Alosha (9 page)

Why did the dream only come back to her now? She remembered the green light glowing inside every tree and plant and blade of grass, the joy of soaring through the air—most of all the enchanting ice mountains that drifted across the sky, cold white glaciers in the heavens.

There had been a scary darkness at the end of the dream, although she could not remember exactly what it had been.

But she remembered Steve and Cindy, and the thought alone should have brought anxiety. Something had thrown her in the river—probably one of the bigfoots. There was an excellent chance the same creatures were after her friends this very minute.

Yet, unlike before her nap, she was suddenly not worried about Steve and Cindy, and she puzzled over the lack of concern. It was not that she didn't care about them—she was just certain they were fine. The conviction ran deep. It was another one of those gut feelings she occasionally got, like yesterday, when she knew something was following her without hearing or seeing anything.

It was then Ali saw the tree.

It stood at the edge of the meadow. A fat redwood amid a family of skinny pines. Why hadn't she seen it before? Redwoods were rare in the forest, and this one was extraordinary. It was no taller than a three-story building, yet it had the circumference of a small house. Was there such a thing as dwarf redwoods? It did not look as if the tree had burned down before, or been chopped down and regrown.

Walking toward the tree, Ali felt a tingling sensation at the back of her neck. The redwood drew her much as the top of the peak had drawn her the previous day. She was not surprised, when she got closer, to see that there was an opening on the side.

The hole was round and narrow, set three feet above the ground. She thought she could squeeze inside but wasn't positive. She sure would hate to get stuck with her butt sticking up in the air. But she figured she had to risk it, and finally poked her head in the opening.

“Hello?” she called. “Any bears in there?”

She half expected to hear a flutter of tiny feet. A few squirrels, at least, should have made the tree their home. All was silent, however. Indeed, her words seemed to be swallowed by the inside of the tree.

Ali pulled her head out and looked around. She still did not understand how she could have missed the tree before. Although short, it was still the single most impressive object in all the woods. But here it was, there was no denying that it was real. As real as the creatures that had attacked her.

Ali crawled inside—what the heck, head first—her back down low. The bark of the tree was six feet thick. Then the hole burst through into a hollow space, a dome shaped room in the center of the tree. Yellow light shone through from the outside.

Ali was in awe. The domed ceiling was smooth; it could have been cut with fine tools, polished over many years. Covered with sawdust, the floor felt springy under her feet. The interior was perfectly still, the peace as soft as her mother's smile had been; and the air was fresh, not the least bit stale, rich with its redwood aroma; and she could hear nothing except the sound of her breathing and her heart. Even the noise of Mercer River, close at hand, could not be heard.

Ali sat in the center of the room, her legs crossed, her back to the opening. She felt safe inside the tree. For some odd reason, she did not fear that anything would
dare
to attack from the outside. More, she felt at home, as if she had visited the tree before, in her dreams perhaps, or even in a body that was not her own. The peace of the chamber sunk into her chest like a hot drink. She was not sleepy, but she felt the urge to close her eyes.

So much peace, inside and out. The silence was so strong she half expected it to speak. What was also true, she realized with a start, was that she wished to speak to it. What a strange idea, to have a conversation with nothing.

“Hello Mr. Tree,” she said softly. “Who are you?”

There was a long pause. She waited for an answer. Once again, she knew it was silly, trees did not talk, but she expected this one to talk to her.

But the answer, when it came, was not in words. Nor was it a voice inside her head. Deeper than that, it was like a gentle feeling in her heart, spoken in a language that was not her own; an ancient language made up not of set words but of musical sounds and sensations long ago forgotten by mankind. Yet she understood it.

“I am your friend. I am here to help you.”

Ali paused, stunned. “Am I imagining this?”

“No. I am real. I am as real as you.”

Her heart beat faster. “You are not there. I do not hear you.”

“You cannot hear me, true, but I am here.”

Ali stopped and shook her head. “I am talking to myself.”

“Do you believe that?”

“Yes. I am sitting in a tree and talking to myself.”

“That is fine, then talk to yourself. I will still help you.”

“No. People who talk to themselves are crazy. I should get out of here.”

“Do you want to get out of here?”

“No.” She paused. “I like it here.”

“Why?”

“It is quiet, peaceful.”

“It is peaceful because you are with an old friend.”

“Hey, maybe I shouldn't be here. My friends might be in danger.”

“Do you think they are in danger?”

She paused. “No. It's weird, but I know they're safe.”

“They are safe. You can stay for a while and we can talk.”

She relaxed further. “Okay. But who are you?”

“You may call me what you wish.”

“But don't you have a name?”

“I have many names, as do you.”

“My name is Ali Warner. That is the only name I have.”

“It is the only name you remember. But I remember you by another name.”

“What?”

“Alosha.”

“Alosha,” she repeated. “That's a pretty name.”

“I think so.”

“What does it mean?”

“That is a secret. An important secret that you must figure out for yourself.”

“Why don't you just tell me?”

“If I tell you then it won't be a secret.”

“Come on.”

“You will have to learn a great deal about yourself before you are ready to
know what it means. I can tell you this—you are very important. But you know that already.”

“What are you talking about?”

“What did you do this afternoon?”

“You mean, with the bigfoots?”

“They are not bigfoots. They are trolls.”

“No! There are no trolls!”

“And there are bigfoots?”

Ali stopped. “I see your point. Both are imaginary creatures. But trolls are even more imaginary. They're only in books and stuff, like elves and dwarves.”

“There are elves and dwarves.”

“Gimme a break. I can't believe that.”

“What is there to believe? You spent the morning fighting three trolls and now you think you are talking to a tree.”

“But you are a tree.”

“I am a tree now.”

“Wait a second. If my name is Alosha, what's your name?”

There was a long pause. “You may call me Nemi.”

“I have never heard that name before. What does it mean?”

“No One.”

“Your name means No One?”

“That is one of its meanings.”

“What are the others?”

“That is a secret. For now.”

“Then I'm talking to no one?” she asked.

“In a manner of speaking.”

She nodded. “Then I
am
talking to myself.”

“You are talking to Nemi. What do you wish to ask?”

“Okay. I have a few questions. These trolls, what are they doing in this forest?”

“They are invading it.”

“What? Why?”

“Trolls are part of the family of elementals. Dwarves, elves, fairies, trolls, leprechauns—they are all elementals. And they are mad at humanity for ruining the Earth. To stop them, they have decided to wipe everyone out.” Nemi paused. “There is another reason.”

“What is it?”

“That is also a secret.”

“You have so many secrets. What kind of friend are you?”

“I am your best friend.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“So you like me and stuff?”

“I like you and lots of stuff.”

Ali opened her eyes, looked around. She had forgotten that she had closed them. “Am I dreaming?”

“No.”

The answer was hard to pick up. She closed her eyes again, spoke to the being inside the tree. “I'm not so sure about that. Lots of weird things have been happening with me lately.”

“I know.”

“You do?”

“I know everything about you, Alosha.”

“It feels weird to be called that.”

“How so?”

“Like, I remember the name but don't really remember it. Know what I mean?”

“Yes. It was your name before you were born.”

“No way! I didn't exist before I was born!”

“You did. And you will exist after you die.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“That is so cool. How old are you, Mr. Nemi?”

“Nemi is fine. I am very old. Older than the stars.”

“No way. Really?”

“Yes. So are you.”

“Wow. How come I don't remember any of this?”

“It is part of being human.”

“Will I remember in the future?”

“Hopefully.”

“These elementals—where are they coming from?”

“They have always been here, in a sense, all around you. But now they have entered your dimension.”

“What do you mean, my dimension?”

“Do you watch TV?”

“Too much.”

“When you watch TV, you look at a single screen. Yet you can change channels and enjoy different shows. It is the same with your Earth. On one channel humanity goes about its business. People build roads and buildings, they cut down trees and pollute the water. Men and women meet and get married and have babies and life goes on. But that is only one of Earth's channels. If you switch stations, you see the elementals. They live here as well. This is their world as much as humanity's. Do you understand?”

“I think so. But what are they doing on our channel? I mean, in our dimension?”

“I told you—they are here to wipe out humanity.”

“That isn't very nice of them.”

“They don't feel you have been very nice to the Earth. Even though they are in another dimension, the damage you do in this dimension affects them.”

“That's awful. How come no one knows about this?”

“Few people know how to change the channels on the TV inside their heads. They don't believe in elementals or in other dimensions.”

“Why do I get to learn about this?”

“Because you are very important.”

“To what? The world?”

“To the war that is about to take place. You are here to stop it.”

“No way. I'm thirteen years old. I'm on summer vacation. I can't stop a war.”

“You are the only one who can stop it.”

“But what am I supposed to do?”

“For now, you have to stop the elementals from entering your dimension. Even though they are all around you in their dimension, they are entering your dimension through a magical gate called the Yanti.”

“Where is this Yanti?”

“On top of the mountain. You have to go there and close it.”

“It is freezing on top of the peak. The air is thin. I can't go up there.”

“It is your choice. But if you don't humanity will be wiped out.”

“That's not fair, Nemi. That's too much responsibility to put on my head.”

“It is neither fair nor unfair. It is what it is. Through the Yanti the elementals are able to enter your dimension. The war is starting here, in this forest, in your hometown. But soon it will spread to other parts of the world. What is necessary is to delay it, at least for the time being. Most of the elementals will still want to wipe out humanity, but if they can be stopped for now then you can make other plans for the future.”

“Do some of the elementals like humanity?”

“Yes. Many more are undecided what to do with people. But enough of them want to go to war so there is bound to be trouble. You have to get to the Yanti.”

“What does it look like?”

“You will see when you get up there.”

“What do I do with it when I get to it?”

“You will know.”

“You have a lot of confidence in me.”

“True. Look how well you have done the last two days.”

“What do you mean?”

“You have survived two major tests: the test of earth and the test of water. You got buried in the earth and you did not panic. You figured a way out. The
same with getting thrown in the river. You kept your head and you saved yourself from drowning.”

“Those were tests? Who is testing me?”

“Nature tests you.”

“But the bigfoots . . . the trolls made those things happen. Are they part of nature?”

“Everything is part of nature. The sun and the moon and the stars are parts of nature. The tests were going to happen no matter what the trolls did. And there are more tests to come.”

Ali swallowed. The first two had been bad enough.

“What are they?” she asked.

“Nature is made up of elements. They are seven: earth, water, fire, air, space, time, and the seventh one—that is secret.”

Ali interrupted. “That is what people used to think. Now we know better. I learned that at school. There is oxygen, gold, lead, hydrogen, mercury—over a hundred different elements. They're on a thing called the Periodic Chart. I can show you my science book if you want to see it.”

“I know about the Periodic Chart. What I am telling you is deeper. Everything in nature has a particle of these elements in them—some more, some less. It is by controlling them that you will learn magic.”