The other side of the fence

My older sister Amanda always loves to tell me stories, she’s good at it too. I love the way her eyes light up when it gets to her favourite part and the way I can see the pain in them when she gets to the worst. She never runs out of them, some of them she writes at night to tell me, but others are real. She will tell me stories about life before me to help fill in the blank spaces I have. She tells me about mom and dad and what life was like before they left. You see, there is a war, I don’t really understand it but it all started in the year 2021. My sister has told me this story many times but I always get lost, why would the government want to take children away from their parents and siblings away from one another? My sister still won’t tell me exactly how it started, she said it had to do with the poor uprising against the rich, but I don’t actually understand what those words really mean. All I know is that I’m lucky because my sister takes care of me which not a lot of people have. Government officials won’t let siblings be with each other and my sister says she has to bribe the officers to let her stay with me. I don’t know what she bribes them with, we have nothing.

My sister told me a new story today and she always tells me to write them down, she wants me to have records of them just in case anything happens. I think the story she said today was probably my favourite, but I think she made it up. It goes like this…

One day, there was a young woman who was lost, she had taken a wrong turn on her way back to her hostel. She lived on the other side of the fence that held all the lower class and it was getting dark. She knew as well as everyone that it wasn’t safe this time of the day in this area and she began to panic. She swore she went the right way... she goes the same way home every day. She reads the same old signs in the empty windows that she imagined were once shops. She turns left at the overgrown window that says “Crystals Jewellers” down the cracked road with the weeds growing wild in those cracks. Every single day… and now she’s walking past trees she’s never seen before. They were too green to be from her neighbourhood. Most of the bushes and trees she has seen have little life on them. She also began to realise how well she could see... Normally the smoke that polluted the air made it impossible to see the end of the road. But now, she could see at least two streets ahead... maybe even further. The confusion began to get to her head and she started to worry that she might have accidently crossed the fence. But how could that be possible, she thought to herself. Wouldn’t a guard have stopped me? No, I couldn’t have crossed the fence. Just as she found herself almost destroyed by confusion, something caught her eye.

She had never seen something glisten in the sun before, but it shined so bright it stopped her right in her tracks. She felt almost hesitant to walk the 20 steps towards it. Although, her curiosity got the best of her. She walked to the shining metal and saw it was a small lock attached to a small black book. The book was old and weathered and covered in a light coat of ash and dirt. She picked up the book and saw next to it a key. The young women looked around to see if anyone was near her. “Hello”? She yelled. “Did somebody drop a book”? She asked as she turned in all directions. No one answered her. She held onto the book and key as she continued to walk forwards to see if she could find the owner. But the further she walked, the more lost she felt and no one seemed to be anywhere. She assumed it was because it was almost curfew and whoever would have dropped it would be long gone. She wondered if she should leave the book where she found it… or maybe if she looked inside she could figure out whose it was. “If I leave it someone else might find it” she said quietly to herself. She knew that everyone here were thieves and the owners best chance of getting their book back was for her to track them down.

The book itself seemed to have some value. It was made or leather and the lock and key seemed to be made out of a valuable metal, she could sell it and use the money to get her out of here. All she wanted was to get to a better location, but that meant bribing officers and guards, which she didn’t have the money to do. But this… this could be her way out. She stared at the book as her temptations grew. She dreamt many times of leaving, maybe finding her family. The guards could help her if she had enough money to give them. You couldn’t be with your family here, the government wanted to keep the lower class away from one another to prevent anymore uprisings. Only the upper and highest classes could be with family and friends. Here you were on your own. Everyone dreamed of getting over that fence and making it to the other side of the bush in the hopes of a better life.

The book began to feel heavier and heavier as her temptations grew. But then she thought of her mother. The young women thought about her last day with her mother, the mother was crying because the officers had taken everything away from them, including her husband and youngest child. The mother held the young woman as she sobbed praying not to lose the only thing left in her life. But as the story goes, the officers came and the mother and daughter were torn apart. And the young woman wished she could have been that one thing that was returned to her mother.

As she held the book she knew that this could be the one thing that brought joy to another’s life. She had to try her best to return it. The young woman hoped that inside would contain some sort of clue to help her find the owner. She put the key into the lock, turned it, and the lock popped open with ease. As she opened the book she was hit with a familiar smell of old pages. Something that she hasn’t smelled in a long time. She forgot how good it felt to hold open a book and read the words written across the pages. As she began to read, she was shocked by what was written. It stated:

If your intentions are true

Then follow the steps so I can meet you.

If you want your gift

Out must your legs lift

This present it would say

I wish you well this day.

She stared at the page confused, as she flicked through the rest of the pages she realised the rest were blank. She felt as if this book would give her no indication as to who it belonged to, but as her temptations came back she felt as if this short passage was trying to tell her something. She began to feel a deep connection with the words as she read them over and over again. She began to think of her mother again and she thought of a time before her younger sibling was born. The young woman thought of when her father went to work in the summer and her and her mother would go to the park and play in the afternoon. The young woman remembered always begging her mother for a coin to throw in the wishing well and she would always wish for the same gift. And that, was a younger sister.

The young woman looked down at her watch, she had one hour before curfew, she knew she would have to go fast. There was a small field she passed not far back with an old fountain, she felt drawn to go there, so she ran.

When the young woman got to the old fountain, which no longer had any water, she felt confused as to why she was there. She reopened the book to read the passage again. But her stomach dropped as she saw the words had changed.

I see your following through with your original plan

So go to a place where people stand

The roads are wide and the vehicles grand

A booth showing tickets for sale on top

This place where the coaches stop

The young woman knew instantly the poem referred to a bus terminal. She remembered being a young girl and always being amazed at the large busses that held dozens of people. She got to ride them with her mother and baby sister while their family car was in the shop. It had been so long since she thought of those days. There was one bus that ran through their town but it was a luxury to ride. It cost 25 cents to ride from one part of town to the next. This was money she could never afford to give up. As she debated whether to go or not, a small coin in the fountain stared at her. She picked it up to realise it was exactly what she was wishing for, a quarter. Her hands began to shake as she wanted to take this money and run. She knew she could eat for a week with this. But this book felt more powerful to her, she knew she had to see it through. She checked her watch to see that she had 39 minutes before curfew… so she ran.

The young woman got to the bus stop only second before and last bus of the day pulled up. She entered the empty bus and handed over the quarter. The bus driver looked shocked to see someone actually getting on the bus, but he didn’t question it. She took her seat and opened the book again to see if the words had changed. The book read:

Temptation doesn’t get to you, which some may find absurd

So go to the place with a pile of words

Take a quick look

In place for the spot for the book.

The last summer before the war began, the young woman remembered going every Monday to the library with her mother and younger sister who was three at the time. They would read books and their mother would tell them stories. The young woman hasn’t been to a library since.

The bus driver pulled up to the only stop on the route and the young women got off. “Is there an old library around here?”

“Yeah, just down the street past the old billboard. I used to go there when I was a kid” the bus driver smiled to himself.

“Thank you”. The young woman followed the drivers’ instructions and found herself at an old beat up building that resembled a once beautiful place. She let herself inside to find and emptied hollowed out place that felt haunted. She opened the book to see what was inside, but it was blank. There was no evidence that there had ever been anything inside. The young woman felt defeated, was there a point in any of this? She was no longer sure what she needed to do. So she followed her instincts. Her mother used to always say, put the book back where they belong. They aren’t ours, they are just here for us to use. We must have respect for these items. So that’s what the young woman did. She found a shelf, which held no books, and sat the old black book straight up. She looked at it for a while then looked at her watch. It was past curfew and she knew she would have to sneak her way home. As she turned around to leave her stomach dropped with fear as someone stood behind her. It was a well-dressed older man. He looked straight into her eyes and the young woman knew she would be punished for being out past her curfew. But this man did not look like an officer.

“What are you doing here?” The man asked.

“I’m… just returning this book. I think it belongs here”.

The man stared deeply at her. “Where did you get it? Did you steal it from someone”?

“NO! I found it, I swear. In an alley way”.

The man walked to the book, picking it up and looking closely at it. “I’ve never seen this being returned before.”

The young woman stared at the man as he talked, “what do you mean”?

“Follow me”. The man started to walk away and the young woman feeling as if she had nothing to lose, followed.

The man began to speak as they walk, “When the borders were put up, books were one of the first things to go. Officials took anything that gave people hope or knowledge. Some books were left behind, but those were stolen quick and sold on the black market. Books hold a lot of value in these times and if you can get your hand on one, you can trade it for enough food to last you a few weeks. You can understand how valuable that is. Nothing was left here, even this book. But this book holds more power and knowledge than anyone could ever imagine. It holds all the answers to every question any person could ever ask. But it does not belong out in the world, it is too powerful to be in anyone’s hands. I am the books keeper, and I have waited many years to care for it again.”

The young woman was confused by what the man was saying. “But if it holds all the answers, why not use it for good? Why can’t it be used to stop the war?”

The man smiled at the hopeful comment. “That would be nice, but even though this book holds the answers, it’s people who must use those answers to change the world. And it is not time for that. The time will come, but not yet.” The man stopped in front of a rusty door made of an old wood. It was amazing that this door still stood, anything like this would have been stolen long ago. “Inside here is where the book belongs. And inside here is your reward for returning it to me.”

The girl was tingling with excitement “I get an award? Just for returning your book? How can you afford to reward me?”

“Don’t worry about that, it is not your concern. You did the right thing, something no one else has done in the last 7 years.” The man opened the door to an empty room, there was nothing but a small chest which amazed her as well. All of these items could feed her for the next month.

“This is for you.” The man opened the chest and handed her a bag. The young woman opened the bag to find a large amount of money inside. She began to shake and cry and she stared at this.

“I cannot. Why would you give me this? I cannot accept this.”

“You must. Inside there is $20,000. No strings attached. You deserve this money more than anyone else here, you did the right thing, even though along the way you knew you were giving up so much. This money is for you.” The man said this as he put the book into the chest and locked it. “Just tell me one thing, what will you do first with the money?”

The young woman was crying as she looked back to the man. “I will go get my sister.”

“That’s good to hear. Now go home, it past curfew. And no matter what, do not tell a single soul about your money, not even your sister.”

The young woman looked down at the money one more time with tears in her eyes. She looked back up to tell the man again that could not take it, but he was gone. Along with the man, the chest and the old door were gone as well. Before she could question anything, she hid the money in her coat and ran home, thinking the entire way how excited she was to see her sister.