Mathias was annoyed and the overly loud splish splashy sounds he made as he got out of the water were proof of that. If an adult could have a tantrum, then this is what it would look like. He tripped over his own feet as they first hit dry sand. Simon played on.
Mathias pushed himself up and kicked through the sand as he made his way to the fire. Some sprayed into the fire and crackled and popped. It hit Simon. It hit his cello. The chimp played on.
Mathias sat on the sand by the fire as the maestro had conducted him to do. The sand in this place was not black. It was a golden yellow. Beyond the firelight, beyond the tent, there was nothing but golden yellow sand extending into infinite darkness.
“What is this place?” he asked of his host.
Simon was lost in his music.
The chimpanzee had stuck the shovel in the sand next to a rather large hole that was being dug. On the other side of it was a metal pail. The hole, Mathias thought, looked very much like a grave in the making.
“How and why am I here?” he asked in a stronger tone.
The chimp closed his eyes tighter and continued on with his performance. Looking around at the variety of items spread around the campsite, Mathias suspected that Simon was a journeyman, actor, and artist.
“Who are you?”
“We,” Simon said with emphasis, and without missing a beat, “are the Ocean of Stars Nation, and the protectors of the Lady in Starlight.”
“That’s a mouthful,” was his snide reply.
“You’re a bit snarky,” Simon said as he stopped playing. “I’ll have to remember that the next time I tell your story.”
“You know my story?”
“Who doesn’t know your story?” he said matter of factly.
“Well, I don’t for one!” Mathias shouted.
Simon sighed, stood up and put the cello in the tent. He pulled out a small rug that he rolled up, and placed by the hole and the shovel.
“Life is not a puzzle to be solved, Mathias Bootmaker, but rather a mystery to be lived.”
“Platitudes? Really?’ Mathias pushed. “You may know my story, but you don’t understand anything of my troubles.”
“You know that if you put your hand in the fire it will burn,” the chimp said as he sat back down, “yes?”
“Yes,” he responded reluctantly.
“You remember what stars look like?”
“Yes,” Mathias answered as he looked up at yet another starless sky. “Yes, I do.”
“But you can only remember bits and pieces about yourself?”
Mathias chose not to answer the obvious.
“And so you search for answers. You have faith that you will find them. You and I are on the same journey. We’re just walking different paths. Yours is neither more or less than mine. They’re just different.”
Simon smiled at his guest as he warmed his hands by the fire.
“I know much more than you think,” he said in earnest, “and there’s nothing wrong with different.”
The chimpanzee had a point, but Mathias was in no mood to be toyed with.
“Where is the rest of your nation?” he challenged.
Simon closed his eyes and let out a series of hollers. He started in low tones and jumped to highs and then ended with a well toned scream. His cries carried passed them, and over the dunes of golden sand. His song was echoing everywhere.
Grunts and hollers and screams came back in return as great fires began to blaze on each of four dunes in the distance.
“Five tribes make our nation one,” Simon explained with pride. “We have a tribe of Scientists because we always search for understanding, a tribe of Thinkers, because we seek a fluid and balanced mind, one for Historians because knowledge of our past makes us wiser, and one for the Protectors, because we must serve.”
“There are five tribes, but I only see four fires,” Mathias questioned.
Simon points to the fire in front of him.
“I am emptiness. The fifth point in the star.”
“You are a tribe of one?”
“I was chosen by my kith and kin. I am a river of openness to them. All their thoughts and wishes, all their hopes and dreams reside inside me. I am their vessel.”
“That is the role, but what is the purpose of their vessel?”
“I’m here to remind them to keep things in balance. To honor our nation. To always remember that we all come from the stars and that one day we will all return to them.”
“But there are no stars, Simon.”
“But there will be, Mathias.”
“How do you know that there will be?”
“We, as a nation, are the caretakers of the sand and the ocean from which you emerged.”
Simon pointed to the fire, then swept his hand to the black water and the sparks followed. They flew out over the water and began to reflect on its surface. The sand at the shoreline began to shimmer. It stopped as the embers fell into the sea and were extinguished.
“We are also the protectors of the Lady in Starlight. When she comes, she will bring the stars with her. The reflected energy from those stars will feed the lagoon, which in turn will empower the sand.”
“Who is she?”
“We don’t know.”
“If she’s not here now, then where is she?”
“Wherever she needs to be, I would imagine.”
“How do you know any of this is true?”
“Through generations, stories of what has been and what will be have been passed down, and they have given our lives purpose. While we have never seen the stars, nor any sign of the fabled Lady, nonetheless, we believe that she will come.”
“You believe in someone you’ve never seen?”
Simon didn’t say anything for a moment. He just stared at Mathias whose negative attitude was beginning to test the patience of his host.
“As it is written, so it is said, and so I believe in my heart, and in my mind,” he said simply. “After all, you did arrive. Just like the stories said you would,” he added wryly.
“So I’m an important man?”
“Not important, significant,” Simon teased.
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“I’ve believed in you for a very long time, Mathias Bootmaker, and here you are. Pity you don’t believe in yourself.”
They both let those last words hang in the air. Mathias just stared at Simon. He wasn’t going to take the bait. He wasn’t going to let him have the satisfaction of it.
“Is this the place that Lord Darke was looking for in his sky?”
“Elias Darke had visions of what would be. He was looking beyond us. But he could sense our presence. It’s what first sparked his curiosity.”
“How can you see them, but they can’t see you?”
“They project energy outward. We project it inward.”
“And what is this Nation’s relationship to that world?”
“You have much further to travel before you can understand that, Mathias Bootmaker,” Simon said with a laugh. “The one thing you should remember is this. Those people have a gift. They’ve just forgotten where they’ve put it. The Ocean of Stars Nation has been waiting a very long time for them to find it again.”
Simon stood up, grabbed the shovel, jumped into the hole and began to dig.
“As we wait, this is the sandbox in which we play,” he said cheerfully. “Play, after all, is most important.”
The ape had moved quickly, but in the hole he worked diligently. He pierced the sand gently with the shovel. Each load of sand was equally proportioned.
“When not practicing our vocations, we indulge ourselves in the arts. We write. We read. We compose and play music. We dance. We draw, and paint, and perform.”
Each load went into the bucket without one grain lost.
“We make ourselves a better people by embracing everything creative. Creativity is the beginning of all things.”
The sand went into the bucket but the bucket never
overflowed.
“If you don’t mind my asking, what are you doing?” Mathias interrupted.
Simon put two more shovels of sand into the bucket, and was well on his way to a third before he responded.
“What do you fear Mathias Bootmaker?” he asked with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“You know my story,” Mathias replied shrewdly. “Why don’t you tell me?”
“You won’t like what I have to say,” the chimp teased again.
“I’m not afraid of what I already know and I’m not afraid of this parlor game you’re playing. Tell me,” Mathias asked, “do you play this game with all your guests?”
“You’re worried about the child you’ve lost,” Simon said, ignoring him. “You’re worried that you won’t find him. That you can’t save him. You’re worried about those people,” he said pointing at the moon. “You’re worried that you can’t save them. All while worrying that you won’t be able to save yourself.”
“Worrying is not fear,” Mathias challenged.
“I’m amused that you think there’s a difference,” Simon said as he kept on digging. “I know what you’re afraid of. It’s not that you can’t do these things. It’s that you’ve convinced yourself that you’ll fail before you even begin. That you’ll fail at everything you’re ever going to face. That you’ll fail here, and in the world you come from.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Mathias said.
“You fear everything,” Simon continued as he kept on digging. “You’ve let everything in your mind become your enemy. It’s eating you alive from within. You must let it all go. Let fate decide. Once you let go a bit, once you breathe, you will begin to end your fear.”
“I’m doing everything I can.”
“Are you really?” the ape taunted.
“What more can I do?” Mathias snapped back.
Finished digging, Simon jumped back out of the hole.
“Even if you strive diligently on your chosen path day after day, if your heart and mind are not in accord with it, then your path is not genuine. Just a little bit of doubt in your mind warps the path.”
He put the shovel back in the tent and motioned to Mathias to stand and come to him. Mathias did just that.
“You’re here because you’re warped. Your mind knows it, but you keep avoiding where you’ve got to go to fix that warp. You have an important thing to do and you must get on with it, but you keep setting up obstacles and blockades everywhere you go. You’re listening to the stories of others and taking on their troubles. You’re wasting time thinking of your long dead father.”
“That’s enough, Simon,” Mathias insisted.
Simon dismissed him with a look and reached down to pick up the small rolled rug.
“The pressure in your head must be enormous,” he said as he faced Mathias again. “The doubt and sadness must be overwhelming. I’m sure you just want to crawl into a hole and die. Well sir, be careful what you wish for.”
Without warning Simon gave Mathias a little push with the roll, just enough to throw him off balance and send him tumbling into the hole.
“Now,” the dastardly ape said. “There’ll be no more distractions. There will be critical thinking, followed by action. No more sleeping.”
“Are you insane?” Mathias shouted.
He got to his feet. He tried to jump, but he couldn’t reach the edge. This was a much deeper resting place than Mathias was first lead to believe.
“Do you think this is your first time here?” Simon snarled. “You have returned here over and over, again, and again. Every time you return, I put you in this hole to face your fears, and every time you return, I dig a little deeper. The whole thing is getting rather tedious.”
Mathias kept jumping up. He kept trying to reach the edge. Every time he missed, he came down a little deeper.
“I put you in that hole, and instead of exploring the darkness to find the answers you seek, you choose to sleep. You choose to wake in the comfort of your home. But there is no comfort there. This is not a dream. You keep convincing yourself it is. You keep hoping and wishing it is. Perhaps you need it to be because of the depth of the hole in your heart. But this is no dream. This is all very real, Mathias Bootmaker.”
The sand beneath Mathias’ feet suddenly gave way and he dropped deeper down below.
“You must do what Simon says,” the mad ape barked as Mathias slipped away. “You have to go forward, and this hole is how you’re going to do it.”
There was another drop. As he fell, Mathias reached out for the sandy walls to slow him down. The sand went from gold to black as his fingers passed through it.
“You must not be afraid to follow your path, no matter where it might lead,” Simon shouted at him as he continued to fall. “You’re in a dark place in your mind, so that’s where you must go to find what you seek.”
The black sand turned to black rock. Mathias landed flat on his back. Hard. The black stone was cold. He had been transported from a grave to a crypt.
“Ad astra per aspera,” Simon yelled down to him.
Finished with his work the gravedigger unrolled the carpet and draped it over the top of the hole extinguishing all light below.
“What does that mean?” Mathias shouted as loud as he could.
There was another drop. It was the fastest and furthest yet. Mathias just lay there. He was the reluctant, now submissive, passenger of an extremely grim ride.
Then the drop stopped.
Simon peeled back one corner of the carpet. He was so far away. Mathias could see his lips move. He was saying something, but Mathias couldn’t hear the words. Simon put the rug back in place and left him in darkness again.
“What did you say?” Mathias screamed.
Simon’s words came back down to him, but they were right by his ear. As if his gravedigger had joined him in the dark.
“A rough road leads to the stars,” was the whisper.
Startled, Mathias rolled to his side. He hit the edge of the black rock crypt.
“Simon, are you in here?” he shouted.
Everything was silent as a grave.
Mathias used the wall to push himself up. He put his back to it, and reached into the darkness with his outstretched arms.
“This is not funny, Simon,” he called out.
The wall at his back gave way. There was no sound when it happened. Mathias felt the wall at his back just fade away. He was off balance in the dark, but he remained on his feet.
“Simon!” Mathias screamed.
The sound of his voice didn’t travel very far. The space was too tight, or so Mathias thought. He really wasn’t sure how big the space was anymore. He really wasn’t sure he was alone in it. The wall behind him was gone. He really wasn’t sure what to make about that. He decided to move forward.
With his hands leading the way, he took ten tenuous steps. Nothing stopped his forward progress. He slowly took five more. He stopped. He stretched his fingers as far as he could without moving. There was nothing to touch. He decided to take two more steps.
He thought about giving up as he took them. He could do it easily. Just sleep and wake again. He could put all this behind him. Start a new dream perhaps. Fix whatever went wrong in this one.
Mathias was deciding his next steps when he heard music coming down to him from above. It was a joyous, but melancholy little tune. It was Simon at play. The music came down, through and passed Mathias. He could hear it traveling into the distance in front of him. Without hesitation he quickly followed the tune.
He was being pulled further into the darkness. He knew it. He had no other choice. The music was getting away from him. He started to run. The music was fading ahead of him. He picked up speed. He was running full out, in the dark, when the music stopped. Suddenly afraid, Mathias stopped too.
His heart was pounding in his chest. His lungs were on fire. His body was bathed in sweat. He was alone in the dark. He never felt more vulnerable in his life.
That’s when it happened.
Mathias could hear himself breathing in the dark. That’s all he could hear now. He took a deep breath to settle himself.
That’s when he heard it.
A door opened and closed in the dark.
Everything in his mind stopped.
Everything in his body froze.
Then a pinprick of brightness appeared ahead of him.
Some part of Mathias took over. Some foolish part of himself made him start walking towards the light. He couldn’t stop himself from getting closer.
He could see a door. It was black. The doorknob was the source of his hypnosis. It was shaped like the crystal flame of the castle. The light was coming from inside the crystal knob.
Mathias grasped the doorknob and turned it. The edges of the flame were sharp. They cut into his palm. Mathias took his hand back.
He could hear Simon’s voice in his mind.
Just a little reminder of the dangers ahead.
The moment was here. It was time for critical thinking, followed by action. Mathias took the doorknob in hand again. He didn’t wince when it cut into him as he turned it.
He pushed the door open.
There was more darkness beyond it. But it was much darker than the darkness outside of it.
No more sleeping.
Mathias stepped inside.
The door closed on its own behind him.
When the lock clicked, the doorknob began to glow brighter. The light from it started to consume all the darkness around it.
There was a powerful flash of bright white light.
Then just as quickly, there was nothing at all.
book two
The Academy Darke
COMING SOON
Copyright © 2011 Edward Medina
Author Information
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It Is Said (Mathias Bootmaker and the Keepers of the Sandbox) Page 12