To Hear the Heart

Jacob let the children touch his ears, their eyes wide round orbs of amazement. The young girl squealed softly, then moved her hands in a frenzy of motion to communicate. Soft and fuzzy. Jacob smiled in spite of himself and replied, Yes. The young boy, clearly the older brother in the way he contained his excitement as if such an emotion was beneath him, turned to his parents and signed, Ears. Have you ever seen them before? The parents stood back, apprehensive and uncertain like animals sensing a trap. No, came their mother’s curt reply as she beckoned for her children to return. Their father’s head turned on a swivel, no doubt looking for the Juments, the not-so-secret police of The Party who hunted the hearing with a brutal ruthlessness.

Peace, Jacob signed. I am a friend.

Why have you come? The father replied, stepping forward, his face contorted with a mixture of concern and anger. No visitors here.

Jacob tapped the cartilage of his right ear. I heard you.

The little girl skipped back to Jacob, kicking up tufts of sand and dust like little clouds hugging her feet as she did so. I’m Ruth. Can I touch… Ruth brought her hand to her own head and touched the place where her ear would’ve been if she had ears. But she didn’t. None of them did, which made all of their heads look oddly rectangular instead of oval or circular or heart-shaped or any of the ways heads were supposed to look.

Yes, Jacob replied with a burdened smile. His journey beyond The Known had not been easy as The Sage warned him it wouldn’t. Ruth, in all her sweet childish innocence, caused his heart to ache. She would never hear the beautiful sounds of life; the song of the morning bird, the rhythmic pitter-patter of rain on a roof, the sugar sweet voice of his beloved Leah. Leah… Jacob thought and the aching of his heart doubled as if stabbed by shards of glass.

Just then a faint whirring sounded in the distance, the noise like a far away fan. At the same moment, the father’s watch, which Jacob hadn’t noticed until right now, flashed a series of colors. Green twice, followed by blood red. The man’s eyes widened in fear.

Go! He signed, waving his arms and pointing for emphasis.

Hide me, Jacob replied.

No. Leave.

Ruth watched the exchange between her father and Jacob with a studied expression, but when her Dad commanded Jacob to leave her face scrunched up in anger. She threw herself between Jacob and her father like a shield signing, No, Daddy. We hide him.

We can’t! The Juments will come and don’t care- he stopped signing mid-sentence as his watch flashed new colors. Green once, followed by two flashes of blood red. At this his wife pressed her fingertips into his forearm, a gesture of gentle force. The man narrowed his eyes at Jacob for a long second, then gave in to his wife’s reason. He scooped up his daughter and signed follow as his son took off running in the direction of what Jacob could only presume was their hideout.

As they ran, the whirring grew louder like a rising storm. Jacob found himself thankful his rescuers couldn’t hear; if they could, they would’ve surely handed him over given how many Juments were chasing him. Jacob had seen many people wear a similar watch-alarm which told a user how far away the Juments were, but never how many. Judging by the rapidly expanding cacophony, Jacob guessed this was the largest search and extract team they had ever sent. Which told him only one thing; the rumors he heard about how to defeat The Party were real, and they were scared.

None of it would matter if Jacob didn’t get to the hideout, so he pushed himself to run faster on the unforgiving rocky terrain. The young boy ran straight towards a rock wall and disappeared through it. There must’ve been a cleft in the rock face that was thin as a hair, or at least appeared that way from Jacob’s viewpoint. That was good. That meant the Juments would have a hard time finding them. If they all reached the cleft, they’d probably be safe.

But just as Jacob’s fear began to ebb like a low tide, the mother tripped, toppling over and screaming out in anguish. Only Jacob heard because he was the only one who could hear. For a moment he froze listening to the wild whooshing of the Juments descending upon him like a pack of wild horses. But he couldn’t leave her. Leah wouldn’t have.

One life, she used to say. One life is as important as all life. That’s what we believe. That’s what makes us different from them.

So Jacob had to save her. Even if it meant risking the only opportunity he’d ever have to take down The Party and establish peace.

He pushed off the rocks as if there were springs in his legs, bounding over to the injured woman and scooped her up in an old fireman’s pose. It wasn’t sophisticated, and Jacob was fairly certain he knocked the wind of out her as she bounced roughly on his shoulder, but it was better than being caught by The Party police.

Ahead, Jacob saw three flashes of blood red from the father’s watch thrown in relief against the inside of the rock wall. They’re here, Jacob thought as he slammed into the rock face and out of sight. They’ll find us. They’ll catch us. It’s over.

But the father reached out of the darkness and grabbed Jacob by the arm pulling him into a narrow pathway. When they were some length down the tunnel, the man took his wife from Jacob, and seeing that she was not seriously injured, carried her in a gentler position. The end of the passageway opened into a cavernous tunnel with a number of sister tunnels extending out of it. Labyrinth safe, the man signed. Follow. And Jacob followed.

***

I never thanked you, Thaddeus, Ruth’s father, signed. The kids were asleep on beds of straw in an adjoining space that acted as a bedroom. Jacob had followed Thaddeus as he carried his wife, Ephany, to their hideout in the labyrinthine tunnels of the Wilderness. There had been rumors since the rise of The Party that pockets of resistance banded together in these tunnels, but most thought it untrue. There was no way to survive they’d say. No water, no food. Besides, if the regular folk knew of the rumors, so did The Party, and that meant the tunnels would’ve been searched. But here Thaddeus and his family lived, and where there were few, there could be many.

No need, Jacob replied.

All the same, Thaddeus answered, his signs sharp despite the weariness in his eyes. A smile danced on the edge of his lips for a moment as he cast his gaze upon his wife who rested her head on his shoulder. Then it fell away, replaced by the forlorn look that seemed to be part of his permanent expression.

How long have you lived here?

Not long enough to save them. Thaddeus jerked his head in the direction of his earless children.

Not your fault. Most have lost their ears.

Not you.

There was nothing more to say, so Jacob let the conversation expire. The small fire they used to cook dinner flickered in the dark, casting elongated shadows along the walls like shimmering ghosts. Jacob watched them for a moment wondering if they were trying to tell him something.

The Sage sent you, right? Thaddeus signed, half looking away as if not wanting to know the answer.

Yes? Jacob replied, with obvious puzzlement etched into his facial expression.

In the wild. In the dark. Shall you search, for what is lost. For what is lost, you shall search. All our hearts, within one heart. In the dark. In the wild.

How do you know the Sage’s words? Jacob demanded.

You think you’re the first? Thaddeus responded with a face like he bit into something sour. He shook his head to indicate that it was pointless; there was no way to fight The Party. You are just another wanderer. All dead. And you will too. Go home. Live.

Jacob burned with an anger hotter than the fire that danced between him and the despairing man. How dare he so callously dismiss him. Thaddeus had no idea what Jacob had been through to make it across The Wilderness. No idea who he’d lost. No idea what he discovered. For night is day and day is night. Two parts, one whole. For so it is with all our hearts. Two parts, one whole. At this, Jacob reached into his tunic. He removed his hand with solemn purpose, opening it to reveal to Thaddeus one half of the golden-hearted locket.

The man’s eyes grew wide in astonishment, and for a moment he did not move as if he couldn’t process all that he had seen. Or maybe he was trying to find some way to dismiss what Jacob showed him. To call it a fake, or a lie, or an old wives’ tale. Instead, he reached into his own tunic, and in an equally solemn fashion, revealed to Jacob the second half of the golden-hearted locket.