The Hidden City Read online

  She walked home quietly, with small and conscious steps, thinking about the Elder’s words as she was descending the slope towards their home. “He was totally right. Most of the time I have that tendency to close down, to just feel the space around me, dreaming away to a better future. I somehow feel that I need to give out a lot, but when it is about receiving, my strong personality would never let me do it. I feel weak when I allow anything to come my way,” she thought to herself.

  The need to change or to embrace change has become a reality for her, as here, in the City of Love where crystals and kindness were everywhere, she needed to have a totally different way of seeing life. It was the time she started looking deeper into her own self, her own way of being, and she deeply felt that this City and the people that lived in it could be her greatest teacher. Somehow she felt that ever since they arrived when she felt a great attraction to visit that stone city that she saw in the distance.

  Arriving at home, she saluted Philip, who was tending the flowers and laid on one of the wicker chairs, where she usually liked to read from the book she got out of the dispenser. This day was inspiring her to think about her future in the city. Philip was almost unaware of her presence, as he was looking very curious at some garden bugs, as if it was for the first time that he saw them. Maggie took advantage of her quiet afternoon, to relax more. She fell asleep on the chair, caressed by the sun’s rays, and enchanted by the occasional birds who were singing their tranquil songs in the branches of the trees, that grew in their garden. At some point she sensed a presence. She was semi-awake in her dream and she was again in a room. This time it felt different than her last experience, but she somehow sensed that the atmosphere was the same. It was a different room, with walls of a vibrant green color, and there was no one there. She was laying down on the bed and she almost felt the sensation of that softness. She was quite aware that she was still on the wicker chair sleeping somehow, but the energy of the city was not felt anymore. No sounds or voices were being heard, and a smooth and fine scent enveloped her in the room. She rested like that until she heard Philip digging with his wooden tools near her. She woke up out of this surreal dream, and she realized that she was back again in the city, on that chair. She felt that her vision was so real, almost as real as a pinch could bring you back to reality. She decided not to let Philip know about her visions, as she needed to tune into them more, in the case they will reappear somehow, so she would know what they really represent.

  The next day, they woke up really early. The anticipation of Margaret’s new job was the main subject over their breakfast.

  “So, how do you think you will do at your new job, Maggie?” Philip asked while he was delighting in his breakfast.

  “How can it be, Phil? I definitely think I should be up for it. The community is all about helping each other, and I think I will do a great job, in any case, thank you for asking,” she said with a smile.

  “And who is really motivated to get the credits this morning?” Philip said while indulging cheerfully his omelette as if nothing else in the world was more important at the moment.

  “Ah, to confess, I actually am a little bit excited about this new job opportunity, but I promise I will tell you all about my first day when I get home.” Margaret continued to eat her breakfast in silence. She was excited about this opportunity, but she didn’t want to let her excitement ruin her first day, as she felt that she needed to be prompt today but relaxed, and most of all, helpful.

  After they finished their usual breakfast, Philip was cleaning up the table while Margaret remained on her chair, gathering her focus and attention, for the day that was about to begin. She got up and dressed in her usual clothes and put over her blue robe, as she needed to be ready in case the Elder would come earlier than expected. She then perfumed her robe with one of the nice floral perfumes that she got from the Market with the credits they received last time when they attended the water tower construction and sat on the couch, waiting, at looking at the yellow clock on the wall. In no more than 15 minutes, the Elder arrived. He knocked and entered shyly. Margaret jumped off the couch as she saw him.

  “Margaret! I knew you were going to be up so early. Ah, you are already dressed? I allowed a bit of time so you can have your breakfast. Are you ready for the adventure of your life?” he said, with a reverent smile.

  She was indeed excited by the opportunity that arose within the Financial Council, that much excited that she fell asleep around 2 am last night, thinking through all the scenarios that will happen tomorrow. She waved Philip goodbye and quickly went outside.

  The Elder’s dragon was waiting in front of the house, decorated with the most beautiful white and violet textiles. She whistled her dragon, who quickly came in front of the house. The Financial Council’s building was 5 minutes away with a dragon ride, so it was not too far. They saddled their dragons and jumped on them, gently. They went south, and kept a straight line, flying over countless houses, gardens, and tall trees. The view was amazing this morning, and the anticipation of her job made Margaret a bit nervous.

  The construction itself was not quite as large as the Council’s building, but it was quite large and it could easily accommodate around 40 people. It was built in between a few small houses made of stone, a book shop, and a local place with a small terrace where you could eat local food. They flew around the building and landed in the backyard, which looked similar to the one of the Council’s Building, and it was full of fruit bushes, with a lot of dragons, eating berries. They left their dragons in the back and went slowly towards the entrance.

  Inside, the corridors were quite nicely decorated, with beautifully intricate motifs and green crystal inserts, and a rubbery carpet, similar to the one she saw in the Council’s building. The Elder presented her to a few of her new colleagues that were on the corridors and finally introduced her to her new office, which was located on the first floor.

  “Here it is, Margaret!” he said, opening the door for her. “You are going to work side by side with a few of us, at least for now. You will need to be here every day, from 11 am to 2 pm, but if you’d like to expand your research and come with new ideas, you can hang around for a bit more,” said the Elder. “That being said, here’s Jillian. She will work with you in the beginning, so you can get accustomed to what you are going to do faster.”

  Jillian appeared from the next room. She was a rather young lady, with a thin and tall body, blue eyes, and short brown hair. Her orange robe showed that she had been around for quite a while, and she also had a badge made out of a silver alloy, that probably signified her rank in the Financial Council. She greeted her with a most reverential English accent.

  “Hi, Margaret. I guess I can call you Maggie. I am Jillian,” said the young and delicate young lady, who reached out her hand, to salute her.

  Margaret reached out her hand to salute as well, and then bowed, respectfully.

  “I am going to show you how to administrate the West area of our bakeries, in a few simple steps, and many little more things that you need to do here, in the beginning,” said Jillian and guided her at her desk.

  “You will need to assess the need for products like flour, oil, eggs, spices, and all the other things that they will use, to create the final product. You can find all your info here, at the left of your panel, in a list,” she said, with a kind and slow voice. She pointed Margaret to sit down and started showing her, on the big screen, the details of her computer program. They isolated the Western part of a really neat map design of the City, where one could see a lot of blue dots, all representing bakeries. One was a larger one, which as Jillian explained, was a local facility that produced flour, that was made out of the collected grains from their crops in the outskirts of the city.

  “The final products are variate, and we sometimes need to insert new ones, as new recipes arrive in the list of our bakeries. Some people recommend them, some are invented by us from many other different recipes, and some are taken from
our expanding list of products that our dispensers have,” said Jillian, with a smile. “Do you have any questions so far?”

  Margaret looked at her and quickly asked.

  “I understand my main duties so far. But will I interact with the bakeries themselves, and get to see people in person?” she asked, with a newcomer's voice.

  “Well, for now, it’s all being done here, on the computer. But if you want to take your responsibilities one step further, you can, by all means, go in person and meet the people that actually run the bakeries that you administrate. Making friends is always encouraged in our community. Besides, they will be delighted to talk to one of our financial advisors, and ask tons of questions that you will probably have to answer, over a cup of free delicious brewed coffee and sweet pastries,” she added, with a smile.

  Jillian moved to the side of her desk and started explaining to her how her computer program actually works. They probably spent more than half an hour, talking and exchanging ideas about the software that was installed on her computer. Margaret was amazed to see how simple built and yet how complex her computer program was and how quickly she could signal new needed products to the bakeries that didn’t have them. She found out that in the Machine Room, they had a particular console that was dedicated to sensing the wishes, emotions, and needs of the locals. They adapted it and created a program on that console that was filtering every need regarding actual food products made in the city, that was connected to her computer program, where she could see in real-time how goods are needed and where from they could supply the need for them.

  “I think this job will catch my whole day, soon,” Margaret said at some point, with a big smile on her face. “I feel like I’m operating my ship’s console, but at the same time it looks like a computer game, so I think you will be happy with my performance, Jillian,” she said, showing a lot of excitement.

  Jillian nodded and added.

  “And if you need anything, no matter how small and insignificant, I’ll be in the next room. I’ll leave you alone to get accustomed to your new desk.” She took a few steps and then she turned around.

  “And try not to work too much on your first day at the job. You can get coffee from the hallway, it is that small machine, next to our food dispenser, where the big video screen for communications is,” she said, and then quietly left the room.

  The silence of the office and her futuristic desk were definitely what she had in mind, for a job in the City. It seems that the Elder read her really well, she thought.

  She spent a few hours exploring the program, going in-depth with the majority of the options that she had at hand, and she stayed in late on her first day until about 4 o’clock, when the last person was leaving home. She was definitely really happy with her new job, and she could not wait to tell Philip all about her new office, maybe even bringing him in some of the more relaxed days.

  “Are you coming, Margaret?” said the man, dressed in the orange robe.

  “I am. Wait for me,” she said.

  They descended the stairs talking about the various tasks they had to complete today, and they found their two remaining dragons waiting quietly, in the yard extending in the back of the building. Maggie saddled and buckled her dragon, and wished the man a happy day. She tightly fixed her Mapper on her arm, and in 15 minutes she was back home again.

  Philip was in the garden, looking at the plants and trying to fix some of them to stay better on their poles.

  “Hey Maggie,” he saluted, with a big wave of his hand. She landed easily and let her dragon fly in the back of the house.

  “How was your first day at work? Tell me everything there is to know,” he said, waiting with utter anticipation.

  “Well, what can I say … intriguing? Excellent? Really neat?” she said. She was excited about her first day and she told him all she had to do, to the most insignificant detail, and Philip was listening and marveling each time she told him something new. He was by far surprised by the fact that they used a lot of technology and computers there, as he was accustomed to their simple and cozy guesthouse, where most of the things were simple and traditional. He was really happy for her, knowing that she finally found something to do in the City, not to mention the credits that she was going to earn, that would make it possible for them both to acquire all kinds of items from the markets.

  They spent the rest of the day, sitting quietly in the garden, relaxing, and daydreaming.

  The next days, everybody started to love her for her excellent performance at work. The emotions that she experienced on the first day of her initiation when Philip and her hearts were open to the boundless love of the City, was starting to pour in, gently, back again, not to mention that Margaret was starting to collect almost 15 credits each day. She was afraid that she had lost that, but this new job, having new responsibilities, the excitement to work in such a good team, and her continuous effort, made everything come back for her. Days passed by in the quietness and beauty of the City, and she and Philip were getting more closer together. She could feel the love flowing everywhere each day, and Philip was as usual, amazed at every little thing that she found, or that he could find in the City. She put Philip in charge of getting fresh items from the bigger or lesser markets, so they can prepare homemade salads and fresh food, but mostly so that she can give Philip something to do. Philip was starting to get accustomed to every new day that passed with new shops and market places in the City, as he was in charge of “spending wisely” Margaret’s credits, for both of them. His favorite list of places on his Mapper grew day by day, and people started to know him. He became a favorite in certain bookstores, bakeries, or any other shop that he liked and visited quite often. They both usually rode their dragons whenever they felt they needed to get quicker to a certain place, or whenever they wanted to unwind and see the city from above.

  The days in the Emerald City started to have again that timeless feeling for them, where you could just feel the warm breeze of the wind in your hair, somewhere, at the border of nowhere, where you needed nothing more than a sunny and peaceful day. In some days, when Margaret could get free time from her work, you could find them outside the city, on a patch of grass, sitting on some checkered cloth that Margaret had taken from the house, in the shade of the tall, leafy trees, camping, eating sandwiches and laughing, and in others, they visited the nearby mountains, venturing on their peaks and visiting the caves, leaving their dragons outside.

  Days passed by and a rather strange feeling started to grasp Margaret. Ever since she enrolled to work in the Financial Council, having to work with technology, consoles, and computers at work, made her remember her previous life as a spacecraft pilot and archaeologist. She started to analyze and try to balance in her mind the exhilaration and joy one could feel in the silence and peacefulness of the City with the freedom and boundless choices one could have in the Universe that they left. Recurrent passing thoughts were crossing her mind about this, at her workplace or at home, when she was daydreaming, especially when she was alone. She was spending late afternoon hours reading from her favorite books, or thinking about her duties at the Financial Council, occupying her mind so she could stop the daydreaming about her old life.

  She decided to have soon a talk with Philip about this, being afraid that soon, the people in the City or the Elders will find out about her recurrent thoughts. At times, when she could not stop the thoughts, she took out her amulet and she retreated in the house, on her small cushion, and practice meditation. For the time being that was enough to calm her mind, but she knew that she could not postpone facing reality, sooner or later.

  Chapter 12 – The Order

  Margaret was walking quietly, on one of the smaller streets that bordered the West area of the City from the East area. It was close to 3 pm and the sun was shining its warm rays upon the City of Emeralds, making the white clouds look so beautiful on the clear blue skies. Today, she was attending one of the Order’s meetings close to their guestho
use, which was a really nice 2-story house that could easily accommodate 35 people in its main meditation hall. She was walking alone this time, as Philip didn’t care much today for her invitation to join her today.

  As she was walking, she was recollecting the first time when she found out about the Order. It all happened 2 weeks ago. She was browsing through the shops of the Main Market with Philip, when she saw an Elder in the crowd, looking at her.

  “Hey, Margaret! I hope you are well today. What a pleasant surprise to meet you here”, the Elder said, from a distance.

  Margaret recognized him, as she remembered so well the night of her Initiation. He was one of the older ones, that had snow-white hair, the only one with a white staff with a translucent stone on top of it. You couldn’t miss that sight, and Margaret remembered it really vividly.

  “Ah, Elder Cyryos! It is a very pleasant surprise to meet you here,” she said, not knowing what else to say. She was really taken by surprise by the Elder’s appearance, who was now standing right beside her.

  “What are you looking for my dear, might I enquire?” he said, with the purest English accent.

  She smiled and say.

  “Well, we were actually looking for some bracelets with semi-precious stones, and I wanted to see if I can get some earrings too, that would match them.”

  “Ah, this seems like a really nice gift you can buy for yourself. May I recommend the turquoise and indigo ones for the earrings and the orange stones, for the bracelets? I personally know the stones in this market really well, and this would be the perfect combination that one might wear,” he added, with a kind and respectful voice.

  Margaret looked at him and sensed much kindness in his presence. He was indeed one of the oldest of the Elders, and his personality felt like Prival’s, only he seemed much kinder, wiser, and maybe a little bit taller.