The Book of Sight Read online

  “You want to borrow my sunglasses?”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  She slid the sunglasses on, and the change was so abrupt it was startling. Everything was incredibly dark. It felt like being blind. A strange sense of panic swept over her, and she pulled the glasses off. The sunlight exploded around her again causing her to squint. Still, she didn’t put the glasses back on.

  Instead, she said, “I think I’m going to go sit in the shade for a little bit, Dad.”

  “Hey, we can just pack up and head home, if you’re ready, Magna.”

  “Yeah, that might be good. My head is hurting a little.”

  “No problem. I’ll get the poles. You pack up the rest of the lunch.”

  It was then, when Alex turned to fold up the picnic blanket, that she saw it. Or rather, saw him. Right at the edge of the trees, standing among a clump of wildflowers in the grass, was a tiny man, less than a foot tall. Alex froze. She didn’t take her eyes off the little man. He was looking right back at her, not moving. She noticed that he was wearing all green, the same green as the grass, and had on a hat of just the same purple as the flowers. In fact, he blended in so perfectly that she wouldn’t have seen him at all if it hadn’t been for his eyes. They were a light gold and gleamed in the reflected light from the creek.

  “Ready?”

  Alex jumped at her dad’s hand on her shoulder. She looked back toward the little man, but there was nothing. Just a clump of flowers. She shook herself. This headache was obviously worse than she thought. Alex continued folding up the blanket and put it in the basket with the leftover food.

  When she straightened up, there he was again, in another clump of flowers closer to the creek this time.

  “Dad, look at that!” She grabbed his arm and pointed.

  “At what? The flowers?”

  “In the flowers…that little guy!”

  “What little guy?”

  She turned to him in disbelief. It was so close! How could he not see him? He was looking right where she was pointing. She turned back. The little man was gone again. Did she just imagine that? She narrowed her eyes and scanned the bank but couldn’t see anything. Suddenly her head was throbbing.

  “I don’t see anyone, honey,” her dad was watching her closely. “Are you okay? That headache getting worse?”

  “Yeah, I don’t feel very good. I thought I saw… Must have just been my eyes playing tricks on me.”

  “Let’s get you home, baby.”

  At home, Alex lay on the couch in the cool, dark family room. She couldn’t sleep, but it felt good to have her eyes closed. Without meaning to, she found herself thinking about the little man she thought she saw…and the unnatural brightness of the day…and the whispering trees last night…and the dreams about the wonderful story. It all led back to the strange book. She sat up.

  The book was next to her bed upstairs. Alex picked it up and ran her hand over the cover. It was old and stained like she remembered, but now she noticed that the faded red leather was actually covered front and back with a lightly etched pattern, all swirls and curls, gold on the red background. She opened it again. On the first page where a title would normally be, there was just one word: SEE. She must have skipped over it last night.

  Turning again to the story she had read the night before she was quickly lost again in the tale that felt more than ever like it was happening all around her.

  …an invisible hand halts the brothers, pain floods their limbs…the white face, the yellow eyes, the low sweet voice, the sorcerer!...

  hand in hand and back to back, the brothers encircle the jewel…the prophecy rings in their ears, ‘while the circle remains unbroken none shall enter there’…

  a blue ring of fire springs up around the brothers, trapped!...and then the tempting… money, lands, fame, love, all shall go to the one who brings out the jewel…

  who are these brothers anyway?...remember when? The stolen toy, the father’s love, the fight that came to blows, the girl with the golden braids…hearts full of confusion, the brothers look away, but do not let go…those words, those insidious words, they won’t leave their heads, remember, remember, you never received what you deserved, now is your time, see, he cannot even look you in the eye…

  the grip begins to weaken…

  then the sweet voice falters, stops, the brothers look up, the king! The king!...

  white-faced, weakened, but with sword raised, the king descends upon the sorcerer, calling aloud the words of the prophecy…gendel sea! Gendel sea!…

  the brothers heads are cleared, their hearts turn to each other, hands grasp tightly, a song of joy shared on all tongues…

  then a flash of light, the king falls, a ruby dagger in his chest…impossible! How can he be lost?!...

  the brothers’ song falters, but the jewel’s light grows, a blazing royal light fills them as if from within, the song is renewed, but the ring of fire grows in response…

  the king’s dying breath, a spell of power, unheard as the song rings joyfully out…

  brothers’ feet joining with the soil, brothers’ hands entwining, brothers grow in strength and solidity…

  a cry of recognition and rage escapes the sorcerer, his hurled spells to no avail…

  where once had been a circle of brothers now a circle of trees, solidly planted, the jewel buried deep in the protected center…

  the sorcerer flees as healing radiates from the circle…a kingdom renewed, a people restored, the wind plays a joyful song in the branches of the brothers’ circle…

  gendel sea…gendel sea…

  This time when it came to an end Alex felt a sudden and aching sense of loss. She wanted to read more. She turned the page to start the next chapter, but it was all nonsense, and no matter how many times she reread it and tried to figure it out, it remained impenetrable.

  In frustration, Alex dropped the book and climbed into bed, and the headache which had been forgotten in the delight of the story pounded back and kept her tossing and turning all night.

  • • • • •

  The next three days were spent mainly with her dad. True to form, he took her out for ice cream, beat her at Monopoly, and rented movies every night.

  Alex continued to be plagued by headaches which were especially bad if she spent much time outside, but each day the headache was less intense. She also continued to see strange things, though nothing as strange as the tiny man. Twice she saw a rock move on its own power; the pond in the park reflected everything around it in colors that were completely different from the colors of the actual objects; and once she had seen a dark shadow when there was nothing to cast a shadow. That last one had given her a very unpleasant shiver.

  It wasn’t just new things, either. She began to notice unexpected details about places that she had thought she knew very well. For example, the elaborately carved façade on the old Stokes mansion, which she had always been fascinated with, suddenly had sculptures on it that she could not remember having seen before. And was that statue on the courthouse lawn actually smirking?

  Every night before bed, Alex found herself drawn to the book to read and reread the beautiful story. It continued to amaze and delight her. Each new reading evoked some new emotion. Sometimes she felt overwhelmed by sadness, other times a bubble of laughter came to her lips; at times she was bursting with pride and suppressed excitement, at others she felt a burning shame.

  On the fourth day, Alex woke up to find that her dad had retreated to his studio once more. She automatically picked up the book to begin reading again, but today it felt flat. Idly turning the pages, her eyes were drawn to the ending. She just had to close her eyes and she could see in her mind exactly what the trees looked like, hear the soft breeze in the branches, smell the pungent earthy scent. Suddenly her eyes flew open. She knew why that place felt so familiar. And she knew what she was going to do today.

  • • • • •

  The trees were exactly as Alex had remembered them.
Just at the edge of town, behind the Super-Mart, was an empty field. And at the far side of that field eight slender aspen trees formed a perfect circle.

  Alex paused, surprised by a sudden rush of joy. These were the trees from the story.

  True, in some part of her mind, she knew that her brain had just supplied the image of these trees, which she had seen hundreds of times, when the book had mentioned a circle of trees. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that the story had been about these trees.

  And anyway, the book hadn’t said anything about a circle of trees. It had only said a bunch of nonsense words that made her think of a circle of trees. The whole thing made no sense, but Alex didn’t care. She was excited about her discovery.

  Alex walked across the field toward the circle with a prickly sense of anticipation. What was she going to find in the circle? She had felt, still felt, that she had to come here. That this was the next step. The next step of what, she had no idea.

  Arriving at the circle, Alex put a hand on the smooth white trunk of the nearest tree. She felt an almost electric shock at the sensation of life pulsing under her hand.

  She entered the circle.

  And there was just more grass. Crisp, vital, glowing grass, but nothing else, no strange sights, no funny clues. True, the trees stood straight and beautiful, reminding her strongly of a circle of guards, giving the whole circle of feeling of safety. But it wasn’t what she had expected.

  She walked around the circle, brushing each tree with her hand. And then she noticed it. Very small, carved into the base of the largest tree, a circle within a circle within a circle. Heart beating, Alex bent down to examine it more closely when a voice behind her made her jump.

  “So you read it, too?”

  3

  Cry of Recognition

  Alex whirled around.

  Standing there with a very curious look on his face was a boy about her age. He was just slightly shorter than she, with sandy hair and glasses. She’d never seen him before.

  “I’m Adam Cleary,” he said, sticking out his hand.

  “Um, Alex.”

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you around. Jefferson Middle School?” When she nodded, he said, “I go to Lewis. Or, went to, I guess. I’ll be in high school next year.”

  “Me too.”

  “Cool.” He could barely contain himself as he rushed on. “So did you? Read it, I mean?” Without waiting for an answer, he pulled out of his backpack a very familiar faded red book.

  Alex felt the tingle again. “You have the same book!”

  “I knew it!” Adam was triumphant. “And when you saw this place, you recognized it from the story?”

  “Yeah, sort of. I mean, I’ve seen it a thousand times, and when I read the story I thought of it.”

  “Crazy. I’d never been here before, but I found it yesterday and it was so much like the story that I wanted to come back today.” He was still looking at her curiously. “So, where did you get the book?”

  “A guy just came to my house and delivered it. My name was on the package, but it didn’t say who it was from.”

  “No way.” Adam shook his head. “That’s what happened to me, too. That’s so weird. I wonder who sent them? It couldn’t have been anyone who knows both of us, could it? I mean, we’ve never even seen each other, but we both got the same book sent to us in the same way? It’s freaky, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I wish I had talked to that guy some more,” he continued. “My mom was rushing me out the door when he came. He just asked me if I was Adam Cleary, I said yes, he handed me the package, and then she was pushing me into the car. She was late for a showing or something. My mom’s a realtor, and she’s always rushing off somewhere. But I really wish I’d had a minute to ask him some questions. My mom was muttering all the way in the car about how scruffy that UPS man looked and how no one is professional anymore, but somehow I don’t think he worked for UPS, you know? Did he say anything to you?”

  “Not really. He said something about a private delivery service. I probably should have asked him more, but I figured there would be a note inside saying who it was from. I mean, it’s not like I knew the book was going to be…well…” Alex didn’t really know how to finish. She half turned away, and there was an uncomfortable silence.

  Finally Adam said, “So, um…did you have a hard time reading it at first?”

  “Yeah,” Alex answered. “I mean, it’s just nonsense words, isn’t it? But once I started trying to really read it, it just sort of started to make sense. It was like I couldn’t necessarily understand the words any better, but I could see the story in my head as I was reading.”

  Adam looked thoughtful. “Weird. It was different for me. At first, no matter what I did, I couldn’t understand anything. I thought maybe it was in another language, but it didn’t sound like any language I’d ever heard of. It was like a puzzle or something. It made me think of that poem Jabberwocky, you know, the one with all the made up words but it still makes sense. Only this was even worse. At first I was annoyed, but then it got kind of fun to piece it together. And then once I got going it got easier and easier to understand it. You know what I mean? I couldn’t really translate the words or anything, but I could get the meaning from the context.” He broke off, looking a little embarrassed. “Anyway. We both read it. It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

  “The best thing I’ve ever read,” said Alex. “I’ve probably read it ten times this week. But only the first story. Even though that one makes sense, I can’t understand any of the other ones at all.”

  “Me either,” said Adam, shaking his head in disbelief. “If it’s a code, it’s a different one for each chapter. Man, this is so weird. I keep saying that. But it is.”

  There was another pause.

  “So what do you think the book is?” Adam burst out.

  “I don’t know.” Alex tried to put her thoughts into words. “I’m not sure where it comes from or anything. But I think I like it.” She hesitated, but then took the plunge, “And I think it does something to you, if you know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I do. It’s like ever since I read it… well… have you seen anything weird lately?”

  Alex nodded, feeling that little tingle on her spine again. “You, too?”

  “Yeah.”

  He was looking at her as if waiting for her to go on, so she said, “I’ve seen some things move that shouldn’t move. And the trees were sort of whispering together.” She glanced at Adam, but he didn’t seem to think she was crazy. Instead he was nodding along. Taking heart, she added, “And down by the creek the other day, I think I saw a little, sort of man thing really small among the flowers.”

  Adam’s eyes widened, but with excitement not disbelief. “Wow, that’s amazing. I’ve seen some stuff moving around, too. Some flowers in my neighbor’s yard. And the tree thing, too. And I’ve seen some pictures in the clouds. And not just the imaginary kind that you look for when you’re a kid, but like real pictures, all lined up like they’re telling a story or something.” It was his turn to look at her hesitantly.

  Alex was not having any trouble believing him. “I haven’t noticed that, but it does sort of fit.”

  “And today is the first day since I read the book that I haven’t had a headache,” Adam said.

  Alex felt her heart thumping. “Me, too. It’s like the sun was too bright all of a sudden. But it makes everything so beautiful, like you just want to keep looking and looking even though it hurts your eyes.”

  “I know what you mean,” said Adam. “Yesterday I spent half an hour just watching the light sparkling through water from the sprinkler in my backyard. It was like little rainbows flying everywhere. I know it sounds lame…”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Alex smiled. “It sounds beautiful. You’ll have to show me sometime.”

  As soon as she said it, Alex felt weird about it. It was like the question was just hanging out there: So what now?

  It is
one thing to have read a book and discovered all sorts of things exist that you didn’t know existed. It is another thing (quite a satisfying thing) to discover someone else who had the same experience, so you know you aren’t crazy. But none of that tells you why it is happening or what you are supposed to do now that you realize it is happening.

  Adam broke into Alex’s thoughts. “So do you think that other people have read the book and are seeing things, too?”

  Alex considered. Ever since she got the book, it seemed like one thing just naturally led to another, ending in her meeting Adam. Meeting just one person who knew about the book was coincidence enough. It was hard to imagine more. Of course, all of this was hard to imagine.

  Adam went on, “I’m guessing so. I mean, it only makes sense that if two of us got it there are probably more. I just wish we could find the others.”

  Alex spoke without thinking. “They’ll probably come here, won’t they? This is the meeting place.”

  “The meeting place? How do you know that?”

  “I don’t know,” Alex was as surprised as he was. “I guess it’s just…the circle of trees is in the story, and the circle symbol is carved on this tree. And like you said, we both read the book and then came here. It just seems right.”

  Adam was nodding. “A meeting place…of course. I didn’t really think of it that way; I was just so excited to find some place that was like the story. But we were both drawn here, weren’t we? Anyone else who read the story would be bound to find this place, too."

  “So I guess we’ll meet any others right here.”

  “Yeah. But…are we just going to hang out here all day waiting for them to come? It seems like we should be doing something…trying to figure all this out. How about if we just check back here every once in a while and in the mean time go and check out the things that each of us has seen since we read the book? I mean, I’d like to get a look at that little man you were talking about.” His enthusiastic look was back.

  “I don’t even know if he was real,” cautioned Alex. “My head was hurting pretty bad that day.”