Beyond the Stars

Deja Vous - Paradox

Paradox

The fact that I'm unfit became blatantly obvious by the time we walked as far as the other side of the lake. We made camp for the night and Jess made the slop while the guys set the tent up. Left to my own devices, I made my first journal entry since leaving the main camp. The giant pillars looked like city towers silhouetted by the full moon. It was a beautiful sight and one I felt compelled to draw.

The following afternoon we came across a wide passageway that seemed to go right through the mountain. It was deep but we could see a pinprick of light from the exit on the other side. The rock had obviously been carved by hand and again it made me wonder what had happened to the former inhabitants of this world. My curiosity was short lived, however, when the heavens opened. Our debate on whether to risk an old and dubious-looking passageway ended with the wish to remain dry. We ducked into the tunnel in a hurry to avoid being soaked.

The change of landscape was mystifying as we exited. Behind us on the camp side was a barren desert-like landscape. We looked around in awe as ahead of us lay lush green forest. A complete paradox given that the lake was on the barren side.

By the end of a week, the rations I'd packed were almost finished. We'd been supplementing our diet since we emerged from the passage with fruit and berries that grew naturally. Having passed the point of no return, we trudged on knowing that we wouldn't have enough rations to last the return journey to the camp.

The heavily overgrown route we travelled slowly gave way to a rock-embedded path that was elevated slightly from the surrounding lands. The vegetation thinned enough to allow Tom to spot what appeared to be a castle turret in the distance. Anticipation mixed with apprehension filled me as we approached. I wondered what we'd find, or perhaps more importantly, who.

I'd never been so relieved when we came across the village; that was until I saw the body hanging from a high wooden beam in the middle of the street. The village looked deserted as we tentatively walked the muddy road between the buildings. The only sounds we heard were the birds and an occasional scurrying small animal. Probably a rat.

"What do you think?" I asked, as we stopped directly below the corpse and looked up. "Is it real?"

Rick walked around in a circle, looking at it from every angle. "I think it is. It's been there a long time too."

"How do you know?" Tom asked.

"There's no smell and judging by the state of decay, I'm surprised it's still hanging there and not lying in a heap on the ground."

No one argued with him.

"I wonder how it got there." Jess spoke my thoughts aloud.

Tom shrugged. "Obviously, someone put him there."   

"Or something," Dave added, glancing around with apprehension.

His comment set us all on edge. Every one of us looked around at the deserted streets. Again, I asked myself where the villagers were.

"So what now?" Jess asked. "Do we have a look around, keep going, or what?"

"I vote we have a look around," I said. "We've yet to find any other sign of life and looking at this place, hanging corpse excluded, there's no one here."

"I'm with Harley," Rick said.

"Same," said Ray.

The others nodded.

"I'm thinking we split up into two groups," Ray suggested. "Tom, Dave and Jess on this side; Rick, Harley and me on the other. We can meet by the well at the end of the street."