by Yossi Soika
I had questions on the tip of my tongue and I could hardly stop myself from barraging Da Costa with questions; however curiosity dammed my unrestrained tongue. Melanie too, contrary to her usual conduct, dared not release even the slightest question.
She too was eager to have a glimpse into the recesses of the New World, and only whispered slyly, “I’m so anxious to know what the Third World is!”
“Please board your Hydrofoilner, and off we go!” exclaimed Da Costa in an authoritative voice. A minute later we hovered above the plant and then we glided over the city on our way far toward the horizon. The tension climbed high, and even in our wildest dreams we would never have been able to picture the destiny of our journey. What are we going to see? Why is this place named The Third World? Why does it have so few visitors? Is it dangerous? Is there something in it which I have never seen before? I must restrain myself, I constantly reiterated to myself.
After a long hour of gliding over many fields and villages, we began to land slowly in a small grove that was mounted on a high hill. After dismounting from the Hydrofoilner, Mr. Da Costa strode through the grove at a vigorous pace. Melanie offered me her hand and together we strode with much verve, following the fast-paced footsteps of our host. After five minutes of strenuous walking, we spotted a building that was half hidden by the thick vegetation. Da Costa froze in his place, drew three black hoods out from his backpack and ordered us to put on the hoods that covered us from the top of our heads to our necks. An awful stench wafted from the hood, and I thought to remove it from my face.
“I want to warn you once and for all. I’m aware of the awful smell of the hood, but you must not remove it; without the hood we can’t visit the Third World. Removing the hood from your head may result in a calamity, and when I say calamity I mean mortal danger. You are of course allowed to regret it.”
“I am not afraid and I’m not going to give up the chance to visit the Third World,” I asserted confidently. Melanie searched my face at length, her face became pale and she whispered, “Yes, I too want to enter.”
A brief smile passed Da Costa’s face and he said, “I’m glad to see that you are really not afraid of your encountering a strange and difficult world. I have no doubt that you’ll never forget this visit.”
Shortly afterwards we stood at the entrance to the building. A green glass door blocked our way to the Third World.
What shall we do now, I wondered to myself and I received the answer a moment later. Mr. Da Costa continued to march through the door as if it were merely air. Melanie and I froze again in our tracks and gazed with marvel at this extraordinary act of magic.
“What are you waiting for, my learned friends? Please enter the Third World! You are wearing hoods that allow you to enter easily.”
Having heard those words, I grabbed Melanie’s hand in mine and pulled her toward the glass door. For a second I really felt like I was going to smash my head against the thick glass door, but marvelously we were able to walk though it and we felt nothing.
“That was really weird. How did we do that?” asked Melanie and examined herself again and again.
Mr. Da Costa signaled to us to draw nearer. “Listen well, my learned friends. We are about to descend to the depth of this horrible world, and remember not to remove your hoods, until after we touch down and land on the ground.”
As he stopped speaking the floor moved very quickly and sank below us. Suddenly I felt a great pressure in my ears, like my eardrums were about to burst, but a moment later the pressure abated.
“You are allowed to remove your hoods,” Mr. Da Costa said, “keep them until we ascend and return to the Land of the Ten Tribes.”
“What was that pressure? Why did we have to wear the hoods?”
“Okay, my inquisitive friend. We just went through enormous pressures and passed a severely poisonous wall of gas. Both the great pressure and the gas prevent the Sons of the Third World from ascending and penetrating the Land of the Ten Tribes; however a handful of scientists of the Ten Tribes, has dared to go down into this horrible place.” When I asked which people live in this place Mr. Da Costa only pointed to his closed mouth and whispered, “In this place it is forbidden to speak out loud; it is possible to hear slightest noise.”
Then he offered us two black pendants and asked that we should wear them.
“They will make you invisible and invulnerable. They blur the Sons of the Third World’s sight; yet it’s still very easy for them to hear your voice. That is why you must lower your voice until our visit here is completed.”
Mr. Da Costa wore the pendant, pushed his hood into his trouser pocket, marched toward a high hill which was not far away.
“Mark my words and notice the great similarities between the Third’s and the Ten Tribes’ worlds—here too you have artificial light and sky; however the vegetation here is thicker and you can find here extensive groves. In these forests live the miserable creatures, Sons of the Third World, which we are going to visit.”
The landscape that emerged in front of us was a breathtaking, enchanted forest that looked like it was straight out of some fairytale. There were red, blue, yellow, white trees and countless other incredible and unimaginable shades.
“It’s beautiful!” Melanie raised her voice in astonishment, “It’s simply incredible! Even in my wildest dreams I could not have believed I would see such beauty!”
“Young lady, please, I repeat – don’t speak too loud, and you’ll soon understand why.”
“Mr. Da Costa,” I whispered stirring with excitement, “I see something absolutely crazy – how is it possible?”
“What exactly do you see?” he replied.
“Over there, at the right side of the forest! I can see moving trees! How is that possible?”
“They really do. Rather than just swaying, they can stomp and think, emit noises, and even shriek under times of emergency or stress.”
“What?!” I burst into a mild panic, but our host hurriedly shut my mouth and again presented his demand to restrain my overreactions.
“Don’t forget, my learned friend. There is a real danger that your screams might be overheard and then you’ll be hunted by creatures of the Third World.”
Suddenly the trees stopped their motion, as if they were possessed. Mr. Da Costa signaled to us demandingly that we avoid talking or moving. We stood like that for a while and didn’t budge an inch until the trees resumed their movement. Mr. Da Costa nudged us with his hand and we continued to march following in his footsteps. It was the strangest thing to look at a tree pulling its extremely odd, indented roots out of the ground, reaching out with its roots to step onward, similar to a human step… this bizarre scene froze our blood; however Mr. Da Costa firmly held our hands in his, and very carefully steered us among the moving trees.
I heard the sound of flapping wings behind me, and I turned my head around and again the blood froze in my veins. Mr. Da Costa was quick to support Melanie, who almost fell down dumbstruck. Three odd-looking creatures were gliding at a low altitude, at a touching distance over our heads, and the shrieks and screams they emitted reminded me of the calls of someone who is in distress. I raised my head and inspected them with curiosity mixed with panic. They had human-like faces but bird-like feet.
At their horrendous visage I felt somewhat sick, but Mr. Da Costa drove away my disgust by saying, “You must hold on,” and he whispered, “don’t forget that you are invisible.”
“I’ll feel better in a wink,” I whispered back.
Mr. Da Costa pulled out a tiny bottle and sprinkled something on our faces. All at once I recovered as if I was waking from a frantic dream.
“What were those terrible creatures?” asked Melanie, excitedly.
“Nothing happened. Let’s go. Do you feel regret?” Da Costa asked us, “Would you like to leave this land and go back to the Land of the Ten Trib
es?”
Melanie peered at me, and I whispered in her ear in return that instead of retreating we must go further. If we had made it all the way to here we mustn’t stop. Although I feared what was to come I wasn’t willing to give up yet.
After wavering a little Melanie finally said, “I’m not willing to give up either; I must go on.”
“From now on we are going to move through a path where you must not utter or whisper a word. The beings here have an extremely well-developed sense of hearing. If you insist on asking anything, just wait until we leave this forest.”
Mr. Da Costa took Melanie’s hand and stepped very carefully through the trees of the forest, and after a long hike we left the forest behind us and came to a vast lake with many fruit trees and meadows on its banks.
“You are now allowed to take a rest and converse quietly,” Mr. Da Costa whispered. Without even responding, from our intense weariness and stress we sank down next to him. A minute later I was already sound asleep. The sound of flapping wings awakened me from my sleep. After I raised my head, I noticed a flock of winged creatures flying slowly in my direction. For a while I feared what would happen next, but the flock just continued on its way. I detected them easily – they were giant winged turtles. Aside from their immensely huge wings, what shocked me most was their human heads that emerged from out of their shells. A shiver ran down my spine but I immediately recovered my wits when I remembered that they couldn’t see me.
I can see without being seen, I chanted again and again, there is no danger, no danger… But what is this place? What a horrendous spectacle– a human being trapped in a bulky animal body.
Two feet from where I sat Melanie was resting on her side, sound asleep. Mr. Da Costa! Where is Mr. Da Costa? I stretched out my folded legs, and looked around me but couldn’t find a trace of him. Forgetting my fears, I started to call out his name and my rage surged in me, but with no avail.
At the sound of my roars Melanie woke up, rubbed her eyes and asked in a sleepy voice, “What happened? Why are you irritated? What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh, nothing really happened,” I said slightly baffled by my surging rage. “I believe Mr. Da Costa used the time that we were sleeping and went to explore somewhere not far from us.”
“He’ll probably be back soon. There’s nothing to be worried about. Right now I’m not worrying about Mr. Da Costa; I’m dead hungry and my stomach is rumbling like a hen laying eggs, and that’s a sign that I must eat.”
“What’s the problem? There are plenty of fruit trees around, and we don’t have to pay. I’ll pick whatever you want.”
A short distance away I saw a huge tree overloaded with fruits. I hopped onto my feet and leaped to it with relief, reached out to pick one of them, but to my great surprise the fruit would not yield, though I used a lot of force. Although the fruit stretched like rubber it returned to where it had been. I repeated my efforts but it wouldn’t be picked and instead it retracted to its former place. I left the supple fruit and approached another tree that stood close by. Like the first one it also stretched along in the shape of a thin noodle and then retracted to its former shape. I turned around to Melanie and told her about the elastic fruit.
“I don’t understand you. Why don’t you use your famous pocketknife to cut the fruit?” she said chuckling. “I’m so hungry that I could eat roots.”
I must admit that I was a bit embarrassed by her practical tip. Then I turned around back to the tree and cut the stretching fruit easily. It was somewhat bigger than an apple, with a reddish-brown shade. I sniffed it but it had no smell at all. I cut three more of these fruits and went back to Melanie who stood near the shore of the lake washing her face.
“How sweet of you! I admire you!” she whispered when she saw me holding the plundered fruits.
“My sole desire is to make you happy,” I replied, rolling my eyes like a jester. After washing my hands I tried the fruit and took a small bite. And now, my friends, try to picture to yourselves what it feels like to munch into a tennis ball. Again I drew my pocketknife from my pocket, and cut the fruit to thin slices. Its interior was white and it was redolent of a honey-like smell. Now I carefully took another bite from its interior that was as smooth as butter. Very soon we had consumed a large amount of the rubbery fruit.
“Why hasn’t Mr. Da Costa come back yet?” Melanie whispered in my ear, still a slice of the fruit stuck between her teeth. “A minute ago he was here. What happened while we were napping? Perhaps he is nearby exploring the area?”
“There is nothing to worry about,” I replied curtly, but a weighing and portending fear had started to creep into my heart.
The Wait
“This fruit is strange but its flavor is mild and delicious,” Melanie remarked after she finished eating the sweet rubbery fruit.
“Melanie, it’s time to take a short stroll around the lake.”
She gave me her hand and I pulled her gently and helped her stand to her feet.
“Leafless and strange-looking tree but it has excellent fruit,” she said and wiped her mouth. “The weird fruit is really excellent,” she praised its good flavor again. For a long time we strolled along the lake until we arrived at a small waterfall that cascaded from a low hill down to the lake.
“Water! Just in time!” Melanie remarked and quickly scooped large quantities from the clear stream. I also bent down and drank a fairly big sip.
“This water has a strange smell.”
“You are right,” Melanie repeated my words, “strange smell… strange smell…””When I’m thirsty, I don’t care about taste and smell,” I mentioned nonchalantly.
“We must not stray away from here. Mr. Da Costa may come back. He might return in a minute and if he doesn’t find us he will be terribly worried.”
Indeed, I thought, there is something to that, and we made our way back. Coincidently we heard a sound of flapping wings. Melanie quickly clung to me, whispering, “Dan, I’m scared; I’m trembling…” And, indeed, a short distance from us, a massive flock of the Bird People glided past in slow motion. They held a sizeable creature that was going haywire and roared horribly trying to release itself from their grip.
“Melanie, look, how awful! The Bird People have caught a huge animal!”
She lifted her head and lowered it quickly.
“That’s terrible! I cannot bear to look at such a terrible sight! Let’s go back to the Land of the Ten Tribes. Mr. Da Costa is probably waiting for us to return.”
The Bird People swiveled not far from where we stood, and after circling for a while they landed on the ground.
“Melanie, please, we have a once-in-a-life-time chance to see something which is completely different and unique.”
“No, I don’t want to watch these horrible monsters. I’m scared, all I want is to go back. Certainly, Mr. Da Costa is waiting for us to come back. Please leave these horrible monsters alone.”
“I must take a close look at them. I’m dying of curiosity.”
“You are free to do as you wish. I’m waiting for you here. Take a short look, and come back immediately.”
“Please wait and I’ll be back in a moment. You can’t miss such a sight. It’s the chance of my lifetime to see such a scene,” I concluded and rushed to their landing spot.
Soon afterwards I was able to watch the flock of Bird People standing around a beast that looked like a sheep. With great caution, on my tiptoes, I got closer until I stood at a distance of about 20 feet from them.
I could easily count about ten Bird People around the sheep. Suddenly they all started shrieking loudly, jumping in dance movements around the sheep. Now I could see them clearly, they were about six and a half feet tall, creatures covered with thin, hairy fur and with two prominent large wings on their backs. But the strangest thing of all was their two human arms protruding from the flanks of their bodies.
Unbelievably so, there was something even more strange about them – a monumentally long sword that girded their waists. I can’t explain it but I didn’t feel any fear of these odd ogres.
“That’s incredible!” a cry of excitement heaved from my mouth. At this sound the Bird People froze in place, stretched their heads and searched for their hidden enemy. What a mistake, I thought, Perhaps they cannot see me, but they certainly heard me. Suddenly, I heard a loud squeal, and the flock of the Bird People leaped into the air and started to swirl around. Surely, they are looking for whatever caused the noise I thought, and indeed, after moving in circles above my head they resumed their fantastic dance around the big sheep-like beast. Suddenly they ceased their movement. Now I was able to get a look at the sheep in the middle of their circle and I immediately drew back – it wasn’t exactly a sheep… four human feet stuck out from the beast’s body. I was so thrilled and amazed by my new discovery, but before I had time to calm down, one of the Bird People, who had a white beard and thick mustache, stepped into the middle of the circle. He pulled out the sword from its sheath, and in one blow beheaded the sheep. Green blood splattered all over the place, the sheep collapsed and fell to the ground. I was quick to block the cry about to escape me.
The scene was horrendous. As soon as the sheep fell down, the Bird People embarked with a wild dance and accelerated its rhythm while emitting from their mouths various strange yells, and then they started to fly up in the air in scattered manner. What are they going to do next? I wondered, and soon I got my answer. I saw the Bird People returning, holding dry twigs. You can surely imagine what is going to happen next, I thought to myself, and indeed I saw one of the Bird People scratching a rounded twig threaded into a tiny hole of a thick trunk of a tree. Quickly afterwards, smoke started to stir up from it. Oh my! a thought raced in my mind, Melanie! and soon I started at a quick pace toward the place where she sat.
