We come to Day 3 of our 12 Days adventure, and I present to you a lovely story exploring Tuuri's possibilities as a ghost bird, written by none other than
thegreyarea. Where and when would
you go, if you had the ability? Enjoy!
The Right Place"I'm tired."
"Sorry! I don't want to bore you."
"Silly ghost bird! I'm never bored when I'm with you! It's just... we had a long day, and I need some sleep!"
"Oh, sleep! Of course! I see. It's really late. You must rest. Carrying that heavy braid the whole day..."
"You keep mocking my braid because you wish to have one! But then you'd be a silly and
weird ghost bird!"
"I would not! Apologize now, Mr. Reynir Árnason, or this weird ghost bird will haunt you and your freckles for the rest of your days!"
"Fine! You would be a silly, weird and
lovely ghost bird!"
"Hum... That's better... It will be enough, for now."
"Anyway, aren't you tired? Birds sleep too."
"Nope. I can do something akin to sleep, if I really want, but it's not the same... It's just like breathing. I can do it, but I really don't need to."
"Or flying, right? I saw you flying, or just hovering in the air, without using your wings."
"That's true."
"See? Weird! And what do you do when people around you are sleeping?"
"Most times I patrol the area, trying to spot any dangerous critter."
"And when we are in a safe area?"
"I still circle around. I like to observe things done before the Rash, those big buildings, bridges, factories... I try to guess why they were made that way... And sometimes I just enjoy the view from up there."
"You must feel lonely."
"I'm already used to it. And sometimes interesting things happen."
"Like what?"
"Hum... You must believe me, because this is one really strange story."
"Promise."
"It happened when I was alone with Onni, hunting those bears, before we reunited. We found that lehto, the one where we all stayed later, and I was so happy! We knew the bears had found a place somewhere in Joensuu, so I convinced my brother to stay for two days. He really needed some rest."
"He surely looked like that when we found you both."
"You saw him
after those days. He looked much worse before that."
"So Onni got some much needed sleep, and you were free to wonder a bit."
"Yep! I knew he would sleep for a whole day, or more. I began by going around the island, and next I crossed the lake, to Joensuu and back. Then I decided to check how far I could go, and how fast. I thought I might even reach Savonlinaa, if I flew really really fast. And I did!"
"Sounds great!"
"It was! And didn't take long, actually. Next I flew to our previous home, Keuruu. I was getting good at flying fast."
"And you got there easily? It's a long journey."
"In no time. Everything was just as I remembered from when we left. There was just this odd thing... It was too cold for summer. But I didn't care much about it. I still had a lot of time, so why not go further? A good friend of mine wanted to find if there were palm trees in Bornholm..."
"No! You didn't... Seriously? You went as far as Bornholm?"
"Oh, I was just getting started. But we'll get there. So, I arrived at Bornholm..."
"Wait! How did you find it? It's a small island in the middle of the sea."
"I'm not sure. Being a bird helps, I suppose. Birds do have a good sense of orientation... I just knew the way."
"Fine! Now, please tell me about the palm trees."
"I'm sorry, my dear, but I couldn't find a single palm tree in Bornholm. But I found something stranger, at this time of the year. Snow. Lots of snow covering the fields."
"On summer? That can't be!"
"Sure. I was confused, and wanted to explore more, therefore I went even further, into the silent world."
"You didn't go to Denmark, did you?"
"No, I had no wish to come closer to the place where... You know. So I turned south, and accelerated! I'm sure I was going faster than an airplane from the old times. Things got weirder then."
"How?"
"The ground below started to change quickly. There was snow, and then there wasn't. Minutes later everything was covered in white again. I landed briefly. Once the ground was covered in flowers, the second time there were trees losing their reddish leaves... The old buildings and roads were also in better shape."
"That's odd. You were deep into the silent world."
"Yes, somewhere in old Germany, I suppose. The further I moved, the faster those changes came, and then... There were fires and explosions everywhere, smoke rising from cities... I'm a ghost, nothing can harm me, but it was scary, so I got away from there even faster, and soon everything was peaceful again. Actually, too peaceful, and even weirder."
"What do you mean?"
"I looked down and there were cars moving on the road below. Not one or two, but dozens! And many trucks, and I saw an airplane flying over me. I began asking if we were all mistaken. How was that possible? How that could exist in the middle of the silent world?"
"You are right. It
is weird."
"I knew I was probably somewhere over France, so why not check a really big city? I always wanted to see Paris."
"Paris?"
"France's capital, millions of people, big tower in the center. And it was all that, and much more. Traffic noise, thousands gathered in busy streets, airplanes, helicopters, ships up and down the river... All that and no monsters. People walked, got in and out of cars and buses, talked, smiled... Can you imagine?"
"Like Reykjavik, but much bigger, I guess."
"Much, much bigger. I got closer to a guy reading the newspaper on a bench. Couldn't read their language, but I saw the date. 2001. On the old world's calendar, the Rash hit on 2013, I believe. Somehow I was in the past, more than a hundred years before now."
"That's impossible!"
"What would you say about a talking ghost bird? Yeah, impossible. Yet I'm here, speaking to you, as sure as I was there, in 2001 Paris, watching the sunset on a park filled with people... It should be close to Christmas, their Yule, and the city was decorated with so many lights... I wish you where there."
"So do I... Someone saw you? Was there any mage among all those people?"
"Not that I noticed. And I wanted it so much! I wanted to tell them to enjoy each day, to appreciate the absence of fear... and, most of all, I wanted to warn them about the Rash."
"But... Would that be possible? To change the past? Besides... We wouldn't be here, would we? And if we were not..."
"Yes, I know. A paradox. What would happen? Can it happen, or something, somewhere, would change to counter what I did? Anyway, I tried, again and again, but no one was able to see, or hear me. After some time I quit, and flew away."
"And how did you know if it was possible to come back?"
"I didn't. I was terribly worried. Would I arrive at the right time when I returned to Onni? Or time would keep moving back, and I'd never see him again? The only way to know was trying... but before that I wanted to see more. I recalled another place that I always wanted to visit. The Pyramids."
"Hey, I know those! They were in the cover of a book in the library."
"I started flying south, and east, and as I moved fast the ground started to change again. It was night, so I could see each city's street lights... so beautiful... But as I flew there were fewer and fewer lights, and soon all I could see below were some twinkling fires. I assumed that moving back in time had brought me before lamps were invented."
"But you still knew the way."
"Yes. I crossed lands and seas, dodged a few storms, and finally they were there, under a full moon. They are immense, you know? Like... mountains. And there was a large city nearby, crossed by a river. Lots of people, and cats!"
"Did the cats spot you?"
"One even tried to catch me! And there were many amazing palm trees."
"I wish I'd seen it..."
"I spent some time there, and even landed at the top of the highest pyramid. A view that I'll remember as long as I liv... I mean... Forever, I guess."
"What happened next?"
"I was flying around, gathering the courage to go back and find out my fate, when I spotted a small group. They were riding some funny horses and carrying torches. Clouds blanketed the area, so it was pretty dark. They seemed lost. I could see some lights, probably a small town, far away, behind some hills. I guess they wanted to get there."
"And..."
"Well, I was there, hoovering and thinking how my dear Reynir would love to help those people, and how sad it was that I couldn't do anything, when one of them pointed in my direction and shouted something in a strange language."
"They could
see you?"
"It surely looked like it. And, to my surprise, two others joined him, gesticulating and speaking loudly. I still don't know how they managed to see me, but I did know that you wouldn't waste a chance to help. I opened my wings, so they could see me better, and drifted towards the small town."
"And they followed? You are so small. Probably looked just like a tiny dot in the sky."
"I moved slowly, of course, and they came, always pointing and speaking, until we arrived at the little town's outskirts, and they took shelter on a small cave."
"Great! What happened next?"
"I decided to fly straight back to Onni, and, as you can guess, it worked. As I came closer time accelerated in the right direction. When I arrived my brother was still asleep."
"I was asking what happened with the people after they got into the cave. Didn't you try to talk to them, since they were able to see you?"
"Oh, that! I did get inside the cave. There was some cattle resting close to the entrance, and I hid among it, while trying to understand their language. But I couldn't, and was getting increasingly worried about coming back to the lehto, so I left."
"Well, at least you helped."
"Yes. And, you know, I believe that I took them to the right place."
"Do you? Why?"
"They seemed pretty happy to meet the people inside the cave, a couple and their newborn."
