The Book of Sight (2 page)

And on it went, the images building toward a conclusion that left Alex breathless. When at last it released her, she looked up, her mind reeling, and noticed that it was already getting dark. Had she been reading all day? But she’d only read…could it just have been five pages?! Normally she was a quick reader. On the other hand, she had never read anything like this before. It was…. She had no idea how to describe it. It was not like a story at all, but more like living in another world. She could not only see but feel and smell and taste what was going on around her. The people in the book were more real than any person she’d ever met in her life.

She knew she couldn’t read any more right now. Her mind felt full to bursting. Still, it was with regret that she set the book down.

Outwardly, Alex passed the rest of the evening as normal. She fixed herself some dinner and took some out to her dad. He didn’t even look up this time, so she left the food on his table. Back inside, she ate alone, took a shower and brushed her teeth. But the whole time, she felt like she was sleep walking. She kept reliving the scenes of the story in her head over and over.

That night as she went to bed, she saw the trees outside her window whispering to each other.

A
 rational person will have no problem explaining away whispering trees as nothing more than wind in the branches combined with an overactive imagination. This is only one of the many shortcomings of rational people.,

In any case, the whispering was only the beginning for Alex. She awoke from a night of vivid dreams to a day of blazing sunshine. Light was streaming through the window and creating brilliant leafy patterns on the wall opposite her bed. Something about it gave Alex a deep feeling of satisfaction. For several minutes she just lay there and appreciated the intricate design. Then she rolled herself out of bed.

As soon as she opened her bedroom door, she was greeted by the unmistakable smell of cooking bacon. This, together with the clattering and banging issuing from the kitchen, was evidence that her dad had, as promised, finished his latest issue.

The completion of a project always meant a few days of undivided attention from her dad and lots of frenzied activity on his part. It was as if he was determined to fit a month’s worth of cooking, cleaning, talking, and playing into three days. For as long as she could remember she had looked forward to these times, which with characteristic creativity she had dubbed “dad days.”

Today was a classic dad day. When Alex entered the kitchen, not only was there breakfast on the table but the dishes were washed, a lunch was packed in the cooler, and the fishing poles were propped against the back door. In less than an hour, she and her dad were in the truck headed toward Fox Creek.

Looking out the window as they bumped along, Alex was stunned by the beauty of the day. The sky was such a vibrant blue it took her breath away, and the sun was glowing with an intensity she could not find words for. It wasn’t that it was bright or blinding, but almost more alive. It warmed her skin like a physical touch and seemed to infuse everything in sight with a particular brilliance. The pavement ahead of them sparkled, the mountain peaks in the distance glittered, and the trees stretched out to embrace the life-giving warmth.

The trees…suddenly Alex remembered the whispering from last night and the dreams. In the rush of the last hour she had almost forgotten the mysterious book. Now it all came flooding back. The sweetness of the story seemed to fit with the loveliness of the day.

“We’re here, Magna.”

Alex came back to the present with a start. She hadn’t even noticed that they had stopped.

Her dad chuckled. “You okay? Get lost in your thoughts?”

“Yeah, I was just… It’s a beautiful day.”

“Sure is.” He jumped out of the car, grinning. “Perfect for sitting by a creek and not catching any fish. It feels great to be outside again.”

Collecting all the gear, he led the way down to the creek. Alex followed, soaking in the beauty all around her. The sun was starting to hurt her eyes, but she still couldn’t get enough of looking at everything. The grass even…was there a name for that shimmering shade of green?

All morning as she sat on the bank, chatting with her dad and, true to his prediction, not catching any fish, Alex could not stop feeling overwhelmed by the colors and the brightness around her. She stared around so much she could feel a headache coming on and finally lay back against a log and closed her eyes to rest them. Even through her eyelids she could see the sunlight, muted and pastel. It was lovely, but it didn’t help the headache any. She leaned over and dipped her hands in the water and pressed them against her face.

She must have been making a pained face because her dad looked concerned and asked, “You alright, baby? Getting too hot?”

“No, I’m fine, Dad. It’s just the sun getting to my eyes a little.”

“You want to borrow my sunglasses?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

She slid the sunglasses on, and the change was so abrupt it was startling. Everything was incredibly dark. It felt like being blind. A strange sense of panic swept over her, and she pulled the glasses off. The sunlight exploded around her again causing her to squint. Still, she didn’t put the glasses back on.

Instead, she said, “I think I’m going to go sit in the shade for a little bit, Dad.”

“Hey, we can just pack up and head home, if you’re ready, Magna.”

“Yeah, that might be good. My head is hurting a little.”

“No problem. I’ll get the poles. You pack up the rest of the lunch.”

It was then, when Alex turned to fold up the picnic blanket, that she saw it. Or rather, saw
him
. Right at the edge of the trees, standing among a clump of wildflowers in the grass, was a tiny man, less than a foot tall. Alex froze. She didn’t take her eyes off the little man. He was looking right back at her, not moving. She noticed that he was wearing all green, the same green as the grass, and had on a hat of just the same purple as the flowers. In fact, he blended in so perfectly that she wouldn’t have seen him at all if it hadn’t been for his eyes. They were a light gold and gleamed in the reflected light from the creek.

“Ready?”

Alex jumped at her dad’s hand on her shoulder. She looked back toward the little man, but there was nothing. Just a clump of flowers. She shook herself. This headache was obviously worse than she thought. Alex continued folding up the blanket and put it in the basket with the leftover food.

When she straightened up, there he was again, in another clump of flowers closer to the creek this time.

“Dad, look at that!” She grabbed his arm and pointed.

“At what? The flowers?”

“In the flowers…that little guy!”

“What little guy?”

She turned to him in disbelief. It was so close! How could he not see him? He was looking right where she was pointing. She turned back. The little man was gone again. Did she just imagine that? She narrowed her eyes and scanned the bank but couldn’t see anything. Suddenly her head was throbbing.

“I don’t see anyone, honey,” her dad was watching her closely. “Are you okay? That headache getting worse?”

“Yeah, I don’t feel very good. I thought I saw… Must have just been my eyes playing tricks on me.”

“Let’s get you home, baby.”

At home, Alex lay on the couch in the cool, dark family room. She couldn’t sleep, but it felt good to have her eyes closed. Without meaning to, she found herself thinking about the little man she thought she saw…and the unnatural brightness of the day…and the whispering trees last night…and the dreams about the wonderful story. It all led back to the strange book. She sat up.

The book was next to her bed upstairs. Alex picked it up and ran her hand over the cover. It was old and stained like she remembered, but now she noticed that the faded red leather was actually covered front and back with a lightly etched pattern, all swirls and curls, gold on the red background. She opened it again. On the first page where a title would normally be, there was just one word: SEE. She must have skipped over it last night.

Turning again to the story she had read the night before she was quickly lost again in the tale that felt more than ever like it was happening all around her.

…an invisible hand halts the brothers, pain floods their limbs…the white face, the yellow eyes, the low sweet voice, the sorcerer!...

hand in hand and back to back, the brothers encircle the jewel…the prophecy rings in their ears, ‘while the circle remains unbroken none shall enter there’…

a blue ring of fire springs up around the brothers, trapped!...and then the tempting… money, lands, fame, love, all shall go to the one who brings out the jewel…

who are these brothers anyway?...remember when? The stolen toy, the father’s love, the fight that came to blows, the girl with the golden braids…hearts full of confusion, the brothers look away, but do not let go…those words, those insidious words, they won’t leave their heads, remember, remember, you never received what you deserved, now is your time, see, he cannot even look you in the eye…

the grip begins to weaken…

then the sweet voice falters, stops, the brothers look up, the king! The king!...

white-faced, weakened, but with sword raised, the king descends upon the sorcerer, calling aloud the words of the prophecy…gendel sea! Gendel sea!…

the brothers heads are cleared, their hearts turn to each other, hands grasp tightly, a song of joy shared on all tongues…

then a flash of light, the king falls, a ruby dagger in his chest…impossible! How can he be lost?!...

the brothers’ song falters, but the jewel’s light grows, a blazing royal light fills them as if from within, the song is renewed, but the ring of fire grows in response…

the king’s dying breath, a spell of power, unheard as the song rings joyfully out…

brothers’ feet joining with the soil, brothers’ hands entwining, brothers grow in strength and solidity…

a cry of recognition and rage escapes the sorcerer, his hurled spells to no avail…

where once had been a circle of brothers now a circle of trees, solidly planted, the jewel buried deep in the protected center…

the sorcerer flees as healing radiates from the circle…a kingdom renewed, a people restored, the wind plays a joyful song in the branches of the brothers’ circle…

gendel sea…gendel sea…

This time when it came to an end Alex felt a sudden and aching sense of loss. She wanted to read more. She turned the page to start the next chapter, but it was all nonsense, and no matter how many times she reread it and tried to figure it out, it remained impenetrable. 

In frustration, Alex dropped the book and climbed into bed, and the headache which had been forgotten in the delight of the story pounded back and kept her tossing and turning all night.

The next three days were spent mainly with her dad. True to form, he took her out for ice cream, beat her at Monopoly, and rented movies every night.

Alex continued to be plagued by headaches which were especially bad if she spent much time outside, but each day the headache was less intense. She also continued to see strange things, though nothing as strange as the tiny man. Twice she saw a rock move on its own power; the pond in the park reflected everything around it in colors that were completely different from the colors of the actual objects; and once she had seen a dark shadow when there was nothing to cast a shadow. That last one had given her a very unpleasant shiver.

It wasn’t just new things, either. She began to notice unexpected details about places that she had thought she knew very well. For example, the elaborately carved façade on the old Stokes mansion, which she had always been fascinated with, suddenly had sculptures on it that she could not remember having seen before. And was that statue on the courthouse lawn actually smirking?

Every night before bed, Alex found herself drawn to the book to read and reread the beautiful story. It continued to amaze and delight her. Each new reading evoked some new emotion. Sometimes she felt overwhelmed by sadness, other times a bubble of laughter came to her lips; at times she was bursting with pride and suppressed excitement, at others she felt a burning shame.

On the fourth day, Alex woke up to find that her dad had retreated to his studio once more. She automatically picked up the book to begin reading again, but today it felt flat. Idly turning the pages, her eyes were drawn to the ending. She just had to close her eyes and she could see in her mind exactly what the trees looked like, hear the soft breeze in the branches, smell the pungent earthy scent. Suddenly her eyes flew open. She knew why that place felt so familiar. And she knew what she was going to do today.

The trees were exactly as Alex had remembered them. Just at the edge of town, behind the Super-Mart, was an empty field. And at the far side of that field eight slender aspen trees formed a perfect circle.

Alex paused, surprised by a sudden rush of joy. These were the trees from the story.

True, in some part of her mind, she knew that her brain had just supplied the image of these trees, which she had seen hundreds of times, when the book had mentioned a circle of trees. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that the story had been about
these
trees.

And anyway, the book hadn’t said anything about a circle of trees. It had only said a bunch of nonsense words that made her think of a circle of trees. The whole thing made no sense, but Alex didn’t care. She was excited about her discovery.

Alex walked across the field toward the circle with a prickly sense of anticipation. What was she going to find in the circle? She had felt, still felt, that she had to come here. That this was the next step. The next step of what, she had no idea.