It had always been my only playground, like everyone else. Slats and planks of wood hung on the enormous branches of our Immense ceiba representing the limit of the territory. Footbridges joined one tree to another, sometimes ladders made It possible to go up or down a level, but never more. Our shelters were functional and protected us from the few rainy episodes, the wind, and the gazes of others sometimes. We slept there and ate there but spent most of our time outdoors. The younger ones were running on the catwalks without worrying about the altitude at which we were flying. The guards made their regular rounds and picked up the few curIous ones who wanted to show their courage and descended on a lower branch at the lowest level of our floor.
The guards were the only ones authorized to leave the territory. Yet they could only deviate from it by a few sights. About ten, if I remember correctly. Not enough to live a memorable excursion. They were also the only ones who had the option of descending. And none of those I knew had yet dared to do so for no other reason than curiosity. Vernor, who wanted so badly to join them, couldn't do much better, for sure. He claimed to want to defend the tribe against the creatures below, but they hadn't been seen In so long. The last one had been seen when I had seen my fourth ritual. I remembered with exceptional precision the atmosphere of that particular day.
The alarm had been given from the side of the depth, where the forest continues at several dozen views. Or so It was said. Nobody was authorized to go further, so it was difficult to confirm this information In my opinion. Impossible to reach the top of the Ceiba to check either. If the trunks of the trees were so wide that we had to join hands with a dozen to hope to go around them, the highest branches were far too fragile to support the weight of a Senior.
All the guards had rushed past our shelter. When I questioned my mother, she explained to me that the alarm signaled the presence of a monster. Everyone had gathered In the center of the territory. We were piled up on the wooden slats which had threatened to break under the concentrated weight of all the Inhabitants. There had been fear In the eyes of most of the children. Even In some adults. Not at my mad mother's house. Neither at my house. I had only one wish, that one of these creatures arrives to us To see a little change.
But nothing had happened. The guards had finally returned without seeing anything. Whoever had sounded the alarm had been mocked for a few days, then life had resumed Its normal course. Never again was a creature heard from around the territory. It was the only attraction worth seeing for the last sixteen rituals. Except for my mother's death, of course.
We all knew she was doomed, she had arrived sick and our healer had always been amazed to see her survive so long. To believe that It had disappointed him. I had hated this Senir ever since. He had kept an unhealthy smile on his face throughout the funeral ceremony. Glad to get rid of the madwoman, permanently. When he addressed me, very officially and in front of dozens of witnesses, his respects, I had read without any possible error In his eyes that he expected me to follow In the footsteps of my parent. He would be the only member of the council to agree to my leaving the tribe after all, I imagined.
- What are you still daydreaming about? Vernor called out to me suddenly.
I was planted there, on this old branch since hourglasses. I spent so much time there that the wood was hollowed out where I put my butt. Why had I chosen this particular thick branch? I didn't know. But on this side of the territory, opposite to the depth, the protective canopy opened up towards the distance. From there, we could discover another forest, at the foot of ours. Trees of ridiculous sizes, seen from here, the benibacs. And beyond this short carpet of greenery waving In the wind: the great water. Salina had once said that an old Senir had called this great endless expanse "the sea." It was wonderful. The water reflected the sun's rays In a thousand ways. Sometimes It sparkled like a thousand polished amber beads. Other times, the colors changed from powerful white to floral yellow or fiery red. It was the most beautiful thing I could contemplate here. At night, the spectacle was just as captivating.
That day, as the rain fell heavily on the large leaves that overhung us and partly protected us, the great water seemed to glow under a kind of cloudy fog. Even that was beautiful! And I did not doubt that the world beyond our territory held other magnificence. On the other hand, it was necessary to take the trouble to go and find them.
"Celia!" Vernor Insisted, perhaps for the third time.
- So! It's good I'm coming.
I straightened up and turned around to join him on the wooden slats. It was time for our chores. The last mandatory activity of the day. Today, since It was raining, our job was to check that the roofs of the grain shelters were in good condition. It would have been a shame not to be able to grow Quelbrass anymore.
"What if one day we couldn't grow anymore?" I threw at my friend by tightening two huge bluish leaves on top of the roof. What would we do?
"I don't know," Vernor admitted. I imagine the cultivators have some secret stash somewhere. In the worst case, we could plant the seeds that are In the hourglasses…
"Secret reserves?"
- Yes! I guess they wouldn't let the future of the tribe depend on two young Senir like us.
"You mean they don't trust us?"
The question seemed to surprise him. As If it were Inconceivable that any adult could trust us at all.
"It's the Quelbrass seed stash!" If we don't do our job right, It's the end of the tribe, Celia.
- You would not exaggerate a little bit, all the same?
"If you don't eat, you die. The math is simple. So no, I'm not exaggerating!
- You know, I then began In a tone of confidence. One day, I ate something other than Quelbrass.
- What?
I gave him my nastiest look In reserve. He was going to get us noticed.
- You do not want to lower a tone … or two!
- What ? he repeated with the same outraged look but, indeed, two tones lower.1
I couldn't suppress a small laugh. Vernor had a knack for defusing any situation In an instant with his facial expressions.
- And you ate what, then?
"A ceiba flower…" I murmured.
- But you're not well. The Ceiba provIdes us with our shelters. If you eat it, where will we live?
- Relax a little, I only ate a flower!
"Whole?"
Vernor was right to Insist, the flowers In question were the size of an eight-year-old child.1
- Yes! I couldn't leave a half-eaten flower lying around. But I ate it twice.1
— Crue?
- Yes.
- And it was good?
"Not really," I grimaced.
- Oh! You see!
- That is not the question! I haven't been sick. I'm not even dead, either. So this is proof that there are other edible things.
"For you, maybe…
I didn't like It at all when he spoke like the rest of the tribe and compared me to some kind of beast or monster.
"Don't start, Vernor. I'm not that different from you or anyone!
He looked down but didn't apologize for his insult.
"You're not quite like us, either. You are the only one born outside the territory. You're also the only one with blue eyes.
"I'm also the prettiest and the smartest, but that doesn't seem to strike you, though!"
I had spat out my line with a little too much violence, but this good-for-nothing knew that I didn't like him talking to me like that. I didn't care If others insulted me. But he was supposed to be my friend. My friend!
My only friend…
I abandoned him on the spot and jumped on the floor without looking back. I think the rain covered my tears. We had both been streaming for quite a while already, bustling about unprotected. But the problem with my blue eyes was that they tended to redden faster than the others when I cried. It was unlikely that he had noticed anything.
Luckily the grain wasn't stored far from my favorite perch. From a theoretical point of view, my branch was out of the territory. Vernor had never dared approach me when I sat there. He was way too respectful of the rules for that. I had only to ignore him to have peace when he came to apologize. My eyes were riveted on my favorite branch, however, I was surprised to hear his voice, a few seconds later again. He was tenacious today, I saw.
"Célia… You should look up and look at the big water…
It wasn't an apology. The tone was not there and the subject seemed very strange to me, all of a sudden. I was angry with him, I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of doing what he asked of me. Still, I was curious. Salina kept saying it would play tricks on me one of these days. Maybe she was right. Anyway, when Vernor insisted once more, I cracked up and looked towards the horizon.
There, behind the line separating the good weather from the rain, on the big water, there was something. The downpour made my vision from a distance blurrier than usual, but there was no doubt: something was floating on the water! Seen from here, It seemed tiny. Salina had taught me that the horizon on the big water was not as close as we thought. In that direction, one view was the equivalent of several hundred views In the forest. This floating thing must therefore have been much bigger than what we saw.
- What is that? Vernor asked, his voice suddenly sounding too close to me.
I turned around, troubled, and saw that he was right behind me, on my branch. My branch! He had just left the territory for the first time in his life. Something serious was happening right now, I finally realized!
Thinking about his question, I searched my memory. I knew what It was! Salina had told me about it when she mentioned the sea. It was like a kind of shelter. Like ours. But instead of being perched in the trees, It floated on the water. It was a legend, had specified the educator. That kind of thing couldn't exist, there was nothing that could survive on the big water. It was called…
It took me a few seconds to recover from this first shock of discovering a boat on the big water. Firstly, for most of us, these things only existed through legends, and for others, they didn't exist at all. If I belonged to the category of those who believed that ships, and all the other things one could hear about the sea, were true, to see one with my own eyes was still a strange phenomenon.
"Do you think we should tell the council?" Vernor asked, still close to my ear.
Come to think of It, it seems to me that we haven't stood this close to each other since my mother died… more than ten rituals ago. The tone of hIs voice didn't sound as usual. Neither remonstrance nor friendly mockery, yet It wasn't quite fear either. I had never heard that timbre from him and that was perhaps what worried me the most, In the end.
"The board will tell us we had a dream," I replied. No need to tell them about It.
We remained lost In our contemplation, fascinated, for a few more moments, before I realized that this was the chance of my life. The only one, for sure!
- I must go see him closer! I said then, suddenly very excited. If there are people In it, we will have proof that the sea is not so dangerous.
— It's not because reckless people have launched themselves Into the big water that It isn't dangerous…
- Move over, instead of playing the educator, I cried, bullying him so that he steps back and lets me extract myself from my mark soiled by his presence.
However, I didn't blame him for having finally dared to defy a prohibition by setting foot outside the territory. It was a great day! But the discovery of this boat was even more important.
"You can't go to the big water!"
- Why? I spat as I walked away towards the edge closest to the sea.
"Because it's out of territory!" What question! It is forbidden to descend, In addition. Under no circumstances, he Insisted, paraphrasing Saliana.
- I go!
I had tried to be as neutral as possible In giving him that last sentence. Immediately after, I took the step that even the guards had probably never taken: the one by which I fell half a sight under the floor of our territory. During my fall, I realized that I was embarking on a journey of no return. And I hadn't even said goodbye to my best friend.
The big branch that greeted me barely creaked and my feet as much as my knees told me that I had jumped from a little too high. But what did it matter then, I was finally going to experience the adventure I had been waiting for for so long!
Only…
When Vernor crashed close to me, I was overcome by a multitude of feelings at once. Most intense, however, was the joy of seeing him there.
- What are you doing here? I yelled in a low voice. You are breaking the rules.
I was scared! Whether he gets eaten by a wild beast, falls, or breaks a bone. On the other hand, I wanted to hug him, just for daring to jump all the way here. After all, it had taken him at least ten rituals to dare to set foot on a branch arm's length from the territory without permission. A place that no educator had ever asked me to leave, proof that my "disobedience" was tolerated In this specific case. This branch there was very far from our territory, in comparison…