The Hidden City Page 7

  “Where are we, Maggie? And … what are we doing in the same bed?”

  Margaret reached for his emerald necklace and got it out of his t-shirt. All of a sudden he remembered.

  “Oh! Our Initiation! Yesterday! Oh gosh, I feel so silly, I felt so lost and weird for a couple of seconds, still engulfed in the world of dreams. I had those vivid dreams where we were in a huge kingdom, and you were the queen, and … ”

  “I think I had the same dream too, Phil. I think it’s because of our amulets, they somehow bind us together when we wear them, at night, especially when we’re so close to each other. We’re in the Emerald City now, you can relax,” said Margaret with a comforting voice. “Let’s get out of the bed and have our breakfast.”

  Philip nodded and reached up on his pillow.

  Margaret got out of bed looking for her slippers. She still felt the wild sensations and emotions from the last night, as an aftereffect, going through her, as a memory of a roller coaster ride. As she went to the food dispenser, she turned around and asked Philip, with a joyful voice.

  “So, what would Mr. Philip want for breakfast, today?”

  “Umm, a classic and simple ... English breakfast, with toast, and milk,” he said.

  “A classic English breakfast, with toast, and milk. Make that two of them, please,” Margaret almost whispered towards the food dispenser, although she knew that the pure intention would do it as well. In a matter of seconds, two white plates with two glasses of milk materialized, loaded with what seemed to be a very delicious breakfast. They started eating in silence, looking occasionally at each other, with a big smile on their face.

  “But this is really good. I wonder how these food dispensers work. They are way better than the one we have on our small craft,” Philip said while eating his pork sausage.

  “I don’t know, Phil, but I’m starting to like it here more and more. It’s not the food in particular or the coziness of the house, but actually these people; they are so welcoming, kind, and wise, and it seems that this kind of high energy is felt all over the place.”

  Their first day in the city was starting really well, and they didn’t have anything in particular to do today. The feeling that they were free to do anything they want, was one of the liberties of the City that they were just starting to experience. Margaret was planning to go see as much as she could, knowing that last night they have barely seen just a tiny fragment of the city, and Philip wanted to sit around the house all day and immerse in the garden from the back of their house, sitting quietly on a log, and just being in the shade. They continued to eat, undisturbed, talking about all the little things that came to their minds, and appreciating every bite of their meal.

  “That was really good,” Margaret said, putting her hands on the table.

  Philip nodded with appreciation.

  “It was, you are definitely right. If every breakfast is like this, you can imagine you won’t get me easily out of here,” Philip said and looked at her smiling.

  And he was about right. Their home was really a neat, tidy, and simple place. It was freshly painted in white, orange, and light blue colors, and it contained the minimum that you needed to enjoy a simple life in the country side. Philip noticed a big display on one of the main room’s walls, that was probably functioning with a voice command, and that, he thought, would probably act as a local computer, or as a way in which people would communicate with each other, visually. The whole house was split into four main rooms: the living room, the bathroom, the kitchen, which had only a wall that separated it from the main room, and the other room, which they could probably use while having guests over.

  Philip raised from the table, and went straight to the door, to see how today looked.

  “Excellent! Blue skies at the horizon, with only a few white clouds. And the breeze is amazing,” he shouted from the door frame, so she could hear him in the bathroom.

  “I can hear you, Phil,” she said. “As it seems, we’re going to have a wonderful day ahead. I will get ready soon, as I want to see more of the city, today.”

  Philip went out into the garden and washed his face in the water fountain that they had outside. He thought that it was probably used so they can water the plants, at night. Today, he was feeling like a teenage boy, ready to go on his day, camping, and he felt that he could get lost in this feeling for hours and hours, by just appreciating the simplicity and coziness of everything that the City had to offer. The scent from the garden’s flowers, the smell of the fresh soil, and the kind breeze, were making this the perfect setting for their first day into the city.

  Margaret appeared in the door’s frame, dressed, and with her blue robe on top.

  “So, are you ready? Prival mentioned leaving the door as it is, as no one will steal anything from here. Not to mention that we don’t have many things that could be stolen, anyway. Here, put your blue robe on, we’re leaving.”

  She waited for him to dress with the robe and then took his hand and rushed through the garden, reaching the outside cobbled street. They greeted the few passing neighbors that smiled kindly, and rushed through the small street towards the main city square, that hosted the big Council Building.

  They arrived in no time, just to see tons of people, dressed in their blue, orange, and violet robes, mingling in the square. There were a lot of mobile wooden shops, with wooden wheels, that sold from fabrics to clothes, to vegetables, food prepared in the street, sweets, amulets of all sorts, smoking accessories, crystals, bracelets, and earrings. They were elated by the feeling of blending through all these people, as the energy they felt in the main market of the City was really strong. They felt their hearts tingling, and that gave them a reason to stay a bit more in this bustling city market.

  Margaret grabbed Philip and whispered in his ear.

  “Do you feel the same way, Philip? My heart is almost overwhelmed by this strange happiness that I can somehow feel all around everywhere here … ”

  He nodded and smiled.

  “I can feel it too, Maggie,” he whispered. “I think it is so because of the proximity of all our emerald amulets. And probably, most of the people come here every day just because of this feeling of joy. It is really neat that our vacation house is so close to the main market, I’m planning to come here as often as I can,” he softly whispered, careful so no one would hear him. A few citizens that overheard him smiled back, and he felt ashamed about his attempt to hold on to his feelings, but after a few moments, they all started to laugh.

  “In the City, you shouldn’t be afraid to feel the happiness that we share.” said one of them, who was really tall, with a brown long beard.

  “I can see you still wear your blue robe, so this is understandable, but as an advice from me, try to feel what you experience with your whole heart. This way you will know sooner our City, and you will adapt faster to everything that is around you.”

  Philip nodded and smiled.

  “Thank you for your advice. I will try my best,” he said, and touched his amulet, with respect and kindness.

  Everybody around them seemed to be immersed in their usual activities of the market, which meant selling, buying, and talking about anything that came to mind. Philip went further away to check other interesting shops while Margaret stayed for a while to look at a small mobile shop that was selling fabrics of all kinds and colors. She reached and touched a few of them, feeling their textures and looking amazed at their colors. Her fingers were very delicate and she felt as if they were yet more sensitive, since her Initiation, last night. The softness and intricate patterns that were woven into the clothing gave her such complex feelings, not to mention the delicate color nuances that blended into each other, which had a really nice visual effect.

  “Do you want to buy one? All those patterns are imprinted by hand,” a middle-aged lady interrupted her, appearing from a dark curtain that was on a side of the mobile shop.

  Margaret flinched. The lady was looking directly at her, with sy
mpathy and humbleness. She was a bit taller than she was, dressed in a deep violet robe, with a beautifully shaped body, straight long hair, and dark green eyes. She smiled back, not knowing what to say.

  “Well, I do not … you see … ”

  The lady quickly acknowledged her and smiled.

  “Ah, from the blue robe that you are wearing it seems that ... you are new in town, and you possibly do not really know your way around, yet, is that true? Forgive me, I have not introduced myself. My name is Al’tari, and I welcome you to my little fabric shop. Would you like to earn a few credits, so you can afford to buy a few items?” she asked Margaret in a kind voice.

  “I … we … well, of course, we’d like some,” Margaret said, with growing confidence.

  “Well, in that case, you have to talk to an Elder. Let him know that you want to buy a few items from the main market, and he will guide you to the best way in which you could earn some credits, although I personally think this might be kind of early for you if you just arrived here maybe a couple of days now. Have you had time to explore the city, yet?”

  “Well, we did a little bit, last night. Me and my partner, Philip, we did venture through the city streets, but it was getting colder and we went back to our house, after a while,” Margaret said, with a soft voice.

  “Ah, newcomers, newcomers! You are so very welcome! It seems that you’ve just had your Initiation and you might just live in those cute and small vacation homes that are not so far from here. That is a special area of our City, where many new people are living, like you and … your friend there, I guess,” she added, “that seems to be a little bit lost in watching those beautiful outfits. We all have gone through our times when we lived for a while in our vacation houses,” she added. “You might want to make some new friends as long as you are there. You’ll notice them by their blue robes. Make sure you greet your neighbors, and they will be happy to share their stories, so you can feel more welcome in the City.”

  She then looked closely at Margaret, as if she was recollecting.

  “I remember my first days,” she said with a pensive attitude, “when I was just by myself, just getting around the City, visiting and marveling at the beauty of everything. Those are some of my best memories I have here,” the middle-aged lady said, and then quickly added. “But I wouldn't want to keep you here, you have much to see in the market. And don’t forget to talk to an Elder, about the credits!”

  “I will,” said Margaret, “and I hope I can return back soon with some to buy a few of your fine fabrics here. They are fascinating!”

  “Excellent! I will then have plenty of time to tell you more about them and to chat about our City. Now, if you don’t mind, I might as well return to my business. Today seems to be a rather busy day for my little shop, and I haven’t even finished arranging the violet fabrics, that I just created yesterday. They are in high demand it seems, these days. It was a pleasure talking to you, Margaret,” she said, broadly smiling. She put a hand over her amulet, bowed respectfully, and then turned around, resuming her work in her mobile shop.

  The shops in the Main Market were quite spacious and they encompassed a wide variety of products for each vendor, with a generous 6 by 9 feet space, and an extendable folded colored rubber cover above, to protect the merchandise from the sun, or in case of any particular rainfall during a day. They were decorated and painted with intricate motifs, depending on each seller’s imagination, and that made the market look really diverse and unique.

  “Philip! Where are you?” Margaret said, trying to find him, in the sea of people that were mingling through the shops around her.

  After a few seconds, he heard her.

  “Right here,” he waved his hand above. “Here, Margaret, you have to see this!”

  It was pretty hard to go about in this quite busy market, as people of all kinds, dressed in orange and blue robes were mingling around, looking at all the products and talking, trying to settle a deal.She quickly reached him, slipping gently through a few of the citizens that were between them. Philip was looking curiously at one of the mobile shops, that was decorated with the most intricate motifs she had ever seen.

  “Ah, I thought, I’d lost you. What were you looking at? I had a most wonderful conversation with...”

  “Look, these are some quite interesting smoking accessories. Do you think we should need any one of these? I know we don’t smoke, but … this man, whose name is Bar’ashi, said that we can also get some sort of dried plants from the mobile shops that are over there,” pointing in the direction of a few shops painted in yellow, “that are growing locally here, in the woods, that can be smoked in these recipients that he had created.”

  The seller was looking and them and nodded with a smile.

  “He said the smoke is very sweet and pleasant, makes you feel really relaxed, and some of these herbs can even amplify the feeling that our amulets generate. Do you think we’d need one of these? He mentioned something about credits, but I didn’t know what to say … ”

  Margaret looked kindly at the seller, who was a really handsome and tall man, with deep blue eyes, dressed in a long violet robe, and then took Philip on the side.

  “But Philip, we cannot afford to get one of these,” she quietly whispered. “We need credits for that … and to be honest, I don’t think that the food dispenser will give us any if we’d ask.”

  “Credits? Prival didn’t mention anything about credits … ”

  “We need … we need to talk to him about this. That lady that I spoke to, Al’tari, was selling some of the most amazing fabrics I have seen in ages, and she told me so. So, for the time being, we’re more than welcomed to sight-see and shop with our eyes. You can imagine that all these people need to be rewarded with some sort of compensation for their hard work.”

  Philip’s eyes widened.

  “Ah, so they do have some sort of local economy here! I was overwhelmed by the feeling of this market and forgot that we also need to give something back, for what we get here.”

  He waited a bit and his face lightened up, all of a sudden.

  “Maybe we can open our own shop here, Maggie, and this way, we will make a lot of credits with ease,” he said, enthusiastically.

  “But what are we going to sell? We have nothing and we barely arrived here. We have to talk to an Elder about that, for sure,” Margaret said. “Let’s better see what else we can find here in this market. I’d come here every day, just to get lost in the whole frenzy of this place … ”

  For the following two hours they visited and asked about at any shop they felt interested in. Fabrics, dried plants, mushrooms that grew wild on the planet, food, more clothing, more fabrics, statuettes, items confectioned out of clay, more food, amulets, bracelets with colorful crystals, and of course, sweets. They couldn’t buy anything, but the joy of being around made them as happy as everybody else. After a while, they decided to stop and sit on what looked like some wide benches, made from thick trees, that were right on one of far sides of the market.

  “Do you think we can go and visit more of the city today, Philip? Or do you want to spend our whole day here, in the market?” Margaret asked, looking down, and resting her feet.

  “Well, we both wanted to see the city, right? So I don’t see anything that can stop us. Walking through the market made me forget that seeing the city was our intended destination, today.”

  “I can’t wait to see how they built it. Prival said that in the beginning there were only a few houses, but from seeing how many people are here in the Main Market, I sense that the city is very big. I’m not even sure if we can see it all in just one day.”

  Philip smiled back.

  “Ah, there’s gonna be plenty of time to visit everything. The city is really big, for sure, and we can see a little bit of it, every day.”

  “Off to the city, then,” she said and raised from the bench.

  They looked quickly for a way away from the market, and they saw a few of the sma
ller roads, exiting from the main square. They entered a narrow street that was bordered by small houses, built one next to each other. Dark green ivy plants were growing all over their exterior, and the leaves contrasted beautifully with the bluestones from which the houses were built. Trees of all sizes grew everywhere, some even in the middle of the road.

  “It seems that the locals didn’t want to destroy the forest in the process of building the city,” Margaret said. ”Some of the tall trees were left exactly where they grew, and they built everything around them.”

  “Yes, they definitely love nature, and the City looks very interesting as it is now,” Philip replied.

  The houses reminded them of old Irish stone houses, that they saw in some magazines of the London Museum. Everything looked so old and the red flowers that most of the houses had hang from their balconies, made them feel that indeed, they were in a ‘City of Love’. Some of the roads were winding, some were straight, but the stones that were used to build the roads were all cut to perfection: some in simple square forms, some in diamond ones, and some even in other more complex geometrical forms, to accommodate the shape of the roads. Most of the houses hold the same intricate patterns on their walls, mirroring the outside pavement, and displaying beautiful flags, of all colors, made out of fine fabrics, that were fluttering in the wind. Occasionally, you could see wood and metal decorations on the outer walls of the houses, and that gave them that old aspect that could be seen all throughout the city. Creativity in building this city was indeed extraordinary, and the monks and its inhabitants seemed to have been taking their time to really create true works of art.

  They passed by a few houses that were just being constructed and they stayed for a while, observing the care and detail that the builders put into their work. Everyone was meticulously doing one particular thing, and everyone seemed to take their time to re-check the perfect alignment of all the stones and all the materials they put in place. Stones, wooden bars, metal rods, more materials, and big chunks of emeralds, were waiting to be put in place.