Chimere-Chapter3

Chapter 3

The market.

 

A new wave of panic rushed over me. For the second time today, I had managed to get myself more lost than I had ever been in my life. Here I was in an area that would technically be impossible to exist; yet here it was and here I was as well. As for my tour guide, I lost him as well, and even more than that, I could not yell out his name for I did not even know his name. Perhaps what your parents tell you is correct; never follow strangers around.

 

I looked left and right, turning round in circles, disorientated by a primal fear of unknown territory. The joyful bazaar atmosphere was no longer intriguing, but rather, it was dangerous, intimidating, overwhelming. Did these people around me even speak my language?

 

Frantically, I grabbed at random sleeves, asking if anyone had seen the mysterious man.

 

“Excuse me, sir!...”

 

“…Did you see…”

 

“…Light brown hair. Shoulder length…”

 

“Pardon me, madam…”

“Excuse me…”

 

“…About this high…”

 

“Please, help!...”

 

Dozens of faces I had appealed to, but every one of them either had not seen him, were apathic, or did not understand what I was talking about. A feeling of having to scream at someone was welling up in my chest. The next sleeve I grasped almost gave me a good reason to do so.

 

“Excuse me, sir…” I began, but was cut short by this man’s booming voice and words horrendously mangled by an accent thicker than latex.

 

“AAAaarrr…fair master.Guud arfternoon to you! Would you care to have a look at my here wearers? Shainny silverwearre for the table? 100% pure silverr mined from the deepest caverns of Midoorkhstan, crafted by the most sckilled silverschmiths of Voelin, definitely will make yoar dinner guests envious yaaar? Wat about these loevely scented candlesticks? Here, smell them!! Smell them!! Wonderful yaaar? Only the best materials to make these here candles. I give you guud discount yaar? 30% discount. For you onely! That’s not all, if you buy now…”

 

The vendor’s voice rattled on and on at high speed, but hardly anything registered in my brain. His overaggressive sales tactics and flapping hand gestures would have caused me to walk quickly away and pretend that I had not heard anything or even seen him, but something decidedly familiar looking caught my eye.

 

Reaching out a hand, I picked up something small, almost insignificant looking, from the mass of goods upon the carpeted floor. Something square with three little buttons on it and two keys.

 

“AAAaarrr, very guud choice! This one is a very rare artifact taken from the ruins of Brogin! It was used bai Brogin judiciaries to determine whether or not a convict was guilty or innocent. I sell it for 10 silver pieces only, but you can have it for eight, because you are kind looking customer.”

 

The vendor was about to snatch the small object from my hand and put it into a cloth bag, thus sealing the deal, but not before I retorted, “But this is my car keys!”

 

“AAAaarr, ok, if you want to name it ‘kar kiiz’”. The vendor pulled the keys out of my hand and dropped them into a small green drawstring bag.

 

“No! Those belong to me! You stole them somehow! Give them back! The vendor only gave me a bemused smile as I snatched back the bag to take out the car keys. But when I pulled apart the strings, the keys were no longer there. Instead, there was a strange, ancient looking object, roughly the shape of the keys, but made out of wood and stone, with delicate carvings on it. I held up the object to my eyes wordlessly, as the vendor’s expression changed to one that showed plainly that he thought I was mad.

 

“How can this be?” then, something else caught my eye, something rigid and black, with a handle at the top. “My briefcase!” Yet again, I reached out a hand to pick it up, but as my fingers touched the surface of the leather, the object changed into an old dusty horse saddle.

 

“This can’t be real. I’m dreaming”.

 

The next object I saw was my hand phone. Disbelievingly, I put a hand into my pocket where my hand phone should have been, but my suspicions were confirmed when my pockets turned out to be empty. All three pockets. Which meant that besides those previous objects, my wallet, business cards and office access tag were all missing.

 

I took my hand out of my pocket and stood stock still for a moment. Then, eyeing my hand phone suspiciously, I slowly reached out a hand to touch it. In my mind, I already knew what was about to happen. Just as my fingers closed around the phone’s body, it turned into a deck of playing cards.

 

“Right”. Feeling light headed, I closed my eyes.

 

“Sir, is there anything else you would like to buy?” The vendor’s voice had stopped being overenthusiastic and now sounded cautious. My head was swimming. Many illogical things had happened within this short span of morning hours, and I was starting to fear for my sanity.

 

Urban housing estates were never 100% empty.

 

Crowded bazaars did not suddenly pop out  from behind trees.

 

People do not wear winter clothing in hot and dusty cities.

 

And most importantly, personal possessions do not suddenly teleport to stall displays and change into museum artifacts at will.

 

“Right.”

 

My mind was seeking desperately for an answer to all this madness. That’s right, I get it now. My car broke down, and while waiting for the tow truck to arrive; I fell asleep in my car. This is all just a wonderful dream, and I am still in my own familiar city, in my own familiar car, and all my possessions are still in the car with me. Any moment now I was about to be awakened by some burly tow truck guy and asked to exit the car while he links it to his truck.

 

“Right?”

 

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes again. No use. The freaking bazaar was still there and it did not look like it was about to go anywhere very soon. Depressed, I walked away from the stall, with no certain direction or destination.

 

“Sir, your artifact?” I did not reply. I did not turn around. I did not have eight silver pieces for my so-called car keys, even if I did want to buy them. I was lost in a strange land, all alone and with no money. I should have taken better care of my car. If it had not broken down, maybe I would not be here. I should have taken it for a service like I was supposed to. Heck, I should have given it a new paint job, installed a new air cond unit and fixed that window that refused to shut completely. I should have treasured my job more, pleased the editor, flattered the authors’ works and seized any opportunity for excellence that I got, however monotonous the job got. Approaching a cracked and dry stone fountain, I sat down on its edge dejectedly and buried my face in my hands. Then, I changed my mind, jumped up and roared out loud, clenching at my hair. Some shoppers stopped in their tracks and decided to give me and the fountain a wider berth.

 

Presently, a shadow fell across my face. I turned to face this person. It was a kind looking man wearing a brown hat with a feather in it, and a loose trench coat. Both hands were in his pockets.

 

“You look like you could use some help.”

 

“Don’t I”. The hatted man went back and forth on the balls of his heels, humming to himself.

 

“If you’re selling anything, I don’t have any money.”

 

“Oh, it’s not that”. He gave a  small laugh and made a swatting action with one hand. “But I know a place where the lost ones go to seek sanctuary, if you are game enough. I was on my way there myself, so I could show you the way, if you want.”

 

Deciding that I had not much to lose in following him, I gave a shrug and shuffled along.