by Mani, A.
“It was the lake. They had poisoned the lake. You were already immortals when you refused the offer”, she explained to me.
“This is how our wild cats became immortals…” I mumbled.
“Why us? Their leader kept talking about breaking the cycle somewhere along the future”, I said.
Sia laughed aloud.
“And you were waiting my child? You were waiting for the moment to break the cycle?” she kept laughing, “It is okay Almas. Most people do. Life is what happening while we wait for the right moment. I bet you live in the valley, right? You cannot make a change as a passive audience of life Almas. You need to participate in it and if you can‘t beat them, join them!” she stated.
“What about Dark beast? He kept saying he was weak. What did he mean? I thought he gave the baby in exchange to eternal life. I have accused him of the worse crime of all, a crime he did not commit…” I cried.
“He thought he betrayed you with Eve, when they walked together to the lake while you left to feed the baby. He doesn’t know he didn’t even make it to the lake. He fell into the immortal sleep long before they even got there”, she explained.
“And that is how you did it. When everyone was sleeping, you came and stole my baby”, I fell to the ground.
I couldn’t bear any of it but I kept on asking.
“So why did they do it? And Sia you better tell me the truth or I swear, I will take a picture of your face and spread it out on every network that exists!” I yelled at her.
“Because you had broken the cycle!” she yelled back, “Cant you see? You had already achieved what the leader was trying to sell you. You had a united land with no animosity. You changed history while they did everything in their power to preserve it!”
“Why would they want that?” I raised my voice, “You don’t make any sense, Sia!”
“Haven’t you learned anything my child? All the years we had spent together inside the valley and you still don’t get it. Every continual conflict is someone else’s hidden interest. They didn’t want people to know that there was a better way. That it was done before. Why do you think the tribes erased all of my drawings on the valley’s walls? To change history! They didn’t want people to learn about the sun stealer nor about the people of Anomaly. You think you broke free from that valley back then? I am sorry to inform you my child but you are still locked inside and this time, out of your own free will!” she raised her voice.
“So what you are saying is, in the past we had a little witch that treated people as if they were tools in her sick minded game and now we have the system. Back then, we used to have a pathetic creature with no face that plotted reality with her drawings and now we have anonymous profiles and avatars that preserve the conflict through technology? Some things never change…” I sighed.
“Walking in circles… That was the only symbol left at the valley’s walls and it was not made by me”, she sighed.
“Not the only symbol. There was another one next to him. The symbol of Leo”, I said with rage.
“I didn’t see it. All I know, they knew you were one and as one, no one could break you. So they set you apart”, she explained.
“You are not different Sia!” I yelled at her.
“I had a good reason”, she whispered.
“What reason? Getting back at me? At Dark beast? You had torn an innocent baby out of his mother’s arms! How cruel are you?” I screamed.
“Make no mistake Almas, I love Leo. I took good care of him and I love my son too. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. See, he is about to become a governor just as he was supposed to before he fell in love with you!” she pointed her finger at me.
“Governor? Is that why my son works for the system? How convenient, Sia!” I yelled at her.
“Almas, you don’t understand. Leo was lost, he didn’t get along with people and he didn’t have any friends. I noticed he had a gift. He was attracted to computers and smart technology so it was only reasonable that he would join them and he was promoted real fast!” she informed me.
“Does he know he has a family who loves him? Does he know he is not alone in this?” I asked her.
Sia took a long pause and finally admitted, “He knows he has a grandmother, who loves him and he thinks we are the only immortals in the world”. “No wonder he doesn’t get along with humans…” I mumbled with tears. My heart ached for my little baby, my Leo.
“Sia, my dear witch, the years have shown me you haven’t changed and you don’t intend to. You are a wicked witch with no heart nor soul that only makes everyone around her miserable. Now unfortunately, I cannot stop you. One cannot kill what has already been dead. I can neither change history nor bring back all the lost time with my family. But let me tell you this, next time you choose to play with somebody’s life, stay the hell out of my field!” I raged and stormed out of her back yard.
“Almas!” Sia called me.
For a minute, I thought she was about to apologize but she just stood there and looked at me with no words. I guess some people are so consumed by their victimization, they don’t even realize that within time, they have turned into an ugly reflection of their attackers.
But I was not there to educate anybody. I had more important things to do.
“Hi, remember me?” I asked the young man at the door.
“I am sorry, do I know you?” he mumbled and wore his glasses.
It was late at night and he was probably asleep when I knocked at his door.
“We met at the club the other day. Nineteen eighty- four, remember?” I smiled at him.
“How… how did you find me?” he asked with concern.
“Oh… a girl has her ways”, I acted as if I was flirting with him.
“Excuse me for asking but why are you here?” he wondered.
“I like you. I came to take you out”, I was upfront.
“Is this a joke?” he laughed.
“Not at all. Are you coming? It will be fun, I promise!” I persuade him.
“It’s very late”, he looked at his watch.
“Are you going to let a nice girl down?” I asked him with a smile.
I was his mother but we looked the same age and he was sure I was just a simple girl, who wished to have some fun with him so he gladly accepted my offer.
It was about time my son would learn about the truth and I could only think of one location that would be perfect for it.
“Are you out of your mind?” he screamed with laugher.
“Calm down, I do it often my self. Every time I feel lost”, I smiled at him.
“And you don’t get caught?” he wondered.
“Here, wear this cap”, I handed him mine since I was wearing a hoodie myself, “See this camera, we have exactly thirty seconds to climb the wall without getting caught”, I explained to him.
“I can’t do that Almas!” he hesitated.
“Sure you can. You’re a wild one!” I smiled at him.
“What do you mean?” he wondered.
“Well, this is your last name isn’t it?” I managed to pull through.
I ran first when the time was right and by ten seconds, I was on the other side of the wall.
“Come on. You can do it!” I encouraged him.
He tried the first time and failed. Then waited for the camera to turn and jumped. This time he made it.
There we were, mother and son inside of a closed, dark zoo.
“I can’t believe we made it!” he said with joy.
“Come, there is someone I want you to meet”, I led the way.
“Where are you from, Almas?” he asked me.
“I am from the valley. I run an animal shelter for the lost ones”, I informed him.
“Valley? So what were you doing at the club?” he wondered.
“Oh… just visiting an old friend…” I answered.
“There. That is my favorite spot at this zoo”, I pointed at a closed area.
“You got to be kidding me
…” he chuckled.
I gazed into his eyes for a long moment and then ran straight into the closed area without looking back.
“Almas! Stop! Are you crazy?” he screamed.
But I didn’t stop and before he knew it, I was surrounded by the most divine creatures in the world. One of the tigers jumped on me with joy and started licking my face. It has been a while since my last visit and they have missed their leader.
“Jump in Liam! Don’t be scared!” I shouted with joy.
“No way! They will tear me to pieces!” he yelled with fear.
“Trust me!” I urged him.
He slowly walked towards me and followed my voice.
“You can do it… I am right here…” I kept repeating myself.
Finally, he stood right in front of us and got down on his knees. I could tell he was shivering.
“You wish to pet him?” I asked and got down on my knees myself. I held the massive tiger with my arm and gently brought him closer to my son. All the other wilds cats stood around us quietly.
“How do you do it?” he asked me as he touched the tiger.
“Same way you do it”, I smiled at him.
There was no easy way to do it and there was no point on dragging it any further so I just asked him.
“Do you remember Saphid?”
“Who?” he wondered with a smile.
“Saphid, your little tiger. Do you remember Shadea?” I kept asking.
“Almas, what are you talking about?” he laughed, “Are you drunk?”
“Do you remember how I used to sing to you when you cried ‘Leo, my little baby, my king…’” I asked with tears.
“What is going on here? Who are you?” he mumbled.
“I am your mother”, I whispered.
“What?” He fell on ground and scared the tiger, “Get away from me!” he cried.
“It’s okay Leo, he will not hurt you. You are a wild one. You are a descendant of the hidden land of Anomaly. You are not alone Leo, we are all here and we are immortals just like you”, I cried
“Stop calling me Leo! You are not my mother! You are a liar! Liar!” he cried.
“But I am not, my love. I am sorry about the pain I am causing you but you need to learn about the truth. You were stolen from me by Sia, your grandmother. I searched everywhere for you! For years, I have walked around with a huge hole in my heart. A hole that could have never been filled. A mother cannot live without her child. You have a family who loves you Leo. You don’t have to be by yourself anymore!”
I reached my arms to hug him but he just pushed me away. We were both crying for a moment until he just took off and ran away from me. I fell to the ground and cried my heart out as I haven’t cried for years and I wasn’t sure whether it was a cry of sorrow or relief. The wild cats came closer to me and roared aloud in solidarity.
“Give him time, Almas”, Leonard tried to encourage me.
We were outside feeding the hungry cats and dogs. It was an early morning hour and I was exhausted from the long night at the zoo.
“I don’t know Leonard… you should have seen him. He was terrified! He looked at me with contempt”.
“Almas, we don’t know what his grandmother was feeding him throughout the years. It is not easy to find out everything you had believed in was a lie”, he tried to cheer me up, “At least you found him and you know that he is well and safe”.
“Yes, that’s true. Years of emptiness have come to their end. So tell me this my love, how come I still feel that hole in my heart? What do I need to do to make it go away?” I cried.
I sat on his lap for a long hour and just cried. That was our custom ritual, one we have practiced so well over the years. Every now and then, I allowed my self to break down to pieces and he gladly picked them up and tried to make a happier puzzle out of them. There was nothing this man couldn’t contain and for that, I would forever be grateful to him.
“I remember”, I heard a quiet voice coming from behind.
That was Leo, my son. He was standing right behind me. I was still outside, playing with my animals, when Leonard decided to give me some time alone and went inside the house.
“You talked to Sia?” I asked him.
“I didn’t have to. I remember your voice. I remember how you sang to me. I remembered it the first time I saw you”, he explained.
“You did?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“I have always wondered about my past. I was having visions and my grandmother had never given me answers when I turned to her. The experience we had at the zoo brought everything back to surface”, he explained.
“Do you remember your father, The beast?” I asked with joy.
“The beast is my father?” he wondered.
“Yes. Yes he is and he will be thrilled to learn you are alive!” I jumped with joy.
“Almas…” my son hesitated.
“What is it Leo?”
“The beast… I once saw him at my grandmother’s house”, he said.
“Are you saying your father knows his mother is alive?” my heart pounded.
“I recognized his face from the news. When I asked my grandmother about him, she said he was there as a part of his campaign but I didn’t buy it. A candidate as himself has nothing to look for in the valley”, he explained.
“Do you think he knows about you?” I feared his answer.
“I don’t know”, he whispered and stared at the ground.
“Well, there is only one way to find out”, I smiled at him but he didn’t react to me, “What is it, Leo? You don’t wish to meet with your father?” I gently petted his cheek.
“There is something you need to know”, he looked into my eyes, “It is about The beast and the system”.
We both sat down on the ground.
“We are all aware of the new election’s system. People are elected through social networks and their popularity is measured by it. But what people don’t know is that not all of the numbers are real and not all of the profiles exist. The system fakes them to its own benefit. They promote the ones they are interested in and erase the ones they don’t. If somebody they are not interested in manages to gain a lot of supporters and fame points they simply take him down”.
“Take him down?” I wondered.
“Steal his identity…” he whispered with fear.
“So these crimes are committed by our own authorities?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“They believe that in order to preserve someone on top, they need to keep all the others at the bottom. They decide who will be in front and who will be in the back. And it is very easy to achieve that. Twenty years ago, people voluntarily shared their private information. They used to treasure almost everything through smart technology and the network. The system collected it for years and now humanity’s privacy is just a vague utopia we once used to have”, he explained.
“So no matter how hard we try, somebody is pulling the wires back stage. Somebody has a complete control over our lives”, I stated.
“What is worse is that nobody even dare to question the system and not due to fear but due to lack of time or interest. The system is very smart and they achieve their goals simply by attracting the attention of the masses. They promise them fame and success is just around the corner, all they need is that number of supporters, be part of that kind of circles, have a certain look and it’s theirs. So one can spend his entire life by following someone he admires, thinking one day he will get there while all along he was just feeding the system. We are not living our lives the way we desire, we are just a channel that the system live through. Take all the documenters for example; they spent hours on documenting, hoping one day they will get the story that will promote them and give them the life they want. Their actions include violating the law and snitching to the system. The evidences they provide can doom one’s destiny. Only their documentations are far from reflecting reality”.
“Walking in circles�
��” I mumbled to myself.
“What did you say?” Leo wondered.
“Before you were born, we had a little witch named Sia, who used to play with people’s life. She used to document by drawing symbols over the walls. You know that witch very well my love, you were also a tool in her sick game. These days the witch turned into the system, and the drawing turned into documenting. They both do the exact same thing; play with people’s lives and rewriting history. So how do we do it? How do we break the cycle?” I wondered aloud.
“I know the system from within Almas. There is not much we can do…” he said with sadness.
“Why did you join them Leo? I am not judging you my love, I just need to understand…” I asked him gently.
“My grandmother told me, the system might uncover us and that I can protect us from within. She always said ‘if you can’t beat them join them’. I didn’t wish to spend my life in labs, which desire to study immortality. I thought it was just the two of us in the world”, he explained.
“It’s okay my love, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. You have your family with you. I just need to find a way…” I thought aloud, “What if… what if we use their own method? What if we continue their own story line just so we could change its ending?” I offered.
“What do you mean, Almas?” he was confused.
“It’s Simple. They create a distraction? We create one of our own. They steal identities? We steal back!”
“Steal?” he wondered.
“Well, I have been accused of worse. They do call me ‘Sun Stealer’ for a reason”, I winked at him.
“Sun Stealer”, Leo smiled and paused for a moment, “My grandmother always used to tell me the story of the Sun Stealer. The story about the young warrior with the spirit of a tiger, who never left without a fight. She used to be my hero. I never thought she was real. I never dared to believe she was my mother”, he said without looking. He didn’t want me to notice he was tearing.
“You are my hero Leo”, I whispered with tears in my eyes.
