"The Seven Day Festival" by Emily Bisset

The road seems to go on forever. It twists and winds its way about the hillside and has been doing so for the last two hours. I’ve forgotten why we chose to come this way, or maybe Da never actually told us. Either way, it seems to be in the middle of the bush and we don’t seem to be getting any closer to Grandpa’s house. I’m not one for talking in the car, by the looks of things, none of us are. You’d think at least that Bridey could find something to say to Da, get to know him better, but we’re all silent just peering through the windows and into space. I wonder often what Bridey thinks about. He seems to have an uncanny knack of knowing when I’m thinking of him, often he turns his head and smiles to me as if to say: ‘I know what’s in your head, Kaylis’h,’ before he turns and looks out the window again. I know what Da thinks about. His main interests in life are footy and TV, meat pies and whether Labor are going to win the elections this year or not.

I cast a look over to Bridey and smile a little. He’s handsome, despite the ragged mop of black curly hair that seems to grow in random directions. He never seems to have control of it. His eyes are closed now, though when they’re open he has unmistakable deep blue eyes, like dark wells that you could drown in. He appears to be sleeping, otherwise he would have looked across to me already. I blushed at the thought of him being able to read my thoughts, though I don’t doubt that he can. Running a hand through my own short black hair I frown a little. I wasn’t particularly pretty, my most striking feature being green eyes. My face was too sharp, my hair was too dark, I was too tall and my skin was the wrong colour for the rest of my features, a kind of olive brown.

Da was humming away with the tape now, I don’t know what he was listening to, I don’t think I want to. He said Ma always had a good memory, I seem to have developed the habit of making a sort of record inside my mind and being able to record all the random thoughts from that particular memory if I wanted. Again, I glance out the window, a slight frown flickering across my face for there seems to be nothing but endless bush and gullies full of ferns and little streams. It seemed like a nice day though, the sun was shining through the trees and sending shadows over Bridey’s face. I think I’m a lovesick fool. I watch the light dart over his face a moment more, before going back to the window. I wonder what made Grandpa decide to live so far out. You’d think that if he had a heart attack or something that he’d like to be within reach of a hospital. The last hospital was about four hours down the road.

I had been looking forward to a weekend away with Bridey, we hadn’t had much time alone for a while, so many exams to study for left us little time together. When Da offered the chance to go bush for the weekend I accepted quickly enough. Bridey had insisted that he had too much work, but I changed his mind quickly enough. He often tells me that I had a knack for persuasion, I’m not too sure about that, I just tend to bug people till I get what I want.

‘Feelin hungry Kaylis’h m’girl?’ Da asked from the front seat, twisting his head to look at me in the rear-view mirror. I shook my head a little and let a smirk weave its way through my lips.

‘It’s not like we’ll be eating till we’re at Grandpa’s anyway, unless we’re lost, eh Da?’ I replied, raising a slender eyebrow. Bridey stirred and let out a yawn, stretching his arms above his head.

‘Good morning sunshine,’ I said, poking at his sides and making him wriggle about in the car seat.

‘Now you two, none of that in my car,’ Da said sternly, wagging a finger at us.

‘I think it was stomach spasms, Da, he’s so hungry you know,’

Da rolled his eyes and looked back to the road, nodding his head to the music and occasionally yelling out lines or making it up as he went.

‘Your Grandda must really like his solitude,’ Bridey said, raising his eyebrows at the countryside around them.

‘Maybe he just wants to try and escape his grand-daughter’s boyfriends, eh Bridey?’ I smiled across at him and playfully punched his arm, taking another look at the bush about them.

‘You’ve gotta admit, it is pretty though, don’t you think?’ Da asked, his eyes still fixed on the road. We were on a rather narrow stretch now, with a drop down the hillside to the right, and a rock wall on the other. As a child, I’d always wondered what would happen to you if your car rolled off the steep hillside, how far you’d fall, how you’d escape from your car. I always used to cling to my seatbelt as I thought of it.

A feeling of unease hit me square in the chest as I thought of the hill again, and instinctively, I edged closer to Bridey, grasping at his hand. The car had gone cold. The sun had momentarily disappeared behind clouds where there were no clouds before. I looked to the road in front of us, and let out a shocked scream. Walking across the road was a man cloaked in white, a large stick in his hand. He turned to look towards us as we sped towards him. Da swerved to the side and slammed on the brakes. I must admit, I had never trusted the car, but up until now, nothing bad had ever happened. The brakes locked up and the car spun. The whole world spun around us as the car flew off the steep hillside, tearing branches and leaves after us as we hurtled for the ground below.

I clutched to Bridey now, I could hear all three of us screaming, though I knew it would do no good. Suddenly, there was a sharp crack, impact, pain, and then darkness.

When I awoke next, I was sprawled on the floor, but there was no floor, just darkness. And in a circle around me stood six men in white cloaks, all with their heads bowed. I wondered where I was, how I’d come to be here, but nothing seemed to make sense. I had no memory, the only thing I could remember was my name, and even that I could not be sure of.

‘Is she the one?’ one of the white-cloaked people asked, turning a hooded head to one beside him. The one beside nodded gravely and stepped forward.

‘Welcome, Kaylis’h. We are the Oracle. Where you are now is not a good place to be, though I am sure you shall be here again soon. You do not understand why you are here. Let me show you some things. Let me show you why you should not wish to come back here.’ The white-cloaked man stepped forward and placed a pale hand upon my forehead. I saw a flood of images, some whose memory began to flicker, and some whose faces meant nothing. I saw an image of a boy with a mop of black curls and felt a flood of love for him.

‘You must get home, Kaylis’h, but you cannot do this until you complete the Seven Day Festival. In each day of the festival, you must complete some task for the better of the race or the world. If you wish to go home, it is advisable that you do not fail this. Each day of the festival shall run for as long as the world’s full day runs for. If you fail to complete your first task, you shall receive a warning. If you fail any more, you shall be sent away to become nothing, and you shall never return home.

‘Understand, Kaylis’h, we shall help you on your way and you shall probably never want our help but without it, you will not complete your task.’

I frowned a little, I understood very little of what he was saying, though he kept feeding through memories of my other world. I knew this was home, and where I was now was cold and alone. I shuddered a little and looked around the circle of glowing white figures.

‘How should I know what my task is?’ I asked, though as soon as the words had left my lips, I wish I’d said nothing.

‘You will know. So long as what you do is for the good of the race and for the good of the world, you will know it is right. Every night as you sleep, your mind shall be given slight memories of your next body to help you in your task. Every day, your name shall change slightly. This will also be included in your memory. Your body will, of course, change shape, colour, language, accent and anything else that will help you fit in. You couldn’t very well walk in on a city of centaurs looking as you do now, and expecting them to accept you. We are making this fairly easy for you, Kaylis’h, you just have to think about what you are meant to be doing.’

I searched for words to help me understand, to think up a question before they would make me go do what I had to do. I had always believed in parallel worlds and the paranormal, but this was too much. Of course, I should have believed that it was happening, since I was standing inside a glowing circle of white-cloaked men with nothing but darkness behind them, but my mind kept telling me it was wrong, that these things didn’t really happen.

‘Are you ready to go, Kaylis’h?’ the Oracle asked, taking a step back into the circle and folding his hands within his sleaves. I shook my head, but he didn’t seem to notice. Or he chose to ignore it.

‘Remember Kaylis’h, you only have one full day. However long the world’s day lasts for is how long you have. You will learn to sleep very little or else you will fail your task.’

I looked helplessly about the circle my eyes were wide. There was no turning back, though I’m sure I never had a choice in the first place. I’d been thrown onto this ride whether I payed for it or not. And if I hadn’t payed, I’d have to pay at the end I’m sure. I bowed my head and closed my eyes, ready for what ever might happen. There were a few muttered words, and then darkness.

When I awoke next, I was sprawled out in a hessian-type bed, the covers of which were made of some sheepskin. Sitting up, my head felt like it were on fire for a moment, then there was a slight buzzing sensation. I remembered the Oracle for a moment, and racked my memory banks for a name. Kaylin. I remember little snippets of past, about a ‘Hapsut’ and about my mother being suspicious of him. This made no sense to me, but I was sure that it wouldn’t be long till I found out. Slipping from the bed, I found a creamy-brown skirt and shirt by my bed and dressed in these quickly. Looking about the room, I memorised it. The walls were made of a ruddy red-brown mud and had windows cut into little slits. The people of the house had set up a piece of reflective material that served as a mirror. Looking myself over, I smiled a little at my new face. Dark red-brown skin, shining green eyes and my now long black hair tied back in a plait. I was still a human shape, however and this was rather disappointing.

I slipped from the room and out onto the street. The street, as it was, was packed with people. The street itself was one long road leading up quite a steep hill to a kind of palace at the top. The street was lined with the same red-brown houses. Looking upon the palace, I had another memory surge about the Hapsut, though I still had no clue who he or she was. I paused on the streets edge a moment, just watching the dark skinned people go by. Most had brown hair, lighter that my own and blue eyes. I hoped I didn’t stand out too much. I decided I would find someone to tell me about the Hapsut, my task obviously had something to do with him/her or else I would have no memory of it. I began to make my way up the street, admiring the decorations that these people had put up. One banner stretched across the road, proclaiming: SEVEN DAY FESTIVAL! Today is: Day 1. The number one was detachable so it could be changed as the festival went on. Colours lined the streets in the form of streamers, banners, posters and, as I walked, I noticed that there were many pictures of a giant glowing star.

As I walked, I decided that I needed some kind of excuse for not knowing anything about the world I was in. ‘I’m not from around here’ wouldn’t work. I’m guessing they don’t get many visitors. Looking to the sky, I froze in the spot. A thousand stars were dotted about even though it was as light as day. I wondered if I’d made a mistake and slept through the whole day. Soon enough, I found the source of light. A huge glowing star lit up all the streets and, although it was not close enough to be a sun as such, the star did the same job, although it didn’t warm as much as the sun did. I then understood the posters of the star on the walls.

I started walking again, still considering a way of explaining why I didn’t know about the star or anything. I was watching the ground as I watched, which is probably not the thing to do on a busy street. I was walking quite fast, which probably made it worse. I crashed straight into a man coming from a large building with a pile of scrolls in his arms. He dropped some of his scrolls so I stooped to help pick them up. Smiling sheepishly I handed them back to him, only to be met with deep blue eyes.

‘I shoulda been lookin where I was goin’ eh?’ he said, blushing in the cheeks and putting the scrolls back on his pile.

‘No, it was my fault, I have too many things on my mind,’ I replied, trying to fight the huge feeling that I’d met him somewhere before. It was all too familiar- the dark blue eyes, curly dark hair, lop sided smile.

‘Ah, aye, the Seven Day festival is a huge event. Keeps everyone busy,’ he said, nodding his head a little. I paused a moment, having to snap out of my thoughts and recall what he was talking about.

‘Yes, the Seven Day Festival,’ I hurried through, unsure of what else to say. Flustered, I tucked some stray hair behind my ear and smiled a little uncomfortably.

‘Where were you headin’ in such a hurry anyhows?’ he asked, leaning against the wall of the building.

‘I was… I don’t know. I was just walking and thinking,’ I replied, still unsure of my intentions. They were of course, to find this Hapsut, and complete my task.

‘D’you want to come inside here, it’s cooler an’ out of the traffic a bit, you seem a little lost, I could probably help. I know Sie’arra inside out,’ he said, smiling and leading the way inside. I expected it to be a rather large house, but the walls were covered in shelves made of the same sandy mud, and on the shelves were scrolls. Thousands of scrolls.

‘This is the Library, though you probably already knew that,’ he said, throwing his scrolls onto a table and sitting on the stretched skin seats. Everything in this world seemed to have a kind of early-civilisation feel to it. I sat opposite him and continued to look bewildered.

‘The name’s Brideh, I work up in the High-Castle, or down here, depending on what suits me,’ he said, motioning to the library.

‘I’m Kaylin. Could you tell me about the Hapsut?’ It was a straightforward question; I hadn’t enough time for stalling and getting to know the person before I made a fool of myself. Brideh raised an eyebrow at me.

‘I got sick, and I lost my memory.’ I said quickly, that being the only excuse I could think of. He seemed to look relieved.

‘Ah, so you’re one of those who survived the sickness eh? The Hapsut is the Leader of Sie’arra. He lives in the High-Castle. I guess you don’t remember much at all?’

I shook my head.

‘Well, I’m not supposed to know, but if you go round to the back there, you’ll find a whole lot of scrolls on him,’ he said, motioning to the back of the hut.

I chose my words carefully, deciding that if I were to fit in, that I’d need to know a bit more about the planet; ‘So, tell me about Sie’arra, it’s a shame that I can’t even remember my own world.’

‘Aye, that it is. Well, Sie’arra is basically a big hill which ends suddenly at the edges, and the scientists say that the base goes down and ends in a tip. Look, I have a picture…’ he picked up one of his scrolls and unrolled it, revealing a large sketched picture of a flying island. I raised an eyebrow, it couldn’t be possible. There must have been some kind of atmosphere and some way for their crops to grow…

‘Sh’aka’s light lets the plants grow, and we always have enough crops because they grow so fast…’

I guessed that Sh’aka must be the large star. I felt that my task lay somewhere in the past, though I didn’t have enough clues to help me yet.

‘Would I be able to meet the Hapsut?’ I asked, wondering if he had something to do with my past.

‘I’m not sure, he’s been pretty paranoid since th’ sicknesses an’ all, but I could see what I can arrange,’ he said, looking a little worried for a moment.

‘Ah, yes the sickness, is that nearly over yet?’ I asked, bluffing my way through. I had pretended that I had lost my memory of this sickness, why shouldn’t I be able to find out if it were nearly over or not. Brideh raised his eyebrow at me, running a hand through the dark curls of his hair.

‘The sickness hasn’t been around fer all that long, it’s been attackin the children now, eating all their nerves an’ leaving them for dead. We don’ think it’s contagious though. Our doctors canna figure out what could be causing it. Mostly it’s the young people, and children of young people who have the disease. I suppose it would be th’ same with you,’ he rested his head in his hands, sighing a little. The diseases must be pretty bad I guessed, and living on such a small landmass, the smell of death would be everywhere. I smiled slightly to Brideh and tried to keep my mind on the task. Perhaps I was meant to help the Hapsut figure out some cure to the disease, maybe I was meant to figure out why the disease had started at all.

‘Tell me, how long has the disease been here?’ I couldn’t keep asking Brideh questions, eventually I would have to go meet the Hapsut and hopefully get some answers from him.

‘Only a wee time, it started just after the Hapsut came into power,’ he said, seeming to think a moment before standing and walking to a shelf. From there, he pulled out a large scroll that he placed on the table in front of me. I looked curiously at the scroll, pulling it towards me.

‘It’s all about th’ Hapsut, I thought since ye were askin’ so many questions than you might as well read th’ book. I’d better get goin’ if ye need me, I’ll be up in th’ Castle, ye canna miss it…’ he smiled and bowed slightly towards me, before collecting his things and leaving.

I rolled open the scroll, sighing to myself. I didn’t have enough time to read the whole thing! Casually flipping through the pages, I skim read some parts and looked over the diagrams. I paused on a page reading: The Hapsut has two wives who are both his sisters, their breeding supports the population of Sie’arra. I frowned a little, chewing my lip. If this was how the population was created, then every single person was related, and then when they had children… I wondered why I had seen no mutations on any of the people on the streets, perhaps there were special authorities to whisk them away and make sure they didn’t cause more mutations. I flicked on a few more pages, reading about past Hapsuts, about how there had been a lag in ruling a few years back when one Hapsut went missing. I sighed and leant back on my chair a moment, before picking up the scroll and exiting the house.

I looked up towards the High-Castle, and figuring this to be my destination, began to walk. The road cleared of people a little further up and so I was able to concentrate more on the thoughts of my task. Upon reaching the High-Castle, I knocked on the large triangle-shaped doors and waited, unsure of the practices of this world. A man opened the door and looked at me suspiciously, an eyebrow raised.

‘Hello… I’m here to see the Hapsut, Brideh might have mentioned me?’

The man said nothing, but turned to glance down the hallway a moment before opening the door. I smiled graciously and entered, trotting past him. I paused within the doorway, unsure of where to go. The inside of the Castle was rather overwhelming. The whole building was on different angles, different shapes- triangle doors and rhombus windows, stairs going in every direction and no general order to the building.

‘Up the stairs.’ The doorman growled, motioning to a set of stairs to my right. Nodding my head, I trotted up the stairs and into a rather bright room painted in reds, blues and purples. Inside stood a man cloaked in white with a staff held by his side and a hood over his head so his face was hidden.

‘Um… Hello, are you the Hapsut?’ I was suspicious, none of the people of this world wore white.

The cloaked man laughed hollowly.

‘Of course not. I am the Oracle. I am here to help you. Think like a detective, look in your scrolls and find the past. Find what is suspicious in the past and you will find the answers to your problems of the present. The future of this world relies on this.’

A door to the side of the room swung open and I turned to look as a large man entered, dressed in fine clothes, unlike the rest of the people of Sie’arra. Glancing back to where the Oracle had stood, I let my jaw drop open- he had vanished.