When Time is Cracked and Trees Cry_A mysterious novel that takes you deep into a Magical tour in the secrets of the Amazon jungle and the psychological depths of the human soul

by Nahum Megged

  In a flash of lightning, I saw Marina wobbling in the rain and crying. When she spotted us, she approached me, ignored Yakura, and gripped my hand.

  “I’m afraid,” she wept, “let’s go back home. Mommy’s waiting for us!”

  I hugged her, and tears welled in my eyes as well. I led her to her hut, laid her in her hammock, and stroked her until she fell asleep. Yakura waited for me outside, in the never-ending rain.

  “She’s sick,” I said, “and I’m afraid she has been given too many drugs. Will she be able to overcome this trial?”

  Yakura hugged me and said, “She will recover. It is not her I am concerned about, but you.”

  A huge tapir raced into the camp and ran in panic between the huts.

  “It is running away from someone,” said Yakura, “otherwise it wouldn’t be behaving like that. These are men who know the forest well.”

  Wrapped with leaves and branches, a company of unknown warriors came noisily into the camp, and a petite white woman was walking among them. I recognized her immediately as Beatrice, Marina’s mother. I knew she had many connections with the forest people but hadn’t imagined she would be able to reach us. Yakura went to her, and the two women touched each other with affectionate greetings.

  “Where is my daughter?” asked Beatrice, and Yakura pointed at Marina’s hut.

  “She has been drugged,” I said, “and it’s good that you’ve come to take her back. Please take Christina with you as well.”

  Beatrice looked at me and nodded. “Of course,” she said. “Grisella is waiting for her. But unfortunately, I won’t be able to take you as well. They would never give you up.”

  A few minutes later, I saw Marina and Christina being led to the heart of the small camp. Marina’s eyes were dry, but empty, and they both seemed to be aware of their surroundings. I went to my hut and retrieved my diary from its hiding place.

  “Take it with you,” I asked Beatrice, “and please send it to my children if you can.”

  Beatrice looked at me, and tears suddenly flooded her eyes. “Marina will never forgive me when she finds out I deserted you here.” She whispered something to the warriors who had come with her, and they all turned to leave down the trail to the white people’s camp.

  Silence descended once more, broken moments later by the distant sound of gunfire. I looked at Yakura and saw fear in her eyes. Once more came the crack of distant gunshots. Or it could be they were only the echoes of our fears. I held Yakura’s hand, and we quietly went into the hut. Yakura curled up in the corner, and I did not disturb her with questions. The gunfire could also be heard inside the hut, despite the rain drumming on it. I fell asleep among the sounds, and they accompanied my entry into the realm of dreams.

  In my dream, I was walking with Xnen, and we entered a hole in the ground opening on an underground maze. Sometimes the ceiling of the maze was so low that we were forced to crawl. The earth was very moist, and we were both soon covered in mud. I looked at Xnen and could recognize only his eyes, peering at me through the cover of dirt. I realized I must look the same — a mud sculpture whose eyes were the only part that looked alive. We continued down the damp tunnel and reached a place of thick darkness. We walked as if blind, and I suddenly felt two hands grab my shoulders.

  “Don’t go on!” Yakura shouted, and I woke up.

  I lay inside the hut, covered in a thick layer of sweat. Yakura wasn’t in her corner. I took the torch and went out into a light rain.

  Spindly rays of light told me the sun was about to rise. It was the time when the birds and monkeys woke from their sleep and roused the forest people with their cries and chirping, but not a single sound was heard. A terrible stillness blanketed the camp, thick as pitch-black night. Something in my heart told me that a terrible disaster had occurred, but I saw no evidence. All the huts were intact, and the forest had not been harmed either.

  I extinguished the torch so I could better watch the coming dawn. The moon was high in the sky, visible through the fading clouds. One faint light touched another, and in the double light, I saw a woman lying beside a stone. I rushed over, and to my horror recognized Yakura. A thin line of blood flowed from her mouth. I lost my composure, and an anguished cry escaped from deep within me. The forest people heard me and filled the camp. Xnen showed up as well after a while. He examined the bleeding young woman, then ran off and returned a few moments later with a vihu pipe. He inhaled from it and blew the powder into Yakura’s face. A few moments later, she moved her feet, then her hands and head. When she opened her eyes, I could see terror in them as she raised her hand to her mouth and wiped the blood. She looked at me, moved closer, and snuggled in my arms like a baby, digging her nails into my arms. I picked her up and followed Xnen, who led me to one of the huts. There, I laid her in a hammock, and with a handkerchief I carried in my pocket, cleaned the sweat and the remaining blood from her face.

  Women came into the hut and asked me with their eyes to make room for them. They carefully examined Yakura, and it was clear they were checking to see if she had been raped. Xnen was sitting in the corner chanting prayers or incantations. And if she had been raped, what would be the fate of a violated goddess? Would she be executed or would she be allowed to live as an ordinary young woman, find a husband, and have a family? I knew it wasn’t only her destiny I was thinking of, but my own as well. The women finished their examination, said something to Xnen, and went away. I sat beside Yakura and stroked her face. Her face was greasy with sweat again, and I could tell she was feverish. Who knew how long she had been lying helpless in the pouring rain? Her eyes were shut, and her breath was heavy.

  Xnen suddenly stopped his muttering. His entire body trembled, and only the whites of his eyes showed. He spoke in a strange voice and his feet twitched. His gaze turned skyward, and his arms flailed in the space of the hut. Now and then, he grabbed his hair and pulled it, as if he meant to uproot his head and toss it up to the heavens. Suddenly, he howled like a wounded animal. When he stopped, his eyes shut tightly and his hand clenched into a fist. The fingers dug into the palm of his hand, and an agonized expression twisted his features. I had never seen such pain on the face of a man in a trance.

  A moment later, his eyes opened and his pupils reappeared. He began to mumble incantations again. One of the warriors came into the hut, and Xnen addressed him and said something I couldn’t quite understand. A moment later, the two William brothers were led inside, surrounded by warriors. The brothers’ hands were tied. I looked at Xnen, and a great dread of what was about to come gripped me.

  I fell on my knees, clutched his hands, and pleaded, “Don’t hurt them. These two young men could live for many more years and do much good for the forest and its children. But I am close to touching the horizon of my life. All that’s needed is a little nudge. After I am gone, the fighting will stop and peace will return to the forest.”

  Xnen pushed me away, and I fell to the ground. A terrible wrath burned in his eyes, and suddenly, a voice came from his mouth.

  “They have done the deed! They have attacked Yakura!” the shaman raged.

  I did not believe his words. They couldn’t have hurt their sister like that, kidnapped her in her sleep, and beat her senseless. One of the young men raised his eyes to me, and his eyes seemed to speak. I tried to understand the language of the eyes, and heard a voice inside my head.

  “Xnen is right,” the voice said. “It was their way of rescuing you, perhaps of rescuing Yakura as well…”

  The voice that echoed through my head seemed to wake Yakura, and she climbed out of her hammock and crawled to Xnen. When she reached him, she grabbed his feet and wailed a wordless plea. Xnen placed his hand on her head and something in his eyes softened.

  “Tomorrow, we shall act according to the decree of the gods,” he said.

  42

  The Place Where the Trees Cry

  We spen
t a long day inside the hut. Yakura slept for many hours, smiling at me in her sleep, and I watched her gradually recovering. The fever passed, her temperature stabilized, and her breathing became regular. I remembered the day we had found Marina together in the spring. We had feared the young woman was mortally wounded, but she had quickly regained her health. I hoped Yakura would recover as easily.

  When evening fell, Yakura opened her eyes. She got out of the hammock, sat in front of me, and whispered, “Tomorrow we will go for a walk in the forest again, just like we used to in the village. We will go for a long walk without fear in our hearts. Now I will return to my hammock and sleep through the night. I have to regain my strength.”

  The next morning at dawn when I left the hut, Yakura was still sleeping. The rain had stopped, and something in my heart told me the camp was surrounded again by strangers or spirits. I felt eyes were watching at me from every direction. Even the leaves swaying in the slight breeze held something threatening in their movement. There were whispers in the trees, but the warriors were nowhere to be seen.

  A drowsy warrior finally emerged from the trees and yawned. I asked him where Xnen was, but he merely yawned again. More warriors followed, all stretching their limbs and yawning. And the skies filled with clouds again, as if the hand of a god had darkened the day so the yawning warriors could return to sleep.

  Yakura came out of the hut and immediately yawned widely as well. She came to me, and in a sleepy voice, as if she were still dreaming, suggested that we go to the stream. I walked behind her, sensing many eyes spying on us from among the trees again. Yakura did not look at me and walked slowly, ceremoniously, with mist in her eyes. When we reached the stream, she immediately went in, submerged her head, then rose like a nymph. Her black hair was glued to her neck and shoulders. I took off my clothes, set them beneath a large elephant ear leaf to protect them from the rain about to fall, and went in the pool.

  That was the signal. The entire universe hemorrhaged dismal tears. The wind rattled the trees, and lightning lit up the darkness of day. Yakura dived back into the water of the pool, and people covered with skins and tree bark emerged from the trees, wearing animal masks. They called out in the voices of the forest. Now and then, a bowstring was drawn or a spear raised. I felt hands pulling me into the depths of the water. I did not resist; I knew they were Yakura’s. Only my head remained above the surface of the water, and my ears filled with the harmony of the dancing warriors’ grunts, the wind striking at the branches, the rain hitting the earth, and the thunder exploding in the sky. Then my head sank as well.

  Beneath the surface of the water Yakura’s wide-open eyes shone at me. She held my hand and led me to a black hole at the bottom of the pool. I imagined she was leading me to my death by drowning. Instead, we passed through the opening and emerged into a twin pool hiding between some large rocks. How could I have missed it earlier?

  Trees grew from the water, and they swayed in the mighty wind, dripping water as if they were springs.

  “This is the place where the trees cry,” said Yakura. “This is where the world began.”

  She spread her arms and gathered me into a hug devoid of any inhibitions. I felt myself turning into a blowing wind, and my abandoned body began to play its role in the ancient ceremony. When the ritual had reached its climax and ended, I hugged Yakura with all my might to make sure that I was still alive and suddenly found I was hugging four women at once. I pulled back from them for a moment and saw that Yakura’s eyes were moist. Not with water, but with tears. Or maybe they were the tears of the trees.

  We held hands again, dived together into the pool, and emerged through the opening in the bottom and outside the hidden spot between the rocks. The entire universe exploded over our heads, shooting its lightning at us. The masked men went berserk, dancing and howling. The trees shaking with the wind and the skies exploding with thunder echoed their cries loudly.

  Yakura pulled me out of the pool. I took my clothes from beneath the leaf but did not put them on. Naked, rain-drenched, I was led back to the camp. I was pushed roughly into my hut, and someone ordered me to close my eyes and go to sleep.

  I was awakened by a throbbing pain in my arm, as if a snake had bitten me. I opened my eyes and saw my right hand clutching the painful spot on my left arm. When I looked about me, I was convinced I was still dreaming. Numerous warriors filled the little hut, joined by Xnen and Yankor. How could so many people fit in such a small space? Yankor was holding a spear. Perhaps it had caused the injury to my left arm.

  A large crowd continued pouring into the hut, and I recognized many of the dead among them, including people I had never met. George was there, the town teacher, and Herbert, Sr., and among them, I saw the other Yakura smiling at me, the second Yakura, the young mother who had died in childbirth…

  And you were there as well, floating in the cabin. And I thought I heard your voice saying, “It is all fake, we are all nothing but a delusion, do not believe…”

  Then I recognized Beatrice and Christina and next to them, the homeless man who had invented the story of the murder for my sake. His face looked so much like mine… I saw Marina beside him, lying on an elevated stage, like a body devoid of soul, or like a bodiless soul. Many hands pulled me out of my hammock, and Yakura clung to me and tried to prevent them from taking me away. I could not resist the force of the grasping hands and was pulled out of the hut.

  There were many black dogs in the camp, wagging their tails and coming close to receive some affection, and they were all the spitting image of Amir, my beloved dog. Many hands lay me on the ground and dressed me, but they weren’t my clothes. They were strange clothes being put on a stranger’s body. I heard Yakura crying, and Marina and Christina joining her. An incense vessel made of stone was placed before me, and an unpleasant odor stung my nostrils. I was pulled to my feet and pushed along until I began walking on my own. Someone whispered in my ear that we were going to Omauha’s mountain, where the delusion would end and reality would be revealed.

  A mighty noise cut through all the other sounds. The human snake stopped and someone forced me to lie in the grass for many minutes. Explosions echoed all around me, the rhythmic rattling of doomsday. A powerful blast was followed by silence. Were my ears injured? Marina suddenly appeared and splashed water on my face. My eyes seemed to go blind and deep colors danced in front of them and were joined by complex geometric shapes. Then I was on my feet and walking again.

  I had been so close to revelation! The great secret had been placed before me, I had only to reach out for it … A hand extended to me from among the flashing lights, and once again, I was laid in the grass, and once again I was walking. I thought I saw bodies lying beside me and they were red. They had been painted red or perhaps they were bleeding. Next there was a roof above me. Midgets and angels danced and floated all about.

  I sat down. Marina handed me a pen and paper, held my hand, and helped me write something. And then my father had joined the journey as well, an eternal sadness on his face and my mother beside him. Why was she so sad and small?

  And you were still hovering above, whispering in my ear that it was all a lie, a delusion…

  We climbed to the mountain within the mountain. Way up, at the end of the stairway, a great bonfire blazed. Marina kneeled beside me and kissed my feet. I was barefoot. Someone took the clothes from my body and I was naked. I asked Marina if I had some time left to write a few more words.

  I had been so close to the great secret!

  The grass was on fire all around me. The entire forest was ablaze. Was I burning too? I wanted to say just one more word, but I…

 

 
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