Eritopia

Two Sides to a Story

Bear looked up at the clouds chasing across the sky. The rain had stopped and a brisk wind blew across the landscape. Anya lay by the side of a stone while Calypso shivered and complained about the Elders.

'Don't you understand?' Bear said. 'It wasn't the Elders, it was Not-Bear, and the other one with the cart.'

'There's still no wood,' the monkey said. 'It's all the same who took it.'

'Anya?' Bear prodded her flank. 'Are you all right?'

'Yes,' she said. 'I was thinking about my niece back on the Inside. It's the anniversary of her birthday today, three years old. Next year she'll be coming here to celebrate her coming-of-age. I hope I live to see that.'

'Don't be silly, of course you'll live to see it,' Bear told her.

'Luckily, hope is not all we have,' said a familiar voice. They swung round to see Van walking towards them. Anya jumped up and Calypso climbed onto a stone. They all started talking at once, demanding an explanation.

Van looked at each of them in turn. 'Quiet, there is no time for this. I had to go, that is all I can say.'

'You could have woken me,' Bear said as they quietened down.

'Or us,' said Anya.

The monkey was nodding, spinning round and round. Bear had noticed he did that when agitated.

'Enough,' Van barked. 'Something unfortunate has happened,' he told them.

What is it?' asked Bear, with a sinking feeling.

'The wolf has been captured,' the fox replied. Bear gasped. 'But do not worry, he has escaped and there are others helping him. It is still bad news; our enemies know he is at the fringes of the Forest. Because of this, we can assume he is expected on the Outside. Without the element of surprise, there will be real danger ahead.'

'Then we have to go to him,' Bear said.

'We are of no use to him now,' Van said. 'We have to change our plans. There is another force at work, a darkness that comes from far away.'

'What do you mean?' Asked Anya.

'That the enemy is more powerful than we thought.'

'But what about Not-Bear?' Bear didn't understand talk of darkness and danger and what it meant for his friend.

'He will have to journey on his own across the Outside.'

'If what you say is true, we can't let Not-Bear get to the Outside, Bear said. 'I must go and help him, even if you won't. It's my fault he's there at all.'

'The Outside is not all bad,' Van said. 'And it is not just the opposite of the Inside. It is home for many, as much as the Inside is for you. In the distant past the Forest extended much farther than today. Animals came and went as they pleased. There were spaces between the trees, wide plains, where herds of animals roamed. Rivers flowed through the spaces into vast lakes. Animals were happy, not knowing things would change. There was only one place, and everyone was content in it. Until men began to interfere.'

'My grandfather used to tell how one man, Barnabas, began to work against the world of animals.' Bear said, and told them the details of the story.

'A good tale,' Van said when he had finished, 'but a tale none the less.'

'How could that be?' asked Anya. 'We have all heard similar.'

Calypso nodded his head in agreement. 'Even the monkeys know of King Babble, as we call him, and his fall from grace.'