Rahvak looked over the gathered townsfolk. “Would you like to hear another story about the make-believe world we dream about?”
A murmur of approval rippled through the crowd.
“Good.” Rahvak took a sheaf of rough papers from his knapsack and began shuffling through them. “Now, then, let’s see, where did we leave off last month?”
Kayla enthusiatically spoke up. “Well, sir, last month you told us about the Great Town that made it possible for people in other towns throughout the land to trade their goods. You were about to tell us about the different foods that could be bought. But then we ran out of time.”
“Ah, yes, that was it. Thank you.” Rahvak closed his eyes and smiled. Then he lovingly began to paint a wonderful picture of the world they all longed for.
“The Great Town we talked about last month was truly vast. In fact, the Great Town was so large that it wasn’t called a ‘town.’ They had a special word for such a large town: ‘city,’ and the people who lived there were called ‘citizens’ the way we call ourselves ‘townspeople.’ The Great City was so great in size that it spread out for twenty-five miles in all directions, covering hills, filling valleys, and spanning rivers.”
Several in the audience were distracted. All but the very oldest had never heard the words ‘city’ and ‘citizens’ before. They wondered where Rahvak had come up with it; if he had made it up, or learned it somewhere else. They shifted uneasily and murmured to each other; Rahvak seemed dangerously close to a violation of the No-Knowledge Laws.
Rahvak missed the crowd’s reaction and continued without a break. “The population of the Great City itself was over a million from every People, all of them living together in peace. All Peoples were encouraged to participate in the ruler’s various plans—even the Fessal People worked peacefully alongside all the others.”
Several gasps could be heard rippling across the seated audience, followed by a few scoffing chuckles. Kayla scowled and whispered to An-nibel, “If the Fessals are going to be there, I’m not going!”
“But these are peaceful Fessals…” An-nibel protested.
“No such thing,” Kehla insisted. “They’re all just plain rotten. I hate them all.”
Rahvak continued, “The city was ruled by a wise ruler called the First Elder. The First Elder’s palace was at the center of the city, and the name of the city was Freeland, for this world was free indeed—and it was unimaginably prosperous!
“There were musicians who played strange instruments we’ve never seen here in Pond, lovely music. They had poets (he nodded at Virn) who composed long and complex ballads. Painters made pictures of people so lifelike that sometimes they seemed to move.
“Radiating from the Great City itself, like spokes of an enormous wheel, were more than a dozen great roads—wide, smooth roads that extended outward from Freeland for hundreds of miles.
“All citizens were free to travel anywhere and at any time. Travelers leaving the Great City on any of these roads would pass first through wonderful spacious parklands, with fine hiking and riding trails that went on for miles and miles. As they continued along the great roads, these parklands eventually gave way to vast farmlands with huge fields of every kind of crop we grow here in Pond and many more we’ve never seen. Scattered here and there along these roads were great forests, meadows, grassy plains, streams and rivers, lakes and ponds.
“Other smaller cities and towns of all sizes were established along these roads. The wise ruler encouraged these towns and cities to specialize in their goods, so that in one town nearly everyone made shoes, boots and sandals. Another town or city was known for making glass for windows, and for pots and dishes, and some glass objects simply for their beauty. Other communities sewed clothing in all their wonderful and colorful varieties. Still other cities worked with metals and made cookery and tools for hammering and sawing and cutting, as well as nails for building. Each town had well-trained and well-supplied doctors.
“Great wood mills were concentrated at the edges of the vast forests, and these made fine lumber for building fine homes and businesses, and for other crafters. In the mountains there were mines and smelters.
“The uncountable farms throughout the world produced foods of dizzying varieties. Fruits and vegetables and cheeses of thousands of kinds. Cherries, apples, peaches, plums, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, wheat, oats, and orange, yellow, and white cheeses. Why, they produced strange and wonderful fruits and vegetables and cheeses we have never even heard of.
“And how did the farmers and crafters get their wonderful produce to the rest of the world? Many simply drove their foods or wares to the other cities on the great roads. But these long roads that spread out from the city were also connected to each other by countless other smaller but equally fine roads. So even though there were many cities and towns, it was all one world, together.”
Rahvak was thoroughly enjoying himself spinning such a yarn, and the townsfolk were enraptured by the rich images painted by his words. But he was enjoying himself so much that he was becoming freer with his words than he should have been.
“But sometimes they carried great loads of their goods in enormous baskets that hung below towering bags of air.”
Rahvak immediately felt the loss of his audience and he hastened to regain the moment.
“Yes. Well… you see the scientists had invented a way to use the fact that hot air rises upward. So they made huge bags to capture the hot air produced by a flame. Great baskets were tied to the bottom of the bags, and each had a torch burning to keep the air in the bags hot. The hot air lifted the contraptions up from the ground just like smoke rises from a fire, taking them high into the sky where they were carried quickly away by the winds to far away places in the world.”
Rahvak was disappointed to see the audience staring back blankly. The simple Pond folk just had no way to relate to the concept. Kayla, though, hung on his every word.
“Friends, it’s true. I’ve made such bags – though much smaller, I admit. But they work… Really, they do!”
Still more confused and vacant stares on their faces.
“You’re the bag of hot air, Rahvak!” The elder Mr. Broadlog was on his feet, hobbling slowly toward the stone. “You’re the one blowing smoke, clouding our very real problems here in Pond Town with your Freeland stories. I’ve heard enough!”
Back to Episode 2
Table of Contents: The Worldheart Epic – Season 1