JPATNM ~ Chapter 1: In Which Underage Wizards Wander Where They Shouldn't And Get Tangled In Strange Situations

“Looking for trouble, he'd say. You're gonna look til you find it.

Trouble is the looker, she'd answer. It keeps looking till it finds you. Might as well find it first.

Why do you want to die?

I don't, she'd say. I just want to live.”

- Victoria Schwab

Chapter 1:

In Which Underage Wizards Wander Where they Shouldn't and Get Tangled in Strange Situations

~ Scorpius & James ~

Shopping in Diagon Alley should have been the most thrilling activity of August; and it was for most young witches and wizards, but Scorpius Malfoy was not one of them. He had been to Diagon Alley countless times. The shops filled with magical objects and fascinating ongoings that were a daily occurrence there, familiar and expected to him. Hence he was impervious to the cloaks that ranged from Egyptian cotton to Chinese silk, he didn’t bat an eyelash when concoctions erupted and produced different smells and results and certainly didn’t ask foolish questions about the magical world.

He was Scorpius Malfoy, and he was on his way to a prestigious school where the darkest wizard attained his knowledge, the greatest Headmaster in all the magical world had once taught and where one of the greatest battles was fought. All this he knew by reading The Twentieth Century, a History and from his own father, of course who had firsthand accounts of this great battle.

That fateful day, his parents accompanied him to buy the required supplies for first years. In front of Amanuensis Quills his mother, Astoria Malfoy, took out the yellowed envelope with emerald writing, which contained his acceptance letter and his list. She reached for the list, tapped it with her wand and handed it to Draco. He removed a pouch from his pocket and along with the list, he offered them to Scorpius.

Intrigued Scorpius took them, marveling at the item that landed with an audible thump in his open palm. Among the to’s and fro’s of the lively wizarding community, his father had given him one of the family’s heirlooms. He looked at his father, just to make sure he was certain of giving him the pouch and not about to snatch it back on the pretext that he made a mistake.

It jingled with any slight movement; it was filled with money. ‘Flying broomsticks, my father gave me the pouch full of money!’

“It’s yours, son. There’s enough money to buy your school supplies and have some sickles left over for your term.” Draco’s gaze was a soft one, his words were anything but. “I suggest you use it wisely.” Sometimes, like now, he never truly knew if his father loved him. Did that mean he trusted him, or was he just trying to keep him busy with the money instead of having to give him more attention?

He nevertheless nodded, “Aye, sir.”

“Good. Your mother and I are going to pick up some décor for the manor. You are free to go.” His mother’s gaze filled with love and pride.

Given free rein, Scorpius went out and about, visiting all the shops that caught his attention to collect all the required things from his list. Soon after his first purchase, he saw a tick, a faint brush of dark ink onto the paper, next to the word Inks on his list. He realized Astoria enchanted his letter, so that every single thing he bought was marked with that same tick afterward.

His shopping progressed quickly, thanks to Penny, the house elf loyal to the Malfoy family, who waited for him outside each shop, relieving him of the weight of his shopping bags, which she transported back to the Manor. Shopping came to an end quickly, but he didn’t want to look for his parents just yet. Content to just cruise around, he was left to wander aimlessly, straying away from the widest and most crowded alleys and ending up in some long forgotten, dirty and utterly deserted by anything animate.

Knockturn Alley was dark and somber, hags and weird blokes were to be found there. But he had paid a visit there couple of times, some with his father and others with his grandfather, but never alone. Yet, what did he have to lose? More than sick of seeing happy and merry families shopping, or worse yet, kids milling around stores laughing and jostling about, he decided to venture deeper.

As a child, Scorpius had been afraid of the lecherous and cunning eyes of hags and wizards alike. Father soon taught him never to show fear, for it was a weakness, something these people feed on as one might find a pastry with chocolate truffle on the top particularly tasty.

 

Passing various stores made him realize that he had never been so far in. Display windows became murkier with grime encrusted on the surface, and the cobbled ground became nothing more than broken stones and plain dirt. Dark shadows lurked in corners out of sight, hooded figures kept their eyes averted to the ground, and as his feet traveled further, even they became scarce. All the while, thoughts and sights kept him from bolting out of there, even though he was scared witless.

In the complete opposite side of the famed wizarding marketplace James Potter ran ahead of his parents, happy to be rid of the shopping of his own supplies. After a long, tiring day of hunting books and quills and such, dull objects with no charm compared to shrunken skulls and invisible ink, he finally broke away from his parents in search of his partner in crime: Fred. It didn't take long to find him. After a short conversation, Fred said that he had something to show him. Unfortunately, Fred had longer legs than his cousin did and by the time he realized where his winding path was taking them, it was too late. They were in Knockturn Alley.

James looked around as they walked farther and farther into the alley. It was eerie in and of itself, without the numerous hags and other demented wizards. The brick walls on either side of them were covered in thick slime, ivy and moss. James shuddered. This was not at all what he had pictured Knockturn Alley to look like.

After walking in silence for a while, Fred spoke up. "You know that Muggle fairytale? It's called Huntley and Griddle or something like that."

James nodded. He knew that one.

Farther behind, the two animated voices travelled to where Scorpius was. Without telling his feet to proceed, they moved on their own accord. Too curious to turn back, he followed the direction of the voices. They were out of place; people knew how to behave here, yet those two had disturbingly open faces. He knew they were lost even before the same voice spoke, "Well, I think we should have left breadcrumbs or something, because I have no idea where I am.”

Scorpius scoffed. Bunch of foolish kids really. It was probably their first time in Knockturn Alley by the way their eyes darted around, searching for who knew what. Part of him felt sorry for them because they were in exactly the same situation as he was, but another part of him felt insanely jealous. He was lost alone they had each other. Quickly, he shrugged away the feelings of self pity.

His knee-jerk reaction should have been to ignore them both, but something prompted him to follow them. With hurried steps, he trailed after them and in his urgency to follow them, he didn't notice a wizard with a scaly face and glassy eyes until he bumped into him. Afraid of being left behind, he walked around the wizard and trailed after them. The brown haired lad had bumped into someone.

James didn't bother looking at whom he had run into, but he froze as the figure began to speak in Parseltongue. "Start at the abandoned pond. First left, then right. Straight for a time, then right once more. Five paces back the way you came, then sit down. I will find you upon the stroke of midnight. The night before they assemble… Remember that it will be a full moon. Watch for wolves of unusual size." James looked up slowly. He had carelessly run into an old man. He seemed to be repeating directions to himself, because he didn't pay any attention to the fact that the boy had nearly plowed him over.

He jumped backward as he felt something winding its way around his legs. He looked down and saw a huge snake slithering on the cobblestones. A sudden thought popped into his head: Perhaps the snake knew how to get out of Knockturn Alley.

James never took his eyes off it, even when Fred kicked him in the back as hard as he could. "James! What in the world are you thinking?! Stand up right now and get away from that snake... and that man! He's hissing!" Fred was in a complete panic. James realized that he didn't know about Parseltongue.

Before Fred could say or do anything else, James spoke to the snake using its native tongue. "Excuse me, could you tell me how to get out of Knockturn Alley?"

A voice replied in Parseltongue, but it was obviously not the snake answering his question. "There's no point in asking him. He doesn't know his left from his right. He's blind, you see. Even so, it wouldn't really matter that he has been denied the right to see. All snakes have horrendous orientation skills." James stared at the old man, realizing that he had been the one who had spoken.

He heard Fred make a sound of surprise, but he ignored it.

"Then may I ask you how to get out of Knockturn?" James asked politely, still using the native tongue of snakes.

"You may, but I have the option of not answering you, if I so choose." He smiled a toothless grin at the boy.

James frowned, not sure how to answer. "If I ask, will I waste my breath?"

"That depends on what you want to hear.”

"Sir?" He decided politeness was the way to win the answer to his question. "What is your name?"

"My christened name is for my ears alone, but I am called by those close to me Milton. Timothy Milton."

His demeanor was quickly making James lose his nerve as well, but he was able to keep his composure through sheer will. "Mr. Milton, I need to know how to leave Knockturn Alley."

"I will teach you the way out, if you swear to me on all that you hold dear two things."

"Anything!" James said, a little bit too enthusiastically, even he was able to hear the sharp hiss in his voice that time. He heard Fred take a step back.

"Firstly, do not tell anyone about this meeting. It is for you and I alone to know of. Secondly, when you return to school this year, you will meet a boy who goes by the same name that I do. He also speaks our language." It was obvious that by ‘our language' he meant the language of the snakes, or Parseltongue. "At this time, I shan't tell you how Timothy and I know each other, or why we have the same name, but there will come a time when he needs your help. You must help him, as payment for what I am about to do for you. If you do not help him, I will kill you. Do not underestimate me, James Sirius Potter."

James took a deep breath. He needed to keep myself calm if only for Fred's sake. "You have my word."

"Would you be willing to do an Unbreakable Vow?" He snarled the question.

"Pardon me?"

"An Unbreakable Vow! It is a magical incantation in which one wizard makes an oath to another. In other words, you making an oath to me. If you accept the conditions of the Unbreakable Vow and you break them, you shall die. I have yet to know someone who has broken this vow, so I am unable to tell you how you will die. I only know from rumor that it is excruciatingly painful. We would join hands and a third person, designated as the ‘bonder’, shall place the tip of his wand onto their hands, upon which one person asks another person three separated terms of the Vow, where the person will respond ‘I will.’ I cannot even begin to fathom the fact that you have never heard of this," he said impatiently.

"I hadn't until now, sir." James gulped, "But… couldn't you just… take my word for it? I don't want to die."

"Of course not. Especially not now that you have proven that you are considering the possibility of breaking the vow. But, then again, the only way that you and your friend will get out of Knockturn Alley is if you comply."

As he said this, James’s thoughts automatically went to his family... Fred's family. He couldn't imagine how distraught his uncle George would be if he lost another Fred. And his own parents. He realized at that moment, that both Fred and his own namesakes had died at young ages. They were the living memories of both Fred Weasley, Uncle George's twin brother, and James Potter, his dad’s own dad. He couldn't imagine how his dad would feel losing that connection to the past that he didn't even remember.

"So… What is your answer?"

"I'll do it," James replied, his voice shaky.

"Excellent!" He turned to look at Fred, who was a lot farther back than he remembered him being. "Friend of James Potter, do you know how to perform an Unbreakable Vow?" Until Mr. Milton spoke in English, James had almost forgotten that the whole conversation had been in Parseltongue.

Scorpius’s breath caught once he processed what the old goon had said. Did he really mean the Unbreakable Vow?! An Unbreakable Vow wasn’t done in an alley, for Merlin’s beard! Few wizards ever did it because of what it meant. He knew of it only because Father had mentioned it on one rare occasion that he’d taken him to his work. He learned to hard facts: few people are foolish enough to commit to it and in case of not keeping the vow, you were sure to meet a sure demise. Were these to blockheads thick or plain gullible?

Knockturn Alley wasn’t the place to trust someone. Why would it be the place to make an Unbreakable Vow? Scorpius kept observing from his hiding place with wide eyes.

Fred shook his head and took a step back. "Asubio, bring me my prey." Milton said in Parseltongue. James gasped as he realized that the name of his snake was the same as the infamous Lord Voldemort. It surprised him that Milton had the nerve to name his snake something so awful. But looking at his face, he realized that it was completely reasonable for his snake to be called what it was.

He watched as Asubio wound herself around the legs of his cousin. "He won't hurt you unless he has to," Milton said calmly.

"You... you speak snake!" Fred said, looking at Milton in shock.

James nodded at Fred and started responding to him in Parseltongue before correcting himself. "Fred, Mr. Milton is going to show us how to get out of here. But you have to come over here and help us with something. I've made a promise to him that I will assist his... friend while at Hogwarts this year, but he wants me to make an Unbreakable Vow so that he knows I will keep it. If I don't, he'll kill us. Or his snake will." At this, Fred ran forward, toward them, stumbling as Asubio tried to free herself as he ran.

He stopped short right next to James. "Now, boy, you need to know the basics for being the "Bonder" for an Unbreakable Vow. All you need is your wand." Fred drew his wand. James was surprised that he had it with him. "Very good. Now, James, grab my hand." He nodded his approval as James did so. "Remember, all you must do is say ‘I will' after each condition." Milton looked at Fred, "Place the tip of your wand on our interlocked hands." After Fred did this he added, "No matter what happens at this point, do not pull your wand away, otherwise both of you will die." Fred looked extremely pale as he nodded.

Milton took a deep breath and stared James down. If it wasn't for his family, James would have told Milton to kill him. He had half a mind to do so, and most likely would have, except he couldn't be responsible for Fred's death. Even if he had gotten them both into this mess.

"James Sirius Potter." As he said the name, James wondered to himself how he knew it. When he had said it before, he hadn't noticed that he had never supplied him with his name, as he had done. He felt a shudder go down his spine. "Do you promise that no matter what, you will do as I have asked, and assist my acquaintance in what he must do at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?"

He asked this condition in Parseltongue, and James gave the reply in the same language. "Yes– I mean, I will."

A rope-like flame emerged from the tip of Fred's wand and wrapped itself tightly around their hands. If it would have been possible, James would have pulled away right then and there. He saw Fred jump out of the corner of his eye.

"And, if you must, will you protect him from any danger he may, or may not encounter while doing this?"

James took a deep breath, "I . . . I will."

Another tongue of flame came out of the wand and wrapped itself around the first.

"And, will you be sure to not tell anyone about what we have spoken of?"

"I will..." James almost added not, but realized that even with this ‘oath' it would be wrong because of the way he phrased it. All of this Unbreakable Vow had been spoken in Parseltongue. Just as quickly as the last flame wrapped itself around their clasped hands, they turned into smoke and disappeared in the air. Fred pulled his wand away.

Milton continued to look at him, even as he released the boy’s hand, "Do you have your wand so that you can perform the same act on your friend and I?" James wondered why Milton didn't know Fred's name. Maybe he did, but his name wasn't essential to what was happening here.

He shook his head, he didn't carry his wand everywhere. It was in his trunk at home. Potter rules to narrow down the possible pranks he could do.

"I suppose I will have to do this the old-fashioned way." Milton sighed as though he were bored. "Obliviate!" he said, pointing his wand at Fred. Fred looked surprised at first, but then a look of confusion crossed his face. James looked alarmed, but the old wizard reassured him, "I only erased his memory up to the moment before you ran into me. Do not forget your vow. Keep walking forward, you are going the right direction. Do not get off the path. In about a moment you will return to Diagon Alley," he said before he disapparated.  

Blast my luck that had me pinned between following the two and the man! Scorpius thought to himself. Afraid of losing sight of them, he decided to risk everything and follow their trail. Only when he saw the darkness receding and light touching on the alley, did he breathe a sigh of relief. They were back on Diagon Alley.

Scorpius decided enough was enough. They might have saved him from being utterly lost in the alley and dragons know what else, but they were also a magnet for strange things to happen. For one, one of them spoke ‘snake’. They were foolish enough to venture to dark places and make Unbreakable Vows with the first wizard that lost his Merlin marbles. They  both reeked of trouble just waiting to happen. Yep, that was enough for him.

Decisively, he turned the other way, not sparing one backward glance. His parents waiting by the entrance of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes store. “Did you get everything, Scorpius?” Astoria asked, stroking his hair. Although he appreciated the gesture, he wasn't sure he liked my mother acting like he was a baby in the middle of Diagon Alley.

He nodded, his brain blank and mechanically returned the list to her.

“My, my,” she murmured, tapping a long, perfectly manicured nail over the list. “You forgot one thing. The most important of all.”

“Did I?” Scorpius asked, barely able to keep up with the conversation.

“Your wand! Well, worry not, we still have time!” She led him through one of the most crowded streets, their shoes clicking every time they touched the cobbled pavement. Draco lingered a few steps behind all the way, as if he was putting a distance between himself and them. “Draco? Are you coming?”

Draco gave her a grim smile and waved his hand. “I have a few things to take care of. I'll meet you later.” He left, his dark cloak waving behind him.

* * * * *

It might have been only a few days since that fateful day in Knockturn Alley, but the excitement of the upcoming school year was more than enough to make the terrifying experience slip away from James’s mind, as the Potters walked across Kings Cross Station.

"I'm sorry Albus, you're just doomed to be in Slytherin. You have all of the characteristics of someone I knew who ended up there," James said solemnly to his younger brother as they walked across the crowded train station. Teasing Albus in this way had become a daily occurrence ever since he had received his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. It had yet to become boring, because his brother’s reaction changed each time. James almost grinned at his expression, but was able to compose himself.

"I won't! I won't be in Slytherin!" Albus cried in dismay, looking up at James as though he had been completely betrayed.

"James, give it a rest," Ginny chided. She was tired of him teasing Albus constantly.

James grinned widely at Albus. "I only said he might be. There's nothing wrong with that. He might be in Slyth–" The expression on Ginny’s face stopped him mid-sentence.

James turned and saw the barrier between platforms nine and ten. He quickly took the trolley from his mum and sprinted away. After only a second he was enveloped by the wall, and was on Platform 9 ¾.

Pushing his luggage over toward the train, he found the conductor, who was putting everything into the train with levitation charms. James quickly relieved himself of his luggage and began looking for familiar faces. It seemed as though most of the people were older and he didn't know any of them except those who were in Gryffindor. The air was thick with steam from the train, but he was able to make his way around well enough.

He turned a corner and stopped abruptly as he saw familiar people... Teddy and Victoire... snogging! He watched them for a few moments in shock. Teddy was practically family. In fact, he was closer than some of the family. And Victoire was family! James was horrified. He almost walked away right then and there, but he needed to say something.

James walked over to Teddy and tapped him on the shoulder. "What are you doing? You do realize that what you are doing is completely wrong don't you? It's this kind of thing that makes families like ours jinx each other in the back when no one is looking!  You may just start a blood feud for all you know! But all you care about is the fact that you are lip-locking each other and transmitting Muggle diseases."

Teddy looked more surprised than James had, for reasons that the young boy couldn't fathom. "What are you talking about James? I don't think you even know what you are saying. Haven't you ever seen your parents snog each other? It isn't just Muggles that do this kind of thing. And what blood feud? I thought our family was as close-knit as any wizarding family. Especially our parents. And I'm not technically part of your family. Not by genetics anyway. So I am allowed to snog Victoire all I want, thank you very much! All I am doing is seeing Victoire off. I'm not going to see her for a while. Now get out of here!" James really didn't want to get on the wrong side of Teddy. He could have quite a nasty temper when he wanted to. So he turned and walked away.

He began looking for his family in earnest, wanting to tell them what he had seen. He ran through the crowd, occasionally pushing someone when they didn't move quickly enough. After a few minutes he found them. All of them. Standing around... doing nothing.

"Teddy's back there. Just seen him! And guess what he's doing? Snogging Victoire!" James said breathlessly. He looked up at the adults, glancing from face to face. None of them seemed remotely fazed by the news. He decided he needed to emphasize. "Our Teddy! Teddy Lupin! Snogging our Victoire! Our cousin! And I asked Teddy what he was doing–"

"You interrupted them? You are so like Ron–" Ginny cut him off.

"–and he said he'd come to see her off! And then he told me to go away. He's snogging her!"

"Oh, it would be lovely if they got married! Teddy would really be part of the family then!" his sister whispered excitedly.

"He already comes round for dinner about four times a week," Harry pointed out, "Why don't we just invite him to live with us and have done with it?"

James liked this idea. "Yeah! I don't mind sharing with Al–Teddy could have my room!”

Harry shook his head. "No, you and Al will share a room only when I want the house demolished." He looked down at his watch, "It's nearly eleven, you'd better get on board."

Ginny walked over and hugged James, "Don't forget to give Neville our love!"

"Mum! I can't give a professor love!" he retorted.

"But you know Neville–"

James once again rolled his eyes at her, "Outside, yeah, but at school he's Professor Longbottom, isn't he? I can't walk into Herbology and give him love.” He looked at his brother. “See you later, Al. Watch out for the thestrals."

He smiled at Albus as he swung his leg out to kick him. James’s shoe successfully made contact with his shin. Albus didn't seem to notice.

He looked at Albus and saw a look of pure terror on his face. "I thought they were invisible? You said they were invisible!"

He smiled mischievously before boarding the train. Fred, was waiting for him. He had obviously overheard what he had just said to Albus, because he was grinning ear to ear. "Couldn't have done it better myself," he said in approval as he grabbed his hand and pulled him into a bear hug. "You're getting better and better everyday, James."

"What's that supposed to mean? That I'm still learning?" James scoffed as he pulled away from his embrace and headed into the nearest compartment. Fred followed and held up various contraband that he had snuck onto the train. The items ranged from Portable Swamps to Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. It was going to be a good year.

James took a Headless Hat from him and sat down on one of the seats in the compartment. Fred began searching through a black bag. It was obvious that he was looking for something, but James had no idea what it was. Suddenly he pulled out some Stink Pellets. He held them up as if he had just won the Triwizard Tournament. James couldn't help but smile at him.

A loud noise made them both jump out of their seats. He looked at the floor, where the sound had come from and couldn't believe what he saw. "You told your mum and mine that you weren't, under any circumstances, going to sneak one of these onto the train, let alone the school!" James cried out when he saw the circular tube that was clearly labeled "Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks."

"You really need to learn to lighten up about a lot of things, James." He shook his head at him. “Has anything I taught you sunk into that small skull of yours?"

Fred grinned jokingly, and James relaxed. "I suppose you're right. And these fireworks will let us have all the more pranks to irritate the professors, Mr. Crubs and Mr. Filch."

"Exactly!"

“Fred? Did you maybe see where I put my–” Roxanne asked as she stormed into the compartment, her dark brown hair pulled in a high ponytail. The light dancing on her face lit it up, showing her natural, bronze highlights more than usual. The expression that was plastered on her face was priceless.

“Hello to you too, Roxanne,” James said, grinning from ear to ear.

The eyes of Fred’s twin sister were stuck on a small, deep, purple pouch, the one James was hundred percent sure that she’d recognize as Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. Helping her Dad at the shop all summer long, it was guaranteed that she could spot that kind of thing from miles away.

“I have some spares for you too, sis,” Fred said, his expression reminding James of the Cornwall Pixies they had to immobilize last year in their final DADA exams.

“I don’t want any of that!” She exclaimed, her green eyes still huge. “How did you manage to sneak all that in here?”

“Jeesh! Roxie, you sound like Aunt Hermione!” Fred mocked. “Chillax!”

Fred’s mischievous Cornwall Pixie grin was mirrored on his twin. “Seriously now… How did you do that?”

James rolled his eyes. I should have known! He thought to himself. These two were so different with each other, Roxanne being more quiet and calculating, Fred acting more on impulse and thoughtlessly getting us constantly in trouble, but deep inside, those two were two sides of the same coin. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with…

“Well…” Fred started mysteriously, having that old wise master look on his face as he interwove his fingers and crossed his knees, placing his hands on top of them. “It wasn’t easy…”

Roxanne’s attention was fully turned to her brother, seeming fascinated by his achievement. At times like this, James wondered if Roxanne had potential of being a pro prankster, just like her father and brother.

“What’s that look for?!” Roxanne asked her cousin, half accusing and half teasing.

“Me?” James asked innocently, lifting his eyebrows.

And just like that, James was able to push the idea of the mysterious student in the back of his mind, ignoring the goosebumps on his arms.

Man, this is gonna be a good year!

Challenge of the Fairies

Challenge of the Fairies

“Here it is, that place you asked me,” the cab driver said and pulled over. He was pointing at the side of the street. Johan squinted his eyes, but all he could spot through the snowstorm was a yellow light in the distance.

“Danke,” he said in his bad German and paid the man. He clutched his coat tightly before getting off the cab.

As it drove away, Johan wondered if he should just go back. What was he even doing here? He left England with the pretext of going to see his grandparents, whom he barely even knew due to the great distance. This was his only his second visit in Germany. Frankly, his mother’s parents were merely strangers to him. There was no reason he’d suddenly decide to pay them a visit in his thirties.

“So cold… I guess January was a bad choice…” Johan mumbled to himself as he slowly dragged his feet through the snow-covered pavement. He just wanted a cup of hot tea, a pile of blankets and a lit fireplace to curl next too. Who cared about his stupid search? It was probably pointless anyway.

After what seemed like ages, he reached the tavern’s entrance. Loud music was playing inside. Laughter and the sound of glass against glass were audible even outside. Johan entered hurriedly, bringing fresh snow in with him. The place was crowded, so he made his way between occupied tables and found an empty stool by the bar.

For a while he was too busy, taking off his jacket, setting his bag on the floor and trying to warm up, that he didn’t realize that the bartender was talking to him. He was a tall, stocky, muscular man who seemed to barely fit in his shirt. He looked somewhere in his fifties, maybe sixties, with grayish hair and a thick beard. All in all, he was somewhat scary. Like a bear in human’s clothing.

Johan could only understand half of what he said, proof that his parents’ efforts to teach him German when he was still a schoolboy had gone to waste, but he understood the bartender was waiting for an order.

“Etwas… etwas warmes,” he said. He didn’t care what he got, if it could warm him up.

The bartender grinned and started talking on his own. Johan could tell that he was going to try some specialty or something. He patiently waited as the man poured wine, another red drink and then brought over various vases stuffed with spices at the bar and started mixing them.

Johan looked around and realized that the tavern was slowly emptying. Oddly enough, half of the tables, had already emptied out and waitresses were collecting dishes and glasses. Johan looked at his watch. Only ten’o clock? People sure go home early around here, even though it’s Saturday…

His attention turned to the bar as a glass was roughly placed before him. He took his time observing the peculiar drink. It had to be a local specialty; and a very loaded specialty at that. There was a slice of orange on the glass and a stick of cinnamon inside as well, more lemon was floating inside, soaked by the steaming red wine.

“Alles gut?” asked the bartender. “Trink!” he encouraged him with a smile. He said some more things, and as usual Johan could only get the basics. He definitely introduced himself as Olaf and also said something like, “Trust me, it’s good, drink up!”

Eventually, Johan took a sip. The lemon and the cinnamon had the strongest taste, but less than a minute had passed and he was already getting warmer. He gulped down the rest quickly and ordered a second. After the third glass, he decided to cut to the chase. He had come there to get some answers after all. The alcohol slowly erased any worries he had about speaking incorrectly and he could swear he even understood more from what the bartender said.

“How is the area around here?”

“Schiltach?” The bartender laughed. “It’s just a small town. There are houses, some shops. Nothing interesting really.”

“So… you haven’t heard any tales… stories… anything mysterious going on?”

“Mysterious…?” Olaf paused for a second, a wrinkle showing on his forehead. “I guess not. Or maybe… Well, it’s just some myth. About the Schwartzwald.”

Something clicked in Johan’s head. Schwartz meant black. Wald was forest. So, the Black Forest…? Had he heard the name before?

“Where is that?”

Olaf slammed his hands on the wooden bar. Johan flinched away, but the man started laughing loudly. The few people had were left in the tavern quieted and turned to stare at him. “Where’s the Schwartzwald, he says! The Schwartzwald! It’s all over the place, boy. Every single inch of woods you see around here, that’s where the Schwartzwald is.”

Johan stared down at the glass in his hands. He felt like he sounded very stupid just then. “And you’re saying that there is something curious about it?”

“Oh, there have been all sorts of stories about it. Children and hunters getting lost. Fires burning without anyone lighting them. Voices heard from its depths. Just looking at its direction at night can give you the creeps.”

“Voices, huh?” Johan gulped down what wine still remained in his glass.

“Another one?” Johan nodded. Olaf took the empty glass away from him. “Why are you even interested in that sort of thing? Are you a journalist? Because if that’s the case, I have to tell you a few years back someone else came and wrote for some newspaper about Schwartzwald.”

“No, no… it’s nothing like that. It’s for personal reasons.”

“A tourist’s curiosity?” The bartender grinned.

“You could call it that.” Or maybe not. I didn’t come here for tourism. Who in his right mind would come for tourism in this cold, God-forsaken place? If that hadn’t been his mother’s homeland, he would have never set his foot in this country, not now, not ever…

Soon after, a company of men who looked about Johan’s age entered the tavern. “Excuse me. I’ll be back,” the bartender said as he left Johan to take care of the company’s drinks. Johan felt somewhat dizzy from all the wine. He held his head and stared at the glass as his mind slipped away and he dove into old memories…

* * * * *

“I’m going to do some shopping. Be a good kid until I come back, okay? Don’t disturb Mom, alright?” was what Johan’s father had told him, before leaving in the morning. Johan had agreed, like the good kid he was. There was a part of the promise he made though that he couldn’t keep.

He carefully tiptoed up the stairs of the dark house and approached his parents’ bedroom. The door was tightly shut, as usual, but he mustered all his courage to go in. He might have promised, but it really was a good chance to see his mother. He rarely did so, even though they lived in the same house. She was always sick, always shut in that room. His father always said she needed some peace and quiet and that she might get better eventually.

Johan pushed down the handle and opened the door just a crack. The heavy, blue curtains hung shut in front of the windows, but a little sunlight got in, giving the room an ominous, indigo hue.

“Who’s there?!” the woman asked in a shaky voice. She always sounded like that. It’s because she rarely talks, Johan thought.

“It’s just me, Mom,” Johan said quietly and walked towards her.

Sabine sat in her rocking chair, with her feet curled up to her chest, wrapped in a blanket. Her face softened at the sight of her son, but her eyes looked tired and her face old. She had deep wrinkles scarring her face for as long as Johan could remember. None of his friends’ mothers looked like that.

“How are you feeling?” Johan asked and took her hand. It was a little colder than his, but he thought it was because she was sitting in there all day. “The weather’s so nice today, the sea is calm.”

“Is it, now?” Sabine asked absentmindedly. “That’s good. It’s not good when they get mad…”

“Mad? Nobody’s mad, Mom,” Johan reassured her. “Do you want me to show you what I drew at school the other day? The teacher said it was very good and gave me an A! She wanted to hang it in the classroom but I said no because I wanted to show it to you first!”

“Mmmh. Let me see then,” she agreed.

Her son’s face lit up and he ran out of the room. He noticed her flinching when he walked in, but she forced a smile on her face. He gave her the drawing and stood there proudly, waiting for her appraisal.

“It’s a really good drawing,” she said eventually and ruffled his hair gently.

“Really?”

She nodded. “I like the sunglasses that the sun is wearing.”

Johan was smiling from ear to ear. “I got the idea from a fairytale our teacher told us!”

“What fairytale?” Sabine straightened  up in her chair and Johan sat cross-legged on the carpet opposite her.

“Well, it is a long one, but I can tell you if you like.” He smiled at her expectantly.

“Please do.”

Johan cleared his throat like grown-ups did, put on a serious face and began. “It is a tale about the Sun, who was feeling lonely after being on his own watching everyone from afar for so many years. So, he called his friend, the Moon, to stand in his place, put on a hat to hide his golden hair and a pair of dark glasses to hide his eyes and he went down to earth to look for a bride to keep him company.

“He searched and searched, but all the girls he met couldn’t stand him for too long because he was too warm to say next to. In the meantime, the world had only night with the Moon keeping watch, and humans were beginning to get annoyed, so time was pressing the Sun to hurry and find his bride.

“When he was about to give up, he stopped under the shade of a big tree to rest and he fell asleep below it. He woke up from a beautiful voice and saw a dark-haired woman dancing nearby. He realized this was the one he was looking for. He kissed her and her hair turned gold and so it was decided that she would be the Sun’s bride and then they both went up to the sky together.

“That’s it,” he said happily. “So, what did you think?”

Sabine nodded absentmindedly. “Hmmm, it was a nice story.”

“Our teacher also said that some people say that the Sun’s bride in the story used to be the Queen of the Fairies before she married him.”

Sabine’s posture changed immediately. The room wasn’t very bright, but he could see his mother’s eyes growing wide and staring at the wall in terror. She jumped up, knocking her chair down violently. Johan instinctively crawled back, taken aback by her reaction. She started going up and down the room restlessly, mumbling gibberish, half in German, half in English.

“They might know… they mind find us… we mustn’t go in the woods. They’re watching… always watching!” She took a sharp turn and stopped in front of the curtains. “They’ll know… they know everything!” Without a warning, she turned to Johan and grabbed him by the shoulders, staring at him like she didn’t recognize him. “Did you tell them, boy? Did they hear you?! You were in the woods, weren’t you?!”

“Mom, it’s me, Johan! What are you talking about?”

She shook him again, repeating the same questions.

“You’re hurting me, Mom, let me go! It’s just me! Everything’s fine!”

Sabine let him go and approached the windows again, holding her head and saying something Johan couldn’t understand.

“Johan? What is going on?” Suddenly his father was there, his eyes going back and forth between his wife and son. “Get out. It’s okay, I’ll help Mom. Just go downstairs and be quiet.”

“But I… I don’t know what I did wrong…” Johan muttered, looking at his father blankly.

“It’s not your fault. Just get out of the room,” he repeated before turning to Sabine, who was talking on her own, ignoring both of them in her terror…

* * * * *

His mother’s panic attacks had gotten worse ever since. They called for doctors. They moved as far away as they could from the woods so she wouldn’t think about it. Everyone had one thing to say: Sabine Miller was sick in the head. They just gave her some pills and hoped each day would go by as quietly as possible.

Johan stopped talking to her about fairytales, fairies and trees. These things seemed to set her off more often than other conversations. She was constantly distressed… until the last time he saw her. Because Sabine Miller vanished one day. She has been in the missing persons’ list for more than thirteen years. Even his father thought that she must be gone by now.

But Johan was stubborn. He couldn’t believe his mother was just a crazy person who vanished from the face of earth without an explanation. There had to be an answer.

“Ah, sorry, boy! Here, take another one,” Olaf said, placing another glass of spiced wine in front of him. “Things got busy all of a sudden, eh?” He laughed loudly and walked away to take care of more orders.

Johan sat quietly, pondering on his mother’s disappearance and sipping his drink, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around lazily, to see a short, thin man in a dark, cloak-like coat on his shoulders.

“Mind if I sit with you?” he asked, grinning deviously and showing his bad teeth.

Johan wasn’t sure if he wanted to be near him, but he simply shrugged. What would he do anyway? The man let out a small cackle and climbed – with a little difficulty – on the stool next to him. He reached on his own on the other side of the bar, took hold of a bottle of rum and a glass and poured himself. Johan’s eyes widened in surprise but the small man waved at the bartender, so Johan said nothing. He took another sip of his own drink in silence.

“So, heh, heh, you’re a new face, heh. What brings you here, heh?”

“Just passing through.” What’s this? Do strangers just talk to anyone and go asking questions here?

“Heh, heh, oh, I see, I see. You’re here for the Schwartzwald, aren’t you? Heh.”

That last thing got Johan’s attention. It was the same forest the bartender had told him about. He straightened up and felt the urge to ask more, but he tried not to let it show on his face. “Schwartzwhat? What is that?”

“Heh, heh, but you know already, don’t you? Why are you asking me, heh?”

Johan didn’t see that coming. How did he know? “They might know. They always know,” his mother’s words echoed in his head.

“I know a lot. Olaf is a blabbermouth, heh,” he said pointing at the barman. “He likes telling by-passers spooky stories, heh, heh.” He drank the contents of his glass all at once and grinned. “You believe him, don’t you?”

“What? I… of course not. This is just some stupid gossip. There can’t be people going missing. The police would have done something.” I think so at least… he reasoned quietly.

“Heh, heh. You’re funny, Johan. I expected that. It’s only natural, with you being who you are, heh.”

Johan felt a chill running down his spine. How did that man know his name?

“I am Fred. It’s not proper using your name without telling you mine now, is it? Heh.” Fred gave Johan his hand, but Johan ignored him. Fred was creepy. Maybe Johan had had too many drinks and was imagining things. “So, you want to go to the Schwartzwald? I can take you there! I know it like the palm of my hand! Actually, I know it much better than my palm. Heh. They’ve been wanting to meet you Johan. They’ve known so much… they’re just waiting for you to go to the woods, heh. You’ve kept them waiting for too long, heh, heh.”

“I don’t understand,” Johan said. This sounded too much like the things his mother used to say. There’s no way this Fred guy knows all that; he’s making it up. Or it’s the booze getting to my head. “Who are they?”

“Ah, so you’ve been making new friends, huh?” The big bear of a bartender, Olaf, came out of nowhere, placing a heavy hand on Johan’s back.

“Eh, that’s not–” Johan started to say.

“Good, good. Fred is the best guy! I’ll let you two at it,” he said and, hooting, he walked away.

Johan’s last hope to get rid of crazy Fred, Olaf, left and Johan’s face fell in disappointment. He let out an audible sigh and pretended to be fascinated by something in the tavern’s decoration. Somehow, time managed to pass without Fred saying anything else to him. Eventually the small company of men left as well and the room was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Olaf was napping on a chair on the other side of the bar with his head leaning back and a single waitress was turning the chairs upside down, placing them on the tables to mop the floor. Fred poured himself another glass of rum.

“Uh… I think I should get going…” Johan murmured. He stood up from the stool and staggered, falling back against the bar. I think I had much more than I should… From the noise he made, Olaf woke up and came his way. A strong arm grabbed him and set him on his feet before he could realize out what was happening.

Olaf hooted loudly again. The sound left Johan’s head pounding. “O ho ho, looks like my specialty was a bit too strong for you, boy! Are you going?”

“Y-yes, pet me lay you… ugh, let… let me pay you,” he mumbled, trying to hide his embarrassed face and looking in his backpack for his wallet.

“Oh, forget it, just go. It’s on me,” Olaf said, patting him on the back so hard that he almost fell down again.

“No, no, I can’t let you,” Johan said, staring confused at his wallet, wondering which way the damn thing opened. It seemed too complicated to him at the moment.

“Hey, Johan, look up.” He couldn’t figure out whose voice he heard anymore. He looked at Fred. “You don’t look too well. Have a glass of water,” he said and handed him a glass. Without thinking, Johan drank it.

“It tastes funny,” he said and felt the glass slipping from his grip. The next events were a mess in Johan’s head. He remembered hearing glass break and the bear of a bartender taking the shape of an actual bear as he hooted loudly. He remembered Fred’s crazed glance as he knelt down to look at Johan. Then, darkness swallowed everything.

* * * * *

The cicadas’ song was making Johan’s ears buzz. It had been going on for a such long time… he couldn’t tell how long he was there, listening to it. He rolled on his side and felt something scratching his cheek. He opened his eyes slowly. Everything on his eye level was green. He found himself lying on the ground, tall grass rising all around him. He sat up hurriedly, worrying about what might be hiding in there.

“Ow… my head’s about to burst…” he murmured and placed his hands on the sides of his head, as if he had to keep it together. “Where is this place? Why isn’t there any snow…? There was a snowstorm last night…”

He took a few minutes to snap out of it and he stand up. The grass almost reached his knee. The sun was shining brightly and the cicadas suddenly seemed to be singing even louder than before. Little by little things started coming back to him. The tavern… The bear-like bartender… The creepy, short man… And the drinks… so, so many drinks. “No wonder I am having a hangover… But what am I looking at now? I’m probably still dreaming.”

“You’re not dreaming. This place is real,” he heard a childish voice call out in German. He turned around anxiously and saw a girl in a red summer dress sitting on a swing a few trees farther away.

Johan scratched his head in confusion. What is a swing doing in the forest? And what is a girl doing on the swing in the forest? “Where is this place exactly?”

“But it’s the Schwartzwald of course.”

“And why are you here? What’s your name?”

The girl flashed him a smile and hopped off the swing. “I’m Anna. Come play with me now. It was rather boring waiting for you to wake up.”

Johan didn’t have a chance to say anything because the girl took hold of his hand and pulled him around as she wished. As the day passed, he played with her all sorts of childish, nonsensical games that he had never heard of. He caught himself wondering why he didn’t take the girl and head for the town, leave her at the nearest police station and get away from that place. That thought somehow faded and was forgotten quickly though. He couldn’t recall what he was doing the night before, or how he had gotten to that town and why.

Night came eventually, wrapping the forest like a thick blanket. Everything was enveloped in darkness and Johan was having a hard time seeing up ahead as the girl lead him between the trees. “Shouldn’t you be heading home? It’s getting really dark,” Johan said eventually.

Anna turned around, flashing him her usual smile. “Silly, that’s when it starts becoming interesting. This is the most fun part of the game.”

Something about her words made Johan shiver, even though it was still very warm outside. “What do you mean?”

“The Challenge of the Fairies of course! Come with me, I’ll explain when we get there.”

Somehow, once she took hold of his hand, he couldn’t let go, even though he wanted to. They walked a long distance until abruptly, Anna stopped and sat on the ground, pulling Johan down with her. She crossed her feet and made herself comfortable as Johan looked nervously around. He was so on the edge that he was ready to take off at the slightest sign of danger.

“Why did we stop?” Johan asked, peeking over the bushes in front of them.

“Shhh, not yet! Get down!” Anna said and pulled him back. “Okay, let me tell you how it works. Tonight there’s a full moon, so the Fairies will come out to dance soon.”

“The Fairies…? Wha–”

“Listen, listen! So, the Challenge of the Fairies goes like this: You have to watch them dance all night, but they mustn’t see you. Then, near dawn, when they’ll stop, you have to reach their queen and you can have a wish of yours granted.”

“And… if you are seen?”

Anna smiled broadly. “Just make sure you don’t, okay?”

Johan didn’t like the sound of that. He ducked as far down as he could, trying to sneak peeks through the gaps between the bushes’ branches. It was going to be a long night. How would they even last all night long, watching those fairies, even if they made an appearance? They had been running around the forest all day! Even if he could last, there was no chance Anna would. She is a child. She’ll be asleep before midnight, Johan thought.

Time passed and nobody appeared. Johan started thinking that this was all just part of what Anna’s childish mind had fabricated. Do I have to play along and pretend to see them already? he wondered.

“Oh, there they are!” Anna whispered and pulled his sleeve.

Johan couldn’t believe his eyes. Indeed, dark figures were beginning to gather in the clearing, carrying things. He heard logs being piled one on top of the other and stones being scrapped one against the other. The crackling of the fire came next as it devoured the wood greedily. Music started playing as more figures crowded the clearing. Anna was moving her head rhythmically from side to side, humming to herself as the figures began to dance.

All of Johan’s worries about how they were going to keep themselves from falling asleep evaporated. There was no way one could sleep while watching such a sight. The way they moved, the vibrant music… it was all too fascinating.

“We shouldn’t go in the woods… They’ll know… they always know…” The words rang as a warning bell in Johan’s head. Why though? Who had said them? He could not remember. Well, it didn’t matter anyway. He’d remember whose they were if they were important.

As the time passed, Johan’s fear of the dancers melted away. At first he sat up, looking at them over the bushes… Later he got on his knees and crawled closer… Eventually he rose and went to stand a breath away from the clearing. These are fairies indeed, he mused as he looked at them up closer. Their skin had a pale green hue and their ears’ pointed tips showed through their silky, dark hair.

When the circle came to a halt and the music stopped, Johan was left gazing at them in a daze. His thoughts were hazy and unruly. He saw a man unlike the fairies approaching him; he wore a dark cloak and his eyes gleamed wildly. His name Is Fred, he thought, but that was the only thing he remembered of him.

Fred placed an arm on Johan’s shoulder. “I knew you’d come, heh, heh! They wanted to meet you after all! Heh!”

Johan nodded absentmindedly. The fairies wanted to meet me? Of course. I can have a wish granted after all, can’t I?

“Looks like you were caught, heh. You’re supposed to hide until they’re all done dancing, heh, heh.” His cackle echoed through the clearing, pulling Johan violently out of the trance he had fallen into.

“Wh– what are you talking about? You’re all done, right? I can get to your queen now!” Johan said in a trembling voice.

Fred cackled again. “But you weren’t hiding, were you? The challenge just doesn’t work like this. Heh, heh. Good luck, friend,” he said, patted Johan’s shoulder one more time before withdrawing, vanishing behind the other fairies.

“Did you tell them, boy? Did they hear you?! You were in the woods, weren’t you?!”

I suppose I was, Mom… I’m sorry. They heard me. They even saw me. I’m sorry… I guess you were right. They know. They always know. They might have been watching all along. And I was stupid, oh, so, so stupid!

The fairies were around him, closing in. Their eyes were pitch black and shining in the moonlight, their grins felt threatening as they bared their pointed teeth.

I suppose this is it. I was caught. This was Johan’s last thought before darkness swallowed him.

* * * * *

It was freezing cold. So this is how it feels to be dead. I suppose it’s not much different than that wretched place where Mom grew up…

Johan curled his body, bringing his knees to his chin. Something cold touched his lips. Snow. He opened his eyes and saw he was almost buried beneath it.

Is it snowing in the afterlife too?!

Surprised, he stood up and started shaking the snow off his clothes and hair. “S-s-so cold…” he said and clutched his teeth. He seemed to have lost his coat and scarf somehow. “I shouldn’t hope to find them again either…” he mumbled to himself.

Johan stood there, wondering what he was supposed to do. Am I just going to linger here? If I’m dead, isn’t there someone who should take care of people like me? Like, an angel, or a devil… someone to take me to where I’m supposed to be? I can’t really die from the cold anymore, but it is unpleasant. Maybe I should look for shelter someplace...

The snapping of a twig made him turn around so fast that he fell back in the snow. Someone was standing behind him, wrapped in thick clothes from head to toe. He squinted his eyes, trying to make out the details of the approaching person. His mind tried to process what he was seeing. A face scarred with wrinkles… a pair of wide, blue eyes.

For a second he couldn’t even breathe. Eventually, he smiled.

“I knew you had to be somewhere, Mom.”

Author’s Note: I’m sorry for the German at the beginning, it was used to create the appropriate mood. Hope I didn’t give anyone difficulties, I tried to write them in such a way that it wouldn’t really matter if you could understand what they were saying in German or not. Now what happened at the end really? Did Johan die? Did he find his mother? Or did he go crazy? Mwahaha, I’m leaving the answer to your imagination! Thanks a lot for reading!

Για Μα Ζωγραφιά

Για Μια Ζωγραφιά

Ο Ιάσωνας έτρεχε κατά μήκος του λιμανιού βιαστικά, τρυπώνοντας ανάμεσα στον κόσμο. Τώρα που είχε έρθει το καλοκαίρι, είχαν μαζευτεί πολλοί ξένοι στο νησί και οι δρόμοι έσφυζαν από ζωή. Σταμάτησε μονάχα όταν έφτασε μπροστά στη «Γοργόνα», το παλιό καΐκι του παππού Σταύρου.

Ο παππούς του χάθηκε στην θάλασσα πριν από τρία χρόνια και η «Γοργόνα» βρέθηκε να πλέει δίχως καπετάνιο στα ανοιχτά. Η γιαγιά του ποτέ δε βρήκε το κουράγιο να την πουλήσει, ελπίζοντας πως ο παππούς θα επέστρεφε μια μέρα.

Χωρίς δεύτερη σκέψη, ο Ιάσωνας πήρε φόρα και πήδηξε, πέφτοντας φαρδύς πλατύς στο παλιωμένο κατάστρωμα. Σηκώθηκε, τίναξε την άμμο και την αλμύρα από το μπλουζάκι του και έβγαλε από την τσέπη του το κλειδί για την μικρή καμπίνα. Στρογγυλοκάθισε στην ξύλινη καρέκλα του παππού και έκλεισε τα μάτια του, προσποιούμενος πως ο παππούς του ήταν ακόμα εδώ, λέγοντας του μια από τις τρελές του ιστορίες. Δεν έκανε ποτέ μεγάλα ταξίδια, όμως πάντα φρόντιζε να φέρνει πίσω δώρα για τον μοναδικό του εγγονό. Άλλοτε ήταν κέρματα μουχλιασμένα από την θάλασσα, άλλοτε χάντρες από κεχριμπάρι και νεφρίτη, και άλλοτε τεράστια κοχύλια από τον βυθό.

Τα φυλούσε ο Ιάσωνας τα δώρα του παππού, τα έβαζε όλα σε ένα ξύλινο μπαούλο που είχε βρει στο πατάρι και με τους φίλους του έπαιζε πως ήταν το σεντούκι με τον κρυμμένο θησαυρό. Τώρα που όλοι του οι συμμαθητές όμως έφυγαν για διακοπές και είχε μείνει μοναχός, περνούσε όλο και περισσότερο χρόνο στο καΐκι, αγναντεύοντας την θάλασσα, ενώ φανταζόταν ότι ο παππούς του ζούσε μεγάλες περιπέτειες, με πειρατές και κουρσάρους, σε άγνωστα νερά, μαζεύοντας και άλλους θησαυρούς για το μπαούλο του Ιάσωνα.

Ο μικρός δεν γύρισε σπίτι μέχρι να νυχτώσει. Στην πόρτα τον περίμενε η γιαγιά του, με την κουτάλα απειλητικά στο χέρι, και με πρόσωπο κατακόκκινο από θυμό. «Πού ήσουν τέτοια ώρα; Τι πράγματα είναι αυτά; Το μισό νησί σε ψάχνει! Πού είχες χωθεί πάλι; Πήρε η άμοιρη η μάνα σου τηλέφωνο και εγώ τι να της πω; Θα πέθαινε από την τρομάρα της αν έλεγα πώς σε έχασα! Και αν κανένας σε είχε κλέψει, τι...» και το παραλήρημα συνέχιζε όλο το βράδυ. Ο Ιάσωνας πήγε στο κρεβάτι του ήσυχα, κουκουλώθηκε ως τον λαιμό και περίμενε να αποκοιμηθεί η γιαγιά του. Σηκώθηκε αθόρυβα σαν ποντικάκι μ’ένα σακίδιο στον ώμο και ξεγλίστρησε προς την παραλία.

Παράτησε τα πράγματα του στην αμμουδιά και έτρεξε στο νερό. Πήρε μια βαθιά ανάσα και βούτηξε. Η παλίρροια είχε ανεβάσει την στάθμη και τα νερά ήταν βαθύτερα από συνήθως. Απτόητος ο μικρός, άναψε τον φακό του και προχώρησε.

Για μια στιγμή χάζεψε τα ψάρια, που κολυμπούσαν βιαστικά μακριά του, και κατευθύνθηκε προς τον πάτο, για να βρει κοχύλια. Δεν είχε βρει ποτέ του τόσο μεγάλα όσο αυτά του παππού Σταύρου, αλλά εδώ είχε σίγουρα μεγαλύτερα από όσα ξεβράζονταν στην ακτή. Καθώς έστρεψε τον φακό κάτω, κάτι έλαμψε. «Μπορεί να είναι κανένα νόμισμα!» σκέφτηκε ενθουσιασμένα και κολύμπησε προς τα εκεί.

Το θέαμα που αντίκρισε ήταν μαγικό. Μπροστά του υψωνόταν μια τεράστια μαρμάρινη αψίδα, με φύκια φυτρωμένα στην βάση της. Μαγνητισμένος ανακάλυψε μια ολόκληρη πόλη βυθισμένη. Κίονες πεσμένοι στην άμμο γύρω του και κτήρια θηριώδη, σαν μεγαλοπρεπείς αρχαίοι ναοί τον περικύκλωναν. Κοπάδια από ψάρια κολυμπούσαν ανάμεσα στα ερείπια, φανερά αδιάφορα για την αρχαία πόλη. Όπου και να κοίταζε ο Ιάσωνας, χρυσαφένιες λεπτομέρειες διακοσμούσαν τα κτίσματα και πολύχρωμα κοράλλια κάλυπταν τον βυθό τριγύρω τους. Παντού μικρά αντικείμενα λαμπύριζαν, πεταμένα κέρματα, κοσμήματα, πιάτα και ποτήρια.

Την προσοχή του αιχμαλώτισε ένα άγαλμα. Ήταν τρία μέτρα ψηλό, φορούσε κορώνα και κρατούσε ένα περίτεχνο σκήπτρο. «Σαν βασιλιάς μοιάζει», συλλογίστηκε ο Ιάσωνας. Πλησιάζοντας, είδε περισσότερα. Το σώμα του είχε χρώμα καφετί, σαν σκουριασμένο μέταλλο, καλυμμένο με λέπια. Το πρόσωπο του ήταν βατραχόμορφο, με αυτιά μεγάλα και μεμβρανώδη, χείλη λεπτά και μάτια κατάμαυρα. Ξάφνου, τα μάτια αυτά στράφηκαν προς το μέρος του. Ο Ιάσωνας άφησε την ανάσα του και μια φυσαλίδα αέρα ξέφυγε προς την επιφάνεια.

«Τι γυρεύεις εδώ; Ποιος είσαι;» Ο Ιάσωνας άκουσε μια αλλόκοτη φωνή που ξεκάθαρα ερχόταν από τον γιγάντιο βασιλιά.

Μέσα στην τρομάρα του ο Ιάσωνας ξέχασε πως βρισκόταν κάτω από το νερό και απάντησε. «Με λένε Ιάσωνα. Κατά λάθος ήρθα...»

Η μορφή εγκατέλειψε το βάθρο της και περιεργάστηκε το αγόρι. Τότε ο Ιάσωνας πρόσεξε πως δεν είχε πόδια, αλλά ουρά σαν ψαριού. «Πολύ καλά. Μπορείς να μείνεις. Αλλά αν μάθει κανείς άλλος για τούτο το μέρος, δεν θα ξαναδείς την επιφάνεια,» προειδοποίησε και απομακρύνθηκε στα σκοτεινά νερά.

Φοβισμένος ο Ιάσωνας έφυγε αμέσως και σαν τον κλέφτη επέστρεψε σπίτι. Δεν μπόρεσε όμως να βγάλει από το μυαλό του τον γοργονάνθρωπο βασιλιά. Την επόμενη μέρα σκεφτόταν τον βυθό και ζωγράφιζε την ξεχασμένη πόλη.

«Τι είναι αυτό, Ιάσωνα;» ρώτησε η γιαγιά του, θαυμάζοντας την ζωγραφιά.

«Τίποτα!» απάντησε εκείνος βιαστικά και την έκρυψε κάτω από το τραπέζι.

Το βράδυ αποφάσισε να ξαναπάει. Η θάλασσα ήταν λάδι και η αυγουστιάτικη πανσέληνος καθρεφτιζόταν στην επιφάνεια. Κοντά στην όχθη καθόταν ένας γέρος ψαράς. Ο γέροντας του χαμογέλασε λίγο, πρωτού ξαναστρέψει την προσοχή του στο καλάμι του.

Βρήκε εύκολα την πόλη στο βυθό. Κάτι όμως είχε αλλάξει. Η πόλη έσφυζε από ζωή. Γοργονάνθρωποι, μικρότεροι και νεότεροι από τον βασιλιά, κολυμπούσαν ανέμελα και τα κτήρια ήταν ολόφωτα. Ξάφνου, ο βασιλιάς βρέθηκε μπροστά του.

«Καλωσόρισες. Σου ετοιμάσαμε μια γιορτή. Θα κάτσεις μαζί μας ελπίζω...»

Ο Ιάσωνας έγνεψε χωρίς δισταγμό. Τον ακολούθησε σε ένα τραπέζι γεμάτο αλλόκοτα φαγητά. Μετά από προτροπή του βασιλιά άρχισε να τρώει απ’όλα. Δοκιμάζοντας τα φαγητά, ένιωσε πρωτόγνωρη ηδονή. Μετά από λίγο άρχισε να αισθάνεται παράξενα. Ζαλιζόταν και δυσκολευόταν να ανασάνει. Ο βασιλιάς τον περιεργαζόταν και στο βατραχίσιο πρόσωπο του φάνηκε ένα αχνό μειδίαμα.

«Σε προειδοποίησα. Κάνεις δεν έπρεπε να μάθει. Αλλά είσαι ίδιος ο παππούς σου. Φλύαρος. Ανίκανος να κρατήσεις μυστικό.» 

Ο Ιάσωνας άργησε να καταλάβει. Πράσινα λέπια άρχισαν να φυτρώνουν στα κοκαλιάρικα του χέρια και μεμβράνες να σχηματίζονται ανάμεσα στα δάχτυλα του. Κοίταξε τον βασιλιά άλλη μια φορά και ο κόσμος γύρω του σκοτείνιασε. Ποτέ του δεν θα επέστρεφε. Θα ήταν μια ανάμνηση. Σαν τον παππού του. Και όλα αυτά για μια ζωγραφιά..

Glad to Meet His Ghost ~ Prologue

Glad to Meet His Ghost – Prologue

The thin mist spread across the room silently, swathing everything with its shimmery fingers. The child stirred and sluggishly opened her eyes. Her covers lay in a messy heap by her feet and all of her toys were scattered on the floor.

She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear up her vision. The mist grew denser, until she could scarcely distinguish her surroundings. Lightly her feet touched the floor and she tiptoed across the room, holding the wall with both of her tiny hands.

“Mom?” she called out at the vacant hall. It looked different somehow; all the doors were so far away, as if the hall stretched on forever… “Mom?” she said once again. She searched for her mother’s familiar face and let out a frightened shriek.

It was that horrible painting again. She had always been scared of it, but her parents were adamant about keeping in the hallway. It pictured a girl with braided hair, dressed in white, standing in a dark forest. It always made the child feel like she would someday end up lost and alone, someplace where no one could find her.

She turned around stubbornly, pretending she didn’t care about the scary picture. Her hand reached for the switch in her room, but when she flipped it, nothing happened.

“Huh?” She peeked curiously through the door. “Where did my room go?”

It was as if the whole room had been swallowed by the mist. The toys, the covers… even the walls had vanished.

Sounds reached her from the haze. Heavy voices and the banging of the drums. Playful flutes and more drums followed and the voices grew louder.

“Hello? Anybody there?” The child took a few hesitant steps. Below her feet the soil was damp and fallen leaves crunched with each movement.

The more distance she put between herself and the hallway, the clearer the air became. Trees around her formed a winding path going downhill, all the way to the river.

She kept walking, all the while trying to make sense of what the voices were saying. “Can you hear me?” she yelled.

Up ahead, on the opposite shore, the shrine was visible, lit up and beautifully decorated, glowing brightly in the darkness. Red and white lanterns hung all the way to the shore, flickering like fireflies. The child didn’t notice she had reached the river until she felt the water stroking her ankles. The outlines of people were visible on the other side, but she couldn’t reach them. There wasn’t a bridge to cross; there wasn’t a way for her to go to the other side.

The voices reached her clearly and she realized that behind their heavy tone there was a song hidden.

“The bamboo leaves rustle,
Shaking away the eaves,” they sang.

The child suddenly realized that she was standing in the middle of the forest, alone and lost, unable to cross the river. No, I don’t want that! she thought in panic.

“The stars twinkle,
On the gold and silver grains of sand.”

The child was wearing a white dress. It’s just like the painting… No… She looked with wide eyes as paper lanterns came floating down the river. They came in dozens, or more, with wishes written on them; some were simple and some others were too complicated for the girl to read.

“The five-color paper strips
I have already written.”

The lanterns’ light shivered as the stream dragged them right and left and eventually so far they weren’t even visible. Among the others, came a lonely group of three, white lanterns, without wishes written on them. The girl watched them cautiously as they floated downstream slowly.

“The stars twinkle
They watch us from heaven.”

The song finished, but the voices began anew, even louder than before.

The girl’s heart beat more frantically than the drums across the river. She pressed her hands against her ears, trying to block the sound, but she could still hear them clearly.

“Where is everyone?” she mumbled to herself. They had to be somewhere. They had to be at the other side of the river, at the shrine. “I have to be somewhere!” she yelled back at the singing voices. They went on, ignoring her. “They’re waiting for me!” she continued. The voices sang ever louder, the drums beating loudly in the night.

She curled into a ball, sat down, the water reaching her waist, clapped her hands three times as if in prayer and started to sing.

“Let me pass, let me pass…
What is this narrow pathway here?
It’s the narrow path to the Tenjin shrine,
Please allow me to pass through…”

Wishing lanterns bumped against her before flowing farther down the river, interrupting her signing. She clapped again three times and continued.

“Those without good reason shall not pass
To celebrate this child’s seventh birthday
I’ve come to dedicate my offering…”

She felt her body getting heavier, sinking slowly like a stone trying to reach the riverbed.

“Going in will be fine,
But returning will be scary,
It’s scary but
Let me pass… Let me pass…”

As the water covered her head, she calmly looked at the night sky. The water didn’t sting her eyes, only blurred her sight a little. The drumming song pulsed against her ears as countless fiery flowers exploded in the heavens, so bright that they hid the stars.

Please let me pass, she thought. They’re still waiting for me…