Finding Answers: Chapter Eleven
When The Book Was Opened
"It has been given to you to know the mysteries"
The trio sat in silence, eyes locked on the ancient book lying open before them. A strange chill crept across their skin, not from the wind, but from the sheer presence of the leather bound parchment. Something about the way it breathed… how the pages shimmered faintly as if aware of being seen… None of them knew what to do next.
Was this the answer to all their questions?
Why had Elder Ezekiel insisted they find this book before the Festival of Lights?
What would happen if they dared go beyond the first page?
These questions circled in their minds like moths around a flame.
The open page bore a passage written in a kind of poetic verse, the black script glowing faintly on the yellowish paper. Deborah leaned forward and read aloud, her voice quiet but steady:
Nor ears heard,
Things hidden,
Things engraved in the sands of the foundations of the world,
Before time began, after time ends,
Now lay open before you.
Learn the past, prepare for the future,
And rewrite the tides at your discretion…
But can you pay the price?"
A silence followed.
Ruth blinked. "What does that even mean?"
"I think…" Deborah began slowly "this book might actually hold the past, present, and future. And we–" she glanced at the others, "–we might have the ability to alter it. But... it says there's a cost."
Ruth's curiosity got the better of her. She flipped through a chunk of pages, slowing as she went. Each page bore a date at the top. Underneath were notes, weather forecasts, and strange, delicate illustrations, some of which moved as she looked closer.
Andrew leaned in. "So… what do you want to know?"
"I want to start from the beginning," Deborah said. "But first, we need to understand what this book can actually do."
They turned to Ruth again, who had begun experimenting. With no effort, she hovered her hand along the edges, and the pages flipped rapidly back and forth. Her eyes sparkled.
"I just… think of the time I want to see," she said. "And it responds. Look."
The images rushed past them; kingdoms rising and falling, cities burning, oceans reclaiming lands, then calm. A world beginning again. Andrew and Deborah were stunned. But Ruth was just… playing.
"Let me try," Deborah said, taking the book. She thought out loud, "Take me to today."
The book obeyed. It flipped to a page bearing that very date. The illustration on the parchment showed the three of them, sitting together, just as they were. There were notes in a small box about the weather. Above that, it read: Cloudy skies with mild winds.
Andrew squinted. "What if… we could change the weather?"
Ruth grinned. "Let's make a rainbow!"
Deborah frowned. "Remember the warning. There's always a consequence."
"Well it's just a rainbow, what's the worst that could happen?" Andrew joked. "We get a pot full of gold at the end of the rainbow?"
Deborah raised an eyebrow.
Ruth leaned forward ignoring Deborah. "But how do we change it?"
"We could just write in it, it's a book!" Andrew said thoughtfully. He reached for a pen and scribbled lightly: with rainbows. Adding to the notes about the weather.
The ink glowed briefly… then melted into the page like it had always been there.
They were slightly taken back then turned quickly to the large window beside Ruth's bed. Nothing.
Deborah shrugged. "Maybe it doesn't work like– "
A cold breeze slipped into the room.
And then… it started to drizzle.
Ruth sat back, a little disappointed. "It's just rain."
"No" Deborah said slowly, "Rainbows come with rain. That's the price. We changed something, and the world adjusted."
Moments later, a soft arc of color formed across the sky, radiant and full.
"Whoa…" Ruth whispered, crawling closer to the window.
"Yeah… that's amazing," Andrew said, rising to his feet, now visibly sobered.
Deborah's gaze remained on the book. "We just changed reality. This is… bigger than us."
"Elder Ezekiel wanted us to find it before the Festival" Andrew said, suddenly remembering. "Which is… tomorrow."
"We need to see what happens tomorrow," Deborah said. She turned to Andrew, sliding the book toward him. "Would you do the honor?"
Andrew hesitated. Deborah had never spoken to him like that, her words carrying a quiet confidence in his ability to handle something so significant. This sudden display of trust both surprised and motivated him. He nodded, clearing his throat. "Sure."
"You're the most emotionally stable one of us anyway," she added, half teasing, half serious.
Andrew smirked and flipped the book to the date of the Festival of Lights.
His eyes widened. "Oh no."
Deborah and Ruth rushed to his side.
"What… what is that?" Ruth asked, stunned.
The illustration was horrifying: people from every clan, tribe, and district were bent over in agony. Sick. Their faces green, eyes hollow.
Above it, a rhyme glowed ominously:
Silent sickness creeps,
While the city sleeps..."
Deborah stared. "This must be why Ezekiel warned us. Something's going to happen tomorrow. A sickness..."
"What do we do?" Ruth asked in panic.
"Do we try to fix it?" Deborah asked she was terrified as well.
"But we don't know what the repercussions would be" Andrew replied, his voice tight with worry.
"But we have to do something, that's why this book was given to us right?" Deborah said.
Andrew hesitated… then nodded. "Right. The price for the rainbow was just a drizzle. Maybe… maybe the consequences aren't all bad."
He took the pen and carefully altered the text:
"...but there was wellness."
The words shimmered… then melted into the page.
They waited.
Nothing.
Deborah peered out the window. Andrew paced. Ruth twisted a lock of hair between her fingers.
"I guess… that's it?" Andrew said eventually. "Easier than expected."
"We should probably start preparing for the Festival" Deborah said slowly, still uncertain.
"You're coming, right?" Andrew asked, turning to Ruth.
She hesitated, glancing away. "Umm…"
"That reminds me," Deborah said, turning to her. "We're all the same age. But I don't remember seeing you in the Hall of Learning when we were kids and not to brag but I have a really good memory."
"You also…really stand out." Andrew added, smiling softly. As he looked into Ruth's eyes and Ruth glanced up immediately, their gazes met for a moment, with a quiet intensity.
Then, Ruth glanced to Deborah, then back at Andrew. Her lips parted, but she said nothing.
Deborah leaned forward. "That's why we started this journey in the first place– because, for some reason, you didn't know the story we were all told as children in the Hall of Learning about the genesis of our city."
Ruth swallowed hard, hesitating. Could she reveal the truth to them now? She thought back to the Hall of Learning at The Archives, where children from all clans gathered to study the city's culture before delving into their own clan's traditions.
Memories flooded her mind, at that point in her life she was found sitting at her father's feet, soaking up his stories of expedition and adventure, and later, the numb grief of losing him and hoping he would return like he promised.
But could she trust them? How would she even begin? Would they treat her differently, like her own relatives did?
But before she could speak, a panicked voice rang out from downstairs.
"Ruth! Come help, quick!"
It was Mary. Her tone sent a shiver through all three of them.
They bolted from the room.
Ruth raced down the stairs, half grateful for the interruption, until she saw the reason.
Outside their front door, Mary stood surrounded by a family seated on a hedge. They were pale. Shaking. Sick in a way none of them had ever seen.
The trio froze.
Deborah whispered, "Do you think we did this?"
And in that moment a certain sense of gloom clouded their hearts.
Comments
Post a Comment