The Spirit Boy: Chapter Four

FOUR

I stood on the same path, and I was aware that Katsa was a little way behind me; we were still in the middle of the valley forest. But as in the nymph’s illusion, the grass and leaves were golden, the bark silver. There was no cart, carcass, no man beast or spirit save Katsa and I.

“We are on the Path To Freedom,” Katsa announced, and as usual added, “We are going on an adventure.” I noticed that the bear cub’s mouth was now free of stone; I could see its brown muzzle.

A great wind blew, and dust arose, it turned into a large spirit, completely blocking our path. It had the appearance of an owl, except that its wings were on its head, and where its left wing should have been, a long stick-like arm protruded. Its feet were those of a beaver, and it had the tail of a monster. A sword of flame was in its stick hand.

“ARE YOU PURE IN HEART AND SPIRIT?” It asked me.

“Yes,” I replied, and it swung its sword once at me. I dived out of the way, and a golden tree caught white fire which did not spread. The owl spirit asked again:

“ARE YOU PURE IN HEART AND SPIRIT?”

“YES!” I shouted in exasperation. It swung its sword again, but when I dodged this time, I found myself on a star. Across from me, the spirit stood also on a star, a shield floated in front of it, and a golden helmet sat impossibly on top of its head. In my own hands was a blue sword, and a red shield, I had no helmet. We began to fight, our swords clashed and with each clash an explosion happened in the darkness surrounding us.

“YOU ARE WEAK. SO SOON YOU GIVE UP.” I dealt the owl spirit a blow, and it grew three snake heads.

“YOU WERE SENT TO THE LIVING WORLD, AND YOU VOWED TO STAY.” It dealt me a heavy blow, and I was knocked back. It advanced. Katsa was nowhere to be seen.

“YOUR COMPANION WENT WITH YOU. BUT YOU WERE MET WITH ONLY HORROR AND INJUSTICE, HE GAVE UP AND RETURNED.” It struck, but I parried, and slashed at one of the snake heads. It screeched and exploded into red dust.

“YOU STAYED STILL, FOR THE LIVING CHILD. BUT IN YOUR DESPAIR AT THE WORLD, YOU INADVERTENTLY CAUSED HER DEATH.” I fought it viciously, and I managed to hack off another head, it exploded into a flock of blue birds.

“NOW YOU WISH TO RETURN. BUT YOU ARE STILL ATTACHED TO THAT WORLD. SOMETHING STILL YET BINDS YOU.” Images of Mother exploded in my head, and I screamed, hacking off the last snake head. It turned into daffodil seeds. The owl spirit began to fade, and it said to me:

“YOU ARE PURE IN HEART AND SPIRIT.”

Everything faded, and I stood once again on the path, clutching Maria’s doll. Katsa stood a little way away, watching me forlornly.

We continued the journey of our adventure.

After a long while, our path turned into a wide river, which we began to wade through. I asked Katsa a question.

“Where are we? And where are we going?” To which Katsa replied, and I saw his mouth move in speech, “We are here, and we go whence we came.” And we continued still.

It began to darken, and the landscape turned into endless tundra, there was no longer any path.

A black wind appeared before us. It had eyes the red of lava, and it stood before us, blocking our unseen path.

“ARE YOU TRUE TO YOURSELF?” It asked me. I did not have to think for very long.

“No,” I replied it. Nothing happened for some time, and then I was on a boat, with Katsa. We travelled in the sky, and as we passed through a cloud, I remembered.

*****

Father, my Spirit Companion, had been sitting on the couch. I had been on the floor, and we had both been watching the news channel headlines on the television.

27 KILLED, 52 INJURED IN SUICIDE BOMBER EXPLOSION NEAR PAKISTANI PRIMARY SCHOOL.

FATHER OF TWO ARRESTED OVER REVELATIONS OF PAEDOPHILIA; VICTIMS AGED BETWEEN SIX MONTHS AND FOUR YEARS.

TWENTY-EIGHT YEAR OLD CANCER SURVIVOR KILLED IN HIT-AND-RUN.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RAPIST WHO ATTACKED WOMAN TWICE GOES FREE, ALLEGED LACK OF EVIDENCE MEANS ‘NOT IN PUBLIC

INTEREST’.

COLLEGE GRADUATE GUNNED DOWN IN THE STREET IN CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY.

And then the Breaking News.

SUPERMARKET GIANT ANNOUNCES 32% PROFIT RISE DESPITE RECESSION.

My companion had looked at me, his face had been forlorn.

“I can’t manage this any longer, Artem,” he said. “This World, this evil place, I can’t Stay. It is too much. Too cold and cruel.

“Just a little longer, Father,” I had begged him. “Have some hope. You are old, you will die soon and it will be over. There must still be virtue in this world.” He had shaken his head slowly, from side to side. Creases had lined his face, and I had seen that he was truly tired. He had given up. He had wanted to return.

“There is death every day,” he had said slowly, pulling out the gun I had not seen and pointing it at his head. “No true happiness, for sorrow always follows. I have tired of this life.” I had begged, I had cried, but he had ignored me, pulling the trigger and taking his life in front of my very eyes, taking most of my hope with him, and my mouth had sealed itself. I and Maria had been taken to an orphanage, where I was violated and brutalized for two weeks before Mother came for us from London, and we went to join her in her new life with Joseph.

*****

I was in the boat again, and Katsa spoke to me, in the child’s voice, but quietly. I noticed that no stone remained on his body; he seemed more alive now, truly alive.

“When the adventure ends, will you Stay above, or will you Return here?” I was quiet, and I found that I was no longer sure. I thought of all the injustices of the World, of the death, the coldness and cruelty. I thought of the foolishness, drug users who ruined their lives and the lives of the ones they touched, humans who let their neighbours die and who lived for only themselves. I thought about how violence and sex destroyed the innocence of children, the people of tomorrow, and how it was only encouraged. But I also thought of the warmness I had seen, Mother after all truly loved me, despite my problems, and not everybody or everything was cold. I thought of those who could give up their lives for another they did not know, of hugs and kisses, of little things, like pleases and thank yous. I thought of fun and games, I thought of acts of kindness done in secret, and I thought of happiness, the sorrows which made it rare and only so much better once it was found, for without rival nothing could be exceptional or great. And I realized where I wanted to be.

“I want to Stay,” I replied Katsa quietly. As my mouth closed, one last bit of stone which I had not previously noticed cracked and fell from Katsa’s chest. And then we were no longer on the boat, but on the very first path, in the Land of Singing Spirits. The voice of the wind spirit said:

“YOU ARE TRUE TO YOURSELF.”

Katsa grew and grew, he was no longer a cub but a fully grown bear, and he began to run, great long strides, I chased after him, laughing for why I did not know, but it seemed to me that a great weight had been lifted from my shoulders. Music flooded my ears, sweeter than the music of the nymphs even, and the sun shone bright, the grassy plain turned silver blue, and we no longer ran on a set path, but free and wild in the wilderness. We passed other spirit children playing in a thicket, and they burst into song and joined us in running. We ran far, and every spirit we passed joined us. We passed the nymphs from earlier, and they joined us, as did the fox on his stone and the baby on its stump. We passed by trees, and we all changed, into our True Forms. Katsa and I grew tall and proud, we were easily the most beautiful in the group, with our bends and curves, our marks and different colours. My soul was in peace; I would return and be a son to Mother and even to Joseph.

At this point I burst into song, and the season of our landscape turned from Spring to Summer to Autumn unto Winter and back again. There was beautiful music everywhere, the landscape filled me with wonder at its beauty and even my very body tingled all over with happiness, it coursed through my very veins and I was in a state of euphoria.

At last, we came to the end of the path, and there was a door of light before us; we all stopped, as did the music and song.

“Now my adventure ends,” I spoke to all. “I will not yet come Home to my father, Spirit King, Lord of Riches. I will instead Stay.” At this all cheered, and I, and Katsa, ever my guide, stepped forward into the beautiful light.