Venus

The youth sank to the base of the old yew tree.

Having stirred from a lucid dream only an hour earlier, the youth had promptly changed from his shabby brown pajamas, to his wrinkled brown pants and white shirt, before setting off on foot in the direction of the forest. The lingering image of a gigantic white tree flashed in his mind, ringing in his ear. He knew that tree, seen it before maybe a hundred times in his childhood. As the youth approached the woods, the sun moved over him, and he made his way down the trodden dirt entrance trail. His eyes scanned the grass and underneath the foliage while up ahead he saw an old man sitting on a bench. He was just sitting there looking at nothing in particular and eating a peanut butter sandwich. The youth said nothing to the man while keeping his head down, thus avoiding eye contact and continued to the end where he arrived at a lake, murky green, and there was a humongous, towering yew tree, with white bark and a sprawling trunk. Its branches carried a verdant green blend of leaves and held many small red berries. The youth crushed the fallen ones with his shoes as he approached, placing his hand on the bark. It was indeed the same tree. The youth circled the trunk in a counter-clockwise fashion before furrowing his brow. It wasn’t on the ground there like it was in his dream. He stood still, staring across the water. The air smelled like tadpoles and mud. His hollow gaze was soon interrupted.

“You’re not going to find it in this part of the woods,” said a man’s voice behind him.

The youth quickly turned around. “I’m not looking for anything,” he said.

The old man was standing there, still holding a piece of the peanut butter sandwich. “Does your grandmother know what you’re looking for out here?” The man asked before taking a final bite.

The youth looked into the eyes of a slightly taller, but much older man with a full head of short, gray hair. His beard was well kept, showing signs of being recently groomed, and despite his obvious older age, the skin on his face was pale and smooth.

“I’m not looking for anything,” repeated the youth.

“Are you sure? I saw you just looking for something in the grass but you won’t find it here.”

The youth paused before replying, “Where then?”

“Well, if you’re really keen to find it, I can show you myself.”

“That’s alright. I know these woods better than anyone.

The old man ignored this comment. “Does your grandmother know why you came here today?”

The youth was silent.

“How did you know I live with my grandmother?”

“If a tree falls in these woods, and no one is around, I’ll still hear about it. I’ve been living amongst these trees longer than you’ve been alive, kid. Much longer.”

“I feel sorry for you then, hermit.”

“Excuse me?”

“You must make terrible company if you’ve been here that long where your only companions are squirrels.”

The hermit pursed his lips into a smile without moving his eyes. “What’s wrong with squirrels?” He asked, pulling out a dark wooden walking stick from behind him. It was as tall as the hermit’s shoulders and finely chiseled. “To tell you the truth, I’ve wandered this entire world and there’s nothing quite like this place. There’s a lot more to see here than just squirrels.”

“Like what?”

“Well, for instance, there’s the lion.”

The youth scoffed. “There’s no such lion living here. I would have seen it by now.”

“You’d never see him around here. How about I help you find what you’re looking for, and show you the lion. We’d have to go deeper.” The hermit pointed his stick across the pond. “There’s a path around the other side. We follow that until we reach a stream we will have to cross. The footwork is not easy. I promise I’ll bring you back to that yew of yours, and when we’re through, you’ll see my words ring true.”

The youth was intrigued. The hermit could see it on his face, but he was still unconvinced. “Are you sure you know where you’re going?”

“If at any time you feel I’m misleading you, or if the sight of a lion is too much for your constitution, I will not try to stop you from leaving.”

The youth considered this for a few moments before finally nodding, thus, the hermit tapped the ground with his stick and set off. The youth reluctantly followed.

As the pair walked together in silence, save for the sound of birds, rustling squirrels, and the tap, tap, tap of the hermit’s stick, the trees became denser, diminishing the sunlight.

Eventually, the youth broke the silence. “Hermit, I have a question.”

Turning his head ever so slightly, the hermit replied, “I have an answer.”

“Why have you stayed in this forest for so long? Why not leave and make something of your life before it’s too late.”

“You know I’m not a complete hermit. I do venture out once in awhile. I can be seen bumming around town on Sundays just like any other. I cannot expect you to believe me, kid, but I have lived many lifetimes before this one. I’ve done it all.”

“What do you mean many lifetimes? What was your life like before here?”

“Well, once upon a time, many, many years ago, this old hermit you see before you lived a life of luxury and opulence. I was consulted by the greatest leaders of the time, a council to kings, and a maker of warriors. I was sought out across the world for my wisdom and in exchange, I was granted a seat at any court of my choosing. It was a life beyond your wildest dreams, kid. There was not a soul in this realm who had not at least heard my name.”

The youth could not restrain his disbelief, “What happened to you?”

“I’ll tell you, if you’re interested.”

“Tell me.”

“Hold on. We’re approaching the stream. Let’s cross before I begin.”

A few feet deep and nearly twice the width, the steam had no bridge or opening to cross. As the youth was about to ask their plan the hermit gripped his walking stick with both hands and stabbed the water. Using this as leverage, he leaped across in one swift movement. The youth watched in awe. He did not think he could jump across on his own so he pulled down a dangling branch from a nearby tree, intending to imitate the action of the hermit. His branch, however, broke during launch, and the youth plummeted into the stream. His pants and shirt were soaked completely with muddy water. The hermit made no attempt to acknowledge his fall, or even offer help, so the youth picked himself up and trudged across to the other side. Emptying his shoes and pockets of mud, the hermit resumed when the youth was ready.

“Now, as I was saying, this world of ours was once very different. This forest we’re in is actually a relic, too, as some of these same trees sprouted in the shadow of a former castle. Not just any castle, mind you, but the most revered and renowned castle that ever existed. It belonged to a mighty king, not like the squatters of today. This king, he became a dear friend of mine during our adventures and we surrounded ourselves with an assortment of battle hungry men that were heralded as the best and finest in combat, competition, and chivalry. I could tell you tales of each and every one of them, and deservedly so, but this story is not about any of them. This story starts shortly after Christmas, maybe five hundred years ago. One day there appeared an anomaly in the sky. It was round and blue, like the most precious sapphire.”

“Was it a planet?”

“No,” replied the hermit. “There are no such things as planets. It was a portal. They all are. This particular portal was easy to see during the day as it contrasted heavily against our red sky.”

The youth laughed. “You mean your sky was not blue?”

“Yes, but it would not remain red for much longer. Let me continue. The king and I, we watched this newcomer carefully over the following days, but I could neither figure out heads or tails of it so we contented ourselves to wait and see. On the eve of the third day of its appearance, the court was hosting a celebration for the return of one of the king’s men. It was a grand feast, full of meat and wine and beautiful women. The festivities were interrupted by a courier. The king’s brother. Anyway, that oaf charged into the dining hall and cried about something having fallen out of the blue hole in the sky. Naturally, everybody emptied their seats and hurried outside. His words were not folly as indeed, there was something falling. The king summoned a telescope and I’ll never forget the bewilderment on his face when he stepped back. We each took turns looking at it as it descended above us.”

“Was it an angel?” asked the youth.

“No,” the hermit chuckled loudly. ”No, it was no angel. But it was otherworldly. This newcomer was cloaked in a dense, blue light. Thick like fog, but you could see it was a person. The color was not alarming as we once had a visitor to the court that was all green. But I digress. Finally, when this being had fallen into a nearby lake, the king murmered something about retrieving the body. I thought, no one could have survived such a fall. We did not have to wait long before they ascended.”

“What did they look like?”

“It was a female. She had long, black hair and a brown complexion. She was tall, for a woman, and wore a long, black cloak that clung to the curves of her body. Several of the men had made comments about her beauty, and their wishes to approach, but the king forbade it. The visitor merely contented herself to stand there, motionless, with her head tilted down. Her dark, wet hair congealed to her face. The king and his men grew restless after several minutes of this and moved closer, like metal to a magnet. The king made an attempt to speak with her, but there was no reply. It did not sit well with me but I remember when she finally moved, her arms were the first to come alive and outstretched to her sides. Her arms moved deliberately and slowly as she stretched above her head, her hands limp at the apex. At this last movement, the ground rumbled harder beneath our feet with a heavy tremor. The horizon was changing from red to blue. Rain started to fall. It was terrifying. I had seen some extraordinary magic in my day, even performed some myself, but I had never seen the sky change color. It looked as if the sky was being swallowed by the sea. When the red was almost vanished, and the light from our sun nearly blotted out, this woman pointed one hand at the castle behind us and without warning, without any reason why, she annihilated us with a bolt of energy from the portal. The castle was engulfed in a blue flame, however, this was not an ordinary fire. There was no ash, or rubble left behind, nor did any surrounding trees catch fire. The bolt of energy pulled from her portal melted the castle into mud. The people were left in a frenzy and the king, who had always retained such poise and control, could not hold back his tears.”

The hermit stopped for a moment to take a breath.

“When this crazy woman deigned to look at my group, she waved her hand and all of the warriors dropped to the ground like she had just sprayed a repellant on a bunch of insects. Such was the end of the Round Table. There was nothing I could do. I realized the futility of the situation and used my magic to disappear, leaving my friends behind. I retreated to the highest, most reclusive cave I could imagine. From there, I watched and waited. I do not know exactly how long I waited. Outside, there was nothing but darkness and heavy rain for a long time. I found out later it was’t just our castle. Those bolts of energy were happening everywhere. When the rain finally subsided, and the sun reborn, the sky was still blue. I could see the sun but I knew that it was not the same sun we had before. Wait, let’s turn down this path. The lion sleeps. Stay silent just like you are now.”

This was no trouble for the youth as he was almost sedative. When they came into the clearing, the youth grinned at what he saw. Playing amongst the trees was a small cat chasing something in the grass. It was white with dark spots on its head and tail. A harlequin. The youth burst out laughing, “You old fool! I knew there was no lion. You led me all the way here just to show me a common cat.”

“Actually,” the hermit answered cooly, “That is not the cat I brought you to see. Look further. Over on that log. Now, that’s the cat I brought you here to see.”

The youth was paralyzed when he saw it. His grandmother never warned him about a lion living so close to them, yet, there the lion was. He was fully grown and completely at peace.

“Don’t worry. Even if he awakes, he’s gentle. Now, onward! We’re almost where you need to be. Do you still remember what you’re looking for?”

The youth wrestled with himself but overcame his emotions and followed.

“Now, where was I?”

“A crazy woman fell from the sky, melted your castle, destroyed your friends and changed the sky blue before you ran away to hide in a cave.”

“Ah, thank you. As I was saying, time moved differently under this new sun. How could this be, I wondered. The days appeared shorter because time itself had changed because of this new sun rotating above us. I could not understand it until I realized the whole thing was a trick. She didn’t change the color of the sky. She had put a big chunk of our realm under an enormous, sealed dome before flooding it. Thus creating her own massive planetarium. When this happened, the cosmic energy that produces magic was sealed outside. I could hardly perform even the simplest of tricks and what I could do was so delayed I stopped trying. I even tried to escape the dome but she had thought of that, freezing the perimeter in an ice wall. I’ve seen others try to blast a hole through the roof, without success. That all happened so long ago. Her human experiment has grown exponentially since then.”

“She’s still here?!”

“Oh, yes,” the hermit said begrudgingly. “She remains in this realm where only she can wield magic. I have seen her use it to reward her human collaborators. It’s been several centuries now but sometimes I’ll see that blue portal of hers open and wonder what she’s plotting.”

“Why did she destroy your castle and your friends?”

“I think we did not fit in with her vision of mankind.”

“What does she want here?”

“I think she liked the place but not the people. I do not know why as it was a glorious time. She’s as unscrupulous and manipulative as any of them. What’s funny is she could destroy this world instantly but it’s not so easy to sculpt the mind of man.”

“When will she be done?”

“We can only assume she’s closer today than she was yesterday.”

“Why are you telling me all this? Aren’t you afraid she’s listening?”

“I always assume she’s listening. She observes everything without interfering.”

“Did you ever see her again?”

“Yes. Back when I was in that cave during the aftermath, during the initial flooding. She appeared before me for a second and final time. I will not go into details about what she wanted but - well, never mind what she wanted. That was the last time we met.”

“Is there no way to fight her?”

“Fight her? I like the way you think, kid, but were you not listening? There is no cave to hide in, no man strong enough, no whisper quiet enough. The only path forward is to be on your best behavior and submit. Maybe you’ll get what you want. She knows what every individual is doing and thinking for the simple reason that she’s the one who suggested the thought to their mind. Do you now see how futile resistance is? She is in no rush to complete her vision.”

“You said the sun was new, what about the moon?”

“It was brought here, too, through that portal of hers. Not all that long ago, either. There was no moon before her arrival. I do not know what its purpose is so do not ask. Well, wasn’t that a merry hike. Do you remember where we started?”

The youth could not explain it but he was back at the beginning. Back at the old yew. The youth had lost sight of the hermit. He looked down at the roots of the tree and lo and behold was the object from his dream. Two shriveled up white mushrooms planted in the soil. He plucked them with hungry hands and ate them.

Then, the youth sank to the base of the old yew tree.