Water
to Water
by
Karen A. Wyle
Genre:
Science Fiction
Two
young Vushla questioned what everyone knew about death. What should
they do with the answer?
When the time comes for
Vushla to die, they go into the ocean and are dissolved away. Or so
Terrill has always believed, and still believes after taking part in
his father's final journey. But when he meets a young Vushlu who
lives by the sea, Terrill must confront information that calls this
fundamental belief into question. Will the two of them discover
the truth? And what should they do with what they find?
Terrill
should spend this time remembering his father, calling up all the
memories he wanted to preserve. What was his earliest memory of Da?
His
earliest memory of any kind . . . he would have liked a more pleasant
one. Someone had smacked his hand, on the unarmored palm, for making
some mess or other. But he couldn’t remember who had done it. It
wouldn’t have been Da, not for such a young child making a mess.
Ma, maybe, in a moment of exasperation. Or his uncle, visiting.
Terrill
might have been a couple of years older the time Da gave him a ride,
telling him to put his arms around Da’s torso and hold tight,
Terrill’s baby legs splayed wide across Da’s broad back. Da had
put just a little bounce in his gait, enough to be thrilling, but not
enough to loosen Terrill’s clasped hands . . . .
What
arose next was from a few years later, but still from childhood. A
hot day, the hottest so far that year, with the end of the season
seeming forever away. Da going from creek to creek to find the
coolest one, and pouring a bucket of almost-cold water all over
Terrill, Terrill gasping in pleasure and relief . . . .
Another
memory, very different, almost as far back: Terrill standing outside,
watching the sky colors shift from day to night, wondering if the sky
looked the same everywhere, even in the far-off cities where his
older siblings wanted to go. He had turned to go back inside and only
then seen Da, walking back and forth, slowly, in the road a few paces
away, his shoulders slumped, a posture Terrill could not remember
having seen before. Something was wrong, and Terrill had no idea what
it was. He had never had the courage to ask about it.
He
would never know.
Karen
A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in
Bloomington, Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers
herself a Hoosier. Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest
ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she
was mortified to learn that some British upstart had beaten her to
the goal at age 9.
Character Interview
with Terrill
[NOTE: Terrill is a Vushlu. He
would have become an adult next year by taking a ritual first journey
to the ocean with other Vushla his age. Instead, he attained adult
status prematurely, accompanying his dying father to the ocean, where
his father went into the water to be dissolved.
Interviewing
Terrill is a tricky task. As the book begins, he is understandably
morose. Later, when he is less so, he has good reasons not to reveal
his activities and concerns. I’ve dealt with this dilemma by
splitting his interview into two, and working within the limitations
Terrill sets.
The first interview takes place at a
rest stop during the funeral party’s return trip. Terrill speaks in
a quiet monotone most of the time.]
Q. I’m very sorry about your father.
A. Thank you.
Q. It will take you quite a while to
get home. How are you occupying yourself along the way?
A. I’m trying to remember as much as
I can about Da. [a pause; he clenches and armors his fists] But the
things I remember keep reminding me of things I don’t know.
Questions I never asked, and never can, now. [long pause]
Q. Have you found any ways to keep your
spirits up?
A. There’s a Weesah peddler who’s
been traveling alongside us. He likes to tell stories. When I listen
to them, it takes my mind off . . . other things. I’ve even laughed
a few times. [glances to the side] Not that my uncle approves. Of the
listening or the laughing.
[An older Vushlu approaches; the
interview concludes]
-----------
[The second interview takes place
around three months (or the equivalent) later. Terrill is now
traveling in the peddler’s wagon, as is Honnu, another Vushlu about
his age.]
Q. Is this where you expected to be, at
this time?
A. No. Nothing about what I’m doing
these days is as I expected. One unpredictable event has led to
another.
Q. What can you tell me about these
events?
A. [a slight smile – which for Vushla
means a rounded mouth] Very little, I’m afraid. Except that one of
our funeral party, my aunt, became very ill on the way home. The
others returned to the sea with her. I [a short pause] chose not to.
That led to my becoming better acquainted with Honnu. And that led to
everything else.
Q. So do you think you’ll become a
peddler?
A. [another smile] I don’t think so.
But for now, I’m a peddler’s assistant and have my duties. I’d
better go.
Q. Perhaps we’ll meet again along the
road.
A. I . . . don’t think that is very
likely. But stranger things have happened. [a quiet chuckle] Indeed
they have.
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