Robin found she had unconsciously moved closer to him on the bench. She was perched precariously on the edge of the seat and watched his mouth move eloquently, with each second giving her information that was shattering all that she had thought was real and true in the world. He was effortlessly changing her very foundation of what was and what was not, reality.
Roami fiddled with his fingers as he delved into the story; reliving each moment as if it were only yesterday. “That was how it was that day. I remember it clearly. Usually, on such a day we were told to stay indoors and our parents would cover our mouths and make us stay in one spot until the sneaky air passed us by. But on this day Tobias had begged and pleaded to be allowed outside. Tobias was his bearer’s favorite child so she finally gave in. And my bearer-”
Robin interrupted his story by asking, “Wait, Bearer? What is that exactly?” She had never felt like such an apt pupil. She wanted to know everything there was to know about this place she had been thrown into. Knowledge was after all; power. She would be better off if she knew what everything and everyone was. There was no telling when she and Roami’s paths would part; she had had a lifetime of abandonments to know not to rely on anyone but herself. She would glean as much information from Roami as she could before he left her alone in this strange world called Source One.
“Oh, sorry I guess you do not use that term in your world. A ‘Bearer’ is someone who gives birth to another being. I believe the equivalent on earth would be-” Roami was cut off by Robin.
“So, it’s like a ‘mother’ then?” Robin nodded in understanding. “Okay, go on.” She urged him on as she was now itching to better understand this strange place. Just as she was thinking this, an odd looking creature no larger than a bee flew past her face. It moved too quickly for her to see anything but a flurry of purple.
A moment later it flew past Roami but without a thought he grabbed it and popped it into his mouth and began to chew.
Robin’s mouth gaped open in shock. “What the…”she said this slowly and in complete astonishment.
Roami looked at her a bit perplexed then laughed and explained, “You really have to prepare yourself for just about anything Robin. Everything is new to you. That was a Pickery Pea. They are not truly living organisms but sort of like…” He stopped to think of the best way to explain it to her, “They are like flying food. They can only be found in the forests of Source One as many travelers get lost here and sometimes need sustenance. That is why they fly so slowly, they actually want to get caught and eaten. When I was younger my mother said that when you eat a Pickery Pea, somewhere in some far off world a new baby is born. I am not sure how true that is but it is a nice idea at least.” He said with a smile.
“If you see another one, catch it and try it. They’re actually pretty delicious. Even though the morsel is small it fills you up for a few hours and each has a different sweet taste.” Roami swallowed the last of what was in his mouth and looked around to see if there was another one flying about. He noticed a small green one a few feet away. He got up and ran towards it and quickly grabbed it in the palm of his hand.
Walking back towards Robin he noticed her grimace and could not help but laugh out loud. “Don’t be afraid Robin. I’m a friend. I would not steer you wrong. Taste just a piece and you will see…” He said as he took her right hand and placed the flying creature in her palm then brought her left hand over her right to encase it.
Robin could feel the fluttering wings tickle the inside of her hand and laughed a little at the sensation. She could not fight the curiosity to see what it looked like. Bringing her clasped hands up to her face she peered into the small opening her thumbs made.
Inside she saw the Pickery Pea up close and personal. It glowed slightly and the inside of her palm shone with a small green light. It did not have a face, eyes or limbs as she was afraid it might. Instead it was nothing more than a plump circle held up by two small thin wings. She was not sure why but something about the circular fruit made her mouth water and Robin could not help but lick her lips.
Roami was watching her closely and laughed when he saw this gesture. “Eat it if you like. I’m sure you must be hungry. It will appease your appetite for a while.” He said.
Robin was never one to give into peer pressure. In fact she could remember countless instances when she had said ‘no’ to drugs. She had seen the ugly side of drug addiction and would never allow anyone make her into the type of mindless zombie drugs could create.
She had a gut feeling that Roami was not lying to her and that the Pickery Pea was food, just as he had said. Pushing aside her fear, Robin put her hands to her mouth and let the Pickery Pea plop onto her tongue.
There was an instant when it fluttered at the top of her mouth but then she bit down and tasted what could only be described as pure heavenly bliss. Robin’s eyes closed in pleasure and her mouth cried out a silent thank you. She had never in all her life tasted anything so absolutely delicious. Just a moment before she moaned right out, Roami laughed and brought her back to the here and now.
“See, I told you! It’s just food and it is probably better than anything you have ever tasted on earth huh?” He smiled showing his strong white teeth.
“Mmhmm…” was all Robin could say as she nodded and chewed and tried to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head. Once she was done savoring the delightful morsel, she swallowed and shook her head to regain her focus. “Okay, back to your story.” She said bossily and yet with a hint of humor.
Laughing, Roami continued with his story, “Well now… where was I? Oh, yes.” He grew serious again. “So, my bearer always does what Tobias’s mother does because she is considered lucky in the village. All of her sons are Motlings and therefore she is respected. And that is how it happened; how we were allowed to go out despite the obvious danger that day posed…
So we went into Gilaboo Forest which was not far from our village. We played every game you can think of. We played Twilight’s Scissors, Ruman’s Cave and lastly, the game popular in all the worlds; Hide-n-Seek. We played for some time and it seemed as if the blue winds would pass soon so we became less careful in our play. We said what we wanted and we even went so far as taunting the mists to take us into galaxies with creatures we could not even imagine.
I remember stopping the game for a moment because all of a sudden, the mist had turned a deeper blue and could be seen growing in intensity. I begged Tobias to end the game so we could return home. However, he wanted to hide just one more time. So we decided we would play one last round. He swore I would never ever find him.
He hid and I counted with my eyes closed. All the while I could feel the mist gathering and growing stronger. The pungent salty smell of it nearly burned my nostrils as I stood and counted down to one. By the time I had finished counting the mist had disappeared completely and I could see every detail of the forest clearly. Tobias however, was nowhere to be found. The mist had taken him with it…
I searched and searched. It was not long before I was certain that Tobias had been taken into one of the sub-worlds and that I would never see my friend again.” Roami glanced at Robin who sat beside him staring sadly at the sky above them.
“Oh my...” she said with tears brimming in her eyes. As she listened to the story she thought of losing her only true friend in the world, Victor, like that. The thought nearly killed her and made her wonder if she had in fact lost him already anyway. Who was to say if she would ever get back to earth?
She pushed these morbid thoughts away and focused on Roami whose head hung down sadly. “You must miss him so much. Do you think there is any way to find him?”
Roami shook his head. “No one ever finds someone who has been taken by the mists. Everyone knows it is near to impossible. Who knows where he is or how to even connect to that particular world if they did know which one he was in? It is absolutely impossible. If there were a way, believe me I would go in an instant. Tobias’s bearer is so sad now... I would
do anything to bring him back to her. But as it is, I can only hope that he is okay in whatever world he has been in all these years.”
“Yes... I guess that’s all you can do. Dag… Roami, have you ever thought about what you’d do if you were sucked into one of those worlds?” Robin asked sadly. She wanted to place her hand on his to soothe that sadness away but that was definitely not Robin’s style. In fact, she was amazed the thought had even crossed her mind.
“Yes I have. We all think about it some time or another. And we all know there is only one thing you can do. You must figure out the riddle to the world you have been sucked into. Then and only then, will you be able to return to your original world.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Robin looked perplexed.
“I mean. Every world has a riddle; something that must be learned from the experience, something that is meant to be taught. If and when you figure this out you may return to your home. That is part of the reason I worry about Tobias so much. I know that he has still not learned the lesson to whatever world he was sent to. He was always very cocky and prideful. It’s possible he is ignoring all the signs and thinks solving the riddle is beneath him. If that is the case he may never return home.”
Robin grew quiet as she thought this all over. She watched as Roami went back to fiddling with his fingers nervously. A question popped up into her head and she blurted it out without much thought. “Hmm... So, what about Source One then?” Robin asked.
“What do you mean? What about Source One?” Roami asked distractedly.
“What is the riddle for Source One? You say there is a riddle for each world so... what if you figure out the riddle to Source One... then where would you go?” Robin asked her ingenious question and waited for Roami to respond.
At first he glanced up from looking at his hands and looked at her in shock. He let the question swim about his head and was quiet for some time before he finally said, “I don’t know. That’s… That is a crazy question...”
Robin looked at the troubled look on Roami’s face and realized he was very uncomfortable thinking about this particular topic.
Not wanting to upset her only friend in this alien world, Robin quickly discarded the question. “You know what, it’s not that important. Just forget I even asked.” She said this aloud however, promised herself she would ask someone else in Source One the first chance she got.
Roami heard her docile words but they did not mirror the soft twinkle in Robin’s brown eyes.
He could only imagine the potential mischief that sort of look could bring about in a place as tricky as Source One…
CHAPTER 4
A soft wind rustled the sky blue leaves of the trees surrounding their little bench. Robin could not help but stare at them in awe. She noticed the thin dark blue veins running through each one and the way they swayed back and forth as if clapping at some secret joke.
The breeze blew her braids across her face and while she raised her hand to push them back she heard an odd whistling sound. It took her only a moment to realize the sound was being emitted from the leaves as the wind swept across each one of the blue tear drop shapes.
Robin looked at Roami to see if there was cause for concern but he seemed not to have noticed anything out of the ordinary. Robin could only assume this like so many other things in Source One was second nature to him and something she would have to quickly get used to.
Robin hugged her arms around her middle in a protective gesture. She shivered and looked around her in fear.
“This place seems way too scary and…confusing. If I decide I want to… How do I get back to Earth?” she ran her fingers through her shock of purple braids to push them back from her face while deep in thought. Before Roami could answer her she piped up with yet another question, “And speaking of Earth, what does it have to do with the House of Intrigues?”
Roami seemed upset by something she had said. Pursing his lips slightly together, he glanced at Robin with his soulful golden eyes, “Would you really want to go back in there? If you had the chance, would you really return to that dark place? A place where you were an outsider with no one to lean on…”
Robin paused for a moment and really thought about his question, “I don’t know. I guess you’re right. There was nothing really... for me back there. I did have one friend... I mean, I do have a friend back on earth named Victor. I would miss him, but... nothing and no one else.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly and tried her best to swallow the hurt her seemingly perpetual loneliness caused her to feel.
Roami stood up from the bench and began to pace back and forth in front of her as thoughts raced through his head. He stopped short and stared up at the sky above, his face contorted with some unseen struggle.
Robin remained quiet, waiting for him to speak up. He finally looked down from the sky and directly into Robin’s eyes as he said, “Well, truth be told…there is no need to worry about returning to Earth, Robin. You have no real say in the matter. In just a short time you will be returned to the House of Intrigues and back to your planet; whether you want to or not. That is the way it is done when someone leaves the house before their time…”
Robin glared at Roami, “What do you mean? I can do whatever I want to. If I don’t want to return then guess what? I won’t!” She had unknowingly scooted to the edge of her seat, ready to pounce if necessary. Her automatic response when confronted had always been to fight for survival. ‘Old habits die hard’ or so she had heard the saying go.
Roami rested his hands on his hips and looked down at the ground in defeat. This pushed Robin’s ire down a bit as he did not look as if he desired an altercation at all. He sighed heavily and replied, “I am sorry but it does not work that way Robin. There are rules for everything, even if they are rules without reason, there are still rules. And the rule for the House of Intrigues is that only those who have died a true death on Earth can awaken in the House of Intrigues and enter Source One. If by any chance someone is awakened prematurely, they are to be summoned by the butler of the house. The butler will summon the person three times. First, he will knock on all the doors of the house, then he will ring a bell, finally he will utter the persons’ name and no matter where that person is they will be drawn back into the House. They will turn back into doll-form and will remain that way until their true death on Earth.”
Robin had been listening to Roami’s every word intently. She piped up when she realized there was something missing from his explanations. “Wait! If what you say is true... then somebody or something woke me up too early, right?” Robin asked cautiously.
“Well... yes.” Roami, who still stood near the bench, began to take a few steps away from Robin’s inquisitive stare.
“And how was it that I was awakened too early Roami?” she glared at him and left the bench to stand behind him with her arms crossed over her chest. She could not wipe the accusatory look off of her face as she looked at the back of his head.
Roami turned around to face her and bit his lip the moment he saw the determined expression on her face. His eyes did not meet hers straight away as he searched for the best way to explain the situation to her.
“Well... when I say ‘awakened’ I mean that your doll form must have been... uh... disrupted. If a doll in the house is moved or disturbed in any way, they wake up. And um... another thing I forgot to tell you,” Roami continued, trying his best to change the subject and Robin’s line of thought, “is that each doll is placed in the room of the house that best represents their personality, their station in life or the way others on earth perceive them. As these conditions change, the butler will move each doll to their rightful position. By the way, the butler is the only being who can touch the dolls without awakening them. So for instance, dolls placed in the living room of the House of Intrigues usually are part of large families on Earth, they are outgoing and loved. Dolls placed in the kitchen tend to be-”
“I was on the window sill...” Robin said the words so
quietly; Roami did not hear her at first.
“What did you say Robin?” Roami was not sure if she had spoken or not, her words had been uttered so softly.
“I was on the window sill.” She repeated with more force.
“Oh... yes. Well... that is... um... I know.” Roami said. He looked more and more uncomfortable as this particular conversation progressed.
“And what does that say about me Roami?” Robin asked the question while already knowing the answer. Her brown eyes began to glisten with the tears she fought to hide. Although she wanted nothing more than to stick her head in the ground, she forced herself to look him directly in the eyes to ensure she received a straightforward answer.
Sighing, Roami replied, “You were an outsider on Earth. That is what that particular position means.”
When she heard the words aloud Robin gasped and swallowed hard to stop herself from crying. “Yes. I guess, that’s exactly what I was. What I always was…”
Roami moved towards her as if to comfort Robin but she moved away and began to walk deeper into the forest. She needed to change the topic desperately before the tears that fought so hard to fall; eventually got their wish.
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