The Pinecone Apothecary

by S J Amit

  The riverbank ground was hard. After a few steps I got used to the shoes, and in any case, it was easier for me to walk with shoes instead of being barefoot. Through the trees, a clean and tidy path appeared, its edges marked by white-painted rocks. On either side of the path there were cut-down tree trunks. Kelemance went over to one, leaned down and passed his hand over the bumps and cracks that remained on the stump, near the roots, most likely a result of the axe’s blows. “All the components that compose the Land of the Mosaic are intertwined, they’re of equal value and importance.” He looked at me from below, “No one owns the Land of the Mosaic, and therefore no one can claim ownership over any part of it. The people that came from afar think that they can turn the trees here into property without influencing the other components. But if the trees become property, the people will become property too.” He got up and we continued walking on the path.

  Choopster appeared in front of us with a big smile, “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time now,” she popped herself between us and interlaced her little hands with ours. “Come on,” she pulled us forward.

  “There’s no one there,” she indicated with her head towards a hut. There were two tall pillars, one on either side of the path, the hut was up against the right pillar. Between the two pillars, high up in the air, there was a big sign. “Welcome to Anteballegaria”. The wooden pillars were planted in the ground, supported by a few rocks, and on both sides of the left pillar there were two distinctly large rocks. Behind the sign, the path continued and climbed upwards. From where we were standing I couldn’t make out how far away the path continued, I could only see the tall peak it led to.

  “Really? There’s no one at the gate? Why?” Kelemance let go of her hand.

  “I don’t know,” she shrugged her shoulders, “No one was here when I arrived.”

  He took a few steps on the path and passed under the sign between the pillars. Vague sounds could be heard from afar. “Just a minute, just a minute, sorry, excuse me. Hello, hello.” A man wearing clothes similar to ours came down the path in a rush, holding something that resembled a tray. “I had a little problem,” he stopped and panted in front of Kelemance. “Please, you know the rules, only he who stands at the gate can conduct the reception.”

  Kelemance walked backwards under the sign and stood next to us.

  “I need to fix this. It’s from last night’s storm. I tried earlier, but couldn’t manage to.” He went over to the big rock on the left side of the left pillar, placed the tray on the ground and lifted a rectangular piece of cloth, shook it out and spread it over the rock. “I’m sorry I wasn’t at the gate to welcome you, there was a mishap.” He lifted the tray and hung it around his neck with a strap. It had a paintbrush and a set of colors on it. Red, blue, yellow, white, black. He dipped the brush in the white color and drew on the fabric. Dipped in the blue and yellow and drew on the fabric. White again. His forehead was sweaty. “I’ll finish in a moment. I’m really sorry.” He dabbed the colors, blew on the fabric, painted again, stretched the fabric. Blew again, rubbed. Mumbled to himself, punched the rock and then blew on his injured fist. And started over again. “One moment, just one more moment,” he muttered without lifting his head from the fabric, and wiped the sweat from his face with his hand. A bit of color remained on his forehead.

  “It’s alright,” Kelemance tried to calm him down.

  “It’s just not my day,” he wiped his face with his shirt. “I can’t get this right.”

  “Might I suggest that first you conduct our reception, so that we may enter, and then you can continue without stress?” Kelemance asked.

  “No, no. That’s impossible. It’s illogical. And even illegal.” He continued drawing on the fabric.

  We stood there for a long while until he stepped back, looked at the fabric, took a deep breath, removed the tray of colors from around his neck, carefully lifted the fabric, its two top corners flapping in the wind, and spread it over the rock that was on the right side. Then he climbed on the left rock, grabbed the two corners of the fabric’s short side, and stood on his toes. He stretched his arms up as high as he could, and tied the fabric to the tall pillar.

  He got off the rock and panted heavily under the fluttering fabric, its colors dripping off, smearing and mixing. “Now, I need you to stand in rows of threes,” he counted us. “No, no. Actually, stand in a line.” His eyes carefully scanned over us. I felt embarrassment and discomfort as his eyes scanned over my clothes and paused for a moment to look at the decoration on my cape.

  “Hi, Michelle,” he finally smiled at her. “Please, you may enter,” he smiled to Kelemance too and then to me. “Welcome to Anteballegaria!” He gestured with his hand towards the path leading upwards.

  Choopster ran up the path and then stopped. “Come on,” she gestured to us.

  After a few steps I turned back and waved at the man. He nodded and waved back vigorously. “Do you know him?” I asked Kelemance.

  “I’ve seen him at the gate a few times, but the order of the reception repeats itself each time I come. He’s never introduced himself, despite my having introduced myself to him.”

  “Why?”

  “I guess that when he’s at the gate he doesn’t have a name, he has a role. In order for him to feel that he’s valuable to the Colony of the Lost, he needs to perform the role he was given meticulously, otherwise they’ll take it away from him and give it to someone else. And if it got taken away from him it would destroy him, because he would no longer be valuable.”

  It got hotter. We climbed up the path and the sounds of our footsteps accompanied us. As we ascended, a huge valley appeared before us, and when we got to the top we stopped and observed the vast area, far down at the bottom of the path.

  The path went down and split into lanes that were packed full of people as well as hundreds of structures. From up above, the people seemed small, and the structures looked like variously sized miniatures in different shapes and colors. The animals and livestock that were harnessed and carried cargo seemed small too. Smoke rose up over a few structures, and the valley’s hustle-bustle was ceaseless. Dull noise reached us, through which the barking of dogs and the bleating of sheep could be heard.

  A long wall surrounded the colony, its construction hadn’t been completed in some areas. Green forests encircled the wall, extending into the horizon like a green rug. Only the left side wasn’t forested, instead there was a massive and long range of mountains which disappeared somewhere between the earth and the heavens. The sun blindingly flickered through the few and scattered clouds in the blue sky. A flock of birds emerged from the forest, flew towards the city, and returned to dive back into the big green.

  “Anteballegaria is situated precisely on the border at the bottom of the ridge. Beyond the mountains is where the Land of the Mosaic ends,” Choopster pointed towards the distant horizon.

  Kelemance sighed and leaned down to her, “Who told you that?”

  “That’s what everyone here says,” she lifted her little hands in the air.

  “The Colony of the Lost is situated at the bottom of the Mountains of Freedom, and the Land of the Mosaic has no beginning or end, even if that’s what everyone says.” He gently pulled the string around her neck and flipped the little mirror up over her shirt. Sunrays bounced back straight into my eyes. “Don’t listen to those who have never crossed the Mountains of Freedom. Anteballegaria’s majority doesn’t count,” he lightly touched her nose with his finger.

  Choopster’s eyes sparked with wonder. “Beyond the Mountains of Freedom is where the pinecone apothecary is, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “When I grow up, will I be able to get to him too?” She looked at him and then at me.

  “Every human being in the Land of the Mosaic is allowed to go beyond the Mountains of Freedom,” he stroked her head, “and anyone who wants to can get to the pinecon
e apothecary.” He turned to look at me. “But they can only be crossed by sailing the river that runs through the Valley of Abandoned Issues.”

  We descended the long path, little white rocks and flowers on either side of it. The structures became clearer. Brown, red, white, gray, some bigger, some smaller. The path became flatter. To our right, cows were grazing near a few trees. To our left, horses were galloping in a circle inside a green field that was fenced off by wooden poles. A few people were walking in the center of the circle, and dogs were running around them. The path became narrower between the structures. Passers by walked past us, other people were busying themselves in their gardens, everyone nodded at us to say hello and then went straight back to whatever it was they were doing.

  We passed by a gray building to the right of the path. It was wider than the other structures, and a fence stretched from the edge of the wall closest to the path and onwards alongside it. Choopster slowed down, stopped and looked at the enclosed yard which was next to the building. Hundreds of children were playing there. In the center of the yard, among all the children, there was a little structure that was made of gray bricks which resembled a shed. Not too far from it, there was a round structure, small and low, made from the same bricks. At the other side of the yard there were two parallel lines of poles, and a metal cable connected the top parts of every two poles.

  “Choopster,” Kelemance called her quietly, “let’s keep walking over to mom and dad.”

  She didn’t answer, and continued to stare silently. A group of children approached us from the other side of the fence, they stopped not too far from us and whispered among themselves, some made faces at Choopster, some waved their hands. The smallest child in the group stood frozen and still, then ran towards us, halted at once and fell down. He got up, brushed off his legs and went back to stand with the rest of the group.

  “Hi, Michelle dear,” the door closest to the path opened outwards. A woman with pulled up hair came out to us, her cape carried a decoration on it similar to mine. “How lovely to have you return to us!” She leaned down to Choopster, held her little chin and straightened up. “Kelemance, good to see you,” she looked at him.

  “How are you, Ingrid?” He shook her hand and introduced us.

  She looked me up and down, “Julian, I’m so glad you’ve come to us. So you’re the man who crossed the storm? What a pleasure to have you join us--“

  “We’re only passing by here,” Kelemance interrupted her, smiling with sealed lips.

  “I’m so happy you’ve come to us,” she ignored him and her smile widened even more, “we’re always in need of good people,” she hugged me.

  “No, I’m only escorting Choop- I mean, um, Michelle, home,” I answered embarrassedly and lightly patted her on the back, Kelemance looked at me when my head was over her shoulder.

  “I saw Michelle through the window,” she pointed at the first floor of the wide gray wall, “and I did wonder whether you would meet her parents before she formally returned here to us,” she pointed towards the enclosed yard.

  “Where is ‘here’?” I glanced up at the little window at the edge of the building.

  “Every time she leaves us we wait for her to return to our open arms,” she pointed at a sign which hung on the door, ‘The Anteballegaria Multi-Grade School’. “I had just gone over the list of children earlier,” she went near Choopster, “and she’s not registered yet, maybe her parents can manage to add her to the list today?”

  “We’ll check with them if they can manage it, Ingrid.” Kelemance nodded at her, held Choopster’s hand and started walking away.

  “Remind them that first she must re-register as a child in Anteballegaria, so that I know whether to make time for her,” she called to them after a few steps, “otherwise I’ll have no idea how to relate to her.”

  I couldn’t decipher her facial expression and I rushed ahead to them, I didn’t know if she was joking or being serious. “With that said,” Ingrid interrupted my train of thought, “seeing as this is Julian’s first day in Anteballegaria, it is a joyous day,” she put her hand on Choopster’s shoulder, “let’s see what I can do, and maybe Michelle will already be able to join us today, as a one-off, and return to all her friends. Just make sure that by tomorrow she’s already re-registered properly.” She gave another big grin. “Give me a few minutes,” she looked at Kelemance and went back inside.

  Little boys and girls kept running around every which way, teenage boys played ball, teenage girls sat in a group and giggled. Short, tall, fair hair, dark hair, fair skin, dark skin. One girl ran, halted and fell, sat up feeling dizzy, and got back up. A few moments passed and another child took a few steps, tripped and fell over, stayed on the ground for a few moments and got back up. Children. Playing around wildly and falling down, just like at all the schools, just like at my school, when I was a child.

  “We should keep going,” Kelemance told me. I don’t know why I didn’t answer him.

  “You’re not alright here, huh?” I whispered to Choopster.

  She raised her head and looked at me with indifference. She held onto my hand, and before I could say anything she started walking, pulling me with her towards the door. We walked inside and passed through a long rectangular hallway. “One moment, one moment,” Ingrid appeared from one of the corridors and walked towards us, “I’m happy you’ve let yourselves in. I checked and we can allow her to re-join us today.” She gave us a warning look and then looked at Kelemance who walked in after us. “But only if she’ll be an official Anteballegarian child as of tomorrow. Michelle dear, come here.” Choopster didn’t budge. “Do you want them to escort you? Alright. Please, you’re welcome to.”

  After a moment of deliberation, Choopster nodded and took a step forward, then another one, all the while not letting go of my hand. Kelemance took her bag and said he preferred to wait for us outside and meet us when we got out. Ingrid led us through the hallway. We went out to the big yard that we had seen from the path earlier. I waved to Kelemance, and he waved back across the fence. Choopster stood on a marked square near the entrance to the yard, and Ingrid bent down and tied something to her leg. “Just a few moments and we’ll prepare you for class, alright?” she smiled at her.

  “What is that?” I looked at Ingrid.

  “The invisible strings,” she shook her hands out, “we’ve managed to produce strings from a substance made entirely of earth, they stretch underground, across the entire school. The children can’t see or feel them. This way we can protect them from any risks and dangers, and they always remain in the enclosed area.”

  “Protect them from dangers?” I went closer to Choopster. “It’s quite the opposite. Running around with strings tied to their legs is very dangerous.”

  “It all starts with education, Julian,” she moved me aside gently, “do you see the fence?” she lowered her voice and we slowly walked around the place. “It simulates the walls of Anteballegaria for the children. First we must provide a sense of freedom for them within the school. Throughout the years that illusion will make them forget about being tied up, so that by the time they graduate, they’ll have already learned the limitations of what’s possible, and the strings will no longer be necessary.”

  “There!” I pointed at yet another child who ran and fell over. “They trip and fall down, it’s dangerous.”

  ”It’s part of growing up.” She gave a big grin again. “The underground strings are made of a substance that constantly changes, so that they don’t get tangled up, and they allow freedom of movement. The children learn how to cope with them, and get used to the fact that everyone is tied to the ground. All that’s left for them to do throughout the years is to internalize the knowledge that they’re better off remaining distant, that they need to be careful when getting close to one another, and that they shouldn’t try to go beyond the fence. When they graduate from school, they’ll be pr
epared to live peacefully within the walls of Anteballegaria.”

  “Ingrid, is that what you do here?” I kept looking at the children. “Do you know Michelle isn’t alright here? She told me herself that she doesn’t want to stay, that the children exclude her and tell her she’s different.”

  “It’s a natural thing for children to exclude one another, Julian, as long as they know how to maintain the rules of politeness at the same time. You need to understand, the course is very long. First, she must become integrated with the other children, it’s of the utmost importance to integrate her, so that she can gradually change and become just like everyone else. Do you think they know anything about life at their age? It’s only a matter of time before she forgets about the dreams and thoughts which are confusing her right now, as a little girl, and grows up to entirely suit the Anteballegarian environment.”

  “But don’t you think that if she--“

  “Besides, we don’t get caught up with every child on a personal level at such a preliminary stage. It’s useless, because we can only focus on the child once he’s integrated and becomes part of all the other children, not before, otherwise we won’t be able to tell whether there’s something unusual or abnormal about him, or whether there’s wrong behaviour. Michelle is no different than the rest of the children in that respect, she’ll end up just as needed, eventually.” She turned to face the yard. “There are hundreds of children here, they all went through hardships in the beginning and didn’t find it easy, there were even a few exceptionally wild children who wanted nothing but to climb the fence, but eventually, Julian, everyone comes out of here just fine.” She crossed her arms on her chest. “We know how to do our jobs properly.”