Hadrian's Wall

by Felicia Jensen

Delilah began to chatter again. “Those units are advanced research and clinical laboratories,” she said, pointing to the left and then to the right. “Over there, that tower houses organic practices. On the opposite side, that tower houses the neurosciences. Between both towers is the medical school’s main building. All of this area is a world apart. While the other university departments share facilities—the central library, computer centers, the dining commons, and gymnasiums, the medical students have all of their own facilities centralized here. They say that their library is a showcase.”

  “Speaking of UWall departments and facilities, you should visit them some time. They’re located on the other side of the campus near the football stadium. That’s also where the fraternities are located and the Cinema Institute, which also has a theater.”

  “Listen, Mel...” Abby interrupted Delilah. “Why don’t you schedule a campus visit with someone from the Visitors Center? They specialize in such tours and you won’t have to risk getting lost.”

  “I didn’t know there was a such a thing—an agency that gives tours.”

  “UWall is not the only university that provides that service to visitors, you know,” Abby replied. Abby looked puzzled by my ignorance.

  As we left the medical school behind, I resumed looking out the window. A world apart indeed... Even the architecture was different from the buildings I’d seen so far —bolder and dynamic; however, there was something inexplicably primitive in those outrageous angles, combining softness and hardness.

  We passed through another area where Delilah pointed out the departments for Humanities, Journalism and Media Communications, and Athletics. Our route took us through most of the professional schools, many designed like villa-style houses, all with large patios surrounded by gardens, which provided an open invitation to be outdoors enjoying the shady trees and fresh air. Many people had obviously accepted that invitation because I could see small groups of students and teachers conducting their classes outdoors, while others stretched out on mats or on the grass to enjoy a nap.

  When the bus moved on, I visualized the central part of the villa to look more like the mega-mansion from Nothing Hill. There was a plaque on wall that I could read: “Superior School of Creative Studies and Scientific Methods.”

  “Postgraduate course,” Delilah mentioned. “Crème de la Crème!”

  The UWall bus proceeded slowly as traffic became busier in that stretch. Many cars were proceeding toward the center of the campus for morning classes. Now we were immersed in a heavy traffic surrounded by cars, motorcycles, and bicycles. The bus made one last lap around a big brick building. I saw a sign that read “Conference Center.” When the bus got out of the main stream of traffic, it gained more speed and then an unexpected sight came into view.

  Perhaps I’m the only person who finds the look of the university more discreet than the rest of the town—ingenious, if I do say so! Before my astonished eyes, there was an impressive stepped terrace, supported by Ionic columns fitted on the ends and supported over wide rows of counters. I’d say that there were more platforms than counters. Comprised of a total of four or five levels, each platform was decorated with gardens...the hanging gardens of Babylon. Trees of different species and sizes, vines, flowers and shrubs grew upon the exotic construction in perfect harmony with the architecture.

  A wide staircase with broad handrails and railings on both sides divided the terraces. The staircase didn’t follow a straight line, instead it seemed to pass between the platforms, cutting through in angles like a thick seam of green connecting the concrete portions.

  Except for columns, parapets and grandstands, everything seemed to be constructed of an impressive array of marble ranging between more dull to highly polished, and then sanded to plain white and punctuated with anomalous small colored pieces, which interrupted the solemn look, giving it a touch of joy.

  Several statues adorned the gardens—some made of marble, life size, and others in bronze, twice normal size, representing various subjects—venerated animals, mythological beings, and apparently the gods. On top was an intrepid bronze eagle with incredible yellow eyes and open wings. It gazed at the visitors, ready to take to the skies of Hadrian’s Wall.

  Wow!

  Farther down on another platform, was the statue of a panther simulating the cat’s sinuous walk through the vegetation of the terrace, an elegant portrayal of the species. I was not surprised to see a panther. After all, it is the town’s mascot...but the eagle! I assumed that because both are predators, they symbolized strength and leadership. It also occurred to me that a university should be the place par excellence where knowledge is produced and reproduced, in line with freedom of expression which, to me, is very well represented by the eagle. Knowledge should not be used as an instrument of power for a few, nor considered taboo or sin. Furthermore, it should be the passport to freedom for many.

  Oh, how profound!

  “The eagle is a Pict ideogram,” said Delilah when she realized my interest in the statues.

  “Oh ...” For a change, Delilah put an end to my philosophical ruminations.

  From the opulent terraces, with its glorious statues, my eyes were most attracted to the panther. If ever there was a statue of such intense, velvety blackness, this was surely it. Her body was sleek and muscular. She vigilantly watched the stairs with her strangely opaque eyes. I expected yellow eyes, maybe green, black, or even orange, but white? What did it mean? I had no idea...

  Only when the UWall bus accelerated again, did I allow myself to look away from all that exuberance. Then I noticed that there was a big fountain preceding the terraced gardens. The street had been expanded to form a promenade around the fountain. The next bus stop was on the far side.

  “Here’s the main entrance to the university,” Delilah said. “It’s our final destination.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  The three had the audacity to laugh in my face.

  “I’m not able to climb all these steps!” Automatically, I touched my brace before looking out the window again.

  “Most folks enjoy...” David’s smile widened. “This is a short stop. Many people take the opportunity to do their daily exercise on the staircase. It’s the law!”

  “Right, right...but I’m not Rocky Balboa, baby!”

  More laughter.

  “Wake up, girl! We just want you to see the famous Hanging Gardens of UWall. We won’t get off here,” Delilah said condescendingly.

  “Gotcha!” David pointed his finger at me.

  I leaned back in my seat, sighing with relief.

  Most people left the bus at this stop. They seemed much too enthusiastic to me. Now the bus was practically empty; however, we weren’t alone for long. Other passengers boarded and the UWall bus resumed its journey.

  According to Delilah, we were nearing the heart of campus. The UWall bus climbed up a parallel street to the terrace’s structure and stopped again when it reached the street at the top of the terrace. There was the eagle again, waiting to be viewed from a different angle and closer. Under his claws was a plaque, which read: “Pictland.”

  Territory of the Picts.

  There was a cobblestone square around the eagle, with geometric figures positioned at the ends. Now that we were on the same plane, I could see the details of the statue. Up close, they were impressive. Looking at it with the eyes of an artist, I recorded everything: the relief of feathers, claws resting on the plate of the pedestal, the beak’s deadly curve, and above all, the vigilant eyes.

  Impatiently, Abby nudged me. I realized that David and Delilah were making their way to the exit. We made our way back to the crowded stop bus. Many people were walking around the square at that time. Some came up via the stairs, others came from the street. I watched them pass by us. What folly! Somber and humans walking side by side like it was the most natural thing in the world! If a spaceship descended on the square at that moment and a lot of little green men jumped out of it like in Mars Attacks
! ...well, I wouldn’t find it strange...not anymore. I believe that no one who lives in a place like Hadrian’s Wall would be surprised.

  I didn’t notice when the UWall bus left. That amazing setting had the power to make everything else disappear from my sight. Somebody nudged me, bringing the sounds and movements around me back into my focus.

  “Hey, girl! Your bedazzled expression is priceless!” Violet said. Janice joined us, but tried to refrain from laughing by staring at her own feet.

  “Let’s walk,” said David, casting a brief glance at the two girls.

  They followed us, destroying the relaxed atmosphere among the rest of us. I could almost feel the impatience from Delilah and the embarrassment from Abby. However, it was easy for me to forget about them. Incidentally, everyone! Can’t you see the breathtaking landscape around us? The valley lay like a pale green carpet below us, framed by the dark portion of the eastern Green-Screen. A little “tip” of the lower town was also visible there. I smiled with delight.

  But if I thought I’d seen all of the fantastic, wonderful, and crazy things that existed here, I was sadly mistaken! I realized that when my eyes followed the line of the pavement that surrounded the square and encountered a portal that could only exist in the tale of a thousand and one nights.

  Amazing!

  My companions watched me with amusement. If they thought I was dazzled, I must have been. I really couldn’t help myself! I took a few steps in the direction of the portal. What is all that? Walls?

  The front part was at least fifty feet tall and maybe four hundred feet wide. It was difficult to calculate with the naked eye. The edges of triangular ledges from the roof, instead of square and flat, gave the top of the structure a sharp layout. The small drawings, in each triangle, combined with the pictures of the glazing bricks below.

  In the center of the wall was a gate that was almost the same height as the wall - and possibly a hundred feet in diameter. I could see some of the interior and pedestrians rushed through the gate, presumably students and professors rushing to class.

  The dome of the portal was covered with sea-blue tiles, with yellow and red tiles composing the details in checkerboard pattern, arranged in a long colorful series alternated with smaller drawings adorning the entire length of the tinted band on the wall. On top was a plaque which read: “Wall College.”

  Here I am, at last!

  Oriented so as to follow the path of the rectangles, the designs with floral motifs—red, yellow and green—were adorning the top edge of the base and the wall’s corners. The glazed bricks were raised in a yellow gradient, from lightest to darkest. This all had an effect of delicate contrast, highlighting the characters of animals in low relief against the yellow background.

  In turn, the characters were distributed symmetrically along the walls, from small to natural size and appeared in standardized poses. I narrowed my eyes and took a few more steps. They could be... black cat in profile, with teeth bared. The characters on the lower part were positioned to follow the decorative bands as well as the flowers.

  “It’s really something, huh?” Delilah said, nudging me gently, a provocative look on her face.

  “It really is,” I agreed solemnly.

  Suddenly, a terrifying thought made my heart leap into my throat, as if it was all a dream, like the other day, but what if none of it existed, except in my crazy head?

  That’s what happened with the girl in that movie...What was the name of movie? She went to college and was involved a car accident. Oh, I remember! It’s Soul Survivors. In that movie, nothing was real, but she thought it was. Actually, she’d slipped into a coma and in her mind she was hallucinating about events and people who weren’t with her...like a perpetual nightmare.

  Is the same thing happening to me? The months I’d spent in Hadrian’s Wall would only last a few seconds of my life? Why hadn’t that thought occurred to me before? Simon Cridder attacked me and right now I’m dying in the woods of South Portland. None of this is real, I...

  Delilah poked me, worried about my look of panic. I turned to her and pinched her arm.

  “Geez! Are you mad at me?”

  “I’m sorry!” I pulled my hand away, looking confused “I think it’s you who must pinch me, so I can find out if I’m awake.”

  “With pleasure!” she said angrily.

  She pinched me hard and it hurt.

  I expected something extraordinary to happen, but the heavens and the earth did not move. That meant I still was where I thought that I was—and very much alive!

  “I know that everything here is amazing for anyone who sees it for the first time, but you’re awake,” she said, half angry, half amused. “See, you’re not crazy!”

  Delilah pointed ahead. I held my breath and stepping back a few steps, I saw the rest of the street. It wound its way down, following the entire length of wall to a large building that looked like block-shaped crates and square towers overlapping each other. The wall also descended the slope parallel with the street, forming a corner with the exact point where the street disappeared among the trees - probably cutting through the forest and reaching other areas of the campus.

  “In that direction, you will find swimming pools, skate ramps and a recreation center with an ice skating rink,” Abby said.

  “Wait.” Violet’s face bore a mischievous expression. “I heard that you had attended the Summer Session, but that can’t be. It’s obvious that this is the first time you’ve visited the campus.”

  Silence settled over the group. I could see the surprised expression on the faces of the others because they hadn’t thought about that. And to be honest, I hadn’t either. I am, by nature, a bad liar. But incredible as it seemed, David saved me, again!

  “You forget, Violet, the Summer Session has a lyceum in the downtown center.” Turning to me, he asked with a strange look, “By chance, did you enroll over there?”

  “It is...” I ventured.

  “See?” I was deceived or his look was relief when he faced Violet, but she didn’t seem convinced.

  “Did you take a leave of absence from college?” She wanted to know.

  “Yes, I just took a leave...because of the accident, you know...”

  “Hmmm”.

  Delilah looked at me thoughtfully. I averted my eyes from hers and steadily stared at the entryway.

  “Your school assessment must have been phenomenal for you to have done it without harming your performance. What was your score?” Janice asked. Violet looked at her, pleasantly surprised with the new line of attack.

  Now, I was lost. The silence stretched.

  “I don’t remember!”

  This time Delilah and Abby also professed disbelief.

  “How could you not remember?” Janice raised her voice a little. “People here crammed for the UWall acceptance. These are students who simply have the best performance in their home states or who have an enviable track record, full of projects and community action. What did you do to be here?”

  “Besides being the darling of Adrian Cahill...” Violet clucked her tongue.

  I was about to answer or rather I was about to confess that I had done nothing to get that opportunity when David saved me again.

  “Since when do geniuses cling to things as mundane as the score of a standardized test?”

  “Genius? She’s not a genius!” Violet let out an incredulous laugh.

  I was feeling increasingly humbled. The ghosts of the past had unexpectedly emerged from the closet. I felt the onset of dizziness.

  “I saw her drawing...on Sunday,” David replied. “And I confess that in my opinion, someone who can make drawings like hers can only be an artistic genius.” He looked at me and smiled. Violet was even more grim.

  I smiled back and whispered, “Thank you.”

  David led us quickly down the sidewalk in order to pass the porch. It widened as we advanced until it covered the entire inner area. We went through a spectacular fountain at its center where t
he sun’s rays fell upon the waters, causing light effects in tanks decorated with colorful mosaics. However, the sky seemed slightly darker because of the glass dome covering the entire courtyard inside the walls.

  “Someone told me that when they hold the orientation party for freshmen here, the dome protects people from the harmful rays of the sun,” said David. “Don’t ask me how or which way, because I know nothing about it. All I know is that here there is no need to use sunscreen nor fear sunstroke.”

  And in the case of the somber, they do not need to protect their eyes from glare, I thought with a dose of skepticism.

  Along the central street there was a succession of square buildings covered with brown bricks. All were the same, with a curious form of castle tower. I counted five little “castles” on each side.

  There were entrances on the sides of the wall directly connected to the rear of buildings. All had a similar façade to the entrance porch, only more discreet. The decorative bands and characters on the walls were concentrated just around the railing of tall windows and access doors.

  The sidewalk was linked to the entryway steps through paths surrounded by plants. Where the pavement ended and the garden began lay the nameplates of the departments.

  As we walked, I was listing them: Integrated Action Council, Council of International Activities; Committees; Guest Service Center; Directorate of Admissions; Department of Interdisciplinary & Special Majors Division, etc... They were distributed equidistantly from a cluster of buildings that occupied the final part of the wall, from one end to the other.

  Wide glass doors dominated the front face of the Assembly. The staircase widened to a large passageway in front of what seemed to be a bunch of platforms.

  “That’s the rectory,” Delilah explained, following my gaze. “It’s where Student Support, the General Council of the University and of the College are based. The space also houses a shopping center with bookstores, a computer store, and one bank that’s open 24 hours.”

  No movies theaters? Would that be asking too much?

  From where I stood I could see that this huge block of buildings which expanded farther back, following the route of the wall.