Wohie flipped the piece of paper over.
SAY THIS
I’m sorry Gatnom.
Forgive me, I will not do anything against Master Jared’s wishes.
“I’m sorry Gatnom. Forgive me. I will not do anything against Master Jared’s wishes,” said Will, lifelessly.
Gatnom stepped closer to Will. “We must obey,” he said quietly. “The war games start in three days. If we are forbidden to fight now, let us take our anger to the games. We will win our right to fight in this war.”
“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Wohie said. “I only want to see my brother and go home.”
“Ascena.” This was the first time Will had heard Gatnom call Wohie by her real name. “Don’t you see? Our home has been lost. The enemy knows exactly where we live. We have no home. Our only hope is to be accepted as a magi for the revolution.”
“I just want to see Seth.”
“He will be at the War-Games. You will see him then.”
Will couldn’t be quiet anymore. “Gatnom, how can you change your mind so quickly? Just like that?”
“I must; it is the order of Master Jared. He has raised me from a child. He’s right too, what would we do if we got there? How would we rescue them?”
“I don’t know, but we could at least try.”
Gatnom walked over to the window. The sun was setting, but you couldn’t tell because the sky was overcast and ugly. “Let’s get some sleep,” he said. “This day has been long and cruel.” Will couldn’t deny that, although he had slept for days, the emotions were draining.
Gatnom continued, staring into the distance. “Perhaps the King of All will grant us peace in the night. Will, you sleep on the couch upstairs, I’ll sleep on the floor besides you. Wohie, you can have this room.”
“No thanks Gat. I’m staying with you guys.”
“Wohie, we’re safe here. Don’t worry.”
“I don’t care. You’re the only family I have other than my brother, and I’m not leaving you.”
“We’re not going anywhere. You’ll sleep here tonight, understand?”
A few hours later Jabber flew in and perched on the window seal to sleep. Will and Gatnom slept on the floor, while Wohie snored from the couch beside them.
Seventeen
Three Different Similar Dreams
Inside, miles beyond their dancing eyelids, all three sleepers were in different places.
Gatnom found himself suddenly standing in a room just like the one he had fallen asleep in, except now the only furniture was a short table set on a raised circular platform. On the table was a thin sheet of glass that sparkled as glitter in the sun. It stood on its edge like a tiny window without a wall.
“Come,” said a voice.
Gatnom spun around to the short, big eared servant. He wasn’t wearing his hat, which made him look even shorter, and he seemed more relaxed than before, but still without even a hint of a smile. He stood by the table and stared at the sheet of sparkling glass standing on edge. As he did the sparkles began to multiply and group and grow, like a plant breaking through soil, until they took shape and settled into the full-sized form of a woman floating a foot above the piece of magic glass. Waves of new glitter fell from her into the flowing train of her dress, which waved up and down, as if under water.
The sparkly woman stared straight ahead, far above Gatnom. “Stranger, what is your name?” she asked. Her voice sounded like a wave on top of a wave on top of a wave. She held a smile while she spoke, much unlike Big-Ears who had turned and was now staring blankly at Gatnom.
“I am Gatnom, but it seems you may already know that.”
The lady nodded and turned to the short man. They seemed to speak to each other with their eyes.
“Come,” said the man again, motioning Gatnom to stand on the platform. He moved the little table, being sure not to knock the lady off balance as he set it off of the platform onto the level floor. Gatnom stepped onto the raised circle of scratched wood.
“Go,” the woman and man said together.
With that, Gatnom felt a sudden pull at his feet, then the platform plunged downwards at the speed of a falling star. It was like this one circle of floor had fallen from the bottom of the world.
“Float or fly will I!” Gatnom screamed as he shot both arms up like a superhero. The magic pulled upwards, but his feet stayed firmly planted to the platform. Everything wanted to fall slower. Gatnom’s cheeks floated up, his hair stood high, his hat nearly flew from his head, even his cloak reached up for help. Above, the light faded, then as abruptly as the fall had began it ended. Gatnom took the shock of the sudden stop by collapsing to one knee.
When he looked up he was in a room shaded with a strange blue hew. The walls were dark brown on one side, but directly ahead, as if built between two worlds, the dark brown dirt instantly, in a perfect line, changed into a beaming blue wall of water. It was like an aquarium, without the glass. Men and women with fins, fishes with smiles, and trees and houses went about their day to day business on the other side. Staring out from the water was the woman from the glass, but no longer was she made of sparkles, but rather beautiful pale skin. Long strands of her hair and material from her thin dress floated around her. To her side was a small table with a thin sheet of upright glass set upon it. Above the glass stood the small sparkly image of a short man with big ears.
At that moment a rumble shook the ground for ten seconds or so. Gatnom felt the vibration in his chest, until it subsided, but then after a short silence the rumble returned. In random intervals it came again and again. There was silence for a moment, then the roaring for a moment, then silence for a moment, then an even louder roaring. It seemed to be originating from behind, somewhere beyond a double door at the end of a pipe like hallway on the dirt side of the room.
“What is that, Madam?” Gatnom asked.
The beautiful woman lifted her arm towards the door at the end of the hallway. “Go,” she said kindly.
Gatnom bowed slightly, then turned and walked towards the door. With every step the roar grew, as did the nervousness in his belly, until at the end of the hallway Gatnom pushed one of the doors open and stepped through. The roar nearly blew his hat off. The smell of food came rushing onto him instantly.
He was standing on a high ledge over looking an open field twenty times the size of a football field, with small mountains and craters spread randomly about. Far below, specks ran back and forth with sparks of fire shooting between them. Tens of thousands of screaming and cheering spectators were seated in the bowl like stadium that continued up until out of sight. Above, suspended from the black ceiling, was another giant piece of glass, but this one did not show sparkles, but crisp close-up images of the competitors. Below one of the competitors landed a water attack against his opponent, who floated in a bubble up and out of bounds.
“Gatnom!” a young voice screamed as the roar subsided for a moment. Gatnom turned just in time to catch a boy who had every intent set on a tackle.
“Goh!” Gatnom said, catching the boy in mid tackle and lifting him high.
“Isn’t this exciting?!” asked the boy, beaming.
“What’s exciting, Goh? Where am I?”
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
“You’re at the War-Games!”
Gatnom turned and looked down at the field, then up at the giant screen. He gasped. In the glass was an image of himself, with Will and Wohie standing beside him. All three were smiling from ear to ear. What was going on? What type of magic was this? He already knew he was dreaming, but was this a sign? Would he win the games? Would they really join the army and become a leader in the fight against King Mel? Could this be a message from the King of All? A wild wonder filled the hollow of his chest.
Suddenly, the image faded; the lights dimmed; the field disappeared; the crowd disappeared; the floor beneath him disappeared; Goh disappeared; he disappeared. Gatnom held his hand out in front of his face. It
was as if he didn’t exist. He couldn’t even see the outline of an outline of himself.
“Light,” he whispered.
Suddenly, a bright white exploded a foot from his nose. Gatnom stumbled back, shielding himself with his arms until his eyes adjusted. When he looked up he realized he was now standing on nothing, a few feet from the massive glass screen. Shining on it was a picture of a group of boys huddled in a small dark room. Their faces were dirty, and they were shivering in the cold. It was Yoh, Goh, Sloh, Broh, Randiby, Jubal, and the rest of the orphans.
“Don’t worry Broh, Gatnom will come for us,” Yoh said. His young voice boomed from some invisible speakers Gatnom could not see. At these words the little brother burst into sobs and tears. “No, he won’t!” young Broh said. “He will never come. He won’t come because he won’t leave the War-Games. It’s his dream and he won’t drop it to save us! He’ll leave us to die before he does that. He’ll leave us to die!”
Gatnom’s heart folded up inside of himself. The words shook his soul. They stole his breath. Louder than a bomb they exploded in his heart. He had made a terrible mistake. He sat straight up from the floor, awakened by the thump of his pulse and the roar of thunderous rain outside.
He swore he could still hear Broh’s voice echoing over and over gain, “He’ll leave us to die! He’ll leave us to die!”
***
Wohie sat under a sleeping tree who had abnormally large ears, especially since Xylons have no visible ears in the first place. She was in the middle of a conversation with her brother. He was taller now, with an even more chiseled chin. His hair matched her’s in color and was cropped military short. He wore the uniform of a junior general of the Under-Army: leather, high collar, and boots that made him two inches taller.
“Seth, how long will the war last?” Wohie asked her brother.
“Only a few years we hope. Then everything will return to normal. We will be together again sis. Maybe then you’ll have a boyfriend.” Wohie punched him in the arm. He didn’t even flench. She shook her hand as if it was hurt. It really wasn’t.
“Ascena,” Seth said. He always called her by her real name. “I need to ask you something.”
“What’s up bro?”
Seth looked up into the sky.
“No. No,” Wohie laughed. “What do you need to ask me?”
“What are you going to do about the boys?”
“Master Jared has forbidden us from doing anything. Gat thinks the best thing we can do is to go to the War-Games and compete. I’ll finally get to see you in person, instead of all these weird dreams.”
“But you can’t just leave them alone. Who knows what could happen to them?”
Wohie looked up at Seth and smiled. She hadn’t dreamed him like this in years. He was a kind, yet steadfast and tightly bound to duty. In real life she knew he would never entertain disobeying an order from Master Jared.
“Master Jared has forbidden it. We have no choice.”
Seth was staring elsewhere now, almost like he was not listening.
“Seth, what’s wrong?”
“Sister, when what is right comes in conflict with what is proper, all good magi choose what is right. Sometimes ritual will come in conflict with honor. Choose honor, never the popular, easy choice. Things are rarely as they seem at first glance, but the right thing to do, once you see it clearly, never changes no matter how many different ways you look at it. It is solid and usually more simple than we think.
“What are you saying, that I should disobey and go off on my own?”
“No. I am saying you do have a choice, and that you should make the right one. You may need to choose something hard; be led by what is right, rather than what seems right or what is easy.”
Wohie said nothing for a moment. She always tried to listen closely to her brother. “Then, what should I do now?” she finally asked.
“Now, you should wake up.”
“Why? I think it is still the middle of the night? I wanna sleep more.”
“Because it’s time to wake. Never sleep when awake is required.”
“What are you talking about?”
“WAKE UP!”
“Why are you so mad at me? What did I d—”
“WAKE UP!”
Wohie started up from the couch, pulling her legs in close to her chest. Fresh tears instantly puddled in the corner of her eyes. Her brother had never yelled at her before. She looked over at Gatnom. He was up, staring at the black curtain of rain falling fiercely outside of the window.
Will, who looked like he had just awakened as well, was breathing heavy.
***
Will had not had sweet dreams. Soon after falling asleep he had found himself in a dreary room with grey concrete walls. A clock on the wall read 3:47.
“Go, this way please,” said a kind voice from behind. Will turned to see a beautiful nurse holding open the only door in the room. It had a 14 on it. Everything inside protested, but he followed the nurse through the door anyway.
“Hey Baby,” Will’s mother said as soon as he stepped into the room.
“Mom!” Will screamed. He ran to the bedside of his mother. Will knew he was dreaming, but he didn’t care.
“Listen Sweetheart, I only have a minute. I need to tell you something.”
“What is it Mom?” Unlike before, his mother’s eyes were not weak. Her spirit was strong, so strong it overcame the weakness of her broken body.
“You must go to the city. You must go to the boys. Find them.”
“Mom, I can’t. I’m not strong enough.”
“William!” his mother snapped. He knew this tone, it meant he was in trouble for something he had said. “You can do anything if you keep your path pure, trust the King of All and be brave! Nothing is impossible if you believe! Why do you think you are here? By chance? NO! You are here for this time, for this purpose. Stop thinking it was misfortune that brought you to this world. You were brought here because of misfortune, not by it.”
Will stared at the floor and nodded. “I wish this wasn’t a dream. I wish it was real,” he said in a dry sob.
Will’s mother wiped his hair out of his eyes and smiled. “Sometimes dreams are simply letters from other places. This dream is me writing you, telling you to be strong.” She reached down and lifted Will’s chin. “When you wake, don’t forget what I have said.”
Will hugged his mother. She whispered private words into his ears, laid back, smiled, and closed her eyes. Will stood, without knowing why, and walked back out to the waiting room where the clock hung, still at 3:47. The tic-toc grew louder and louder until the long hand clicked onto 3:48 with the crack of close thunder. When he awoke Wohie was staring at him with wet eyes. Gatnom stood in a window, over looking the sea, whispering quietly to Jabber, who was perched on his shoulder.
“You okay?” Wohie asked.
“Yeah, just a dream. You?”
“Same thing.“
Gatnom heard the two speaking and walked over. “I have made a terrible mistake,“ he said. ”You don’t have to go with me, but I must go and at least try to rescue the boys. I have already failed them by waiting this long. I’m sorry Will; you were right.“ Gatnom choked on his words.
”Gat, I‘m going with you,” Wohie said as she put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m not letting you do this alone.”
“When do we leave?” Will asked. Jabber fluttered from Gatnom’s shoulder to Will’s.
“Are you two sure?” Gatnom asked. “You need to think about this. This will make us outcast from here, as well as enemies to King Mel. We will have no place.”
Will didn’t have to think about it. He already had no place. Over the past few months home had become a confusing idea, more people than a place. That meant if Gatnom and Wohie was going to the city, then he was going to the city too. Besides, it was his mother’s second dying wish. Everything that mattered was in the city: the boys, King Mel, his answers.
A door slammed in the stairwell, a
nd the clanging of metal on metal came running up the stairs.
“What’s that?” Will and Wohie asked at the same time.
Gatnom rushed and leaned out of one of the windows facing the mountains. Light from below flickered off of his face, and fat rain drops sparkled as they fell passed the window. When Gatnom turned around his eyes were calculating. “We forgot about Master Jared,” he said. “He hears everything.”
Will pushed up beside Gatnom at the window. Guards were crowded on the front lawn, pointing and yelling up at the third story tower window. Outside of the door the clanging of the guards grew louder than the rain as they rushed up the stairs two at a time.
Gatnom ran to the back window and peered out into the darkness of the sea.
“What are we going to do?!” Wohie squealed.
Without saying a word Gatnom pointed out the window. He put two fingers on the palm of his hand and made a running motion until the finger puppet leapt off of his palm.
“What?! Are you crazy?!” said Will.
“Jabber, Wohie! Come here!”
“Right here, Mr. Gatnom!” Jabber hopped off of Will’s shoulder and hovered at eye level. Gatnom pointed out the window and down towards the sea, then to his eyes with two fingers, then turning his fingers away he scanned from left to right, a sign to look. Jabber understood, and without a word the butterbug shot out of the window. Wohie leaned out, watching with her night eyes as the butterbug buzzed down towards the sea.
“It’s clear,” she whispered to Gatnom. “The sea is even rougher from the storm, but I think we can make it. I don’t see any rocks directly below, clear fall I think. There, Jab just hit the water. It’s a long way down.”
“No, you’re kidding right! You can’t be serious. The window?!” Will said too loudly.
Gatnom and Wohie shushed Will at the same time.
“OPEN UP! NOW!!” A voice boomed. The door shook with the pounding of a metal fist.
“Here comes Jab,” Wohie whispered.
Jabber came dripping through the window. “No rocks directly below… deep... rough water,” he said in between pants.
The Winter Letter Page 13
