Post by Kamiri (Ianthe) on Aug 17, 2005 5:06:02 GMT -5
This is from an English study I did last year. It was based on a dream I had during the time I was doing the study. This one's called 'The Venetian Competition'
We stand outside the gates of the Water-City, awed. I can’t believe that we’ve finally arrived here, and I feel dizzy with the thought of what lies ahead. The Joker stands beside us, that cheeky grin plastered all over his face.
“There ‘tis,” he says, the grin remaining in place. We have never learnt his name; in the short time we have known him he has always been “The Joker”, and he has never offered anything else.
Jai glances at me, a gauging look on his face. From this point on, we are not friends, but competitors in the Joker’s Game.
“What do we do now?” He poses the question both of us have been pondering since we left home almost a fortnight ago.
Let me just go back and explain a bit. Since my father’s death a few winters ago, our farm has gone steadily into debt. I had begun to think that I would lose it, and that my mother, brother, sisters and I would be homeless. It was at this time that The Joker, a traveller, first arrived in our village. We were suspicious of him at first, a stranger in our midst, but he seemed so happy and carefree, entertaining the village with his tricks, stories and cheeky sense of humour, that we couldn’t help liking him. I found myself curious about where he had come from, and the things that he had seen and done.
One evening after The Joker had performed to us in the village centre; he came and sat next to me, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Yer needin’ help then.” It was not a question, merely a statement of the obvious. Everyone in the village knew our problems, and The Joker could not possibly have missed hearing about it.
I nodded, ashamed, though I had no reason to be. Still, I stared into the fire before me, and felt him watching my face.
“If it’s money ye need, I know how ye can get some.”
I looked at him quickly. “I’ll not steal it if that’s what you mean.”
“Stealin’? What kind o’ person d’ye think I am? Naw, I’m jus’ sayin’ I know how ye can get it, an’ it’s honest enough if yer int’rested.”
“How then?” I looked at him, curious in spite of my misgivings.
He leaned closer. “There’s these people I knows see,” he says quietly, conspiratorially. “As would pay a fortune to whom-so-ever who brought this ‘treasure’ to ‘em.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s jus’ call it a ‘competition’ eh? That is, if yer in.” His eyes glinted dangerously in the firelight. “O’ course, if yer not…” He moved to stand. “I’ve got another lad as is int’rested enough.”
“No, no. That’s not what I’m saying.” I was not so eager to lose this chance to change my family’s fortunes.
“No? Well are ye in then?” He leaned forward again.
I didn’t pause to think about it. “Yeah. Yes. I’m in.” He sat back, the cheeky grin on his face that I would come to know as his trademark.
“Good.” He stood, dusting off his trousers. “I’ll come for ye in a bit.” He wandered away into the dark, whistling.
In the morning, he had gone, and I soon forgot about my agreement, and this ‘competition.’
It was not until some weeks later that he returned, that grin across his face, and the boy named Jai in tow. My mother was not at the house when I left. I felt guilty to be leaving without a proper farewell, but The Joker seemed restless, and refused to wait. I told Nina, my little sister, that I was going to go and save our farm, and our family, and to tell our mother not to worry. And then I did something that my father would have hated me for – I left my home.
At the time I thought I was doing the right thing, but by the time I arrived at the gates of the Water-City I was no longer sure of what was right and what was wrong.
And that brings us back to the present. The Joker glances at me, then Jai, and his eyebrows rise mockingly.
“We? There’s no ‘we’. This is my game an’ I control it, no’ compete in it.” He shakes his head, still grinning.
“So what are we supposed to do?” I speak for perhaps the first time this afternoon.
The Joker gives me a calculating look. “Ye go into the city.” He speaks clearly and carefully. “In the city, yer to follow these people…” At this point he hands both of us a series of four hand-drawn pictures. I study mine, amazed at the detail. “…and find these people.” He gives us two more pictures, one a man and a woman, the other a boy. “Yer to free ‘em an’ bring ‘em out.”
Jai and I look at each other, unimpressed. While we have always known The Joke to have a ‘different’ way of thinking to us, this is a little too strange to accept.
“How are we supposed to find these people? And who are they?” Jai crosses his arms.
“Ye’ll find ‘em alright. An’ who they are’s not importan' to ye now. Now go.” He gives us each a push towards the city gates.
I shrug. I have come a long way to get this reward. I won’t give up on it now. We glance at each other, and I know Jai has come to the same conclusion. Yelling, we race each other down to slope to the gates.
Inside the gates, I stop, staring. Everything is so busy and bustling that I suddenly feel overwhelmed. There are people yelling and moving everywhere, and it is immediately obvious why this is called the Water-City. Beyond the gate, the street peters out almost straight away, relegated to a narrower boardwalk, hugging the walls of the tall buildings. The gap in between is left for a wide canal, writhing with the movements of what seems to be an army of small boats. Living in my small village, I have never seen so many successful methods for moving on water, and for a while I forget my task in favour of watching this fascinating new world go past.
I am brought back sharply by a sudden push from behind that almost sends me tumbling into the water. Panicking, not wanting to have to display my meagre swimming skills to such a large crowd, I throw myself sideways along the edge of the boardwalk, feeling the rough, dirty wood pressing into my cheek. I can hear Jai laughing somewhere. Feeling foolish, I stand, dust myself off, and then I look around. I see that Jai has moved further along the boardwalk, and is looking into the enticing window of a sweetshop. We both turn sharply at the sound of raised voices on the opposite side of the canal.
A man and a woman – our man and woman – are being pushed onto a wide raft by soldiers in dark coloured coats. Immediately, I realize that this is the moment that The Joker meant us to witness, although how he knew it would happen, and happen now is beyond my comprehension. He has always seemed to have an extraordinary insight into whatever is happening around him. So this is why we are here. Thinking quickly; although probably not as wisely as is good for me; I climb off the boardwalk onto a small unused raft – barely more than a floating plank. Feeling as prepared as I’ll ever be, I let go of the boardwalk, only to lose my balance and fall with a splash into the murky water of the canal. It is not overly cold, but I am cursing and gasping and shaking anyway when I surface, clutching at my plank for dear life. So much for not going swimming, I think.
The raft with my people on it has cast off, and is moving slowly down the canal, in the opposite direction to the gate. Leaning on the board and kicking with my feet, I follow, slow and clumsy, struggling through the water. The raft ahead pauses for a time, midstream, and I draw close enough to overhear the conversation between the captain of the soldiers and their captives.
“Where is he?” The captain stands directly in front of the man, hissing into his face.
“I don’ know wha’ yer talkin’ about,” the man says in a thick accent – similar to that of The Joker.
“Don’t play dumb with me man! Where is your son? You know he can’t escape his fate. None of you can! But if you tell us now, I’ll make sure that he doesn’t suffer too badly.” The other soldiers smirk, but the man, defiant, simply spits in the captain’s face, earning himself a swift boot in the stomach. He crumples; gasping for air, as the captain slowly removes a crisp handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his face.
“You creatures make me sick.” The captain’s voice is low and dangerous. “You’re freaks of nature, not human, not animal, just worthless and disgusting beasts.” The woman kneels beside her husband, anxious. He lies curled on the wood of the raft, breathing unevenly.
The soldier shakes his head, then looks up and sees me, wallowing in the water. He points. “You! It’s the boy!” The other soldiers are instantaneously on alert. The woman looks up, startled and pale, and I realize that they think I am the couple’s son. I turn, and paddle madly towards the darkness a relative safety beneath the boardwalk. I expect to hear the splashing of pursuing soldiers behind me, but there is nothing. Curious, I glance back to find the soldiers arguing with the woman, supposedly about my identity. The captain strikes her across her face, and I feel a pang of guilt in the knowledge that she was hit because of me, but I keep kicking. Suddenly things go dark, and I recognize the dimness of the world below the boardwalk. Before my eyes have adjusted to the shadows, my plank grinds against something ahead. Apprehensive, I reach out and discover a slimy mud bank, no doubt built up by the dirt falling through the creaking planks above.
Unexpectedly, a hand grabs the back of my collar and drags me out of the water and up onto the mud bank. I try to scream at the shock, but a hand is clamped over my mouth before I can make a sound. By this time my eyes have adjusted enough to be able to see that my attacker, or rescuer, is a boy, or young man, a bit older than me, and that he appears to be vaguely familiar. Recognition dawns slowly, and I pull his picture out of my pocket, only to find that the pieces of paper had not appreciated my swim, and had stuck themselves together, the ink running into a messy brown splotch. Horrified, I try to pull them apart and make sense of the non-existent markings, only to rip the wet paper into useless clumps. The boy laughs, and takes them from me, examining them, and then throwing them into the water where they promptly sink. I am shocked, which makes him laugh more, and I feel hurt.
“Yer a Searcher then,” he says. Just like when I spoke to The Joker that night by the fire, his first sentence is a statement, not a question. I am puzzled by this title.
“What?”
“A Searcher. I saw ye lookin’ at my parents over there.” He indicates with a jerk of his head. “Ye must have met The Joker.” I don’t understand how he seems to know everything about me, but it makes me feel uncomfortable. “I’m Owen by the by.” He offers his hand, and I shake it cautiously.
“How’d you know about The Joker?” I ask.
“We were s’posed to meet ‘im months ago, bu’ we were bein’ watched by them soldiers. ‘e’d ‘ave been worried that we didn’ come, an’ tried to find someone who’d come look for us. Not ‘imself o’ course. They know ‘im too well ‘round ‘ere and ‘e’d be taken up quicker ‘n us.”
“Why would he send someone to find you?” My curiosity takes the better of me again.
“’Cos,” he says, suddenly guarded, but I wait and he continues a bit more, reluctant. “There’s a promise see. If someone doesn’ turn up, the others ‘ave to find out what ‘appened to ‘em.” I wait a bit more, but that seems to be all the information on that subject he seems willing to give me at this time. “What’d ‘e offer ye?”
“The chance to save my own family.” I stare at the ground, thinking about my mother and siblings back at home, thinking that I am dead no doubt.
“Ah. So it’s ‘is family for yours.”
I look up sharply. “Huh?”
“’e’s me brother, Xavier.” His expression is thoughtful. “Didn’ ‘e say that?”
“Ah… no.”
“Oh.” He rubs his chin. “Wonder why that is,” he says to himself. Shrugging, the issue is dismissed. He looks past me to the canal beyond. “Well. It looks like yer chance ‘as gone.” I follow his gaze, to find the soldier’s raft sinking. The soldiers are splashing about in the water, apparently drowning while Owen’s parents swim towards the side. “C’mon.” He says. “Let’s go find yer friend, J…?” Owen begins to climb into the water.
“Jai,” I finish for him, following. Then I stop and stare. “How’d you know about him?”
“I know lots o’ things ye wouldn’ understand. It comes from bein’ what they call ‘a creature.’ We jus’ call it normal.”
My mind spinning, I enter the water, and splash across to a ladder, nearly going under six times. The people around us hardly even glance at the four wet people that clamber out of the water. It seems that this kind of thing is normal in the Water-City, and for a moment I feel glad that my own small village is never so unpredictable as all this.
We meet The Joker outside the city as the sun is setting, flashing off the water in the city, and around its far side.
After the initial greetings, he turns to Jai and me. “So I s’pose ye’ll be wantin’ yer reward.” I look at Jai, and I suddenly realize that I have done nothing to aid in the rescue attempt. It means that I have come all this way for nothing. There will be no fortune to take home to my family now.
Jai is nodding. “But I don’t want the treasure,” he says.
I stare at him in open shock. What kind of person would not want the treasure? He sees my expression and grins. “I think you need it much more than I do. Besides, I have all the reward I need. I am going to travel with The Joker, and see what the world has to offer.”
I don’t understand how I manage to get home, or how it is that when I arrive there, I am alone and carrying a heavy sack of treasure on my back. I don’t understand where they got so much treasure from, or what they are going to do without it. I don’t know why they gave it to me, and refused to take it back, no matter how much I tried to leave it. I don’t know where they are going now, or if I’ll ever see them again. But I do know that I have my treasure, and that it will be enough for my family to be happy and safe for a long time to come. I know that somewhere, my friends are helping other people, setting up other competitions, and having adventures. And who knows? Maybe some day, if my treasure does run out, The Joker will be back, laughing, and pulling that cheeky grin of his, offering me a way to save my life.
We stand outside the gates of the Water-City, awed. I can’t believe that we’ve finally arrived here, and I feel dizzy with the thought of what lies ahead. The Joker stands beside us, that cheeky grin plastered all over his face.
“There ‘tis,” he says, the grin remaining in place. We have never learnt his name; in the short time we have known him he has always been “The Joker”, and he has never offered anything else.
Jai glances at me, a gauging look on his face. From this point on, we are not friends, but competitors in the Joker’s Game.
“What do we do now?” He poses the question both of us have been pondering since we left home almost a fortnight ago.
Let me just go back and explain a bit. Since my father’s death a few winters ago, our farm has gone steadily into debt. I had begun to think that I would lose it, and that my mother, brother, sisters and I would be homeless. It was at this time that The Joker, a traveller, first arrived in our village. We were suspicious of him at first, a stranger in our midst, but he seemed so happy and carefree, entertaining the village with his tricks, stories and cheeky sense of humour, that we couldn’t help liking him. I found myself curious about where he had come from, and the things that he had seen and done.
One evening after The Joker had performed to us in the village centre; he came and sat next to me, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Yer needin’ help then.” It was not a question, merely a statement of the obvious. Everyone in the village knew our problems, and The Joker could not possibly have missed hearing about it.
I nodded, ashamed, though I had no reason to be. Still, I stared into the fire before me, and felt him watching my face.
“If it’s money ye need, I know how ye can get some.”
I looked at him quickly. “I’ll not steal it if that’s what you mean.”
“Stealin’? What kind o’ person d’ye think I am? Naw, I’m jus’ sayin’ I know how ye can get it, an’ it’s honest enough if yer int’rested.”
“How then?” I looked at him, curious in spite of my misgivings.
He leaned closer. “There’s these people I knows see,” he says quietly, conspiratorially. “As would pay a fortune to whom-so-ever who brought this ‘treasure’ to ‘em.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s jus’ call it a ‘competition’ eh? That is, if yer in.” His eyes glinted dangerously in the firelight. “O’ course, if yer not…” He moved to stand. “I’ve got another lad as is int’rested enough.”
“No, no. That’s not what I’m saying.” I was not so eager to lose this chance to change my family’s fortunes.
“No? Well are ye in then?” He leaned forward again.
I didn’t pause to think about it. “Yeah. Yes. I’m in.” He sat back, the cheeky grin on his face that I would come to know as his trademark.
“Good.” He stood, dusting off his trousers. “I’ll come for ye in a bit.” He wandered away into the dark, whistling.
In the morning, he had gone, and I soon forgot about my agreement, and this ‘competition.’
It was not until some weeks later that he returned, that grin across his face, and the boy named Jai in tow. My mother was not at the house when I left. I felt guilty to be leaving without a proper farewell, but The Joker seemed restless, and refused to wait. I told Nina, my little sister, that I was going to go and save our farm, and our family, and to tell our mother not to worry. And then I did something that my father would have hated me for – I left my home.
At the time I thought I was doing the right thing, but by the time I arrived at the gates of the Water-City I was no longer sure of what was right and what was wrong.
And that brings us back to the present. The Joker glances at me, then Jai, and his eyebrows rise mockingly.
“We? There’s no ‘we’. This is my game an’ I control it, no’ compete in it.” He shakes his head, still grinning.
“So what are we supposed to do?” I speak for perhaps the first time this afternoon.
The Joker gives me a calculating look. “Ye go into the city.” He speaks clearly and carefully. “In the city, yer to follow these people…” At this point he hands both of us a series of four hand-drawn pictures. I study mine, amazed at the detail. “…and find these people.” He gives us two more pictures, one a man and a woman, the other a boy. “Yer to free ‘em an’ bring ‘em out.”
Jai and I look at each other, unimpressed. While we have always known The Joke to have a ‘different’ way of thinking to us, this is a little too strange to accept.
“How are we supposed to find these people? And who are they?” Jai crosses his arms.
“Ye’ll find ‘em alright. An’ who they are’s not importan' to ye now. Now go.” He gives us each a push towards the city gates.
I shrug. I have come a long way to get this reward. I won’t give up on it now. We glance at each other, and I know Jai has come to the same conclusion. Yelling, we race each other down to slope to the gates.
Inside the gates, I stop, staring. Everything is so busy and bustling that I suddenly feel overwhelmed. There are people yelling and moving everywhere, and it is immediately obvious why this is called the Water-City. Beyond the gate, the street peters out almost straight away, relegated to a narrower boardwalk, hugging the walls of the tall buildings. The gap in between is left for a wide canal, writhing with the movements of what seems to be an army of small boats. Living in my small village, I have never seen so many successful methods for moving on water, and for a while I forget my task in favour of watching this fascinating new world go past.
I am brought back sharply by a sudden push from behind that almost sends me tumbling into the water. Panicking, not wanting to have to display my meagre swimming skills to such a large crowd, I throw myself sideways along the edge of the boardwalk, feeling the rough, dirty wood pressing into my cheek. I can hear Jai laughing somewhere. Feeling foolish, I stand, dust myself off, and then I look around. I see that Jai has moved further along the boardwalk, and is looking into the enticing window of a sweetshop. We both turn sharply at the sound of raised voices on the opposite side of the canal.
A man and a woman – our man and woman – are being pushed onto a wide raft by soldiers in dark coloured coats. Immediately, I realize that this is the moment that The Joker meant us to witness, although how he knew it would happen, and happen now is beyond my comprehension. He has always seemed to have an extraordinary insight into whatever is happening around him. So this is why we are here. Thinking quickly; although probably not as wisely as is good for me; I climb off the boardwalk onto a small unused raft – barely more than a floating plank. Feeling as prepared as I’ll ever be, I let go of the boardwalk, only to lose my balance and fall with a splash into the murky water of the canal. It is not overly cold, but I am cursing and gasping and shaking anyway when I surface, clutching at my plank for dear life. So much for not going swimming, I think.
The raft with my people on it has cast off, and is moving slowly down the canal, in the opposite direction to the gate. Leaning on the board and kicking with my feet, I follow, slow and clumsy, struggling through the water. The raft ahead pauses for a time, midstream, and I draw close enough to overhear the conversation between the captain of the soldiers and their captives.
“Where is he?” The captain stands directly in front of the man, hissing into his face.
“I don’ know wha’ yer talkin’ about,” the man says in a thick accent – similar to that of The Joker.
“Don’t play dumb with me man! Where is your son? You know he can’t escape his fate. None of you can! But if you tell us now, I’ll make sure that he doesn’t suffer too badly.” The other soldiers smirk, but the man, defiant, simply spits in the captain’s face, earning himself a swift boot in the stomach. He crumples; gasping for air, as the captain slowly removes a crisp handkerchief from his pocket and wipes his face.
“You creatures make me sick.” The captain’s voice is low and dangerous. “You’re freaks of nature, not human, not animal, just worthless and disgusting beasts.” The woman kneels beside her husband, anxious. He lies curled on the wood of the raft, breathing unevenly.
The soldier shakes his head, then looks up and sees me, wallowing in the water. He points. “You! It’s the boy!” The other soldiers are instantaneously on alert. The woman looks up, startled and pale, and I realize that they think I am the couple’s son. I turn, and paddle madly towards the darkness a relative safety beneath the boardwalk. I expect to hear the splashing of pursuing soldiers behind me, but there is nothing. Curious, I glance back to find the soldiers arguing with the woman, supposedly about my identity. The captain strikes her across her face, and I feel a pang of guilt in the knowledge that she was hit because of me, but I keep kicking. Suddenly things go dark, and I recognize the dimness of the world below the boardwalk. Before my eyes have adjusted to the shadows, my plank grinds against something ahead. Apprehensive, I reach out and discover a slimy mud bank, no doubt built up by the dirt falling through the creaking planks above.
Unexpectedly, a hand grabs the back of my collar and drags me out of the water and up onto the mud bank. I try to scream at the shock, but a hand is clamped over my mouth before I can make a sound. By this time my eyes have adjusted enough to be able to see that my attacker, or rescuer, is a boy, or young man, a bit older than me, and that he appears to be vaguely familiar. Recognition dawns slowly, and I pull his picture out of my pocket, only to find that the pieces of paper had not appreciated my swim, and had stuck themselves together, the ink running into a messy brown splotch. Horrified, I try to pull them apart and make sense of the non-existent markings, only to rip the wet paper into useless clumps. The boy laughs, and takes them from me, examining them, and then throwing them into the water where they promptly sink. I am shocked, which makes him laugh more, and I feel hurt.
“Yer a Searcher then,” he says. Just like when I spoke to The Joker that night by the fire, his first sentence is a statement, not a question. I am puzzled by this title.
“What?”
“A Searcher. I saw ye lookin’ at my parents over there.” He indicates with a jerk of his head. “Ye must have met The Joker.” I don’t understand how he seems to know everything about me, but it makes me feel uncomfortable. “I’m Owen by the by.” He offers his hand, and I shake it cautiously.
“How’d you know about The Joker?” I ask.
“We were s’posed to meet ‘im months ago, bu’ we were bein’ watched by them soldiers. ‘e’d ‘ave been worried that we didn’ come, an’ tried to find someone who’d come look for us. Not ‘imself o’ course. They know ‘im too well ‘round ‘ere and ‘e’d be taken up quicker ‘n us.”
“Why would he send someone to find you?” My curiosity takes the better of me again.
“’Cos,” he says, suddenly guarded, but I wait and he continues a bit more, reluctant. “There’s a promise see. If someone doesn’ turn up, the others ‘ave to find out what ‘appened to ‘em.” I wait a bit more, but that seems to be all the information on that subject he seems willing to give me at this time. “What’d ‘e offer ye?”
“The chance to save my own family.” I stare at the ground, thinking about my mother and siblings back at home, thinking that I am dead no doubt.
“Ah. So it’s ‘is family for yours.”
I look up sharply. “Huh?”
“’e’s me brother, Xavier.” His expression is thoughtful. “Didn’ ‘e say that?”
“Ah… no.”
“Oh.” He rubs his chin. “Wonder why that is,” he says to himself. Shrugging, the issue is dismissed. He looks past me to the canal beyond. “Well. It looks like yer chance ‘as gone.” I follow his gaze, to find the soldier’s raft sinking. The soldiers are splashing about in the water, apparently drowning while Owen’s parents swim towards the side. “C’mon.” He says. “Let’s go find yer friend, J…?” Owen begins to climb into the water.
“Jai,” I finish for him, following. Then I stop and stare. “How’d you know about him?”
“I know lots o’ things ye wouldn’ understand. It comes from bein’ what they call ‘a creature.’ We jus’ call it normal.”
My mind spinning, I enter the water, and splash across to a ladder, nearly going under six times. The people around us hardly even glance at the four wet people that clamber out of the water. It seems that this kind of thing is normal in the Water-City, and for a moment I feel glad that my own small village is never so unpredictable as all this.
We meet The Joker outside the city as the sun is setting, flashing off the water in the city, and around its far side.
After the initial greetings, he turns to Jai and me. “So I s’pose ye’ll be wantin’ yer reward.” I look at Jai, and I suddenly realize that I have done nothing to aid in the rescue attempt. It means that I have come all this way for nothing. There will be no fortune to take home to my family now.
Jai is nodding. “But I don’t want the treasure,” he says.
I stare at him in open shock. What kind of person would not want the treasure? He sees my expression and grins. “I think you need it much more than I do. Besides, I have all the reward I need. I am going to travel with The Joker, and see what the world has to offer.”
I don’t understand how I manage to get home, or how it is that when I arrive there, I am alone and carrying a heavy sack of treasure on my back. I don’t understand where they got so much treasure from, or what they are going to do without it. I don’t know why they gave it to me, and refused to take it back, no matter how much I tried to leave it. I don’t know where they are going now, or if I’ll ever see them again. But I do know that I have my treasure, and that it will be enough for my family to be happy and safe for a long time to come. I know that somewhere, my friends are helping other people, setting up other competitions, and having adventures. And who knows? Maybe some day, if my treasure does run out, The Joker will be back, laughing, and pulling that cheeky grin of his, offering me a way to save my life.
