Chapter Two

When he was no more than seven years old, Nerip had once heard from his grandmother that people could ‘see without really seeing’ when they were immersed in deep thought. He had been told this after he had caught his grandmother in a contemplative mood and made her start by suddenly appearing at her side, asking, ‘Didn’t you see me, grandma?’ he had never really understood how someone could see and not see at the same time, because he had always thought deeply with his eyes closed. But now he did understand. In front of his open eyes the ducks waddled away with audible quacks, the swans swam with regal dignity and a gentle breeze swayed the long stalks of the beautiful array of flowers nearby. But inside his mind he saw none of this. His mind was a dark recess of despair and fear, where voices spoke out to verbalize his feelings.

    ‘Have I sinned? Have I angered God with any of my deeds? If not, then why this punishment? …… This must be a test for me …… but what manner of a test is this? …… Maybe I have sinned after all, but why this strange punishment? …… No one else I know of has ever been subjected to this …… Why me? …’

    He was back at the lakeside, and stood there brooding for a long time. The trek back from the forest was a blur in his memory. He could remember nothing about it except a never-ending train of tree trunks on both sides. He could not even recall his thoughts during that period.

     By this time, the sun was right above his head, although he still did not feel hot. Again, this was odd because of the current season.

     Such was the indomitable nature of his spirit, that Nerip still saw a ray of hope. He could not explain why or how, but he knew there was hope. Perhaps he had been cast away in a part of the world no one knew about, but still, there was hope. And he was not prepared to give up any of that hope yet.

    

*  *  *

 

Nerip’s tumultuous thoughts had mostly given way to a semblance of boredom. He was thinking about what to do next, when his eyes settled on one of the houses by the road. It looked so welcoming, with little flowers and shrubs decorating the sides of the doorstep and the wood of which it was built having a certain shiny look. It dawned on Nerip that he had not yet explored the village; last evening he had just peered at the outskirts. Considering the lay of the land, there was not much else he could do, so he set off once again.

     The road by which he chose to enter was a wide one �" wide, that is, for a village road. One its either side were rows of houses, separated at intervals by shops and narrow alleyways. Each house was almost the same as the others in construction, size and shape, with small but noticeable differences in outward appearance: one house had its front door painted brown, while the one immediately beside it had dark red as the colour, and on the opposite side of the road there was a front door with a thick metal hook dug into it. The shops were no less interesting. There was one with its sign reading ‘Fresh eggs and milk, 60% discount if bought today!’, but its shelves were stuffed with a range of tools including hatchets, chisels, hammers and pliers. There was no human presence, of course, and so no one to correct the amusing mistake.

     Here and there empty carts lined the side of the road. A few wheelbarrows, turned upside-down, were also to be seen lying by the side of the pretty little gardens that adorned the fronts of some of the houses. Most of the flowers were unfamiliar to Nerip, although he recognized some white roses. A bee was hovering over one of the gardens, circling over each flower before moving on to the next. Its buzzing was slightly irregular, with brief silent intervals, which was odd as the bee’s wings were flapping without rest.

     The observation about the irregular buzzing made Nerip think anew of the place he was in. ‘Where in the world am I?’ he wondered, as he walked by an old rusty bicycle lying on its side. As far as he knew, he was on a piece of land with a lake and a strange little village, surrounded by a forest; and this piece of land was bounded on every side by what appeared to be nothingness. He tried hard to imagine a place like this on earth, but did not succeed. Was he, then, somewhere else, on another planet? Nerip tried to laugh off the possibility, but that was not the easiest thing to do in his situation. He was confused about what to think. The place was just absurdly odd, beyond normal human understanding. A voice, speaking desperately from within his head, said, ‘You can’t think of anything right now, so just go and get some food, because you’re hungry.’

    Hungry! Nerip instantly put a hand on his stomach, for he had just become aware of how empty it was. Hunger pangs erupted inside him, jabbing at his bowels like pins. He was astonished at how he had endured hunger for so long without realizing it; after all he had not eaten since his lunch at home. All this time, he had not felt a thing! Perhaps his mind had numbed the feeling of hunger, choosing to deal with more important things first, like the search of an escape route. The state of mind induced in him by the environment had been simply too full to include the awareness of an empty stomach. But now he was aware of it , and he was forced by this awareness to look for food.

     Nerip quickened his pace, now casting only superficial looks around him, bent on achieving a single objective: to satisfy his hunger. Ahead of him was a fork; he chose the road on the right as it seemed to lead to a marketplace where, hopefully, food would be available. However, he had barely started walking on that road when he noticed something that made him stop and stare.

     It was a little stall, set up with four bamboo poles and some strong cloth. The only things inside it were shelves �" shelves richly supplied with fruits, bread and butter.

    Without thinking about what he was doing, Nerip lunged at the shelves like a ravenous wolf, grabbing food indiscriminately and stuffing them into his mouth as fast as his hands would permit. He threw aside the bananas and oranges to avoid peeling them, and pulled open the lid of the container of butter with such force that a large quantity of butter flew out. He tore off a piece from a loaf of bread, put a lot of butter over it with his hand, and took a huge bite. By the time he had finished the piece of bread, some of the butter had covered the area around his lips. As soon as all of the loaf of bread had been pushed into his esophagus, he had already sunken his teeth into a juicy apple.

     Fortunately there seemed to be no one to witness such a display of voracious appetite. Nerip had no desire to stint himself on food at the moment, though he had a good idea of what his mother would say if she saw him eating like that. As he thought of his mother, his feeling of discomfort and sadness as being so far away from home was roused again. The pang of homesickness was, however, eclipsed by the immense satisfaction he felt at his hunger fading away.

    When he finally felt that he was too full to continue the extravagant feast, Nerip’s eyes looked around for a place to rest, and alighted on a comfortable-looking armchair with thick padding. Without delay, he plunked himself down on the armchair and soon fell asleep.

 

*  *  *

 

The room was very dimly lit, so that when Dr. Saniv entered it, he could barely see anything in front of him except the computer monitors, which were situated at the other end of the spacious room and were the only source of light. It was quite difficult to make his way in the dark; perhaps he should have installed some lighting. But such petty things always escaped his mind. His work was infinitely more important.

    Dr. Saniv sat down in front of the monitors, and surveyed one of them. The readings on it looked normal. Satisfied, he turned to another monitor, which displayed a complicated diagram of a machine that looked like a small motor pump. After scrutinizing the diagram for about a minute, he got up and started pacing around, circling the monitors in a haphazard way to avoid drifting too far away from light.

     The room itself was a sea of darkness with a tiny island of light. It had no windows or skylights, and no doors except the one which Dr. Saniv had used. The roof was too high above to see in the little illumination that was available. The portion of the wall that was visible was covered with so much moss that it looked as though a new layer of paint had been added. It was hot and damp inside the room, and the air was stale.

     The room was actually an abandoned warehouse. It had lain empty for a long time, decaying slowly due to years of neglect, until Dr. Saniv had found it. Located away from the populated areas of the city, it had suited him perfectly. In his hands, the derelict building had been resurrected from years of disuse to serve a new, noble purpose.

     A very noble purpose indeed.

     Dr. Saniv smiled to himself in the darkness.

 

*  *  *

 

Nerip had no idea for how long he’d been asleep, but when he awoke, the sunlight seemed to have faded significantly from its peak brightness during midday. He brought his left wrist up to his eyes to check his wristwatch, only to realize that there was no wristwatch.

    With some effort, Nerip pulled himself up from the comfort of the armchair. Evidence of his extraordinary lunch was strewn across the floor: orange rinds, banana peels, half-eaten loaves of bread, empty containers of butter. Taking care not to step on the banana peels in particular, he made his way out of the stall. Judging by the position of the sun, he estimated the time to be 3:00 pm. This meant that he could not have been asleep for more than three hours.

     As he left the stall, a thought struck Nerip: what would the owner of the stall do when he came back? The question was not very important since the village had no visible inhabitants. All that mattered was that Nerip was now well-fed, and was prepared to continue his trek through the village. He felt considerably more cheerful and light-minded than he had been when he had entered the stall. Along the road there were a few houses, scattered here and there, and a greater number of larger buildings which were probably factories or warehouses. One of those bigger wooden buildings was faintly familiar to Nerip, as if he had seen it somewhere before but could not remember much about it.

    The road did lead to a marketplace. Although the market was miniscule compared to the shopping malls and supermarkets of Nerip’s home city, its size relative to the village was quite OK. The shops were moderate, both in terms of decoration and the space they occupied. Simple but handsome manufactured goods were on display: caskets, carpets, sparkling cutlery and various object d’art. What caught Nerip’s eye was a colourful and amazingly intricate tapestry. He stared at it for several seconds before moving on. Objects of daily used comprised a large part of the merchandise. Indeed, most of the shops were devoted solely to small household items. Only there were no people to buy and sell the goods. Nerip had become used to the absence of fellow human beings, but still found it to be a cause of worry.

     Emerging from the maze of closely-packed markets, Nerip saw a track leading away from the marketplace. He followed it and was soon back among rows of similar-shaped houses. He took a closer look at them than he had previously. All the houses had plants to beautify them �" in tubs on window sills, in garden patches beside doorsteps, or elsewhere. A brightly coloured crawler hung like a jewel over the façade of one house, and scores of unfamiliar reddish-brown flowers adorned the rooftop of another.

     For the first time, Nerip appreciated how beautiful the village was. He had never been an aesthete, but neither did he need to be the one to see the beauty around him. All the little details of appearance added up to something that would probably be described as paradise on earth.

     On earth? Was it really on earth?

     Nerip tried to banish the thought, to no avail.

     A place suited perfectly for human habitation, and clearly meant for it, yet with no dweller to be seen …

     Was he, Nerip, to be the first one? If so, then why? And if someone intended him to participate, why was he brought there in such a manner? There had been no invitation, no request, not even a clue as to what was to happen to him. Having his consent had not been deemed necessary.

     These questions and angry thoughts filled Nerip’s mind to the brim. For a while he was unable to think clearly. His thoughts were a jumble. But the beauty of his surroundings had made an impression on Nerip, and under its influence his mind began to clear.

     The paradise on earth, or whatever else, was not a bad place to live. Perhaps spending some time here �" where everything seemed to be expertly designed to ensure peace of mind �" would be worthwhile.