Eden

by Janelle Stalder

  After they ate, Aiden went up to his bedroom and hid from the rest of his family. He was exhausted from the day’s chores, and looked at his bed with longing. He still had too much homework to do, though, so sleep would have to wait. Turning on his computer, he waited while the thing booted up. Ethan chatted to him while he worked, and before he knew it, it was already ten. Letting out a long yawn, he told Ethan they’d talk tomorrow and shut down the computer. Walking down the stairs toward the bathroom, he passed by Eddie’s room and saw her standing in the crib.

  “Why, hello, little one.” He smiled, entering the bedroom. She smiled back, reaching up for him to grab her. “It’s bedtime,” he said quietly, lifting her into his arms. Sitting on the rocking chair that sat in a corner of her room, he picked up a book that lay beside it and started to read to her as they rocked. Eddie sat contently in his lap as he read, resting the back of her head against his chest.

  “What’s going on in here?” he heard his mother say. He looked up to see her standing in the doorway.

  “Just a quick bedtime story,” he answered, smiling.

  “Sucker,” she said. “Looks like she knows who’s wrapped around her finger.” He shrugged, knowing it was the truth. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for his sister. He finished reading and then passed her off to their mother, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead. Heading toward the bathroom, he wondered what it must be like to be a baby. Everything was done for you. There were no responsibilities, no problems at that age. How nice it must be, he thought.

  Climbing back up to the attic, he called out a quick goodnight to his parents before shutting the door.

  “See you in the morning, buddy,” his dad replied.

  “Love you,” added his mom.

  He crawled into bed and immediately fell asleep.

  It didn’t last for long.

  As he lay in bed, his mind deep in sleep, there was a voice calling his name in the distance. At first he thought it was part of the dream, but something tugged at his conscious mind, and suddenly he found himself sitting up in bed, his covers lying next to it on the floor. He stared at the wall in front of him, trying to gather his wits, before he realized something had woken him up. Looking over at the clock, he saw it was midnight. Something about his room was off. He realized there was a ray of light coming through the small window on the side of his room, which lit up the whole space.

  “What the hell is that?” he asked out loud. Getting off the bed, he walked over to peer down to the side yard. At first he couldn’t see anything, the light practically blinding him. Then he realized someone was standing there, shining a light right at his room. Opening the window, he yelled down at the figure, but the person didn’t seem to hear him. Cursing, he left his room and headed outside. He was tired, and it got cold outside at night, but he had to tell the person where to go, so he or she would stop shining the damn light. Trying to be as quiet as he could, he crept down both sets of stairs, and went to the back patio doors that led off the kitchen. Making his way through the backyard, he wondered what kind of person found this type of prank funny. He certainly didn’t.

  As he rounded the corner, he saw the light was gone, but the figure still stood there.

  “Hey,” he called out. “Get out of here! What do you think you’re doing?” The person didn’t respond; instead, the figure continued to stand still, the head turning slightly toward him when he spoke. Feeling his anger rise, he stormed over to the person, ready to give him or her a piece of his mind. “Look, I don’t know if you think this is funny or something, but it’s not. Who do you think you are, pulling a prank like this?” As he came closer he saw it was a woman.

  She stood rigid, regarding him up and down as he approached. His voice seemed to fail him as he stood in front of her. Something was odd about her. She wore a long robe made of pure white that sparkled in the moonlight. She had long blonde hair, and her eyes seemed to look right through him. She still hadn’t spoken a word, but something about her made him uneasy.

  Finally, she smiled at him, making his face feel hot. Who was this woman?

  “My name is Diana,” she said, almost answering his thought. “I come from a land called Eden, and I’ve come to get you, Aiden.” She knew his name. Taking a step back, he looked around for other people hiding in a bush, ready to start laughing at him, or a camera focused on him to capture his reaction.

  “What kind of joke is this?” he asked, turning back to her. “Who are you?”

  “I told you who I am, Aiden. I am Diana, a witch from Eden, where the High King and High Priest have sent me to get you. You must come with me to Eden. It is where you will fulfil your life’s purpose.”

  Without warning, he began to laugh. In situations that were either exceptionally sad, or awkward, Aiden had the reaction of laughing. It was uncontrollable, and usually inappropriate. The woman, Diana apparently, didn’t seem to take offence, and simply waited for his laughter to subside.

  Taking a deep breath, he tried unsuccessfully to wipe the smile off his face. “You don’t expect me to believe this, do you?”

  “I realize you are only of the age of fifteen, but you must understand that there are things in this world bigger than the one you know. Within our worlds we coexist, in separate dimensions, but always side by side. It is very rare for anyone from Eden to cross over here, and almost unheard of for someone from here to come over to Eden, but now is the time for precedence to change. You must come with me—our world depends on it.” Her voice seemed to echo in the silence around them, and with each word Aiden grew more and more serious. She must be a local crazy, he thought, probably drunk or on drugs. Taking another step back toward the house, he started to get his father. He would know how to get rid of her.

  “Right, well, it is cold out here, so I’m just going to go inside and get a sweater, and then I’ll be right back out,” he lied, turning toward the doors.

  Aiden walked around to the back, where the patio door remained open. As he got closer, he could hear the woman speaking words that he couldn’t quite make out. He looked back at her, wondering what she was saying, and realized she was no longer speaking English. The language was foreign to him, but seemed to have a hypnotic effect. He stood rigid, and his mind started to feel blurry. Reaching out for the wall, he braced himself against it, feeling the sudden urge to throw up. He fell suddenly to his knees as the dizziness in his head became overpowering. All the while, the woman stood in the same spot, repeating the same chant over and over. Aiden tried to call out to her, but his words came out in a jumble. As the heaviness in his head increased, his eyes began to close, and darkness overtook him.

  The dream that followed was even more confusing. It felt like he was floating at first, and then almost flying. The feeling was so real, almost like the breeze flying by him was really there. He called out to someone, but heard only echoes. The world around him was a blur of colours, any distinction completely obscured. When he woke up he wondered what was going on with him. First, the dream with the strange lady in it, and then the flying dream.

  “I need to stop going on the computer before bed,” he said out loud. It must have been something he had seen or read before falling asleep that brought them on. The light in the room was dim. He wondered what time it was, or why his mom hadn’t been calling for him to wake up yet. The sun was clearly up, so it had to be mid-morning. Perhaps his mother had let him sleep in for once, forgetting that he was supposed to go back to school that day, he thought optimistically.

  Turning over to see what time it was, he found himself almost falling right off. The bed he lay on was much smaller than his, and there was no clock beside it like he had expected. Sitting straight up, he looked around in alarm at his surroundings. He wasn’t in his room. Panic began to set in, sweat building at his brow. The room he was in was small, and packed full of things. Plants hung from everywhere on the ceiling, and a large wood stove sat in the middle of the room. There was old, beat-up-looking furniture in one c
orner, and a small kitchen in the other, while the bed he sat on was situated way in the back. It must have been a small house, consisting of only this one room. He looked around for someone else, but it looked like he was alone.

  Slowly getting up, he went over to the front of the house, and peeked out the window that was beside the front door. His panic increased. He was in the middle of a forest. What forests were around his house that he could have gotten himself to? The trees were huge, blocking out most of the sunlight, except for a single ray that filled the tiny window. The grass outside was overgrown with wild flowers and weeds. It looked like the place was abandoned, except for himself. Trying to work up some courage, he opened the front door and walked outside. The air was mild, the sun high in the clear sky, with not one cloud in it. He took a deep breath in, trying to calm his nerves. There had to be a reasonable explanation as to how he had made his way there.

  “Good morning,” he heard a woman say. He turned to the right. The woman from his dreams came walking out of the darkness of the woods. “I wondered when you were finally going to wake up,” she commented, smiling.

  “Wh … Where am I?” he asked, backing up. Looking down, he realized he wore only his boxers and a T-shirt, making his face heat up in embarrassment.

  “You are in my home, in Eden.” I must still be dreaming, he thought to himself. He lifted his hand and smacked his face as hard as he could. The woman watched him curiously, but didn’t say a word while he tried to wake up. Nothing worked. He looked around again, not knowing what to make of his situation.

  “Are you finished?” the woman asked, finally breaking the painful silence.

  “Diana, was it?”

  “Yes,” she replied, smiling.

  “Well, Diana, I just woke up in some stranger’s house, which appears to be located in the middle of some godforsaken forest, not to mention that I’m now standing here in front of you in only my underwear, and I am fifteen years old with no idea where my family is. So, no, I’m not finished yet. I am clearly dreaming, and I need to find a way to wake myself up before I go completely insane.”

  All the while the witch stood watching him silently. He began to circle the clearing, cursing and kicking at the ground. “Aiden, please be still,” she yelled out finally. “Your behaviour is completely undignified. If you would just come inside my cabin, I will explain everything to you, although this time you must listen to me!”

  Aiden stopped where he was, and turned to look at her. He didn’t want to go back inside there with this crazy lady, but the forest around them scared him even more. He wasn’t good with directions, and would almost inevitably get lost. “Fine,” he said stubbornly.

  The ground was littered with large rocks, half buried in the earth, and half sticking out, so he kept finding himself tripping over them and almost falling on his face. As he stumbled back toward her, he heard a sound behind him that sounded almost like an animal. He turned to look, and fell back on his ass in fright. His throat tightened up so much that he couldn’t even scream out loud. There was a massive-looking warthog just outside of the clearing. Its hair was dark, matted looking, and his eyes were large and yellow. He was baring his teeth as his breath came out in short, loud puffs. They were large and sharp-looking, and Aiden could only but imagine what it would feel like to be bitten by them. He tried to back away from the animal by crawling backward toward the house.

  “Don’t worry,” Diana called out calmly. “He cannot enter.”

  Aiden stopped where he was and looked over his shoulder at her. She stood by the front door, looking at the thing as if it were a mere bird. “What do you mean, it cannot enter?” he asked in a high-pitched tone.

  “He cannot enter the clearing—it is protected by my magic. It is only spying on us.”

  “Sp … spying on us?” Before she spoke again, Aiden watched as she held out her hand and said a few words. Then a beam of light shot out of her palm and struck the beast before it could take off. The animal was dead instantly. Aiden still sat on the ground in shock, as he looked over at the animal, waiting to see if it would get up again.

  “You killed it!” he accused.

  “I’m sorry—I didn’t realize you felt sentimental toward the creature. Shall I bring it back, so that it can run off to the north and tell them that I have brought you here?”

  A chill ran up his spine. He looked back at her to see if she was joking. She stood by the door, her mouth tight in anger. Not a joke, he concluded. Spinning around, she walked into the house, leaving him outside alone with the dead animal. Looking around the clearing, he knew this was not Ontario anymore. Nowhere that he knew looked like this, and they certainly did not have animals like that where he was from. The idea of a separate universe was completely ridiculous—he was smarter than that—but if that were really true, how did one explain all this? The trees were real, as were the smells, the sounds, the rocks where he sat. How could something seem so real, but be a dream? Could it all mean that there was some truth to what this woman said? All the arguments went back and forth in his head. This was a dream … She was a figment of his imagination … Nothing like this could exist. There were always mysterious things about their lives, and everything here undoubtedly felt real, so maybe it was. His own mind couldn’t make a decision. Would he be a fool to believe it all? Perhaps if he knew more, Aiden concluded, maybe that would help him decide. He quickly got up and followed her in.

  “Please explain to me what is happening,” he said desperately.

  “I’ve been trying to do that all morning. Sit down while I make you some food; then I will explain everything.”

  Aiden sat on the old sofa as Diana worked quickly in the kitchen, making him something to eat. He was somewhat afraid to see what it was going to be, imagining that it would be boiled frogs, or baked rats. The cabin was weird, and after witnessing what she just did, he could only but believe that Diana really was some sort of witch. It was odd to think that, since he didn’t actually believe in witches, but any other explanation escaped him at that moment.

  “Here you go,” she said, bringing over a small plate that had steam rising from it. He braced himself, anticipating the contents. “Scrambled eggs and bacon.” He let out a sigh of relief, which immediately made her chuckle. “What did you think I was making for you?”

  He smiled sheepishly before stuffing his face with the food. His stomach was completely empty, and the warm food was welcoming.

  He could see Diana watching him eat. She seemed pleased to see him relax for the first time since they met. “I’ll explain everything to you while you eat,” she started. He nodded his head in response, and continued to eat.

  “Some years ago there was a High King named Elrond, who was loved by everyone in Eden. He was a just King, and very compassionate. Under his rule there was peace in the land of Eden.”

  “He was the King of this whole place?” Aiden asked between bites.

  Shaking her head, she corrected him. “No, the High King rules the Capital, located in central Eden. There are some smaller villages outside of the city walls that are also under his authority, but that is as far as it extends. Parts beyond the borders are ruled by the leaders located in those areas. There are the Riders in the west. The Chief of that tribe is named Hawk, and their lands are separated by the Glacier River and thick forests. That river runs all around central Eden, separating it from the other regions. The north is ruled by a man named Brutus the Red. His authority extends throughout the mountains and the villages on the base. The Glacier River runs down from his mountain. The Sand People in the east are separated by the Giants’ Hills.”

  “Why are they called that?” he interrupted again.

  “There is folklore in Eden that suggests there are giants buried under the hills. Apparently, they did not exist before, until the giants became extinct, so many believe they were buried there, and thus the hills were created.”

  Aiden choked on the mouthful of food he had been swallowing. “Giants? Like
, real giants?”

  Diana laughed at him. “There are many creatures here, which you probably thought to be found only in stories. As I said, they no longer roam our lands.”

  “That’s comforting,” he mumbled.

  “Shall I continue?” He nodded. “The lands on the other side of the hills are, as you might have guessed, all sand. The city there is made of low mud homes, and heavily guarded. Not many people go there, finding the conditions hard to sustain. The people there are very talented swordsmen, and they excel in their knowledge of poisons and magic. A great sorcerer who once ruled their land is named Aziz; he now resides in the mountains with Brutus. The man who rules the Sand People now is named Hakim, a very wise man. The river runs in front of the hills and continues down to the sea to the south. The sea there is called the Sea of Truth. Many people who seek our God and Goddess go there, and stories tell of the two coming to people who give themselves to the waves.”

  Aiden had stopped eating momentarily, finding himself interested in the tales she spun. “So what you’re suggesting is that people go there to kill themselves?”

  “I suppose, but here in Eden we don’t fear death quite like the people in your land. Death is just another journey for us—it is where we are finally with our God and Goddess.”

  “Right,” he said sceptically.

  “I’ll continue.” She smiled, ignoring his cynicism. “In the sea is an island. The people there are called the Sun People. They worship the God of wine, a figure not recognized throughout the rest of Eden. They are a wild group of individuals, their people filling their lives with drink, love, and recklessness. The leader there is named Markus, a man devoted to overindulgence. Although each region in Eden has its own leader, they all look up to the High King of the Capital, and therefore followed Elrond’s authority to an extent. It was a sad time in Eden when he passed, leaving every region in Eden mourning for his loss. Not only had we all lost a great leader amongst us, but now the lands were open to war, the hand that had held our peace now taken away from us.”