardon me for such a severe act and then… I will have to give up my head… it really doesn’t suit me… right now I still need it, and there is no way back.” A nagging intuition told me that the king and his soldiers were in motion, following me and indeed while I sat and pondered all this a blunt noise made me jump.
It was the sound of drums, rumbling and echoing like an earthquake in the distance. I am lost. I have no place to run. For a short while I sat in my place helplessly frightened since I knew they were advancing quickly and that in a short time I’d be in their hands. I was just imagining their wild laughter at the sight of me standing there, quaking like a leaf.
“I will not surrender!” I called loudly and immediately started to run for my life with my two hands stretched out, shielding the candle to secure the faint light that was left. Occasionally I ran and bumped into the walls of the tunnel, and then recoiled from the pain of my injured fingers; nevertheless, I didn’t stop. The hunger and exhaustion vanished, and I rushed toward the unknown with all my might. The tunnel curved like a snake, which encumbered my progress. The more time passed the more my strength waned, and I was tortured by thirst. From moment to moment I felt the weight of my legs, the shortening of my breaths, the sticky sweat that oozed from every pore of my body. This is it: I am no longer able to run… I am out of strength… I am dead tired. So tired…
Suddenly my legs met with a protruding obstacle and with great difficulty I stopped my fall. Quickly I illuminated the new obstruction and discovered that it was a wall encircling a well that was unfathomably deep. I’m lucky that I wasn’t running, I thought, otherwise I would surely have fallen into it. Now I had to gauge its depth. I threw a big stone I found there into the well and the sound of splashing water was heard clearly from its bottom. A cistern, I was sure of it, but what should I do next? I heard the echoes of drums approaching, and the flickering of tiny lights was seen approaching.
“I must not stop! I must continue!” I yelled in a quivering voice. I had to bypass the well. I was bitterly disappointed to find my way blocked by an elevated wall. The flames of the torches grew closer blinking and illuminating the surface of the tunnel walls.
“Don’t kill him,” I heard voices calling out. “The king wants him alive. Only the king will behead him… the sacred key must be saved!” The pursuers galloped like maddened devils, and approached quickly until they were within bowshot. Their cheers of joy sounded like a storm of muddled sea waves.
“Catch him alive! The king will behead him!”
“Damn you all; nobody will catch me alive,” I thundered and without thinking twice I jumped into the darkness of the well.
“Unbelievable!” I heard the yells of my pursuers. They were caught by surprise at my brave act. And I no longer felt any fear after I had I jumped, and it took me only a moment to sink deep into the well and then to forget all about my pursuers. When I floated back up to the surface of the chilly water I was able to feel the current of the swift stream of water carrying me away. For a split of a second I lost my senses but the cold water instilled me with life and with a few gulps of water I quenched my immense thirst.
I’m alive, the thought passed through my head, but where I was drifting to? Could I have fallen into an underground stream and where is the swift water of the stream carrying me to?
For a long time I drifted with great speed, barely keeping my head above the surface of the surging water. I felt I would not be able to endure this speed for long… but I preferred to die with my head on its shoulders rather than without it. I wondered if I was going to end my life underground. But after few more moments the current slowed its pace. I started to feel heaviness and biting chill creep into my bones. With great effort I tried to float on the water not knowing where it was leading me. Gradually my body became numb; my frozen feet were hardly able to move anymore. But then all of a sudden I saw a flash of light in the far distance. My heart leaped – perhaps I still have hope and there is an outlet for the streaming current.
The tiny sparkle of light grew and soon I found myself deafened by a great roar of a strong estuary flowing into a basin area. With the little strength left in me I swam to the shore and dropped down, totally exhausted. I don’t know how long I slept, but I woke up to the touch of a caressing hand and to the sound of a familiar voice that was begging me to wake up. I slowly opened my burning eyes, strained from effort and the sharp change from darkness to daylight. For long moments I sat there and stared around.
And then all at once I recovered and I uttered in excitement, “I must be dreaming; it’s impossible… Melanie!” I jumped up as if I woke up from a long nightmare.
Then I held her in my arms with all my might, kissed her powerfully with great joy. We stood for long time hugging each other standing still.
“I can’t believe it,” Melanie whispered agitated. “I don’t believe it. I’m just going to faint… it’s beyond me…”
“It’s great to be in your arms and see you sound and safe; it’s really incredible. I was just about to lose my head and now my head is on my shoulders and you are in my arms.”
“What’s going on here?” I asked Melanie after I had calmed down a bit from the dramatic meeting. “How did you get here and where is the mad scientist?” I directed a bunch of long sentences at her after I calmed down.
“And can you tell me please how you returned to your normal height after you were accepted to be the Court Jester?” Melanie inquired with a giggle.
To make a long story short, I told her the details, from the moment I wandered through the City of Dreams to the moment I was ejected from the depths of the earth by a surging river.
“The Chariot of Elijah?” Melanie demanded, her curiosity piquing. “Please tell me, do you have the key to the chariot room?”
“Wait, wait a minute,” I hummed and searched my pocket. “There it is! I have it!” I triumphantly drew out the elegant golden box.
“Please let me look at it,” Melanie pleaded, excitedly.
“What exactly do you know about Elijah’s Chariot?” I asked but she didn’t answer me.
Instead she exclaimed dramatically, “It’s incredible…Incredible… it’s fit is exactly right for me, it’s what I was dreaming of. You’d better not say another word. You don’t have a clue as to what a treasure you have found.”
“What is all the excitement? As I see it, the chariot is an ancient one, but to be honest I don’t know what it means yet. But how did you get this information?”
“Sweetie, it’s not an ancient carriage; it’s the Minderon of the Son of the Planets… it’s the famous spacecraft.”
“Oh my God, unbelievable,” I exclaimed in a choked voice. “I don’t believe it. It’s incredible.”
“It is incredible!” Melanie repeated. “And how can you explain that such an advanced room exists in such a backward city? Where did all this e
quipment come from?” she asked, defiantly. “Well Dan, my dear, the Son of the Planets, who awakened the sleeping cities Sodom and Gomorrah, is a very important and welcome guest there. From time to time the Son of the Planets takes a little rest in the closed room and nobody is allowed to enter there except the king and High Priest.”
I was surprised to hear her words and didn’t keep it to myself, I asked, “Where did you come upon this information?”
“Sweetie, you forget that you were the Court Jester and I was your Queen of the City of Dreams only a short time ago. As queen I learned many secrets of the Third World.”
“How were you elected Queen of the City? It’s so strange.” I remarked, smiling from ear to ear.
“I wouldn’t say strange; rather fascinating. You remember the blue apple you picked near the lake and what happened after I ate it?”
“Sure,” I replied laughing. “I remember you had a grayish tint, half-transparent like a jellyfish, and smoke billowing up from your mouth like from a chimney of a steamboat up the river.”
“Really! It’s unbelievable how you describe it! It sounds horrifying!” Melanie added and broke into a hearty laugh. “But, please don’t forget that when you got to my kingdom you were only an Ape-man wearing a charming fur… Don’t forget that if it were not for me, you would not have flourished as the Court Jester. Yes my darling, the Court Jester of the City of Dreams.” She repeated this sentence again and again, until her eyes filled up with tears of laughter. I became swayed with excitement until her laughter swept me away and we stood there for few moments hugging and laughing.
“Dan, you must remember what happened on the banks of the lake after we ate those booby-trapped apples? I also remember it although I was dazed and my belly felt like it was on fire. I remember the three huge creatures that picked you up like you were a feather and carried you into the lake. I believed then that I was seeing your last day on Earth, and I couldn’t bear to see you bound and shipped this way to the lake, and I fainted. For how long I laid there unconscious I do not know, but when I awoke I saw two people passing not far from the lake, talking, and with immense effort I raised my head, cried help and lost consciousness again.