Bearly Familiar

by Lilly Wilder

  Her finger was pointing at the well. Hyde stopped. He dared not take another step forward. Jesse did the same. The wind howled through Rene’s hair, dancing with it, twirling it around. A second later, it was gone. Nature went silent, as if it knew how important this moment was for them, especially for Rene.

  Rene walked over to it slowly. Dry leaves crunched beneath her feet, but she paid no attention to it. When she finally reached it, she rested her palms on the outer edge. It was cold to the touch, but she couldn’t pull away.

  “Be careful,” Hyde urged her.

  Rene swallowed heavily. She took a deep breath, trying to remember what her mother told her.

  Go home. Find the Sanziene well. Open the box.

  This had to be the place. There was an aura about it, that didn’t belong to this world. Before she even leaned in to see how deep this well was, she could swear that she heard howling, like someone yelling from the very depths of Hell.

  She turned around to Hyde and Jesse. They were standing two steps away from her.

  “What is it?” Hyde asked, immediately rushing to her side.

  He could sense that she was having second thoughts about this. She was scared, because she had no idea what would happen. She didn’t believe that her mother would send her somewhere dangerous, but this place was frightening.

  “We can just turn around and go back home,” Hyde assured her and Jesse nodded behind them. “You don’t have to prove anything, especially not to us.”

  “You don’t understand,” Rene sniveled, “I feel like I need to do this for myself. I need to find that box. I need to see what’s inside.”

  “If you feel that way, we’re behind you all the way,” Hyde pressed his hand gently on her shoulder.

  He could feel her trembling a little. He wanted to do this for her, so she didn’t have to, but that wasn’t how these things were done. She needed to find out on her own.

  Rene leaned in, and looked inside. All she could see was a dark, deep cavernous blackness that seemed endless.

  “I can’t see anything,” she lifted her head back up, and glanced at Hyde. “Am I supposed to see anything?”

  “I doubt it,” Hyde shook his head. “As far as I know, no one has ever gone in there and reached the bottom. Some people went in so deep that they couldn’t see daylight any longer and they would pull the rope that was attached to them, and signal the others to pull them up.”

  “How deep is it?” Rene wondered, frightened at the obscurity, which seemed so overbearing, as if it would spread out of the well and into the surrounding area.

  “No one knows,” Hyde replied. “Old people say it’s the entrance to Hell.”

  “So, why would my mother tell me to find the well which is considered to be the entrance to Hell?”

  Now, she was confused all over again. What kind of a place was this? Was it a place of good or a place of evil?

  “Maybe what you’re looking for isn’t in the well,” Jesse suddenly interjected, pointing at a nearby tree.

  “What do you mean?” she asked, looking in the same direction.

  “Look at the roots,” Jesse emphasized. “They’re heart shaped, intertwined, just like the story says.”

  “It can’t be,” Hyde shook his head.

  All three rushed over to the tree, inspecting it closely. Its roots were old, ancient looking. The tree itself resembled the tree underneath which the well lay, almost like they were mirror images. The branches gently swayed in the wind, which sent chills down Rene’s spine.

  “Is that what she meant?” she asked, her hand pressing against her chest where the pendant key lay hidden.

  “Maybe she wanted you to find what your father died to keep secret,” Hyde suddenly figured it all out.

  “What are you talking about?” Rene eyed him strangely.

  “Can’t you see?” he smiled. “That was what she wanted to tell us, before tragedy struck. Your father must have found the coins. And, being the good man that he was, he didn’t want Culore to find them, so he probably hid them here. I’m sure Culore threatened him to reveal the location of the coins, but I’m also sure that your father died as he lived, an honorable man, who vowed to keep the secret of the coins, preventing them from falling into the wrong hands.”

  Rene listened to this story, with tears in her eyes. It all made perfect sense finally.

  “That was also why your mother had to flee the country. She didn’t stay in the States because she loved it so much. She stayed for the same reason we escaped, to survive. She gave you the key, which she probably got from your father, but she didn’t tell you what it was for. I’m guessing she was waiting for the perfect moment, which never came, until that fateful day when we appeared in her room, and memories came flooding back.”

  “My sweet mother…” Rene sobbed, and Jesse rushed over to hug her.

  “We need to find that box,” Hyde urged them. “Don’t cry. There is no reason to cry. You come from a long line of people who gave their lives for what they believed. That speaks tons about who they were. Be proud of them, always.”

  “I will,” she wiped her tears with her sleeve. “Let’s find that box.”

  “I’ll run back to the village and get some shovels,” Jesse said, rushing back.

  Hyde and Rene remained hugging, in front of the old tree, waiting. Jesse returned in less than fifteen minutes, his face all red from running, carrying two shovels.

  “This is all I could get,” he explained apologetically. “They were looking at me all weird for asking them if they’d lend me some shovels, but after some silly explanations, they shrugged their shoulders and were like, OK.”

  “Not like I was going to dig anyway,” Rene joked, shaking her head.

  They all laughed. It felt good to laugh. They were all excited, their hearts full of enthusiasm and the endless possibilities that might open up before them.

  Smashing heavily into the muddy ground, the men began to dig fanatically around and underneath the roots. Each time they took out a little more dirt, the tree seemed to sway its branches, in silent protest. Rene watched the two men work, hopeful that they would find what they were looking for.

  After two hours of incessant digging, Jesse stopped and straightened out, wiping his forehead.

  “I’m beat,” he released a heavy sigh, holding his lower back with both his hands.

  “Me, too,” Hyde nodded, throwing away the shovel. “Looks like there’s nothing there.”

  All three gazed blankly into the empty hole that gaped at them, mocking their failure. The tree still stood there, victorious over time, over people, over them.

  “But, there has to be!” Rene shrieked, unable to believe that they’d come all this way and found nothing.

  “Maybe someone found it already. That was a long time ago,” Hyde offered a plausible explanation, raking his hair with his fingers, as he always did when he was short of an answer.

  “No, no, I can’t believe that,” Rene was still shaking her head in disbelief. “The box has to be here!”

  Hyde came from behind her, and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her on the neck. He could feel her body quivering, refusing to believe the truth that arose out of the empty hole.

  “I was sure…” she said, a little more silently, her voice trailing off.

  “Fuck!” Jesse shouted angrily, slamming his shovel against the tree, which suddenly released a hollow sound.

  Hyde and Rene immediately turned to face him.

  “What?” Jesse shrugged his shoulders. “I’m pissed, I did all this digging for nothing, and now…”

  “Shhh,” Hyde pressed his index finger onto his lips. “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?” Jesse asked.

  “The sound the tree made?” Hyde explained.

  “It sounded dull. So what?”

  “It didn’t sound dull, silly,” Rene smiled at him, “it sounded hollow. You know what that mean
s?”

  “It’s empty inside,” Hyde grinned.

  “And if it’s empty on the inside, then…”

  “Maybe there’s something inside!!” Hyde and Rene shouted at the same time.

  “You are a genius!” Rene rushed over to Jesse, grabbed his face in her palms and kissed him soundly on the cheek.

  Hyde grabbed the shovel and started hitting the bottom of the tree with it. After a few heavy blows, it started to crack. Slowly but surely, the crack was getting bigger and bigger, until finally Hyde kicked it with his heavy boot. His foot fell into the tree and he tried hard to set himself free.

  They helped him and once his foot was out, they were shocked to see that the tree was completely hollow on the inside. And there, at the very bottom, nestled cozily among the inside roots, a purple box lay, with a heart keyhole.

  “But, how is this possible?” Rene asked, taking a step back.

  The tree was healthy. Its branches were starting to blossom with green leaves, and it looked just like any other tree in the woods. And yet, it was completely hollow on the inside.

  “Haven’t you learned not to question these things?” Jesse grinned, pushing them aside and taking out the box. “Here,” he offered it to Rene.

  She hesitated a little, before she accepted it solemnly into her hands. It felt light, like she was holding nothing at all.

  “I’m scared,” she told them, with a weak smile on her face.

  “We’re here,” Hyde assured her. “If you want, open it. If you don’t want to open it, we’ll hide it somewhere, like your grandfather did.”

  Rene swallowed heavily as she got her key pendant from her necklace. Jesse helped unclasp it, then handed her over the key. It glistened in the soft sun, as the box lay expectantly in her other hand. She placed the key onto the hole, not pushing in yet.

  Anticipation was building up. The air was thick with curiosity. They all wanted to see what was inside, if the box really contained those famous coins that many had died for.

  Quickly, in one smooth motion, she pushed the key inside, and turned it clockwise, as if an invisible hand was guiding hers, and she opened it effortlessly. The lid popped open on its own, revealing a plush interior that seemed to defy the test of time. Shining like two golden Moons in the dark, they were looking at the legendary coins.

  “My gosh!” Rene gasped.

  Hyde felt his mouth suddenly get dry, while Jesse just stood there frozen in time and space. They all needed a few moments to realize what just happened. The whole Universe seemed to grow silent for one magical moment, aligning everything perfectly. This only lasted one second, and then, life as we all know it, continued.

  “Is this…” Rene started, but she couldn’t finish.

  “Yes,” Hyde released a sigh.

  “What do we do now?” Rene suddenly felt like the box she was holding was on fire.

  She wanted to get rid of it. She wasn’t looking for this kind of responsibility.

  “Well, you found it, it’s yours to do with it whatever you please,” Hyde told her solemnly.

  “What do you think I should do with it?” she asked, pleading for advice.

  “I don’t think we should tell you what to do,” Hyde shook his head, “it’s yours. It belonged to your grandfather. The key was passed down to your mother, and then to you. Lives have ended to keep this secret safe, to keep it from falling into the wrong hands, hands like Culore’s.”

  “So, you think we should hide it again?”

  “Jesse?” Hyde asked him. “You’ve been silent all this time. What do you think?”

  Jesse’s eyes were fixated on the coins. They were mesmerizing. Shiny and beautiful, they were the source of romance and love, but at the same time, the source of so much bloodshed and death. It was difficult to say whether the coins were a symbol of good or evil.

  “So many people died to keep this secret,” Jesse finally started talking. “And, as long as they exist, as long as they are hidden somewhere, people will keep looking for them, people will keep killing for them.”

  Rene looked down at the coins again. She remembered the beautiful story Hyde told her a long time ago. She remembered how she thought it was the most beautiful thing she ever heard. It took her only a second to realize what she needed to do. Smiling, she started walking towards the well.

  “Where are you going?” Hyde asked.

  Jesse had already guessed, and his smile was as broad as Rene’s. She walked slowly, one foot in front of the other, pressing the box against her beating heart. When she finally reached the well, she extended her arms, and held the box right above the opening of the well. Hyde and Jesse looked on.

  “This box doesn’t belong to me. These coins don’t belong to me. They belong to the same person who chose to give them back, and transport two loving souls to spend eternity together. Now, I am giving them back to him.”

  With those words, she dropped the box. A second later, it disappeared from her sight, right into the darkness. Rene wasn’t surprised that she didn’t hear any sound that might even resemble the box hitting the bottom.

  She turned to Hyde and Jesse, her heart filled with love and hope.

  “That was the right choice,” Hyde smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

  “We didn’t doubt you for one second,” Jesse smirked. “Now, how about we go back to our guest house and have some more of those cabbage rolls? All this excitement’s got me hungry!”

  Rene’s laughter echoed throughout the forest, and for a second, she thought she heard other voices joining in. Her entire family was laughing with her, happy that she made the right decision. Rene didn’t need those coins. They belonged to Charon, for a ride he so generously chose to gift to the two lovers.

  Hand in hand, the three lovers walked back to the guest house. Finally, Rene had what she always wanted: a life worth living.

  *****

  THE END

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