“It’s all so confusing. I really don’t know what to do. Do you think I should see the Viking guy you mentioned?”
“Yes, but not now. That’s a one-way ticket and I have no idea what would happen if you’ve only been through once. Apparently he prefers more experienced Transients anyway. My feeling is that you should get a few reincarnations under your belt and get a better understanding of what is happening here.”
“Maybe you’re right. Listen, you go off and I’ll sit here for a while to decide. I’m totally strewn. Maybe I should go and meet more people first. I can't believe I'm in this situation.”
“Up to you. Remember though, you only have four days to do it on each transience. After that you will lose your human awareness and consciousness and melt away into the animal. Maybe that’s an easier choice anyway.”
“Do you then get reincarnated after that animal dies?”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s only the human consciousness and soul that survives. Once that’s gone I think that’s it, you’d just disappear from existence,” replied Ed as he got up.
“Okay, whatever. Listen, you go, I’ll be fine,” sighed the fireman gloomily, still sitting down whilst Ed stooped, shook his hand and turned off into the tunnel and into the distance.
“Thanks, Ed. Good luck and hope to see you again,” he yelled, as Ed quickly walked around a slight bend and out of sight.
“Yes, hope so. See you, Johnny,” he shouted back as he continued on his way, wondering what would happen to the novice. In no time he was squeezing himself through the elasticated, shrunken tunnel and was again confronted by the strange fortune teller in the cave. Cautiously he reached out and grabbed his arms, which were still sticky and sweaty just like last time.
Chapter 18
Sambar for breakfast
Ed rushed from the front of the hotel and had not got more than a few yards up the street when he remembered his precious bag, a bag he could not be without, a bag he’d carelessly left in his room on the third floor. He shot back into the lobby and over towards the stairs, only to find a flowery wallpapered wall where the stairs once were. Anxiously, he rushed along the corridor to the lifts and other stairway but nothing, just walls and doors. Sheepishly, a room service maid brushed past him with her laden trolley, looking up into his face with her green, lizard-like eyes. He clambered out of the window and began climbing up the outside of the building, clinging onto half dead vines, the roots springing from the soft sand and cement mixture between the crumbling bricks.
He tried to pull himself up further but continuously fell back, each time damaging the surface and the vines a little more, making further progress impossible. Hurriedly, he rushed back inside, panicking to get to his room. This time the lift was there and he jumped in, pressing the illuminated third floor button with angst, prompting its speedy ascent. It screeched to a halt. Urgently, he swung open the metal cross braced door and ran out, only to realise it was the fifth floor, not the third. He turned around to see the lift had disappeared, and in its place was just a solid wallpapered wall. Terrified, he ran along the corridor and found another lift, once more pressing the third floor button with desperation. It couldn’t travel fast enough as he willed it downwards, desperate for his bag. Finally, it reached its destination after what seemed like an eternity and he ran out, only to find he was running out of the front of the hotel, full circle but this time with his bag in hand. Ferociously, he ran down the street and into a dark tunnel and blackness, silence and calm. He slowed like a fish in jelly and came around to find Pritvijaj looking over him.
“Where’s my bag?” he shouted angrily as he looked all around for the leather satchel, still caught in uncompromising ‘fire drill’ mode.
“Ah, the bag one, that’s always entertaining. Not my type of hotel, I can tell you that. Good to see you again, Ed. You weren’t gone long. Come on, up you get,” said the Indian fellow as he reached out his hand and helped Ed up to his feet.
“Headache again?”
“Umpgh, yes. Horrible. I feel like shit!” exclaimed Ed.
“Don’t worry, come and lie down for a bit. Jahani is out walking and will be back in a few hours. You can rest in his room and have a nap. I will sit with you, come on,” urged the small man, as he ushered Ed along and into the familiar circular room he remembered from last time.
Pritvijaj arranged some of the sheepskins in a line on the sand, folding one of them up into a pillow and guided Ed down onto them.
“Sleep here for a while, Ed. I’ll sit over there. If there’s anything you need, give me a shout.”
“Thanks, Pritvijaj. You’re very thoughtful. Actually, one thing puzzles me. How come these sheep skins aren’t worn out after hundreds of years?” enquired Ed.
“No idea whatsoever. It's just another mysterious element in an altogether mysterious setting. Positively mysterious, I would say,” replied Pritvijaj with a wry smile, as Ed nodded straight off into a deep sleep.
Luckily for Ed, his sleepy dream state was a lot calmer than the psyche jump with the fortune teller. Soon he was stirring back into the present and the company of Pritvijaj.
“A little more relaxing this time, I hope, Ed?” enquired the small man.
“Yes, quite so. Thank God, eh!” replied Ed.
“Well, maybe not God, but thank goodness if you like. What were you on this last embodiment?”
“Some sort of falcon, incredibly fast and powerful. I even had a full English breakfast on this trip.”
“Really, I preferred idli and sambar for breakfast. I do miss food you know. That was a passion of mine. Even if I could feel hungry again, I would be grateful but alas, that’s not possible anymore,” exclaimed Pritvijaj sadly.
“I can’t imagine an eternity of not feeling hungry. It must be hard to come to terms with?”
“It was at the beginning. Like many things, you do get used to them after a while. It’s such a distant memory but one that surfaces every now and then really strongly, like a distant echo floating in on the breeze.”
“I must say, I really look forward to that moment when I jump back over into another transience and get the chance to gorge myself. Anyway, how long have you been, er, dead?” asked Ed, still surprised to be addressing such a question.
“Nineteen forty-seven, just before
India
was officially partitioned by the British. I was a Hindu living in
Karachi
and had to get over the partition line before the deadline. Things got very nasty between the Muslims and the Hindus. I had never seen such barbarism of man upon man. The British were pretty heartless and cruel but when Indian was unleashed upon Indian, the violence was equally merciless. I sadly never got to my destination. I so wanted to see the free and independent country that we had wished for over so many years. That’s what hurt me the most.”
“Everyone must have resented the British so much for pulling out of the country like that?” replied Ed, sitting up and crossing his legs Indian-style on the floor.
“I don’t think people were all that aware of how it was going to pan out. By the time the violence took hold, people were too busy ripping each other’s throats out to be blaming the old masters.”
“Well I’ve read a little about that point in history and frankly, Pritvijaj, it makes me ashamed to be British, as does the manner in which they abandoned the Palestinians and divided the peoples of
Sri Lanka
. So much of that could have been avoided with some sort of responsible governance and considered withdrawal. It really was the bedrock of the brutal conflicts in those countries and really came to influence the new millennium in a negative way. It’s so sad, most particularly for people like you who never got to see their dream fulfilled,” replied Ed passionately.
“I don’t know too much about the more recent events, but certainly the religious divisions created during the British Raj were very harmful to the Indian people. However, I was always a fatalist. Things are so for a reason, even if we never know what that reason is.”
“That’s very philosophical. It’s certainly an attitude that helps to prevent burning resentment. I’m learning so much from all the people I meet on this journey. I really respect you all,” reflected Ed thoughtfully. Just then, there was a stirring at the entrance to the room and soon the huge-framed Jahani was entering.
Ed noticed the Viking had donned his characteristic horned helmet, forced over his thick hair at the top which splayed out uncontrollably from the bottom like he’d been spontaneously ejected from an electric chair. His large eyebrows inhabited his inquisitive frown like two rolled-up sleeping bags. His fixed stare locked onto the Englishman like a laser guided weapon.
“Oh, greetings, Ed, that was quick. How was it? What were you this time? Did you get any further
“Yes to everything, I even got something to bring back,” exclaimed Ed, as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the small metal anklet, while wondering how all that hair fitted into the helmet.
“That’s extraordinary, Ed, it usually takes people years and multiple incarnations to do this. You must have a very powerful psyche,” replied the Viking as he took the article from him and inspected it.
“Excellent. What is it though?”
“I was a rare falcon and this was the identifying ring that was attached to my leg soon after I transitioned,” replied Ed.
“Marvellous, this is great stuff. Tell me what happened. Did you get back anywhere near where you died and find out anything new?” enquired Jahani actively excited.
“Yes, I’m pretty sure I have traced my last steps before I was killed. I’m certain I know exactly what happened and where I was moments before the accident.”
“And is that where you killed yourself, on the transition I mean?”
“Yes, very close,” replied Ed.
“Excellent. We have a lot to go on here. Leave this with me and give me your watch as well. It’s an article that’s been close to your body and will help.”
“I have two, well, two of the same article I mean. I have the one that always appears on my wrist when I arrive here and also one that I had left in the tunnel when I was with Yedida as a landmark to find this place again. I hid it behind the vines just near the transience tunnel.”
“That’s very good. Have you changed the time of either of them?”
“No. They were both different times though. I don’t understand that,” replied Ed.
“Marvellous. Give me them both. I’ll keep them with your anklet and jacket. This is all most helpful.” With this, Ed realised there were two identical jackets, the one he was wearing and the one he had left with the Viking on the previous visit.
“I’ll need some time to think things through, Ed. I don’t make decisions on the spur of the moment with things like this. Let’s relax a little. There are plenty of places to stay here. Why don’t you let Pritvijaj show you to a private room where you can rest. Then we can meet later and spend some time together. I’ll tell you some Viking stories.”
“Sounds good, Jahani. All positive. I just had a sleep but will rest anyway,” replied Ed, as he and Pritvijaj got up and he was shown out and along the outer tunnel to a quiet room, equally white with characteristic jet black vines. The layout was similar to all the rooms he had slept in before, a soft spongy bed and small bedside chair. It also had similar silky curtains but this time they were pure white and not black.
“Don’t you feel insecure not having a room with a door and lock?” enquired Ed, as he sat down on the bed.
“Not really. You get used to it anyway.”
“I think I was a bit more insecure in my day. I can’t think of a time when I stayed in a hotel room and didn’t block the entrance with a chair or double check the door was locked at least five times when I left the room.”
“You might want to look at that.”
“What do you mean look at it; I’m dead?”
“That’s very true. Anyway, I’ll leave you to rest and build your energy up. I’ll come and get you later on.”
“Sounds good,” replied Ed, as Pritvijaj swept out of the room leaving the curtain swaying to and fro behind him. Ed lay back and watched it swinging, getting calmer and calmer until it was perfectly still and unruffled. Pristine silence filled the air, pure and simple. Ed stared down at his thick gold wedding band with sudden and unexpected deep sadness. He missed Abella immensely.