The Tale of Patel

Once upon a time, there was hidden within the stars, a beautiful world called Siala. Upon this planet lived a magical being named Patel. Patel was what those of the surface would call a form-shifter. He would spend his time playing exciting games with the animals and the fairies and elves of the forest. There were many fables throughout the surface-world of a being who could transform in an instant from a tree to an eagle and from a mushroom to a toad.  Every now and then another sighting would come about and the whispered reports would soon be scattered throughout, from valley to summit. It was rumored that this magical being had been dropped from the sky, for all those of the surface knew of the elevated ones who occasionally would deliver one of their own to explore those curious beings of matter and mind. 

The troubling fact was that those sky-beings who came down to visit and gather knowledge to bring home, would find such delight in meeting the creatures of the land that they hardly ever returned. It was therefore decided by the administration who organized these contacts that there should be a meeting of the council to determine what changes needed to take place to encourage the traveler to return home and share what he had found on the surface. It was concluded that setting the scout down into a secluded magical world of trees and forest spirits was not working well, so the administrators were asked by council to discover another location which might be more motivating to the traveler to return home.

This is when the sky-beings learned about dark places called cities. They discovered there existed upon the surface, fearsome places, where the sun was dimmed and the surface-dwellers lived in disagreeable tall structures stacked one upon another, crowded together in a dense sea of bodies scurrying back and forth, from here to there, in an ill-tempered rush. These disturbing formations themselves seems to crawl up out of the blackened soil around them, rising out of the dirt and slime to stretch up as high as they could climb in what appeared to be a desperate effort to escape the crush below. 

Disgusting as these dwellings were, they were seen by the administrators a perfect location to put down the next willing traveler. The plan was that then the scout would not wish to remain very long under these appalling conditions.

A location was chosen, deep in the largest of these dark cities, in which to deposit the next brave volunteer. The traveler would be fully informed of the possible hazards existing inside the confines of these unsightly structures and among those angry residents living within. The scout chosen for this journey was a young female called Aelia, sister of Patel. Since his leaving, Aelia had deeply missed her beloved brother and secretly decided she would, during her scouting trip, uncover a way to meet with him and bring him back home to their beautiful world in the sky.

The only protection Aelia would have during this expedition in addition to her innate ability as a form-shifter, would be her natural beauty and wit. She had always been able to find her way in the dark and easily won most every 'candle in the dark’ game, even when matched against her brother. She found herself smiling at the memory of those carefree days.

As Aelia bid goodbye to her parents, giving one last caress to the soft fur of her adored pooka-pet, her heart sunk and she knew she would miss home terribly. Gathering all her will, she straightened her body and marched forward to the waiting sky bus prepared to take her to the transfer vessel, aptly named The Waterfall. The only thing that kept Aelia from turning and running back to the safety of home was the thought of her brother. Her heart expanded at the thought of his crooked smile and twinkling eyes beaming back at her once again.

The drop went smoothly enough, yet as Aelia took her first deep breath of stagnant air, she began involuntarily coughing and choking until feeling faint. Her hands darted upward to cover her ears in protection from the loud rumbling and screeching sounds, interrupted only with a frenzy of blaring and beeping noises. The guardians had warned her that the density and darkness would be difficult, but she had no idea it would be this bad. Her eyes watered at the fumes and grit permeating the surroundings and her nostrils burned with each breath. Every thought in her awareness was to run, run, run!

Before coming to the surface, Aelia had spent many star cycles calculating and memorizing the exact coordinates of her brother’s drop and correlating them to her own arrival spot. She had mapped it all out, every possible route, taking into consideration any potential for detour or diversion. Yet at the moment her senses were so assaulted, all she could think about was to get away and find some relief from the torment her body was enduring. Her sense of direction was foggy and she was flooded with a weariness she had never before known.

Aelia gathered all the willpower she could muster and began slowly making her way through the maze of sooty branches and leaves, carefully avoiding the occasional trash and debris littered about, when she suddenly remembered the description she was given of her drop position. Her departure chief had called it a ‘park’ and said it was chosen to allow her some moments to acclimate her body to the surroundings. Her mouth twisted into a scowl as she thought to herself she would never acclimate to this awful place.

Meanwhile Patel had devised a lovely dwelling for himself in what the fairies had referred to as a ‘cave’. The ceiling of his beautiful home sparkled with magnificent crystals and salts, enhancing the light brought in from the front opening and the natural vented roof. The floor was layered throughout with a soft fabric-like material and he had carried in piles of twigs, grasses, and stones, to create a cot for sleeping and benches and shelves for setting and arranging his precious treasures.

Patel had made many forest friends in his stay and had learned to shift his form, altering his shape into one similar to the creature he was meeting, in order to assure trust and confidence in his friendliness to each. Often Patel would dream of home and his family. He missed them very much and promised himself he would return soon, but then he would discover another fascination to his surroundings and would continue these joyful encounters and exciting games he had found amongst the trees. 

The days and weeks passed until it had been more than a month since Aelia’s arrival. She had discovered much about these city-dwellers, but continued to find this life incredibly harsh and the beings despondent and bitter. Try as she may, she had not made a single friend, although she had shifted appearance many times to accommodate the gender or race of others. She had discovered quickly that in certain areas within the city there were some strong prejudices of skin color or other intolerances. She found the food to be nearly inedible and tried to find stands of fresh produce similar to the plants grown in the domed gardens of her world. Day after day she continued her trek, astounded by the scope of this city’s boundaries. It seemed she would never truly find herself outside of this crushing civilization.

One day, she saw on the horizon what appeared to be mountains covered with trees. She heart leapt with joy as she imagined her arrival at the entrance to this green woods and her mind raced with possibilities. She quickened her pace, grateful that she had been able to retain the memory of her charted path. There were plenty of obstacles along the way, but she paid no heed to the torn clothing and bruises she encountered making her way through rushing rivers and steep ravines, all the while holding the vision of her brother in her mind as she imagined his great joy at seeing her again.

The nearer Aelia came to the wooded scene the more hopeful she became that she would soon find Patel. She was determined that no matter how long it would take, she would scour the countryside, asking everyone she came across if he had been seen. She had no idea what form he had taken and had no sketch of his likeness, but did not allow this to deter her optimism. She had faith that her love would draw her to him.

Aelia’s first night spent in the woods was cold and wet. She shivered throughout the night with no sleep or shelter from the cold. The second night she decided to shift form into a creature more compatible with this hostile environment, the smaller the better. Remembering a childhood book her mother had read to her about a little critter called a mouse, she decided that would do, by allowing her entrance to a sheltered crevice or hole in the tree. She quickly discovered a perfect opening several feet up the trunk of an immense tree and crawled inside only to instantly find herself face to face with a frightening creature with a sharp beak and flapping wings. Jumping back down to the ground she took off at a run, deciding there was more than just finding a safe refuge and she would not again be jumping blindly into the first available open shelter. Aelia chose instead to spend the night under a canopy of giant leaves near the base of the next tree over.

Night after night was spent in this way and the days passed one by one as she traversed the remaining steps of her journey. One day she had the idea to get a higher view by taking on the form of a large bird she had watched circling above. As she stretched out her wings ready to take off, she heard an insistence chirping a few feet beyond and hopped over to investigate. There before her was a tiny feathered creature bouncing frantically about in desperation. She immediately guessed this little critter had fallen out of tree nearby. Tenderly picking up the baby bird with her beak, she placed it on her back and carefully took off to see if she could discover where it came from. Within moments, atop the inner branch of a tree, she saw a large round structure molded out of sticks and moss and inside two identical babies to the one she carried on her back, jumping and screeching out a similar cry. Aelia softly landed beside the nest and gently laid the baby inside the protective cradle. She was flooded with a feeling of deep satisfaction for the life she had undoubtedly saved.

As Aelia was flying away from the nest she spied an immense bird, twice her size, swooping toward her menacingly. She dove to the ground, landing on a rocky outcropping, dazed and frightened. Before she could react the giant bird had followed her and now hovered directly above her, only about a foot from her body. Immediately Aelia transformed back into her original form, jumping to her feet and thrashing her arms hoping to scare the bird away. It was then that she heard the sound of laughter and was shocked to realize this was coming from the bird. Dropping her arms to her sides, she gasped, “Wha…what is that?” Seconds later she was in the strong embrace of her brother -still laughing, his arms holding her tight.

Roughly shoving her hands against his chest, she pushed him away and with all the sibling outrage and mock-bravado she could muster she yelled out, “Hey you mingy grube-ant, you scared me! How dare you, you pisky cran-hopper! I’ll show you a thing or two … if you knew ... how dare you scare me like that!”

Then, in an instantaneous switch from insult to elation, Aelia began jumping up and down, dancing around in glee shouting out, "Patel, Patel, Patel - you’re here - I found you!” The next second, changing her posture back to the angry child, "How dare you not come home - how could you possibly -  you are complete tonapak!” At this comical outburst Patel again threw his head back in laughter, grabbing his little sister back into his arms. In an instant, all of Aelia’s anger was gone and she melted into her brother’s warm embrace. “Oh Patel I’ve missed you so much, I was so afraid something had happened to you - I was so scared Patel. Where were you? Where have you been? What have you been doing? Why didn’t you come back home?”

By now Aelia was in tears and Patel had begun rocking her back and forth in his arms. “I am so sorry Aelia. I’m sorry I scared you. I’ve missed you too … so much ... I’ve missed everyone. C’mon, I’ll take you to safety and explain.” Patel took his sister by the hand and they made their way back to his shelter. They spent many hours in the beautiful sparkling cave, sharing what had happened on their separate journeys, each of them shocked and amazed at the adventures they had had and all the thrilling sights and sounds they had encountered. Patel told Aelia everything that he had learned about his magical animal and fairy friends and Aelia shared her terrible expedition through the city and all the horrors she had met as she struggled to find her way out. As he listened to her story Patel found himself flooded with empathy and remorse at what his cherished sister had battled out of her love for him, and promised they would both return home at the first opportunity.

After a good night’s sleep, Patel took Aelia out to introduce her to some of his forest friends. Her eyes were wide with wonder at these remarkable and affectionate beings and felt all of her former anger melting away as she began to more fully understand the appeal of this extraordinary place and Patel’s desire to linger for so long.

The next sun rotation, they reported in to the elevation team and made preparations to leave. Within hours they were aboard the shuttle in the decontamination pod, ready to present their memory-logs to the council. Two sun cycles later they were back home in the shelter of their parent’s arms and the home they loved so much. 

After a full analysis of the data brought back to the council, it was determined that the drop site above the dark city would be aborted and they would find a much smaller township for the next volunteer landing. It was decided that they would use the information gained from Aelia’s memory-log for educational purposes, about the hazards of unguided technology and the risks of overcrowding and misuse of power. It was intently discussed by the administration, whether there was a need to intervene with the process and evolution of the surface-dwellers and their chosen miserable circumstances. It was however, the conclusion of the analysis-committee that interference of this sort would restrict their free will as creators and that at some point, through their own development and insight, they would slowly progress, through eventually recognizing that the way of life they have chosen has proven to be ineffectual and unsuccessful. Like a boil on the skin, the decadence and disorder would begin to resolve and heal from the inside out. As the sky-dwellers had managed to learn over their own history, goodness and love is born from within, not from without. 

THE END