Chapter 18 -
02/11/2018
The crystal bowl bounced once, hitting the ground, turned upside down, and pinned us inside. Viewing out seemed impossible but I could hear chatters like we had attracted a crowd. Sye lifted the barricade just high enough for me to steal a glance. My skin prickled at the sight of unvaryingly large shoes. What kind of giants were outside? My palms turned sweaty.
Sye exerted force and reeled open the bowl. As it rolled off, he began expanding, shooting up like an inflatable display. The movements in myself were just as sudden, my body jolting through the weird shift that I had experienced when I shrank. The pavement zoomed out from my view, as my body sprouted up, reclaiming my height.
After the expansion stopped, I raised my head to find four darkened Grits on the Belt of Sunpath in the sky. Nine more Cycles to go before the end of the Period of Chaos, before I had to reach the Floating Palace.
The next I knew, I was staring into a herd of strange creatures standing in a circle. The first thing struck me about them was their large heads set on relatively medium-built frames. Covered in gray furs, they sported tiny hats that barely shrouded the crown of their heads and they wore nothing but huge green loafers. Height wise, they were only a little taller than me. They were no giants at all.
The most puzzling thing about the creatures was that they all had their backs to us, like soccer players prepping for free kicks in shooting range. I slowly walked up and surprised myself by stepping into a vehement debate.
“Did you see that? I swear I saw something come out of it,” one of them said, pointing to the ground.
“Yes, so did I,” responded another.
“I did too. It’s a well, I think,” said a third one.
“No, it leads to a storage closet,” the first one interjected.
I ducked my head and stealthily made my way into the crowd. The large-headed creatures carried on the discussion heedless of my insertion. When I peeked into the assembly, I saw the culprit of their argument – a crack on the pavement.
I studied it for a brief moment before sneaking back to Bulkee and Sye. In a whisper I described to them what I saw. “I got a feeling that the pit was caused by our landing. But it wasn’t just a crater. It was deep like a sewer hole. Like we had drilled out of it. But how is it possible?”
“How is what possible?” Bulkee asked.
“That we came out of the ground, when in fact we had been falling?”
“Ears.” Bulkee snapped his fingers. “Space and dimension simply don’t matter in AohhoA.”
“What do you mean?”
“The elimination of time isn’t just about removing a concept. It’s about everything associated with it.”
I waited to hear more clarifications. But Bulkee shrugged like he was disappointed in my lack of clarity.
“Sasha. You seem confused. Let me explain,” Sye said. “Time records change through dimension and space. In a way, we can understand the linkage by seeing that change is rendered through these two basic elements. Like in certain alternative realities, rocks can erode or relocate by seawater over a stretch of time units. Time is an intangible concept but these physical and spatial changes help you see it.”
“I know,” I said. Something about Sye made me feel safe talking to him. I liked how he could take a complex concept and boil it down to a few examples.
“When time gets eliminated, there is no more change to record. And dimension and space no longer serve a purpose,” he went on. “In the end the originators abandoned them altogether from AohhoA. When we travel in the intervals from one Pocket to another, it doesn’t matter if we have been falling or jumping because there is no dimension or space to mark that connection.”
I nodded. I was digesting his remarks, when he placed a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t recoil like I typically did when touched by a stranger.
“Don’t overthink it, Sasha,” he said. “The understanding will come. Just let yourself be for now.”
Sye walked past me and stepped right into the ring ahead of us. The large-headed creatures stirred and span around one after another.
I saw enormous green eyes occupying two third of their faces, making their heads appear even broader. Aside from the eyes the creatures resembled koalas with a big smooth nose framed by round ears.
The sight of us seemed to have them lose interest in the rift on the ground. The Koalas hurried over and encircled us with cautious stares. Slowly their big heads tilted ninety degrees till their ears were almost perpendicular to the floor.
The loud debated reduced to a soft murmuring that filled the air. Maybe they were scared. I noticed that Sye towered over the Koalas almost by a foot. It was possible that his size intimidated them.
They slowly straightened and began prodding each other with subtle nudges. “You go up,” someone whispered. “Ask them what they are doing in the Pocket of Tree Houses.”
“No, you go,” came a protest.
The muffled exchanges went on. I was studying the situation from behind Sye, when a heavy built was shoved out of the group. Nearly missing a step, he stumbled and dragged his feet toward us.
Around his neck, there was a rim of white furs that made him stand out from the crowd. My eyes shifted from his neck to his face. I couldn’t read his expression. The heavy-built looked dazed, like he was oblivious to the fact that we were standing right in front of him. His glittering eyes captured our reflection, but it betrayed nothing, not fear nor aggression.
“That’s Doe, Doe Joey Mosley,” somebody from the crowd introduced him.
“Say something, Doe! Ask them what they are doing in our Pocket,” another Koala urged sheepishly.
But Doe the white-fur didn’t utter a word. When he slowly pressed up against Sye, he stared straight ahead completely deadpan.
Sye was quiet. With his back to me, the expression on his face was lost to my view. I had no idea what was about to happen. I could sense tension mounting all around us. I caught myself shaking in response.
When the distance gradually closed between Sye and Doe, the crowd grew muted. It was so quiet that I could hear the soft sound of fabric, as I rubbed the sides of my shorts to stop myself from trembling.
The silence made it more piercing when someone broke it with a yelp, “I know what’s happening. They are doing a stare contest.”
With his self-induced revelation, the Koala began to count. “One. Two. Three.” The rest of the bystanders joined him. Their large heads started shifting ninety degrees from one side to the other. “Four. Five. Six…”
My throat clammed up when the green loafers swept around and formed a tight circle around us. Bulkee and I gleaned closer to Sye, when the Koalas began shouting, their large eyes locked intensely on us.
In the distressing chant, I recalled playing the stare contest with my brother Sam. We would fall silent from an unexpected eye contact. Ceased all activities. Did nothing but gazing at each other. No word. No sound. And no movement was allowed. Only the exchange of a mutual understanding that a war had been declared. We would remain in such a stagnant state, until one of us gave into the impulse of blinking.
Somehow Sye and this Koalas named Doe had been cornered into a stare contest. Except that Sye couldn’t take part in it. I knew for sure. He couldn’t be looking at Doe, because he was blind.
I stepped up to stand next to Sye, trying to anticipate his next move. In the dim glow of the sunlight, his face appeared even more striking. I found nothing threatening about its brilliance. To the contrary there was a profound layer of gentleness about him that seemed lost on the Koalas.
It didn’t escape me, when his nostrils flared. He was sniffing the air, searching for something.
What was he looking for?
I scanned the crowd till I spotted a glint a few steps behind Doe. I made an instant connection to the discovery. Sye was tracing the scent of his crystal bowl on the ground. He was looking for his crystal bowl.
The spectators continued chanting. By the fifty-fifth count, Doe struggled to keep his eyes open. He was evidently reaching his limit, as his eyelids lowered like the sheets of window blinds. He swayed as if fighting back an urge to shut them all the way.
We seemed to be at a deciding point, when without warning, Sye zipped up to Doe with full force. I was stunned and I lunged for him. But he had gone beyond my reach. My heart lodged in my throat, as he came to a prompt stop just before he crashed into Doe’s face.
The shouting stilled right away and the onlookers all took a step back. They regarded us with fear in their eyes. No one let out a breath of air.
Doe was clearly on the verge of collapsing. His face was ashen as his droopy eyelids went two notches down.
I was holding it in too. I was confused that Sye acted like he was ready to strike in a street fight, which seemed so out of character, especially compared to the mild demeanor when speaking to me.
Slowly Sye raised a muscular leg and brought his knee up his elbow. He leaned forward, sending hairs along his torso straight into Doe’s nostrils. He flexed his toes, pausing as if to decide from which direction to dealt the first blow.
The crowd gasped in horror. My breath quickened. I wanted to tell Doe to get out of the way, when Sye kicked out his leg.
In less than a beat, Sye’s foot shoot out like a spear. It went past Doe’s left hand, barely touching the Koala’s gray furs. But the gesture was enough to cause a scene. Doe blinked once, twice and again and again, his body stiff as a stick. A roar burst out from the onlookers. Someone huffed. Someone squeaked. Someone wept. And someone dropped to the ground.
That wasn’t even the worst. My hands flew up to my mouth, when Sye became distracted by the crowd’s deranged reaction. He lost his balance and stumbled onward.
Another wave of disturbance erupted amongst the Koalas. They began to scatter, running aimlessly with their heads swaying left and right. They wailed, while faltering onto one another like domino tiles.
Sye exerted force and reeled open the bowl. As it rolled off, he began expanding, shooting up like an inflatable display. The movements in myself were just as sudden, my body jolting through the weird shift that I had experienced when I shrank. The pavement zoomed out from my view, as my body sprouted up, reclaiming my height.
After the expansion stopped, I raised my head to find four darkened Grits on the Belt of Sunpath in the sky. Nine more Cycles to go before the end of the Period of Chaos, before I had to reach the Floating Palace.
The next I knew, I was staring into a herd of strange creatures standing in a circle. The first thing struck me about them was their large heads set on relatively medium-built frames. Covered in gray furs, they sported tiny hats that barely shrouded the crown of their heads and they wore nothing but huge green loafers. Height wise, they were only a little taller than me. They were no giants at all.
The most puzzling thing about the creatures was that they all had their backs to us, like soccer players prepping for free kicks in shooting range. I slowly walked up and surprised myself by stepping into a vehement debate.
“Did you see that? I swear I saw something come out of it,” one of them said, pointing to the ground.
“Yes, so did I,” responded another.
“I did too. It’s a well, I think,” said a third one.
“No, it leads to a storage closet,” the first one interjected.
I ducked my head and stealthily made my way into the crowd. The large-headed creatures carried on the discussion heedless of my insertion. When I peeked into the assembly, I saw the culprit of their argument – a crack on the pavement.
I studied it for a brief moment before sneaking back to Bulkee and Sye. In a whisper I described to them what I saw. “I got a feeling that the pit was caused by our landing. But it wasn’t just a crater. It was deep like a sewer hole. Like we had drilled out of it. But how is it possible?”
“How is what possible?” Bulkee asked.
“That we came out of the ground, when in fact we had been falling?”
“Ears.” Bulkee snapped his fingers. “Space and dimension simply don’t matter in AohhoA.”
“What do you mean?”
“The elimination of time isn’t just about removing a concept. It’s about everything associated with it.”
I waited to hear more clarifications. But Bulkee shrugged like he was disappointed in my lack of clarity.
“Sasha. You seem confused. Let me explain,” Sye said. “Time records change through dimension and space. In a way, we can understand the linkage by seeing that change is rendered through these two basic elements. Like in certain alternative realities, rocks can erode or relocate by seawater over a stretch of time units. Time is an intangible concept but these physical and spatial changes help you see it.”
“I know,” I said. Something about Sye made me feel safe talking to him. I liked how he could take a complex concept and boil it down to a few examples.
“When time gets eliminated, there is no more change to record. And dimension and space no longer serve a purpose,” he went on. “In the end the originators abandoned them altogether from AohhoA. When we travel in the intervals from one Pocket to another, it doesn’t matter if we have been falling or jumping because there is no dimension or space to mark that connection.”
I nodded. I was digesting his remarks, when he placed a hand on my shoulder. I didn’t recoil like I typically did when touched by a stranger.
“Don’t overthink it, Sasha,” he said. “The understanding will come. Just let yourself be for now.”
Sye walked past me and stepped right into the ring ahead of us. The large-headed creatures stirred and span around one after another.
I saw enormous green eyes occupying two third of their faces, making their heads appear even broader. Aside from the eyes the creatures resembled koalas with a big smooth nose framed by round ears.
The sight of us seemed to have them lose interest in the rift on the ground. The Koalas hurried over and encircled us with cautious stares. Slowly their big heads tilted ninety degrees till their ears were almost perpendicular to the floor.
The loud debated reduced to a soft murmuring that filled the air. Maybe they were scared. I noticed that Sye towered over the Koalas almost by a foot. It was possible that his size intimidated them.
They slowly straightened and began prodding each other with subtle nudges. “You go up,” someone whispered. “Ask them what they are doing in the Pocket of Tree Houses.”
“No, you go,” came a protest.
The muffled exchanges went on. I was studying the situation from behind Sye, when a heavy built was shoved out of the group. Nearly missing a step, he stumbled and dragged his feet toward us.
Around his neck, there was a rim of white furs that made him stand out from the crowd. My eyes shifted from his neck to his face. I couldn’t read his expression. The heavy-built looked dazed, like he was oblivious to the fact that we were standing right in front of him. His glittering eyes captured our reflection, but it betrayed nothing, not fear nor aggression.
“That’s Doe, Doe Joey Mosley,” somebody from the crowd introduced him.
“Say something, Doe! Ask them what they are doing in our Pocket,” another Koala urged sheepishly.
But Doe the white-fur didn’t utter a word. When he slowly pressed up against Sye, he stared straight ahead completely deadpan.
Sye was quiet. With his back to me, the expression on his face was lost to my view. I had no idea what was about to happen. I could sense tension mounting all around us. I caught myself shaking in response.
When the distance gradually closed between Sye and Doe, the crowd grew muted. It was so quiet that I could hear the soft sound of fabric, as I rubbed the sides of my shorts to stop myself from trembling.
The silence made it more piercing when someone broke it with a yelp, “I know what’s happening. They are doing a stare contest.”
With his self-induced revelation, the Koala began to count. “One. Two. Three.” The rest of the bystanders joined him. Their large heads started shifting ninety degrees from one side to the other. “Four. Five. Six…”
My throat clammed up when the green loafers swept around and formed a tight circle around us. Bulkee and I gleaned closer to Sye, when the Koalas began shouting, their large eyes locked intensely on us.
In the distressing chant, I recalled playing the stare contest with my brother Sam. We would fall silent from an unexpected eye contact. Ceased all activities. Did nothing but gazing at each other. No word. No sound. And no movement was allowed. Only the exchange of a mutual understanding that a war had been declared. We would remain in such a stagnant state, until one of us gave into the impulse of blinking.
Somehow Sye and this Koalas named Doe had been cornered into a stare contest. Except that Sye couldn’t take part in it. I knew for sure. He couldn’t be looking at Doe, because he was blind.
I stepped up to stand next to Sye, trying to anticipate his next move. In the dim glow of the sunlight, his face appeared even more striking. I found nothing threatening about its brilliance. To the contrary there was a profound layer of gentleness about him that seemed lost on the Koalas.
It didn’t escape me, when his nostrils flared. He was sniffing the air, searching for something.
What was he looking for?
I scanned the crowd till I spotted a glint a few steps behind Doe. I made an instant connection to the discovery. Sye was tracing the scent of his crystal bowl on the ground. He was looking for his crystal bowl.
The spectators continued chanting. By the fifty-fifth count, Doe struggled to keep his eyes open. He was evidently reaching his limit, as his eyelids lowered like the sheets of window blinds. He swayed as if fighting back an urge to shut them all the way.
We seemed to be at a deciding point, when without warning, Sye zipped up to Doe with full force. I was stunned and I lunged for him. But he had gone beyond my reach. My heart lodged in my throat, as he came to a prompt stop just before he crashed into Doe’s face.
The shouting stilled right away and the onlookers all took a step back. They regarded us with fear in their eyes. No one let out a breath of air.
Doe was clearly on the verge of collapsing. His face was ashen as his droopy eyelids went two notches down.
I was holding it in too. I was confused that Sye acted like he was ready to strike in a street fight, which seemed so out of character, especially compared to the mild demeanor when speaking to me.
Slowly Sye raised a muscular leg and brought his knee up his elbow. He leaned forward, sending hairs along his torso straight into Doe’s nostrils. He flexed his toes, pausing as if to decide from which direction to dealt the first blow.
The crowd gasped in horror. My breath quickened. I wanted to tell Doe to get out of the way, when Sye kicked out his leg.
In less than a beat, Sye’s foot shoot out like a spear. It went past Doe’s left hand, barely touching the Koala’s gray furs. But the gesture was enough to cause a scene. Doe blinked once, twice and again and again, his body stiff as a stick. A roar burst out from the onlookers. Someone huffed. Someone squeaked. Someone wept. And someone dropped to the ground.
That wasn’t even the worst. My hands flew up to my mouth, when Sye became distracted by the crowd’s deranged reaction. He lost his balance and stumbled onward.
Another wave of disturbance erupted amongst the Koalas. They began to scatter, running aimlessly with their heads swaying left and right. They wailed, while faltering onto one another like domino tiles.
