Land Of North

Prologue

“There are pieces of the world that are yours. And pieces of the world that will never be yours. And the sad thing is that nobody ever tells you the truth.”

— He Never Said Goodbye by Bejnamin Alire Sáenz 

We were only ten then, November break. The four of us, we were playing in the back garden by the forest. No one was home. Sam was still eight, Liana was eleven. But Timothy and I were only ten.  The house help was somewhere at the back of the atap houses ( huts made of leaves and other various natural materials found in tropical coasts) meant for weekend tourists and visitors.

We didn’t care, we were only ten. The two of us, twins.

We found a little miniature model of a farmhouse complete with horses’ stable at the base of an Angsana Tree , covered by the little brown pods that floated down like miniature hang gliders. I told him not to touch it. The stable. Not to read the letter that came with, on brown parchment. We couldn’t read it, only Thomas could, I still remember his ten year old voice;

They’re all real beauties, my horses.

The sit in their stables at night

The doors sealed tight

Don’t you ever dare

My dear little hare

I couldn’t warn you then

My dear brown hen

I won’t warn you now as you go forth

Lost in the Land of The North

One little shepherd’s dog

Along comes by a brown hedgehog

My boy, this is how we’ll build a court

One by one they’ll come

Then we’ll have quite a sum

I still remember, I’m not ten anymore. Thomas was lost, we saw him turn into a hedgehog right in front of us. And then shrink to the size of my fist back then. Still have it. It’s there on my study table, along with the entire farmhouse set. The hen, the horses, the sheep, the cows, the dog, the farm house all dressed for Christmas. No one believed my story. Sam kept crying and crying, Liana said Thomas ran into the woods and we couldn’t find him. She was lying, she was lying, but no one believed me. Mother had Jane a few years later, you can still see the reminiscent shadows of loss in her face from the loss of Thomas.

My brother’s a little hedgehog figurine I’ve been talking to for the past seven years. A farmhouse? Really, the poem didn't make sense. A castle? A hen? I wondered, I tried to not wonder. I tried distracting myself, so many years, schoolwork, jobs here and there. It's hard to forget your twin brother just like that. The police report didn't help. He was there. Beyond science.

And I certainly hadn’t the slightest chance of getting him back till I met the North Green. He was my project group mate for a college assignment. A cold feeling of dread descended upon me, I wanted to run. Wasn't sure why, I found out why, much much later. There was distinct nauseous feeling along with a dire need for escape. I couldn’t run though, it was fourth period, may as well get through the day, just one more lesson left. I didn’t run. I should have run. He looked so harmless, so typical. The name was a give way, for me, I suppose. How was I supposed to know, that the lanky looking green eyed boy stole my brother and he was coming for more? More of us, to rebuild his...visions. 

I’d almost believed that it was all only just a dream.