Slowly across the burnt and oranged tundra. Eli strode wearily but with purpose.
Once trees had grown here. People had laughed. Dogs had barked.
He thought these things as he walked.
Sun-blistered rocks and debris from a different time. All of this crunched underfoot as he made his way towards the ruins in the distance. There were ancient coins there, relics. He had learned this from the book he had found some weeks before.
As he trudged, he began thinking about what the coins would look like. He knew there were four in number and he knew they each bore magical symbols. Perhaps he could learn this magic. This is what he was hoping to do.
A sound. Human.
Eli stopped and instinctively pulled the long knife from the holder on his back. It was sharp and he was ready.
A short distance ahead, a small figure emerged from behind a group of rocks. He squinted against the blazing sun and strained to see clearer. It was a child. And it was the first time Eli had ever seen one.
The little girl came running straight towards him and Eli lowered the knife. He suddenly felt stupid.
Before she got all the way to him, the girl stopped and stared. She was about ten feet away. He could see her properly now and he felt the grime on his skin cracking as he smiled at her.
Without saying a word, the little girl smiled back, walked over and took him by the hand. It had been over two years since another person had touched Eli. He felt strange holding the hand of another person.
Still not speaking, the little girl gently pulled him back in the direction from which she had come and they both begin to walk. Eli shielded his eyes against the glare of the sun. He caught her smiling up at him several times as they made their way across the barren land.
* * *
After walking for another half an hour, Eli saw he was nearing a small encampment. The girl had still not spoken and he had no idea what to expect. If there were other people here, they may be friendly like the child was. It could also be a trap. Yet Eli did not feel uneasy. He thought he would be safe here.
Two men appeared from a type of tent; tarpaulin and scaffold poles. They held their open hands out for him to see they posed no threat and Eli found himself doing the same.
‘You are looking for the coins?’ One of them asked. Eli had no idea how this man could know.
‘Yes’, he replied.
‘Then come,’ said the man ‘We knew that sooner or later someone would want to see them. To unravel the meaning of the symbols.’
Walking briskly towards another tent, the man beckoned for Eli to follow. Feeling tired after so many hours of travelling in the heat, Eli followed at a slower pace.
As the man held back the plastic sheeting, Eli stepped inside. There, on a small square table were the coins. They had been placed on a dark green cloth like treasures. But they were treasures of course. Or they were if it was true about them being magical.
‘You see? The symbols are here’ The man pointed at the lower portion of each coin. Strange marks told Eli that each one was different. But the symbols were so tiny he could barely tell any difference between them.
The man began to look confused. His eyes wandered over Eli. He seemed to be expecting something. Eli looked back at him, puzzled. The two of them stayed like this for a few seconds before the man suddenly barked at him with an impatient tone, ‘Do you have it? You need it to read the coins properly!’
‘Have what?’ Eli asked. He hoped the man wasn’t going to be a problem as he was feeling drained from the sun.
‘The micrope-scope!!!’ The man replied. Eli did not understand and the man clearly saw that he didn’t. Without any hesitation, he grabbed Eli’s clothing in both hands and pushed him back out of the tent. He was full of rage.
‘You idiot! No-one can read the coins without the micrope-scope!!!! The magic symbols are too small!’
Before he realized what was happening, the man stooped down and grabbed a rock. He hurled this at Eli and continued to shout, ‘You come all the way here without micrope-scope for nothing! Are you mad? We have all waited so long!’
Other people suddenly began to appear from neighbouring tents and they all started throwing stones. Eli ran. Tired or not, he knew he had to escape.
‘You BLOODY FOOL!!!! No micrope-scope! How can you read????’
Stones were flying everywhere, even the child had joined in. As Eli sprinted back the way he had come a couple of these bounced off his back, his legs. He yelped and ran on. After a while the torrent of abuse was in the distance. They weren’t coming after him and he began to slow his pace.
As he stood doubled over, gasping, he realized he now had a new quest. He must find this strange device in order to read the coins.
There were times he wished he had never even started with numismatics. It could be really tough going sometimes.
© Article copyright Mik Smith 2022
MAIN IMAGE and OTHER IMAGES – created by Mik
except for….
IMAGES OF GIRL – reblogged (before being further post-apocalypticised) from nenatirkkonen.fi
IMAGE OF LANDSCAPE – reblogged (and dangerously sun-blasted) from fineartamerica.com. Original photograph, ‘Trees Are Friends’ by Peter Schaller
