"He can't stay here ..."
"Who is it?"
"He came out of nowhere; he saved my life."
"I don't trust him the same."
"He doesn't look that bad."
Voices orbited, faintly glittering, around the man's sleeping consciousness. Man wrapped in sacred bandages. He was asleep in a black sea where he could barely breathe. Voices passed him from time to time, but he heard them faded, as if he were inside a glass dome. His body was there, the eyes of his conscience slept far away.
"There was a rope that reached up to the sky."
In the few moments of consciousness, he felt a black chasm in his chest, sinking deeper and deeper into himself, until it disappeared ...
Disappear ... Disappear ... Until ...
"Everyone was happy. Soon they wouldn't be afraid anymore."
Something pulled him to the surface. A stereotypical image, but that was what happened. The white voice of a child who spoke to him and observed him as if he were the person she cared about. He spoke and said unimportant phrases, which would be incomprehensible or boring even to an adult in the height of his lucidity.
"The magic rope carried me up to the light, and the words enveloped me until I spit all the fear out of my mouth."
But somehow, their shape morphed into a shiny cord within the chasm where the blindfolded man sank.
Chasm ... Chasm ... Gorgeous rope ... Gorgeous ...
"So, this was my dream ..."
The blindfolded man opened his eyes. The world remained grainy for a few moments, until he was able to delineate the contours and contents of the room in which he was. The man sat up suddenly, he was on a bed. The sudden gesture made him dizzy. He looked to his left, and there he saw something. The source of that voice was staring at him with wide eyes. A frail-looking child with white hair in a bob stood motionless in the middle of the room, her hands shaking slightly.
"What is ..."
As soon as she heard the voice of the man wrapped in the bandages, the little girl jumped back, and ran down the stairs in fright.
"Auntie! Auntie!"
Said the child, in a voice full of fear.
The blindfolded man could barely move now, the dizziness had gotten stronger, the room spun in a carousel of confusion and question marks.
Where I am?
This was the question that had the highest priority. The room was made of wood, and it was quite small, there was a small piece of furniture with drawers, a desk, and a mirror, not to mention the bed.
"A mirror...?"
It was a partially dirty mirror, with a lot of dust on the surface.
Can't the darkness come in here? Thought the man. Am I in promised oasis?
Interrupting his thoughts were the disruptive footsteps on the stairs that led to his room. Two men walked through the door, a middle-aged woman and the little girl who was protruding cautiously behind the woman's skirt.
"You're awake!"
Said one of the two men, a young boy with black hair who looked at him smiling.
"You slept for seven days. Are you hungry?"
Seven days ... No. I am not hungry.
The blindfolded man shook his head weakly.
"Seriously?! I would have died of starvation."
"Because you are human. He is not."
Said the other man, who wore a distrustful expression, and had old-age white hair.
"Don't start over!" The woman said.
The black-haired boy approached the blindfolded man, still with a smile on his face.
"It may be true, but without him I wouldn't be here."
He said, extending her hand to him.
"Do not touch it!" Shouted the old man. "You will surely contaminate yourself!"
The boy ignored the old man's words and continued to hold out his hand until the blindfolded timidly shook it.
"Where are you from?"
"I don't remember ... I walked a lot."
"Did you walk?"
"At some point my feet started walking for me."
Below the room was an inn, run by the middle-aged woman and the grumpy man.
"My name, however, is Oskah, and I am one of the leading Scouts of the city." The black-haired boy said as he enjoyed a glass of wine.
The blindfolded man said nothing, just nodded.
"And yours?"
"Dulkha. I believe ... My name and the archetypes of the surrounding world are the only things I remember."
Oskah made a sound of inner reflection, scratching his thin beard under his chin.
"What big words!"
While the two argued, they were pierced by the distrustful gaze of the old man, who was watching them from afar. The little girl was hidden behind one of the chairs, she still dared not approach the mysterious man.
"Drink something?" She asked the innkeeper.
Dulkha shook his head. "I'm not thirsty."
Oskah burst into laughter. "I don't drink because I'm thirsty!"
The innkeeper looked in the direction of the child.
"Fejha used to go up to your room every day. She stayed there and talked for hours, perhaps in the hope that you would wake up."
The little girl blushed, hiding behind the feet of the chair.
"Fejha ..." Dulkha whispered.
"It does mean: End and Beginning."
Fej (End) Ha (Beginning).
Eight years ago, someone knocked at one of the gates. There was a general uneasiness, it had to be a huge hand to make so much noise. One of the bravest explorers went to check. It turned out to be an egg the size of a man, with an unknown symbol drawn on the surface. None of the inhabitants wanted to welcome that kind of gift within the walls. Here they are all so peaceful, but their stillness stands on a very delicate thread. Anything from the outside is viewed with distrust, including you. The egg hatched by itself after a few seconds and revealed a baby girl. Her skin was pure, like her hair, and she seemed to glow with its own light. While most citizens thought that this was a subspecies of trap, I, with my husband, decided to adopt that baby. And now here it is.
Dulkha looked at the tavern counter thoughtfully, casting a fleeting glance at the little girl who flinched on impact.
"So, is the city free from the Grudge?"
The woman and Oskah nodded together. "Yes. This city has been impenetrable for a very long time. There have been very few accidents, almost all have caused damage on a small scale. Like the one a week ago ..." The boy lowered his eyes, which had become full of melancholy.
"Poor man ..." said the innkeeper with the same wave of sadness.
Nobody said anything for at least a minute. "Was he a good person?" Dulkha asked.
"He was the one who found little Fejha, who picked up the egg."
"As well as my favorite companion. Damn, he was a talker!
The ambience broke and the two bursts into laughter. The air was light again.
"I believe he's still talking in the grave!"
I did not know him. I can neither laugh nor cry properly.
"But how can you eat with those bandages on your face?" Fejha asked, who had cautiously approached Dulkha. He looked at her with a dead gaze. "I'm not hungry." He answered.
"And when do you have to drink?" "I do not drink." "And when you have to go to ..."
"Fejha, that's enough ..." Interrupted the innkeeper.
"So, you were a sleepwalker?" Oskah asked.
"I guess I'm. I have no memories of my life, in a personal way, I don't remember who I was before."
"Sleepwalkers are mysterious creatures. The old man, peace to his soul, once told me that sleepwalkers are like moving coffins, or cocoons without a true conscience ..."
Oskah finished the glass of wine with one last sip.
"... I don't understand much, but the old man, peace to his soul, he knew anything."
"Do you have to repeat it every time you mention it?"
"Yes. Does it bother you?"
Dulkha shook his head, his gaze impassive.
"No. Just curiosity."
[Approximate digression about Dulkha's nature]
Dulkha was an awakened one. The awakened ones are the final form, the awakening of a sleepwalker. While these, in the form of the cocoon, are completely covered by the sacred bandages and have the shape of a child, when they wake up the body takes the shape of the soul to which it belongs. When this happens, the impact with the soul and its carrier generates an explosion, and the weak bandages, which cannot withstand the energy of the explosion, fall off, disintegrate.
The number of sacred bandages still clinging to the body is proportional to the energy of the awakened one, therefore to his current power.
It has been theorized that the phenomenon of the explosions of the awakened is comparable to the impact of the
11/26/20.........….
"I'll show you the city."
Dulkha nodded.
The city of Anatolia was a set of villages, animated by the voices of people, markets and merchants, and kissed by an eternal sunset that sank into the sea.
"The town's trade is mostly based on fishing, but thanks to explorers like me who hunt or retrieve useful items or not, you can vary enough."
As the two walked through the low-rise buildings, forged in a style reminiscent of forgotten European architecture, the people who met their gaze immediately became gloomy. It was a mixture of acidity, distrust, fear, and curiosity. A whole not very pleasant to be absorbed in a single face.
"Take it easy. People here are afraid of everything that comes from outside, especially if they are not so humans. I'm not saying they are bad people, but in your case, I warned them, the whole city knows about your existence, it was inevitable. I talked about what you did out there. "
Oskah looked at the flat line of the sea. "But what are you going to do about it? It will take some time ..."
Dulkha was disoriented, more spiritually than physically. Everything around him was sudden, as if he had just been born, but at the same time he felt a familiar numbness in his chest.
"I don't blame them. Besides, I didn't do anything according to my will, until now."
Oskah turned puzzled to Dulkha. "Does that mean you weren't fully awake?" Dulkha shook his head.
"More than anything else, I was not completely aware of the environment around me. I felt myriads of words and information apparently unknown to me forcefully enter my mind. And all I could do was walk, walk, and walk, as long as I am arrived here. "
People avoided making eye contact with him, some of them closing their eyes or covering their faces with something. Still others wore masks made of paper or wood, like the protective masks of the old school of exorcists. They were afraid.
"I felt the energy escaping from my body for a long time, burning everything I encountered. I felt like I was being attracted somewhere, following a specific direction like a magnet."
Oskah scratched his thin beard under his chin.
"So ... could you come from the past?" "I have no idea."
The black-haired boy clicked his tongue in a bizarre and strangely liberating way.
"The important thing is that you are here now. You were lucky to find this place."
Dulkha looked into Oskah's eyes for a moment, with a question in mind.
"Do you never bring people from outside on your excursions?" Oskah shook his head firmly. "It is forbidden. The mayor does not want to have problems with overpopulation, or with external infections of any kind."
"I understand." "It happened that some explorers were infected by the radiations of the Grudge. In those cases, there is no way back. They left them out, to their fate."
Oskah picked up a licorice root and put it in his mouth, starting to chew.
"There was a time, five years ago, when an explorer was tainted with Grudge. No one knows how. They left him out and took him somewhere far enough from the city. The family was so shocked that they get out to join him. After a few days only his wife, mother and son came back, they wanted to get inside the city, again."
"They didn't let them back."
"That's right, they must have died of starvation or whatever, no one has seen them since."
Dulkha was silent for a while. He was walking without paying much attention to people's glances. He was already getting used to it. Instead, he looked at the buildings above his head. He noticed a very tall tower, possibly the tallest building in the city, with a large iron clock with pointed hands.
"A clock?" Oskah nodded.
"It is the clock tower; it helps us to have continuity in our actions."
"So, you count the time. Not everyone does it." The black-haired boy nodded again.
"We also have electricity. In fact, that clock is up and running perfectly. The ancients counted the time and the light changed according to the position of the hands, now it changes depending on position." Dulkha looked at the huge clock, sharpening his gaze he noticed a figure sitting on the edge of the tower.
"We have a generator plugged into the city, but the light has been freaking out for the last few months, so the mayor has asked us to check.
Oskah imitated himself holding his electrified club, also mimicking the sound of the ignition. Bzzzzzzzzz!
"You are always talking about your magic staff, Oskah."
A female voice broke the splendid imitation of Oskah playing himself.
"D-Division Chief!"
The division chief of the scout's team was a woman, blindfolded in a sacred bandage, suffering from a mysterious eye disease. The orbits charged with darkness, when exposed to light causes severe headaches and, in excessive conditions, can cause death or coma.
But she sees the same, all the time.
"He's the new one, I guess." Oskah nodded, "Affirmative! I'm giving him a tour of the city." The blindfolded woman stared at Dulkha for a few moments. He had the impression that she was peering down at him.
"You must know that we never welcome anyone here. There are very strict rules here in Anatolia, so consider yourself very lucky, because if it wasn't for your friend ..." The woman pointed to Oskah with her eyes "... you would be outside to rot. "
Dulkha listened with indecipherable eyes. "Clear?"
"Okay thanks."
"Be aware that if anything strange happens from now on, all the attention and blame will fall on you two."
Dulkha nodded, "I am aware of it."
"Well ... So ... Actually I was looking for you for something in particular, only now ..."
Oskah raised his hand like a schoolboy.
"Madam! I would like to ask if the mayor has said anything about him! Something new!"
"And don't scream, I'm here ..." The woman ran her hand through her short black hair thoughtfully. "Yes! Now I remember. Now that you have regained consciousness, you will have to find yourself an assignment within seven days. But the seven days have already passed, so I need an answer today."
Dulkha looked the division chief straight in his eyes.
"I will join the scout corps."
She said, without the slightest hesitation. A growing grimace of excitement formed on Oskah's face. "Good. I was hoping for this answer, honestly ..." "How come?" "Because there are fewer and fewer recruits and actual scouts. And we need an ace up our sleeve."
Oskah raised his hand again.
"If I may ask you ..." "There is no need for so much formality ..."
"Anyway ... Anyway ... I wanted to ask you the status of the expedition of the other day."
The woman hesitated for a few moments. "They have been devastated. Some are missing, others are dead, and there are several wounded."
The boy gasped and said nothing.
"We don't know for sure what attacked them. We haven't suffered such damage in years ... In any case, the mayor wants you to go and check the power plant. Now the malfunctions become unsustainable."
Oskah nodded decisively, Dulkha looked at the sea.
"One last thing ... If you see anything beyond your reach, don't hesitate to retreat." The woman was also looking at the sea now. "There is something strange. Something that interferes with the light of this city, and is closer than I thought ..."
"Are you okay, lady?" The woman turned, recovering from her trance of reflection. "Yes. I'm fine. I must go now. Tomorrow you will leave, rest enough. You will surely be more rested than everyone."
She finally said, referring to Dulkha.
The woman walked the straight path of the road, in the opposite direction to theirs. Her step was determined and concentrated, she gave the impression of always being alert. The boy named Oskah took an intense look at the man covered in the sacred bandages.
"Then?" "What?" "What do you think about it?" "About what?" "Her!" "Nothing."
"I want her to step on me."
"Alright."
"I want her to step on me with indifference, but aware of the fact that she is doing something exciting to me. Like a mistress."
"Ok."
"A mistress!"
"Ok."
The tour around the city continued. The two passed in front of the church in disuse for centuries but kept standing by several restorations. This was slightly decrepit and gave an authentic touch to the city.
"Here they once celebrated a cult, now forgotten. I don't remember its name. They worshiped a single god. In the past this temple was sacked, along with other areas of the city, when it was not yet what it is today. Now that god is dead… or something like that."
Later, they passed in front of numerous markets, furniture shops, or clothes shops. There were also several taverns.
Watches, money, markets, and friendships ... A desperate and clumsy game, in the need to retrace the streets of the past ease.
But now that ease is a momentary illusion. You can't always play the perfect city, isolating the shit that surround the dome you're locked in, as sooner or later it will hatch.
And the crash will shake the lands, seas, and sleeping souls.
"Oh, man, I forgot I have to do something ... Isn't it a problem if I leave you alone for a while?"
Dulkha shook his head.
"Sure? Perfect! You remember the street, right?"
"Yup."
"Great! See you later then."
Oskah ran off, shaking his hand up as he ran, and as he walked away, he became a speck among the thousand pretending. Dulkha was now alone.
He instinctively looked for the clock tower, it was the only point that strangely gave him familiarity. He could not find it right away. Trying to settle in between the tunnels and the somewhat similar streets, he always kept his gaze aloft.
1) To avoid the hostile glances of passers-by.
2) To identify the tower, as it was the tallest building.
Here she is. He protruded from the low roofs like a pleading arm.
The entrance door to the tower was not locked. It was reached through a narrow and difficult alley to follow. There was nobody. Sounds died, Dulkha's footsteps were the only thing that could be heard, along with the impenetrable silence. To get to the top you had to go up a spiral staircase, surrounded by unknown symbols and a slew of machinery that intersected until it reached the core.
The big clock.
His footsteps thundered and the sound of the gears was deafening. Finally at the top, waiting for him was a metal door, he opened it. Sitting on the edge of the tower there was still the figure who from before, observing the indefinite horizon of the sea, in its eternal sunset. She was a little girl, in a dark nightgown. On her head she wore a beret whose colors resembled a chessboard. The girl did not turn, even though Dulkha's presence was obvious. They both watched the light fall forever into the sea, and that vision, that tower, that moment, gave him a strong feeling in his chest.
The sensation was so strong it made him dizzy again, and he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling.
"Do you know how people die when they fall from towers or mountains?"
No, how do they die?
"I thought that they died from the impact, that they crashed to the ground like an egg and that at that moment their sight went black."
...
"But I later realized that if a person falls from a disproportionate height, he usually dies a few seconds after the fall. He dies of fear. I didn't know you could die of fear."
Me neither.
"Now you know."
Yeah.
...
Were you looking at me just before?
"When?"
Half an hour ago, you were watching me, when I was over there.
"No ... I don't think so. In truth, I don't see anyone now. The city is empty, and you can't hear anything."
What are you saying? There was an incredible noise until a few moments ago.
"Really? I don't feel anything. I don't see anything. Can you hear / see anything?"
I...
...
I think so ... But ... Wait ... Where did everyone go?
"I told you, didn't I? Nobody is here. Nobody is making noise. Nobody can hear us, and you can't hear them, because at this exact moment there is nobody."
…
"So, I won the bet."
What you mean?
"I bet you would come back here. Afternoons like this would never end. But I'm afraid you don't remember. It would be too good, too easy. Life is never too good or easy. I don't care much now."
Now I'm here.
"Now you are here. But you don't remember. But it doesn't matter, look at the horizon and soon you will be gone."
I look at the horizon. It seems like a dream. Have I always been in a dream? Or is it someone who is dreaming. And what will happen if that someone wake up?
"You are not in a dream. Dreams are also real. And existence is a long dream in which you can feel everything, but in truth there is nothing."
Yes, nothing.
The sunset continued. A warm wind blew, but Dulkha felt he was the only one in the world who can feel it. He felt he was alone in the whole world.
It is time to go home.