Sun Stealer. Hidden Anomaly. (2 page)

             
As we were walking down the road, I noticed a little figure walking toward us. That was Sia, the witch from the wild zone. Sia was the only one that could walk on both zones without anybody harming her. Sia was a small woman, about my height and always wore black cloak, that covered her entire body and face. The story behind Sia was, when she was a kid, she was brutally attacked by a group of men. The men were from both zones, and ever since that day, people believed her swearwords could set one’s destiny, and out of fear of her whispering curses and evil prayers, everybody had kept away from her. Including my mother and father. So she could travel her way freely between zones, like a free bird.

             
As she passed us by, I accidentally came across her and she dropped something. I helped her pick up, what looked like some sort of an old box with little pieces of black burned woods.

             
“Thank you my sweet child”. she said to me. I could not see her face but her voice sounded old and weak. My sister rushed to take me away, as my cat Shadea was still sniffing her quietly.

             
“how many times have I told you to stay away from strangers?” my mother cried.

             
As I was looking back to see where my cat was, I noticed Sia grabbing my sister’s hand and whispering something in her ear. Emerdi was terrified, she pulled her hand back and walked away.

             
It is funny how random, insignificant events, can determine someone’s fate.

              It has been two years since Emerdi was sent to Eygra- Rama. Those years where the happiest period of my life. Every morning began with my dancing performances with Shadea and there was no one, to snitch on me to my parents.

             
You would not believe who was my biggest admirer- Sag. I used to see his big blue eyes looking at me as I was dancing with Shadea. Sometimes I felt he was looking at me, nearly the way he was looking at Emerdi, on that night by the lake. But it was just my wild imagination.

             
My father spent more and more time with me, telling me about the history of our kingdom and kept saying that one day, I would sit down with my own child, just like he was sitting with me, and pass on our ancestors story.

             
Telling stories was not allowed in the civilized zone, unless they were stories, which were passed on by Ko-Ey-Nor’s kingdom. My father said, it was important for future generation to learn the truth. And there was only one way to learn about it. Our way. I adored my father but could not help but wondering, there were several ways to tell a story, just like there were several ways for me to get back home. Sometimes I went through to forest, sometimes I walked by the lake… yet, I always ended up at home. Why was it so important to choose a certain path than the other. My father said, sometimes bad choices would force us to face certain things, we wished we had never seen. So it was better to avoid them in the first place. And I thought, choosing one path, only makes you wonder about all the others you did not.              

             
What led me to that thought, was that one hot summer day, I accidentally took the wrong way and got to ‘Didam Valley’. Didam valley was a long narrow pit, that separated the civilized zone from the wild zone. No one was allowed to go near that valley. Some said this huge pit was created by the tears of the mothers and wives, who had lost their loved ones, on a bloody battle between both zones.

             
Since I was already there, I got closer and closer to the pit, so I could look down. The pit was so deep, I could not see it’s bottom. Suddenly, I heard a little voice:

             
“hello”.

I
looked up and saw a boy smiling at me, he was about my age, maybe a little older.

             
“hello” I answered and hid behind my cat. I could see he was a wild boy. his skin color was dark, his eyes were dark and so was his hair. We were not allowed to speak to the wild ones.

             
“what happened to your cat?” he asked me with a smile.

             
“Nothing” I hesitated “if you are referring to her color, she was born this way.”

             
“Why is she crying?” he asked with a sad voice.

             
“My cat never cries!” I answered immediately “My cat is a tiger and tigers never cry!” My response surprised him as if it was the first time, he ever heard that.

             
“what’s her name” he kept asking

             
“Shadea” I said “what is your cat’s name?” he had a big black, wild cat standing next to him, ready to hunt. Luckily, there was a narrow, huge valley between us.

             
“Gya” he said “that’s my girl” he shouted, as he was tapping her massive body.

             
“Why are you bleeding?” I asked after I noticed the big cuts on his arms and legs.

             
“What do you mean why? Don’t you get scratches from your cat?” he asked with a surprised face.

             
“No. never.” I said. “why would your cat harm you?”

             
“Oh, it is no harm” he laughed “just a way to express itself. All wild ones are bruised” he added. What made me remember, I was talking to a wild one.

             
“Sometimes I wish humans were color blind, just like animals” I said.

             
“I am sorry if I have offended you, I just never saw a white cat before” he apologized.

              “I was not talking about my cat.” I said to him “I just have this strange feeling, that If we did not see colors, we would not have this huge pit between us.”

             
I do not know what made me say that and I could see, he could not understand me either. So I just said:

             
“We are not suppose to talk to each other. I am sorry, but I must leave.” And just before I left, I yelled:

             
“Aloe vera plant would lower your pain”.

             
“Wait” he shouted “tell me your name..”

I
ran away with my cat and never looked back. That was the first and I wish I could say, the last time, I ever got to Didam valley.

             
But I couldn’t.

              “Where did you learn these moves?” Sag asked me as I was leaving for morning practice.

             
“my cat taught me…”  I laughed.

             
Sag was not laughing, he just followed me, although he had to start his work day with my father.

             
“the way you move… it is almost… almost as if you were a wild one”. Sag’s words made me hold my breath for a moment. Why would he say that? He knew it was forbidden for the civilized to move like the wild ones. I did not tell him, I knew he was doing that with Emerdi. Yet, for him to accuse me of something so wrong, that he himself committed.

             
“why would you say such a thing?” I asked him.

             
“don’t be scared” he grinned “I will not tell anyone”.

             
“There is nothing to tell Sag” I said.

             
“I see, I made you upset” he said to me “let me make it up to you… come by the lake this afternoon, I prepared something for you.” Sag walked away and left me there, curious.

              “I see you are not wasting any time…”

Sag
froze and looked back

             
“who is there?” he shouted.

             
“You don’t recognize my voice?” she asked as she came out of the shadows. It was Emerdi. She came back home for a short vacation.

             
“My love…” Sag whispered “I have missed you so much”.

             
“It does not look that way” Emerdi said. She heard Sag’s words to me and got really mad.

             
“I thought that was our plan?’ Sag asked.

             
“I thought you were going to trust me and wait for me to find a better solution.” she answered with a bitter voice.

             
“did you?” he asked while his eyes walked through Emerdi’s curved body.

             
Emerdi did not answer. she just looked into his eyes and smiled. Sag smiled back. They both knew it. They had the perfect solution.

              The sun came half way down and Shadea and I started walking towards the lake. As we were walking, the trees were moving in an edgy way, like they were trying to warn me. Shadea kept growling at me, I thought she was trying to warn me about an upcoming storm.

             
“It is all good Shadea, we’ll just meet with Sag and then go straight home, I promise” I was trying to calm her down but she did not stop growling until she finally roared. It was the first time I ever heard my cat roaring. My sweet Shadea, if only I have listened to you.

              “Hello, little diamond” I looked up and saw my big sister standing by the lake with Sag.

             
‘I told you, I have prepared something for you. Surprise!!!” Sag pointed at my sister.

             
“I did not know you were back” I said to her, still preoccupied with Shadea’s behavior.

             
“just for a few days. a little break from Eygra- Rama. Little sister, we are going to have so much fun. haven’t you missed me?” she asked with a smile.

             
“I have missed you Emerdi” and I was not lying. Although she was not nice to me and she took away all Sag’s attention, I was really happy to have my big sister back home.

             
Emerdi put her arm around me and we started walking by the lake. Sag took Shadea with him, since she was restless. I thought it would be fine- Sag was practically family, Emerdi was my sister- nothing could go wrong. 

             
It was a long walk till we got to kingdom square. This was the place where all citizens were gathered together on their free time. The square was filled that afternoon. Almost everybody was there. We could barely move. Emerdi said, I should go up on the little stage, that was placed in the center.

             
“Everyone is here” she said “go on, show them your dance.. I promise, I will not tell mother.” she whispered to me and smiled.

             
“My cat is not here” I said to her “I can not dance without Shadea” I giggled.

             
“You can do it” she said and pushed me to the stage, making everyone around us applause.

             
As I was walking up the stage, I noticed a dark shadow passing me by. I looked back and saw, the shadow was getting bigger and bigger and had covered the entire sky of Anomaly.

             
Suddenly, I heard a shout:

             
“That was her! I saw her! She stole it! she stole the sun!”

             
I was almost sure that was my sister’s voice screaming but I could not see clear, due to the darkness. After that single scream, turmoil began by the crowd. I felt some people holding me tightly and carrying me somewhere. I thought these were my father’s people, trying to get me home safely. But I was wrong. Very wrong.

             
Next thing I remember, was a strong bump in the back of my head and darkness. Total darkness.

              My eyes were wide open but I could not see. I was laying  with my face down the cold, wet ground, trying to understand where I was. I was not at home. I looked around, it seemed like, I was inside of a long tunnel with endless walls surrounding it. I looked up, I saw a thin ray of light, all across the endless tunnel.

             
‘Could it be? Was I inside of Didam Valley?’

             
I touched the back of my head, not only was it hurting, I felt a burned mark on the back of my neck. I started screaming for help. I knew nobody could hear me. I knew all about Didam valley. I knew, Once you get in, you can never get out. I knew that this was the end. So I cried. I cried for my losses: I cried for my father, my mother, my sister… I cried for my life, as I knew them. I cried for sunny days that would never come. but most of all, I cried for my cat, Shadea.

             
I was celebrating 9 springs in the knowing, I would never know again. I would never know what had happened on that day, at kingdom square. I would never know What had led to the events that happened later and brought me to where I was.

             
I decided to search the valley and see what I could find. I noticed, as I went dipper and dipper, the walls of the pit were not blank anymore. They had marks on them. Black and red marks. I wondered what these marks were. I knew they were symbols. But symbols of what? maybe they were traces, someone had left there. Someone like me. We were not allowed to leave any kind of marks in the civilized world. My father explained to me, traces could lead future generations to false stories. Stories we did not wish them to know. And where there were no traces, there were no stories. Where there were no stories, there were no life. On that moment, I wished I had left traces in my kingdom. I wish someone would had known, I existed.