Aurelia and the Library of the Soul

by Gelia Dolcimascolo

  “Recipes!” she exclaimed. “Could these be . . . ?”

  “Indeed,” said Vollov. “You have selected well. You see, after the fire, I found this chest among the rubble. The contents are your parents’ legacy to you, Aurelia. Open it. See what they left you.”

  Aurelia placed the packet on her lap. She turned over page after page of detailed recipes, carefully inscribed on the parchment.

  “Heart-Tea Bread! Puits d’Amour! Their recipes! They are all here!” Tears pooled in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.

  “Now look deeper. There is more.”

  Aurelia set the recipes beside her and pulled out a second packet tied with another string of onyx beads.

  “My mother’s good-luck necklace! She wore this one every day!”

  She unraveled the necklace. The top sheet was inscribed with the words CHANTS AND SPELLS. Aurelia glanced at Vollov, wiping the tears from her face.

  “Look below,” he urged. “There is yet more.”

  A third and final packet was inscribed INSTRUCTIONS.

  “Instructions for what?” she asked.

  “You have made your choice. These instructions will guide you on your journey, so follow them carefully — and know the signs when they appear.”

  “Where shall I go? I have to meet Romando. Will you come with me?”

  “I must leave you now. But remember also these words: Listen for the music.”

  Then he was gone, leaving but a puff of aquamarine mist.

  Perhaps to Dream

  Aurelia rubbed the onyx beads between her fingers again and again. Her tears flowed freely for some time before she read the papers and then replaced them and the beads in their chest. Spent, she lay down on the bench and drifted to sleep, her mysterious treasures floating through her dreams — dreams of her parents and of the village and one fleeting dream of Romando. In this lovely dream she was leaning over him as he slept. When she kissed his forehead, he stirred and rolled onto his stomach. She placed a tiger’s-eye marble in his back pocket, and there the dream ended.

  Aurelia stirred. She found herself lying on a bank by a creek, the silver chest by her side. Vollov had disappeared — as had The Library of the Soul.

  Her cousins! Where were they? She stood to look for them.

  “Aurelia! Where are you? Aureeeelia!” The boys’ cries came from across the creek.

  She opened her mouth and tried to answer. Alas, she could not utter a sound, so she waved frantically, jumping as high as she could. Seeing her, they ran toward her and splashed across the creek.

  “You left us! We were scared when we woke up and you were gone!” They rushed up and hugged her tightly.

  “What’s in that box? And that sack?” her cousin asked.

  She rubbed their towheads affectionately and kissed them.

  All at once a troupe of pipers appeared and marched right past them. Music! She remembered Vollov’s words and the instructions in the silver chest: Listen for the music. Aurelia beckoned to her cousins, and they all followed the musicians, wondering who these odd-looking fellows were. The pipers stopped and pointed at a huge, ice-covered lake in the distance and a sign that read:

  THE LAKE OF FROZEN RAINWATER

  While the musicians piped a pavane, Aurelia and the boys followed them onto the ice and around its perimeter, gliding all around the vast lake. A rainbow-colored fountain rose through a hole in the middle of the lake. When Aurelia dipped forward to touch it, multicolored ice-mist spouted forth, enchanting them all.

  And yet, for but an instant, she sensed the glower of evil as she inhaled a malodorous scent. She coughed.

  Could danger be lurking? Quickly she climbed onto the safety of the bank.

  Out of nowhere a violent, searing wind gusted across the lake, melting and evaporating the ice. Ceasing their revelry, the pipers and her cousins scrambled to grasp at shore roots and climb off the melting lake. Next, a freezing gust whipped the pipers and the boys back onto the lake as it refroze. Alas, her cousins and the pipers froze into statues.

  Stunned by all she had just witnessed, Aurelia stood, locked in fear and silence.

  A pewter-colored ice-fog engulfed the statues.

  “Help us! Help us!” shouted the two boys through the thickening fog. But she could no longer see or hear them. Utterly alone, she collapsed to the frozen ground.

  When Aurelia opened her eyes, she found herself lying under a jacaranda tree. With a sharp rock she carved a hole near its roots, buried the silver chest, and covered the area with leaves and stones. By then, dusk had arrived, and she was weary. Silken breezes lulled her back to sleep under the tree.

  The Magical Marbles

  At dawn, she awakened to chittering chickadees and the sweet scent of jacaranda blossoms. Birdsong. That’s music. She cast her eyes toward their songs. Through the lush foliage, Aurelia spied a nest woven from orchid-hued filaments. She rose, steadying herself with the help of the tree trunk, and reached into the nest. However, she discovered not birds’ eggs but three tiger’s-eye marbles. She placed the marbles into the palm of her hand. As she held them, they warmed and transformed into glowing glass gems.

  Vollov’s lilting voice floated out from behind a patch of windflowers:

  Gems of power, gems of life:

  Use them wisely, lessen strife.

  No like gems will you find here,

  Marbles made to disappear.

  Roll one ’tween your gentle palms,

  Warm them when you’re sensing harm.

  Each will grant you but one wish —

  Wish it wisely, blow a kiss.

  Should they disappear too fast,

  Save the largest one for last.

  Aurelia turned to his song but saw no signs of Vollov. She slipped the marbles into the deep pocket of her skirt.

  Larissa propped herself up on her elbow. “Weren’t Mysteria and Ivan worried? And what about Romando? Wouldn’t he still be waiting for Aurelia at The Great Banyan Tree? And Aurelia’s cousins — they weren’t really frozen, were they?”

  “As to the two towheaded cousins, that was just in her dream. In reality, they were finding their way back to their parents. Remember, Mysteria had special powers that foresaw the future. She assured the family Aurelia would find her way — although she did not know how. As to our young troubadour, let me tell you of his nocturnal adventure.”

  Romando’s Journey

  Romando waited all night by The Great Banyan, but Aurelia did not arrive. Nor could he find the silver dagger he had used to carve their initials.

  Finally, as the sun crept into the sky, he returned to his tent, as forlorn as a troubadour could be, with only his mandolin for company. He sat and played his saddest songs for hours until he was exhausted, then slept through the afternoon. His fellow musicians, discerning his broken heart, came for him at dusk.

  “Romando, wake up!” shouted Nicabar, Romando’s friend. “Enough of this self-pity. Many golden fish swim at the cove, hungry for our passions. Come with us! We have a surprise for you.” Nicabar chuckled, grabbed Romando’s mandolin, and sang:

  Waste not your songs on that fickle lass,

  Nor dwell on promises from the past

  When you may taste the hearty brew

  Of laughter that will comfort you.

  Come, Romando! Join our fest!

  Sing and dance your merriest.

  Pick a maid; then, make her yours.

  Eat and drink where the fire roars.

  “Follow us to the gathering of young Gypsies in the cove — an evening of frolic, away from our elders. Come see what will make you forget your troubles.”

  He and the other fellows ran off toward the cove with Romando’s beloved mandolin.

  “My mandolin! Bring it back, Nicabar!” Romando
chased after them.

  The women were indeed plentiful and lovely. The music was fast and furious. Romando sipped of the brews and twirled maiden after maiden.

  However, not used to indulging in wine and liquors, Romando soon found himself too dizzy to participate in his friends’ frolics. By midnight, he lay back on the grass, his head spinning while the others cavorted. Soon he rolled onto his stomach and fell into a drunken stupor.

  In a fleeting dream, he saw his beloved Aurelia approaching him. She bent over his body, rubbed something between her hands, and placed it in his back pocket. Then she was nowhere to be seen.

  Romando awoke during the full-moon hour, bewildered from the evening’s festivities, to find Nicabar dancing with a maiden Romando recognized as Maudline, the other lass from the bakery. Nicabar repeated:

  Pick a maid; then make her yours.

  Eat and drink where the fire roars.

  Enter Vollov

  Unsure if he was dreaming, Romando rolled onto his back. As he did, a hard, round object in his pocket dug into his flesh. He withdrew it and gazed into a small tiger’s-eye marble. Recalling his dream of Aurelia, he rolled the marble gently between his palms.

  At that moment, Vollov appeared with a sack.

  Romando cried out, “Who are you?”

  “I am here to preserve the bond of love that has grown between you and Aurelia.” He withdrew a looking glass from a satchel behind his back and held it to Romando’s face. “Look at where you are headed. Then decide: What do you really want?

  Catch your image, ye shall see

  You have chosen selfish deeds

  Seek true purpose for your life,

  Only one may be your wife.

  You must find your gentle balm

  At the waters, cool and calm.

  Find yourself a higher path

  To heal the fires of shameful wrath.”

  Romando gazed into the mirror at himself and Aurelia carving their names into The Great Banyan Tree. As the image faded, he could see only her tear-streaked face, which also faded away. He stared directly at his own scraggly face and shuddered. A flash of fiery shame coursed through his entire body, finally singeing his fingertips.

  Vollov replaced the mirror in his sack, withdrew a loop of golden rope, and extended it to Romando. “Carry this golden rope with you. You will need it. You will find your beloved by a pool the colors of the rainbow. Follow the waters to the ancient oak tree by the river.”

  “Which waters? Show me.”

  Romando grasped the rope, but as he did, Vollov

  vanished.

  A steady rain began to fall, growing heavier and heavier. Soon the water was trickling into rivulets. Eager to find Aurelia, Romando followed the rivulets to a creek bed and downstream along the running waters, hoping they would lead him to the ancient oak and his lost love.

  “Where was Aurelia?” Larissa asked. “How could he ever find her?”

  “Romando was wise to listen to Vollov’s directions to follow the waters. Our young lass had been seeking Romando for much of the day in vain. Yet fate has ways we cannot understand.”

  Meanwhile, Aurelia found herself at Roaming River. Leaning against a willow, her tears flowed once again. I have lost everyone, she thought. My parents. Romando. My cousins. She melted into a heap of sadness, dug into her deep pocket, and felt only two marbles. Oh dear. There were three. Then she recalled her dream — the one where she had placed the marble in Romando’s back pocket as he slept. It had seemed so real.

  Vollov, where are you? The question echoed in her head, but she could not utter it. To her surprise, Vollov appeared from behind the willow, singing:

  The Rhyme of Tears

  When you suffer, when you’re sad,

  Troubled by the trials you’ve had,

  Longing for a peaceful place,

  Needing solace, wanting grace,

  Let yourself cry salty tears,

  Carry them despite your fears.

  Only he who knows your sorrow

  Can you trust when comes the morrow.

  Though tears may seem to take your soul,

  Do not let them cloud your goal.

  So seek ye next the Prismed Pool.

  Then slay Promulgus, Evil’s fool.

  Larissa tugged at her grandfather’s sleeve. “Whatever happened to Promulgus?”

  “Promulgus was still to be reckoned with — but he had one dilemma. Evil spirits were not permitted in The Land between Sleep and Awake unless they had the proper formula and preparation. Then he would be permitted only one entry for his lifetime.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He did what he often did — he searched through his book of recipes for another one-time potion.”

  “And he found it.”

  “Indeed he did, but first — ”

  “I know. First he needed a chant.”

  “You are quite right.”

  Channeling Grundle-Mundle

  Promulgus chanted:

  Grundle-Mundle, send me through

  Hidden valleys, rivers too,

  Over land, o’er the seas.

  Grant me Evil’s magic keys.

  I shall use my clever ways

  To shape Aurelia’s final days.

  Grundle-Mundle, hear me now

  As I chant this potent vow.

  Armed with his chant and his recipe, he once again ventured out of Yawning Cave to find the necessary ingredients.

  Potion to Enter Forbidden Realms

  IN A LARGE BOWL, COMBINE AND MIX THOROUGHLY:

  1 cup fish oil

  13 teaspoons rotten algae

  2 cups bloody vinegar

  11 teaspoons rancid pig’s fat

  3 cups onion juice

  9 teaspoons dried bird droppings

  1 cup rat’s blood

  LET THE MIXTURE SET THROUGH THE NIGHT.

  When it has set, sing your chant 13 times. Take the mixture in its bowl on a barrow and place it in the sun until dark. Swallow one cup an hour throughout the night. When you have completed these steps, you will be able to enter the Forbidden Realm ONE TIME ONLY and find your prey.

  Finding the ingredients and making the potion took time, but Promulgus was determined. Ready at last, he sang the evil chant thirteen times in his gravelly voice:

  Grundle-Mundle, send me through

  Hidden valleys, rivers too,

  Over land, o’er the seas.

  Grant me Evil’s magic keys.

  I shall use my devious ways

  To shape Aurelia’s final days.

  Grundle-Mundle, hear me now

  As I chant this potent vow.

  By the time he had finished chanting and swallowing thirteen cups full of the putrid potion, Promulgus could hardly move and smelled curiously like rotten fish. By midday, however, he was ready to set off for The Land between Sleep and Awake and find Aurelia.

  “Where was Romando?” asked Larissa.

  “Romando continued to follow the waters to a wide river. There he spotted a large, ancient oak tree on the banks, where he rested under its shady boughs and waited for Aurelia.”

  “What was happening to Aurelia? Where was she now?”

  “Remember, Aurelia had been by Roaming River under the willow, and Vollov was preparing her to seek the Prismed Pool.”

  “’Tis time for you to journey forward,” Vollov advised Aurelia. He held forth a small corked flask. “Allow your tears to shed, but do not shed them in vain. Save them in this flask; then place the flask in your pocket.”

  Aurelia managed to catch several drops of her tears in the tiny flask, seal it with the cork, and slip it into her pocket.

  Vollov continued: “Now look upon the river. Let the waters carry you
where they will, and always listen for the music.”

  Casting her gaze over the waters, Aurelia spotted a log raft anchored along the bank. She shrugged her shoulders in puzzlement.

  “This raft will take you where you need to go — to the Prismed Pool. Yet beware the pool’s waters; though they have beauty, beauty has deceptive powers.”

  Vollov guided Aurelia onto the raft. It floated gently downriver.

  When Aurelia turned back to wave at him, Vollov was gone.

  “Wasn’t Aurelia frightened?” asked Larissa.

  “Of course. Yet fear makes us human. It can stop us, or it can move us to new heights. We shall soon see what the river brought Aurelia.”

  Alone again, Aurelia floated downstream for hours. When the river forked, she held her breath. Which to take? To her left, a bird in a nearby tree chirped: “Chrr-hee! Chrr-hee!” Another answered from afar: “Chrr-hee! Chrr-hee!” She recalled Vollov’s instructions: Listen for the music. The bird flew downstream along to the left. She rotated the raft and followed the bird as it flew around a bend.

  The Prismed Pool

  There it was. At last! She paddled toward the bank to get a closer look at its exquisite, rainbow-colored waters rippling toward the river bank. As she neared the pool’s outer ripples, the waters began to churn — slowly at first, then faster and faster.

  Then Whoosh! Out from the center burst Promulgus Morphus! Aurelia fell flat onto the raft, which had begun to spin in the churning waters. She clung tightly to the edges.

  “Aha!” shouted Promulgus. “Now I have you where I want you!” He exploded out of the water like a huge flying fish.