The Humanarium

by CW Tickner

  ‘They have been looking for him for two turns and it’s only a matter of time before they come here.’

  ‘Alright,’ the woman said. ‘We shall have to tell them. Will you do it grandpa?’

  ‘I will,’ the man said. ‘I’m sure they’ll understand, but there will be many questions for him. Is he awake yet?’

  ‘I shall check him again,’ the woman replied.

  Soft footsteps padded up the stairs, coming up to the closed door set against one wall of the room.

  Unsure what to do, Harl snapped his eyes closed just as the wooden door swung open. He kept them shut, at first, as someone tiptoed towards him, then – squinting a fraction – he saw the outline of a face and around it a shimmer of gold.

  ‘Are you awake?’ It was the woman.

  He opened his eyes at the question and saw the same reflection he had seen so long ago in the Sight, this time unblemished and solid. It was the woman in the white dress. Her golden hair cascaded over her slender shoulders, highlighting her pale skin, and her face was full of youthful curiosity as her sapphire eyes examined him.

  ‘W-where am I?’ he stammered, then dragged the blankets up to his chin when he realised that he was naked.

  She smiled.

  ‘This is mine and my grandfather’s house. Do not be afraid. We have tended your wounds and you are safe.’ She moved across the room and pulled one of the chairs up next to the bed.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked.

  ‘I was hoping you would tell me,’ she said, sitting down. ‘All we know is you were placed here from above and beyond and, when I found you, you were unconscious in the deep woods nearby. I came upon you after seeing the great hand come down as I was heading home from picking mushrooms. And there you were lying on the grass in a grove among the trees. To be honest I was quite startled, especially with your dark complexion.’ She smiled down at him, then looked quickly away to study the wooden beams that ran across the white ceiling.

  ‘You carried me here?’ he asked, examining her slender frame and trying to imagine being slumped over her shoulder.

  ‘I got grandpa to come with me and together we managed to get you back home. He says you’re the first to come down in memory, and his memory is long. We’ve not mentioned you to anyone else but there are some from town who will be looking for you.’

  He flinched as she leaned over him to place her hand on his brow.

  ‘So how long have I been asleep?’ he asked as her cool, delicate fingers touched his forehead.

  ‘This will be the third turn,’ she said, moving her hand away, seemingly content with his temperature. ‘But will you tell me your name? I’ve tended you for sometime and I’ve been anxious to know more about you and how you came to be here.’

  Harl sat up with a groan, feeling a deep ache in his body.

  ‘Please excuse my manners,’ he said. ‘My name’s Harl Eriksson and I’m deeply grateful for your care and tenderness. It’s just a big shock to me.’

  He stretched and his muscles unwound then tilted his head as she nodded. How much did she know? He tried to gauge what she was thinking from the expression on her face, but it was difficult. He was entranced by the look of her and his thoughts seemed jumbled around.

  She smiled at his hesitation.

  ‘We’ve met before,’ he said, finally.

  She looked thoughtful for a moment, as if deciding to whether to acknowledge it.

  ‘Yes, I remember seeing your face,’ she said, ‘which is one of the reasons I was so startled to find you in the grove.’

  ‘And have you come to the same conclusion as I?’ Harl asked.

  She hesitated.

  ‘I’m not sure. I’ve watched you for a while, but it seems too impossible to be true. You are the man I saw reflected in the god, I cannot deny it. I’ve discussed it with grandfather, but he is strangely reluctant to talk to me about it. He is a very learned man… But you must forgive me, I’ve not given you my name. I’m Sonora and my grandpa is Gorman, but most just call him the old man or Gorm.’ She smiled at the thought. ‘But come, you must meet him and tell us your tale. He’s keen to meet you.’

  She stood up from the chair and moved towards the door, but turned before she reached it.

  ‘You must be hungry. If you come down there is stew on the stove,’ she said, indicating a pile of clothes on the claw-footed dresser. ‘I have taken the liberty of providing you with some clothes fresher than the ones we found you in. Please join us in downstairs when you are ready.’

  ‘Thank you,’ he said, and then pulled himself out of bed as she headed downstairs.

  He went to the window first and pulled the heavy curtains aside, marvelling at the colour and floral patterns on them before looking out.

  The house was situated in a lush clearing in a forest. He squinted as light beamed in from above. It looked like a beautiful cycle outside, but the thought surprised him. Most cycles in his own world were the same, with only slight changes to differentiate them, but the light outside here was subtly different. It shone with a warm yellow intensity and Harl had the thought that plants would grow well beneath it.

  He reached for the clothes on top of the dresser. They were exceptionally crafted with a delicate weave that only the gowns of the Eldermen could compare to. They fit snugly and he assumed they must have once been this Gorman’s that Sonora had mentioned.

  He still felt overwhelmed in his heart from what he had seen and learnt, his mind jumping back and forward from the loss of his home and his friends to what he was going to do in this new world. He was unsure if he could even call it a world at all. The vision he had seen from out in the Sight had shattered his perception. Were they worlds? Or were they just cubes of light? It seemed a stupid thought. No they were worlds. People lived in them, ate in them, and slept in them. They had to be worlds.

  But what if it was a dream?

  He pinched the back of his hand and winced. No, he was definitely awake, which made the strangeness of what he’d experience even more profound. Maybe it was all just a test by the god? Perhaps it would come and lift him back out of whatever vision this was and take him back home? But would he want to after all he had seen?

  He gathered himself together and made for the stairs, feeling his stomach protest at the lack of attention he’d paid it recently. The staircase was short and steep, the wood polished to a deep shine.

  He opened the door at the bottom and his mouth watered at the smell coming from the stove on the far side of the room. Sonora was leaning over it and it appeared she hadn’t yet heard him enter. Beside her, a grey-haired old man stooped over a cupboard as he took down bowls from a shelf. Both of them were facing away from Harl.

  The room was spacious and comfortable. Solid stone lined all four sides, with a large window on his left. The windowsill was crowded with potted herbs, while under it was a kitchen counter with ceramic bowls and utensils lined neatly along it. Coals were glowing in a fireplace on the right-hand side. The floor was carpeted in rich rugs with a table and chairs sat on the largest ruby-coloured rug in the centre.

  Harl took a step into the room when, without turning, the old man spoke. ‘You’re just in time for food, stranger, but it would be wise to announce yourself next time.’

  Harl was taken aback. How had the old man heard him? He was sure he hadn’t made a sound coming in. The old man must have ears like a rabbit.

  He stumbled out an apology.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘I didn’t mean to be rude.’

  ‘Gramps,’ Sonora said, turning and smiling at Harl, then at the old man. ‘Don’t be mean to our guest, playing your games and startling him like that. Please Harl, have a seat.’ She gestured towards the table. ‘Food won’t be long in coming.’

  He moved over to the table and sat down facing the two of them as they prepared the meal. They formed a duet of coordinated movements as they worked together, Sonora filling bowls with stew as Gorman passed them to her, before taking them back
and placing them on the table. He shuffled over to the table and Harl recoiled at the blank whiteness of his eyes. He was blind.

  Gorman spoke before Harl could introduce himself.

  ‘Sonora tells me that you have dark hair and eyes. Fascinating.’ He was silent for a moment as though picturing it. ‘Many things may lie beyond this land of ours and you’ve been marked by the great god as a warning to us. I wonder what you have seen? Are you a man of honour, Harl? Or has the god marked you for crimes and thrown you into our home as a warning? No need to answer,’ he said as he took a seat. ‘Let us eat first and I’m sure we’ll find it all out soon enough. My name is Gorman. And yes,’ he said with a grin, ‘I am blind.’

  ‘A pleasure to meet you, Gorman,’ Harl said, ‘and my thanks for your part in my rescue.’

  ‘My part?’ the old man asked and laughed. ‘It was my granddaughter who tended you these past changes. She’s a kind soul and has looked after me for years without complaint, despite having to put up with such a grumpy old grouch like myself.’

  Harl was about to ask what a change or a year was but decided courtesy would be best in a strange land.

  ‘Thank you both,’ he said as Sonora took her seat at the table.

  The meat in the stew tasted succulent, making his mouth water and he found it difficult to stop taking so much of the fresh-baked bread and butter from the basket in the centre of the table. It was truly delicious.

  Harl ate much and said little as the pair talked of light matters about their town and the woods around their home. It turned out that they lived up on a hill in the forest well away from a town nestled down in the valley where most of their people dwelt. Sonora often went to the town for supplies and made her living by picking and mixing herbs into potions and ointments for the townsfolk. She sold her wares in the town’s market and made a good living from it.

  It seemed to Harl that although this world was similar to his own it had subtle differences, like a parallel world. They only referred to the Sight once in the conversation and Gorman had called it the “vision.”

  After the meal, Gorman turned his blank eyes on Harl, making him want to look away from the man’s knowing gaze.

  ‘Now we’re full and relaxed,’ Gorman said, ‘it is time for you to tell us your story. Sonora and I have discussed this deeply and I know you saw each other’s reflections on the god’s clothing. I have thought much on that strange incident and what it entails. It seems that you do indeed come from the other side of the wall. But tell us everything first and then we can discuss it.’

  Harl explained all he could remember, leaving out only his dreams of Sonora after seeing her for the first time. He talked of the long room where he’d seen the worlds and of the larger space though the archway where he had awoken in a pile with the dead. Throughout the tale Gorman listened intently, nodding here and there and asking Harl to clarify a few details. Sonora was enthralled by his words and sat there with her blue eyes wide open in wonder. By the time he had finished his tale it was dark outside and Sonora had topped the fire up at least twice.

  ‘Hmm,’ Gorman said, leaning back in thought. ‘This is far reaching news indeed. These worlds that surround us sound almost unbelievable, but I can tell when the truth is spoken. Although it troubles me deeply, I believe I understand much of what you said, for it matches with what I know of our history. But I shall not go into detail now. It’s getting late and there is much for me to think on.’ With that, he stood and shuffled off to sit silently on a cushioned chair closer to the fireplace.

  ‘Come,’ Sonora said, standing, ‘I’ll bring some water and take you back to your room.’

  ‘Do you believe me?’ Harl asked as they reached the door to his bedroom.

  She paused for a moment.

  ‘I do. If Grandpa believes it then it must be so. It is almost too much to take in and I cannot imagine how you feel having seen all those things. But I’m worried by what you said. The new worlds and the places you have seen. But for some reason I feel less alone.’

  Harl did not know if she meant his presence or the proximity of a vast number of other worlds.

  ‘What do you think Gorman will do?’ he asked. ‘Will your people believe him?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she said, ‘but if he’s thinking on it then something will come from it.’

  She wished him a good sleep and then left. Harl lay awake a long time in the unfamiliar bed, staring at the ceiling. He thought of his own land and its people, but mostly his thoughts were on Troy.

  What was he doing?

  Harl pictured him staring out at the Sight and grieving for a friend who was still alive, believing him to be dead. But, most likely, he thought Troy would be at a tavern somewhere, drowning his sorrows, oblivious to fact that he was in a box surrounded by a thousand very different lives.

  Chapter 12

  Their nest had not long been established. Testing the soil showed they have only just begun growing crops in that area.

  He awoke as light streamed in through the window and it took a moment to orientate himself and remember what had happened. He dressed and washed from a basin in the room before heading downstairs.

  Opening the common room door, he found Gorman sitting in his chair at the table.

  ‘Good morning,’ the old man said. ‘Hungry? There’s porridge in the pot if you are. Perhaps you could fill me one as well?’

  Harl took two bowls and filled them with the sweet-smelling mixture.

  ‘Here,’ Harl said, placing the bowl and spoon in front of the blind man.

  Gorman felt around and then picked up the spoon.

  The porridge was delicious. He said as much to Gorman.

  ‘Is Sonora’s cooking always this tasty? he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Gorman said. ‘She has a gift with herbs and spicing, a blessing derived from her talent with potions. I am lucky to have her. She’s a good girl and has taken care of me ever since she was a child. I am not her true grandparent, for she lost both her parents when she was a little one. I took her under my wing after that.’

  He scooped another mouthful from the bowl.

  ‘I still had my sight back then and I witnessed a great many people taken by the gods,’ he said the last word with a slight mocking sneer. ‘It was a harsh time. My sight started to fail from then on and Sonora looked after me in kind as I had done her. She is a clever one. I taught her much and she took strongly to the plants of the land and has grown exceptionally talented in brewing mixtures to ease the pain and suffering of the people. You’re fond of her?’

  Harl didn’t know what to say, but under the man’s blank gaze he settled on telling the truth.

  ’She has been kind to me,’ he said, scooping out the remnants of porridge from his bowl, ‘And her cooking is far better than I have ever managed. She shows a tenderness I have not experienced before. ’

  Gorman smiled.

  ’She is precious to me,’ he said.

  Harl was about to say something about not having any intentions, but Gorman cut him off.

  ‘You need not explain. I have watched her grow, but there has never been anyone worthy of her. She has a heart of gold, but it is a lonely one.’

  Gorman smiled sadly and then finished the last of the porridge in his bowl. Harl picked it up and moved over to place it on the kitchen sideboard.

  ‘There are people in our land looking for you, Harl,’ the old man warned. ‘You will need to answer their questions about how you came to be here. Sonora and I will vouch for your words and look after your needs in the meantime, but I would suggest you tell them only a little. Many in this land are suspicious of the vision and anything that involves the gods. From what you have said of your own land, it is similar there, and I’d advise caution about what is told to the leaders here. They have seen the hand come down and they know full well that you’re here. Sonora sent a message and we have permission to let you heal before taking you to see them. If you tell them all that you told us then troubl
e will arise from it.’

  Harl understood and he knew that he’d have to formulate a convincing story.

  ‘So what should I say?’

  ‘I’ll think on it some more,’ Gorman said, ‘but in the meantime Sonora is outside in the woods. Head left of the vision from the house and you will find her in a small clearing where she grows her herbs. It will be good to have a strong pair of hands around for a while. Come see me later and we can discuss what to say to the leaders on the next change.’

  Harl noted the word “change” and realized that Gorman meant the time between light and dark. He left the house and stepped out into forest surrounding it. Dappled light shone down from above and, when he looked up, he watched it dazzle and dance against the leaves as they shifted in the breeze. But the light of this world was a subtly different hue to his own. He had noticed how much more yellow it was straight away, but now, standing outside, the difference was even more obvious. When he looked around he could see that the forest and grasses were a brighter green than the same ones in his own world. They looked far more lush and fertile. It was beautiful.

  He made for the clearing where Gorman had said Sonora would be. Spotting a gap in the trees, he drew closer and walked out into the open.

  Sonora was there. She wore a soft white gown that highlighted the curves of her body. Its low neckline highlighted the pale flesh of her neck and he was amazed to see that she was barefoot. She sang while she worked, picking flowers and leaves from the herb plants clustered within the clearing’s magical light. From where he stood, she looked a picture of beauty more profound than any found in his dreams.

  She stopped short and looked up at him.

  ‘Don’t stop, please’, he said, reaching out towards her with one hand.

  She smiled slightly. ‘Have you come to help?’

  ‘I have. What can I do?’

  ‘First,’ she said, flicking her gaze to his feet, ‘it might be best if you didn’t step on my plants.’

  He looked down and his heart sunk. He had stepped right on top of some of her well-tended herbs. He leapt backwards, wobbling from his injuries.