The lone traveller

Part 2

Approaching in a determined but friendly way, he saw what looked like a small grey lady in a blue potato bag dress. A belt was holding it tight. She didn't stop when they made eye-contact, so he took a few steps backwards. She smiled and slowed down her pace, saying, in a strange accent: "No! We are friends", as she held her hand out to him. He stood there, wary, and replied, "what happened here?"

The lady stopped walking as she heard these words, and the look on her face changed. Someone else joined her. This little man looked like her, except he was wearing red, and was slightly smaller. In a dialect he didn't know, he said something like "Oh my God", except he preached something else. He started to panic, and took short breaths. His face tightened, and as the two looked at him in disbelief, he lost patience and shouted, "What happened to the village?!"

The little man with the grey skin looked like he was trying to calm him down. He started speaking very slowly. "Dear Sir", he said, "it look like you have travelled afar". He almost confirmed, except he was certain this had been his home. "I was born here..." he said, and his voice broke.

The two little people were getting closer cautiously, but he didn't trust them. He wanted to flee, but as he turned away, a third person was right here. "I thinked you was a legend, Sir!", they threw at him, with a huge smile. He froze on the spot, his legs crumbled under his own weight, and he started to cry. The people around him were as tall as him sitting. They started to pet him. "Sir, you are very welcome back." The events were driving him mad and, failing to find coherence, he passed out in the middle of the ruins, under the rough hands of the new inhabitants.

He woke up as after a nightmare, at the exact same place he had fallen asleep when it was winter. For a second he felt relieved that all of this was a bad dream, except the stone people were still here, all around him, and now there were plenty of them, all eyes on him.

He was appalled to find himself all dressed up again, sweat pearling on his forehead, in the unbearable heat of the shiny rock-world. When the others noticed his expression of stupor, a huge smile appeared on each of the faces. What a monstrous sight that was! He looked around him for a way out, but they circled him and he could barely breathe. A little one who looked older than the others and had hair longer than her own body seemed to be the chief and she addressed him solemnly, in an almost correct English. "You have come, sir. It is unbelievable, but the sayings was true. You did find your way." This had lasted long enough. "Will anyone tell me what the hell is going on?"

"You are known as the lone traveller, Sir. One day, you go to sleep in the snow, and it is known that you have travelled, but without move, Sir."

At least, that he could confirm.

"But how? Where am I?"

"You have travelled through time, Sir."

His eyes were staring at nothing in bewilderment. It all made sense now.

"This is the future?", he asked, uncertain of how it sounded.

"This is year 5082, Sir", the little one said, tilting her head in compassion. She noticed he was still lost, and she knew just how to help him, while entertaining her folks as well.

"What is the last day of your past life you remember?", she asked.

And then, after having gathered his thoughts, the narrative of the lone traveller began. 

"It was a rough winter day. A storm was coming, and it was going to be a tough one. My family and I were working in the stables and the horses were in a bad shape. I was... dreaming of another world...

"I was in charge of my little sister. I had to look after her... She was the future of our family, because she was gifted. She could understand people so well! And she could... help them, somehow. At only 9, she was starting to make a living with it. So she was the reason we would be able to survive. And she was an angel. So thoughtful. Everyone loved her at the village.

"At the stables, something strange happened. I saw her staring at a horse with such a sad face... Oh, that face, I'll remember it my whole life. I approached gently, but she was deep in communication with that horse. And then I understood... She was exchanging with it. The same thing she could do with people, she was doing it with that horse. I found it astonishing. But I didn't imagine how dangerous it was.

"She started to cry, silently, not like a child throwing a tantrum. She was stroking the animal, and whispering to it. I thought her mad. But at some point, she carried on brushing it as always, and I just kind of ignored what happened, focusing on my own task. That's when she left.

"She had unleashed the horse and gone with it. I told nothing to my family, for fear they might blame me. I knew she hadn't gone far. So I went to look after her. 

"I went up the hill to have a good look over the valley, and that's when I saw her with the horse. She was running beside it, showing it the way. I called after her, but she didn't stop. When I shouted that there's a storm coming, she considered. It gave me enough time to catch her up. She slowly turned to me. "This horse was unhappy. Now it is free."

"Yes, it is", I said, "We'll tell them it escaped. But please, let's go home now."

"She tilted her head, watching my hand on her shoulder. She said, "What is wrong with you? You're unhappy too. Everyone else is happier than you, here."

"I must admit, this got me by surprise, and I literally backed off. But she supported this eerie gaze, trying to see through my soul as she did with her clients. "You don't like our world. You don't like it here."

"I was taken aback, but truth had been spoken. It must have been written on my face, because her reaction was immediate. She said, in a tone of challenge, "get lost into another world, then!" and ran away towards the incoming storm.

"I had little time to react, but I wasted it. The two seconds I used to think were too much. Frost and mist were swallowing us, preventing me to see where she was going. She disappeared in the snow, calling to me, waiting for me to catch her. I went after her for hours and hours, each time I would take the decision to head back home she would call from afar, "I'm here, follow me, come catch me!" and I would take another turn. That's how I got lost in the storm, forever. I fell asleep. And I woke up... here."

Silence reigned in the shiny rock field. The little ones were on the edge of their stones, and their eyes reflected the shimmering silver of their world. They seemed to be waiting for something more, except that was it. He was looking at his feet, waiting for this torture to end. But slowly, and each little, one after the other, raised their hands over their heads, shaking them in a silent clap. Their smiles had vanished. They had serious looks of compassion on their faces. Their silent congratulations seemed to be never ending. He wondered if he should thank them, but he just curled up in a ball, under a sign he missed when he first woke up, reading "here would lie the lone traveller, fallen asleep in the snow of 2155."

"You have find your way, lone traveller. Here you shall never lack anything. And we can all be your little siblings."

They all came forward to touch his shoulder, each understanding his pain, and willing to welcome him in his new world. When he got up again, his eyes were back to the silver half-crescent moon mountain, and he felt grateful it had made his dream come true.