When apricots will forget - FINISHED -

Epilogue

Ezik stared at the branches of the trees above his head. The fruit had all been gone for several weeks. He had eaten some of them, simply because he liked the sour taste that exploded in his mouth when he bit into one of the apricots. In the distance he saw Curry trotting back. The dog ran around the fence and into a hole under the fence to join his master.

Ezik knelt down and petted the animal, watching him. Curry, as Kirke had assumed all those months ago, was not affected by the magic surrounding the garden. He could come and go as he pleased, unlike Ezik, and had spent most of his time outside playing and frolicking. Curry must have learned to hunt his own food and Ezik thought that the animal, with its slim, muscular form, looked more and more like a wolf. A wolf that had to eat to survive and would eventually grow old. A few more years and it would leave Ezik, leaving him alone for eternity. This thought terrified the young man.

Suddenly, the dog waggled its nose and turned sharply towards the fence. Ezik followed its gaze and saw a figure approaching in the distance. He stood up suddenly and rushed to the nearest gate. He shouted at the shadow. The shadow seemed to hear him and a man approached Ezik and his garden.

"Hello!" said Ezik. His heart was pounding in his chest. This was the first person he had met since Kirke and his daughter left. Aradia had never returned, as he had predicted. He had prepared various scenarios in his head in case someone came to find the garden. But in the face of the unknown, everything seemed to escape him as he became aware of this fateful encounter. He did not know what to say to keep the stranger's company. Should he tell him about the fate of this place? Or should he force the conversation to keep this person with him as long as possible?

"Hi!" said the man as he joined him. He was carrying a huge backpack and had the characteristic look of a hiker. A bag at his waist seemed to contain a camera. "Can you help me? I'm afraid I got lost on the way. Do you know how to get to the main road?"

"Yes, of course," said Ezik. His voice trembled slightly in panic. "Come in, I'll get you the map of the area."

What am I saying?  thought Ezik. He didn't have a map and soon the stranger would know that he couldn't help him. Ezik watched the man approach the small gate. How was he going to convince him to trade places with him? Even if the stranger joined him in the garden, wouldn't he forget all about their discussion once they were out? How did Kirke convince Ezik to come back every time he met her? Of course he couldn't remember any conversation with Kirke inside the garden. Now that he saw the stranger with his hands on the gate, he wondered how the spell had managed to push Kirke away and still let him through...

Suddenly, Ezik was seized by a discreet laugh. He had understood. He had been deceived, from beginning to end. Of course, it now seemed much more logical. Simpler too. Kirke must have come up with this ploy to lure someone willing to trade places with her. Someone for whom she had built up a relationship from scratch. Ezik had wondered for a long time how she could have walked away from him so easily, without explanation and without any remorse. To her, he had been a stranger with whom she had spent a few hours at most.

As the stranger, with his hands still on the fence, stared more and more intently at Ezik and seemed to hesitate, Ezik recovered and asked him as he approached.

"What's up? Will you make it? Is the way clear for you?"

"I beg your pardon? You haven't told me anything yet," replied the stranger uncomfortably.

"What?" said Ezik, putting on his broadest smile, "but we've just spent several dozen minutes looking at the map. We had a good laugh, by the way. You showed me some pictures and promised to bring me some beers tomorrow. You didn't forget, did you?"

END