Never come down!
If we had a whole bunch of rules, this one was by far the most important. The only one I heard every day. Several times a day, I should say.
"It's very dangerous down there!" Salina, our educator, told us throughout our childhood. Why do you think the guards go to such lengths to keep us here?
In truth, none of us knew, but no one had ever dared to ask him. Finally Yes. Once I asked:
- Why?
The rest of the children looked at me with admiring eyes. Finally, we would know. Finally, one of us raised his hand and asked this question that was burning everyone's lips. The disappointment exceeded our expectations.
"To protect you!" Come on, Celia, she replied.
- But of what? I then insisted.
My tone might have been a tad too familiar, or too insistent, hard to tell. Saliana stared at me for a moment, a lock of brown tucking right into the vertical crease of her forehead. When she looked at you like that, it was a bad sign. And, like a conditioned reflex, the ten children we represented had sunk their heads Into their shoulders. But I wanted my answer, so I waited for her to give It to me holding her cantankerous gaze.
- Of all! And now let's get back…
The subject she chose to address next did not leave an impression on me.
It was the only time we had broached the subject so directly. By this time, I had attended my eleventh or twelfth ritual and was still living with Vernor, my only true friend. Since then, time had passed and none of us had been able to learn more about these dangers that threatened us. However, we have had several confirmations of the Importance of respecting the rule. Some adults, especially among the guards, disappeared below, never reappearing on the territory. This was also the case with a child who was a little too curious. I was very young at the time and had not witnessed the scene. This future guardian had tried to venture into the lower floors alone and had never returned. Rumor has It that only one arm was found.
When I asked my mother, the madwoman of the tribe, I didn't get much more of an answer. The truth was, she didn't know what was down there any more than I did. She was already having so much trouble remembering who she was…
She was sometimes called the madwoman of the tribe, even now. Yet she hadn't quite been. Let's say above all that understanding it had sometimes been a real challenge. Gardos, our chief, had told me that we had been found one day, clinging to the trunk of a ceiba, on the outskirts of our territory. She was unconscious and I was twittering. No one knew where we came from. And even when I asked how we had been able to cling to the trunk of a tree, no one could answer me. Our territory was located so high In the branches that we could not see the ground. How could someone – or something – have dropped us off there?
My mother's memory had always been, to say the least, faulty. Sometimes she remembered a snippet of an event. Most of the time, It didn't make sense and, by the way, this ridiculous nickname had been given to him.
Like my mother, I had my nickname. Less distressing, however: is the blue one. I happened to like being called that… most of the time. I was proud of my sky-colored eyes, after all. Proud to not be quite like everyone else. No one felt the slightest curiosity for the outside world, for what could be discovered and explored beyond the limits of our territory. Or down…
I didn't remember anything other than our tribe. I was not yet speaking when we were discovered. But I came from elsewhere. I was not one of them!
Physically, we were Identical: two legs, two arms, a nose, a mouth, two ears, heavy black hair… So I was Indeed a Senir, too. Only my blue eyes set me apart. It made me a stranger. And one day, I will go on an adventure, and discover this world where I certainly came from. In a very short time, I thought, counting the few days that still separated me from my seventeen rituals.
"And you think that, as If by magic, that day, the council of the tribe will allow you to leave the territory?"
Vernor. The only Senir I knew I could rely on at all times. Except when It was a question of foreseeing my departure.
"Listen," I would reply every time we had this discussion. I'm going to pass the ritual this time. This is the moment when you choose your path. I choose to leave.
— Except that you have the choice between Guardian, Watcher, Educator, or Cultivator. Nothing more.
- But none of that interests me! I want to live, visit the rest of the forest, go to the big water…
"You're mad like your mother, actually," my friend scoffed.
"And you, stubborn as a Senior!" I objected.
- You are one too, I remind you. Whatever you think.
I looked at him with evil eyes. The scene froze for a moment and we burst out laughing. He was right: I was as stubborn as he was. That's why I knew I would eventually leave this place.
My days had always been the same since my arrival. Never the slightest change, or so little. I got up and still ate the same Quelbrass. Sometimes boiled, sometimes grilled, sometimes ground into a porridge, sometimes Into a soup, with pieces. In flower season, we had a bit of color and slightly different flavors depending on the variety. It wasn't that It wasn't good, but after a lifetime, however short, of always eating the same plant, I dreamed of a change. It seemed like I was the only one.
After the Quelbrass breakfast, I joined Saliana, our educator. I hadn't inherited the worst. To tell the truth, she was quite kind and patient with the children. But after a few rituals, his teachings no longer interested me. This time, however, I was not the only one to feel the weariness of our daily meetings. The emancipation approach made everyone the same. But for quite different reasons. While most were impatient to start their adult life in one of our castes, I only dreamed of leaving the territory.
Lately, Vernor and I only saw her once every five or six days. She had the difficult task of educating all the children of the tribe. Vernor and I were the oldest. It was our age that had brought us together from the start. Rare were the children to have a friend born at the same time as them. Our tribe was not very large and the children were few. Salina, one of only two educators, took care of all of us at the same time. Elona was seconding her and would replace her soon. Between them, they taught everything there was to know to a dozen children. The little ones learned cleanliness and language, then it was the turn of the organization of the tribe and the functions of each. Gradually the roles of adults were explained to us and we had to choose which caste we wanted to go to. As I wanted nothing, Saliana had chosen for me: farmer. I was going to spend the rest of my life growing, harvesting, and brewing the different kinds of Quelbrass. This made me want to leave our territory even more.