The Girl in the Gym

Golden Bridge in the Galaxy

Inaya came into the world as a blessing and was adored by each and every person. Hemnath would bring fragrant flowers to adorn her cot, while she slept lulled by their sweet scent. Chitra sang songs and told her stories all the time. They usually started with something like this -

"Once upon a time, before the earth had even sprouted life, there was a golden bridge out in the galaxy. It was supported by nothingness, held up by the power of an ancient race of people. There was no land at the end of the bridge, just empty space. Very few people had dared to walk to the end of the bridge, for once they reached the end, they were compelled to follow their gaze into the infinite. Only five people would dare to go off the bridge and live. When you walked on this bridge, you could see all the stars, the distant suns of another galaxy and a small blue-green marble of a planet. The ancients would stand on this bridge and gaze down at different planets, lying in wait for the first wave of life on any one of them. These people were so intelligent, that they could do anything, including manipulating space and time. In short, they could disappear and appear anywhere else, as if by magic."

There were many more tales that Chitra told, but Inaya remembered nothing except the sound of her mother's voice and the gentle rocking of the cradle.

She was a curious child. She only cried when she was hungry, but otherwise, she was content to watch her parents work around the house. Her parents lived with her grandparents on his father's side. They resided in an annexe of sorts which housed the priests and their families. Sometimes, they would take her with them, and leave her with the head priest during their duties in the temple. She would solemnly watch all the people coming and going, her child's brain recordings their activities as if filing them away for later use. The family had a small income from the trust in their name from the temple. From it, they would take the money for their daily expenses. There was more than enough for everybody, enough to make a palace, but they all lived simply, finding joy in everyday chores, their devotion and family. From the moment she could crawl, the family had to keep an eye out for her, for she would wander off into the trees or towards the edge. However, there was one room that she, as a child, was never allowed to enter. Whenever she crawled too close to it, somebody or the other would scoop her up and put her back in the cot. This didn't deter her, on the contrary, her efforts usually doubled after being thwarted. In reality, the family were not just keepers of the temple. They were the keepers of a great and ancient secret as well. And the mountain was the key.

Inaya started growing up and assisting her parents in small chores. She would run outside and pluck fruits and berries for her grandparents and tell stories of doves. When they asked her how she came to know of these stories, Inaya would shrug and say, "The doves told me."

The parents and grandparents would smile at that, but never discourage her from telling these stories. She learned the names of all flowers, fruits and trees on the mountain. She sang to herself sometimes. She gave names to all the doves who came to nest there in droves. She learned to count by counting the steps up to the temple. She learned her alphabet on the knees of her parents. Her parents all began teaching her mathematics, which would have been too advanced for anyone else her age. But they were special, and she was special as well. When she grew older, about four, she noticed that her parents wore an odd, fan-shaped pendant around their necks. It was brownish-gold in colour. They never went anywhere without it. She loved to hold it in her hands and run her fingers over it. "Pretty," she would say. But they never allowed her to handle it for long. "Ina, you'll get it one day soon enough. Till then you must be patient, grow up and learn as much as you can. This is your history and your heritage," her father promised her. Hearing this, her mother laughed at the pair of them, "Don't go putting too many tales into her already full imagination. When the time comes, and she is ready, she will take up the mantle. Till then, let her be a child and prepare her for what may come," she cautioned. Chitra never forgot that Inaya had been an unlikely blessing, but didn't over-protect or mollycoddle the girl.

"She should learn to dream, my wife. The world around us is changing too fast. Who knows what changes will come to our mountain?