Impossible Dreamers

Chapter 15 (twil-mek): The strange Megtwillow

Liana and Herago had kept silent when anybody asked what their showing would be. People thought this strange, but they didn't mind. Apart from Silmoa. She had seen some of Herago's Impossibles, so she knew more than anyone else about what the pair would show. She couldn't get away from the feeling that there was something not quite right about the idea of Impossibles. Piacho also knew a little of what they were doing, but he said that he wanted to be surprised, and was sure that he would be.

It had been hard for Liana and Herago not to explain what would be in their showing, but they knew that this was the only way in which the Impossibles could work. So they had got used to the idea of keeping something away from other people's understanding. In Seren-ila this was new, but later it became a common way of doing things. The word 'secret' entered the Seren language.

It was soon time for Liana and Herago to show. They had worked out three Impossibles that they thought would be impressive.

First was the Impossible Greblara. Liana drew people's attention to the picture that Herago was holding.

'Fellow Seren-ilians,' Liana said. 'Here is the mountain that has protected us for many twillo years. The mountain protects us, and in our turn, we protect it.' There were nods of agreement and some cries of 'Well said,' from people watching.

Liana continued: 'But what if we had not protected our mountain? What if somebody tried to destroy it?'

At that moment, Herago quickly tore the picture of Greblara in half. People in the audience gasped. Liana wondered if they had gone too far with this, but there was no going back now. In order to get to the final restoration, the destruction must be witnessed.

'I know this is a terrible thing to think of,' said Liana, 'but once somebody started to destroy our mountain, they could continue with more destruction.' Herago tore the paper again. Now it was in que pieces, and quite a few people watching looked very uncomfortable.

Then it seemed as though it was going to get worse. Herago tore the paper twice more, while Liana spoke again about how things would be if the mountain was destroyed. Liana continued confidently, but inside she began to worry about whether people would feel inclined to allow her and Herago to have their full Serenship after this display.

By the time Herago had torn the paper fay times, and therefore had degtwi-tag pieces of paper in his hand, there were a lot of people muttering in a disapproving way. Liana could see that Herago's hands were shaking with nerves, and she began to feel that her chances of full Serenship were drifting away.

But then a new feeling came over her. She looked over at Trentaya, who was smiling beautifully. And there was someone else beside Trentaya. Who was that? His clothes were unusual – but people often made an effort to wear something unusual for Megtwillow. She had a feeling that she had seen him before, a long time ago. His smile was even broader than Trentaya's, and somehow it gave her confidence that what they were doing was right. She looked over at Herago, smiling at him as if to say 'don't worry, they will love this eventually,' and Herago's hands stopped shaking, as he continued with the Impossible. People were in for a surprise.

'People of Seren-ila,' Liana said, 'in an impossible situation like this, we must reverse the impossibility. We must turn everything round. If we turn round the word "impossible" we get "elbissopmi". And so I say "Ir, Deg, Mek – elbissopmi!"'

On the last syllable, Herago shook his hands, and in an instant, the degtwi-tag pieces became a single, whole piece of paper, with the classic picture of Greblara sketched on it. The muttering stopped, and there was a deep silence in the hall. Then, all together, cheers rang out from all corners. People stood, shook hands with one another, hugged and whistled. Liana felt both relief and joy. She looked over at Piacho, whose face was beaming, and Herago looked pretty pleased too. She looked again at Trentaya. The broadly smiling stranger was no longer beside her. Where had he gone to?

When everyone had settled down, Herago continued. Herago's next Impossible used three cups and three stones. The stones kept disappearing and reappearing under the cups, moving from one to the other, and seemingly melting through the cups when they were stacked on top of each other. As Herago moved the cups and stones, Liana spoke about how things that looked solid could change, and how easy it was to be mistaken about what was happening in front of your eyes. Some of what she said was in the script they had worked out, but some was stuff that she just thought up on the spot, and it was those bits that seemed to have most impact.

There was another surprise, not just for the people watching, but for Liana and Herago. When people saw a stone where they didn't expect it to be, or when they saw three stones where they were expecting one, people laughed. And Liana found she could make people laugh more and louder by the way she spoke. She began to enjoy hearing people laughing like that, knowing that what Herago and she were doing was making them laugh. At the end of the Impossible, Liana said 'ir', and picked up the first cup. There, underneath, was a rock, much bigger than any of the stones which had been moving around earlier. Saying 'deg' Liana picked up the second cup, and underneath there was a ball, which seemed bigger than the cup itself. On 'mek' she picked up the third cup. There, to everyone's amazement, was a beautiful clay model of Greblara. Together, Herago and Liana shouted 'Elbissompi!', and immediately, smoke started to pour from the crater at the top of the mountain. Again, people cheered. And they also laughed.

The final Impossible used Liana's idea. Herago worked out how to do it, but it was Liana's idea. It was the sag type of Impossible, where something in Herago's mind would go into Liana's. But this did not go quite how they had planned.

As they had rehearsed, Liana put a scarf over her eyes, so she couldn't see what was going on, then Herago asked somebody at the showing to put something small in a bag which he held in his hand. Nobody else could see what was in the bag.

Then Herago was supposed to say something like, 'Now, Liana, I want you to tell everybody what is in my bag!' And Liana would think hard, and look as though she was trying to work out what was in Herago's mind, then she would say, 'It's something for writing with', or 'it's one of those little brooches that are worn by members of the Counsel of the wise,' or 'it's a harvesting tool'. And Liana would always be right. Unlike the other Impossibles, this was one where Liana was in on the secret. Of all their routines, this was the one that took most rehearsal, and most work. It was also the one that could most easily go wrong.

But Liana and Herago never finished showing the last of their Impossibles. They never got to saying the words 'Ir, deg, mek, elbissopmi!'.

Because it was just after the thing was put into Herago's bag, that the noise of the flying machine was heard.

That noise. Louder than anything anyone had heard from any machine in Seren-ila. Liana thought at first that Greblara was erupting again, and started looking for smoke and ash over the mountain. But in the middle of where the ash used to be, there was a black speck. Such a small thing, making such a big noise. Nobody could believe it. But the noise got louder and the speck got bigger. It took on the shape of a strange cross, with whirling fans in front. Then got much bigger and its shadow fell across the square in front of the showing hall. And then it landed.

The showings came to a sudden end. Herago was still holding the bag, and Liana had no idea what was in it. But nobody was interested in the Impossibles any more. Something even more impossible had happened outside. Everyone went out to look at the amazing, unexpected arrival. They ran towards what some guessed must be a flying machine. Some stayed back, wondering if it was some sort of strange animal that might attack at any moment.

But then the noise stopped. A door in the belly of the animal opened up. And people stepped out.