Hadrian's Wall (74 page)

“
Postgraduate course,” Delilah mentioned. “Crème de la
Crème!”

The UWall bus proceeded slowly as traffic
became busier in that stretch. Many cars were proceeding toward the
center of the campus for morning classes. Now we were immersed in a
heavy traffic surrounded by cars, motorcycles, and bicycles. The
bus made one last lap around a big brick building. I saw a sign
that read “Conference Center.” When the bus got out of the main
stream of traffic, it gained more speed and then an unexpected
sight came into view.

Perhaps I’m the only person who finds the
look of the university more discreet than the rest of the
town—ingenious, if I do say so! Before my astonished eyes, there
was an impressive stepped terrace, supported by Ionic columns
fitted on the ends and supported over wide rows of counters. I’d
say that there were more platforms than counters. Comprised of a
total of four or five levels, each platform was decorated with
gardens...the hanging gardens of Babylon. Trees of different
species and sizes, vines, flowers and shrubs grew upon the exotic
construction in perfect harmony with the architecture.

A wide staircase with broad handrails and
railings on both sides divided the terraces. The staircase didn’t
follow a straight line, instead it seemed to pass between the
platforms, cutting through in angles like a thick seam of green
connecting the concrete portions.

Except for columns, parapets and
grandstands, everything seemed to be constructed of an impressive
array of marble ranging between more dull to highly polished, and
then sanded to plain white and punctuated with anomalous small
colored pieces, which interrupted the solemn look, giving it a
touch of joy.

Several statues adorned the gardens—some
made of marble, life size, and others in bronze, twice normal size,
representing various subjects—venerated animals, mythological
beings, and apparently the gods. On top was an intrepid bronze
eagle with incredible yellow eyes and open wings. It gazed at the
visitors, ready to take to the skies of Hadrian’s Wall.

Wow!

Farther down on another
platform, was the statue of a panther simulating the cat’s sinuous
walk through the vegetation of the terrace, an elegant portrayal of
the species. I was not surprised to see a panther. After all, it is
the town’s mascot...but the eagle! I assumed that because both are
predators, they symbolized strength and leadership. It also
occurred to me that a university should be the place
par excellence
where
knowledge is produced and reproduced, in line with freedom of
expression which, to me, is very well represented by the eagle.
Knowledge should not be used as an instrument of power for a few,
nor considered taboo or sin. Furthermore, it should be the passport
to freedom for many.

Oh, how profound!

“The eagle is a Pict ideogram,” said Delilah
when she realized my interest in the statues.

“Oh ...” For a change, Delilah put an end to
my philosophical ruminations.

From the opulent terraces, with its glorious
statues, my eyes were most attracted to the panther. If ever there
was a statue of such intense, velvety blackness, this was surely
it. Her body was sleek and muscular. She vigilantly watched the
stairs with her strangely opaque eyes. I expected yellow eyes,
maybe green, black, or even orange, but white? What did it mean? I
had no idea...

Only when the UWall bus accelerated again,
did I allow myself to look away from all that exuberance. Then I
noticed that there was a big fountain preceding the terraced
gardens. The street had been expanded to form a promenade around
the fountain. The next bus stop was on the far side.

“Here’s the main entrance to the
university,” Delilah said. “It’s our final destination.”

“Are you kidding me?”

The three had the audacity to laugh in my
face.

“I’m not able to climb all these steps!”
Automatically, I touched my brace before looking out the window
again.

“Most folks enjoy...” David’s smile widened.
“This is a short stop. Many people take the opportunity to do their
daily exercise on the staircase. It’s the law!”

“Right, right...but I’m
not
Rocky Balboa
,
baby!”

More laughter.

“Wake up, girl! We just want you to see the
famous Hanging Gardens of UWall. We won’t get off here,” Delilah
said condescendingly.

“Gotcha!” David pointed his finger at
me.

I leaned back in my seat, sighing with
relief.

Most people left the bus at this stop. They
seemed much too enthusiastic to me. Now the bus was practically
empty; however, we weren’t alone for long. Other passengers boarded
and the UWall bus resumed its journey.

According to Delilah, we were nearing the
heart of campus. The UWall bus climbed up a parallel street to the
terrace’s structure and stopped again when it reached the street at
the top of the terrace. There was the eagle again, waiting to be
viewed from a different angle and closer. Under his claws was a
plaque, which read: “Pictland.”

Territory of the
Picts
.

There was a cobblestone square around the
eagle, with geometric figures positioned at the ends. Now that we
were on the same plane, I could see the details of the statue. Up
close, they were impressive. Looking at it with the eyes of an
artist, I recorded everything: the relief of feathers, claws
resting on the plate of the pedestal, the beak’s deadly curve, and
above all, the vigilant eyes.

Impatiently, Abby nudged
me. I realized that David and Delilah were making their way to the
exit. We made our way back to the crowded stop bus. Many people
were walking around the square at that time. Some came up via the
stairs, others came from the street. I watched them pass by us.
What folly! Somber and humans walking side by side like it was the
most natural thing in the world! If a spaceship descended on the
square at that moment and a lot of little green men jumped out of
it like in
Mars Attacks!
...well, I wouldn’t find it strange...not anymore.
I believe that no one who lives in a place like Hadrian’s Wall
would be surprised.

I didn’t notice when the UWall bus left.
That amazing setting had the power to make everything else
disappear from my sight. Somebody nudged me, bringing the sounds
and movements around me back into my focus.

“Hey, girl! Your bedazzled expression is
priceless!” Violet said. Janice joined us, but tried to refrain
from laughing by staring at her own feet.

“Let’s walk,” said David, casting a brief
glance at the two girls.

They followed us,
destroying the relaxed atmosphere among the rest of us. I could
almost feel the impatience from Delilah and the embarrassment from
Abby. However, it was easy for me to forget about them.
Incidentally, everyone!
Can’t you see the breathtaking landscape around us?
The valley lay like a pale green carpet below us,
framed by the dark portion of the eastern Green-Screen. A little
“tip” of the lower town was also visible there. I smiled with
delight.

But if I thought I’d seen
all of the fantastic, wonderful, and crazy things that existed
here,
I was sadly mistaken!
I realized that when my eyes followed the line of
the pavement that surrounded the square and encountered a portal
that could only exist in the tale of a thousand and one
nights.

Amazing!

My companions watched me
with amusement. If they thought I was dazzled, I must have been. I
really couldn’t help myself! I took a few steps in the direction of
the portal
. What is all that?
Walls?

The front part was at least fifty feet tall
and maybe four hundred feet wide. It was difficult to calculate
with the naked eye. The edges of triangular ledges from the roof,
instead of square and flat, gave the top of the structure a sharp
layout. The small drawings, in each triangle, combined with the
pictures of the glazing bricks below.

In the center of the wall was a gate that
was almost the same height as the wall - and possibly a hundred
feet in diameter. I could see some of the interior and pedestrians
rushed through the gate, presumably students and professors rushing
to class.

The dome of the portal was covered with
sea-blue tiles, with yellow and red tiles composing the details in
checkerboard pattern, arranged in a long colorful series alternated
with smaller drawings adorning the entire length of the tinted band
on the wall. On top was a plaque which read: “Wall College.”

Here I am, at last!

Oriented so as to follow the path of the
rectangles, the designs with floral motifs—red, yellow and
green—were adorning the top edge of the base and the wall’s
corners. The glazed bricks were raised in a yellow gradient, from
lightest to darkest. This all had an effect of delicate contrast,
highlighting the characters of animals in low relief against the
yellow background.

In turn, the characters were distributed
symmetrically along the walls, from small to natural size and
appeared in standardized poses. I narrowed my eyes and took a few
more steps. They could be... black cat in profile, with teeth
bared. The characters on the lower part were positioned to follow
the decorative bands as well as the flowers.

“It’s really something, huh?” Delilah said,
nudging me gently, a provocative look on her face.

“It really is,” I agreed solemnly.

Suddenly, a terrifying thought made my heart
leap into my throat, as if it was all a dream, like the other day,
but what if none of it existed, except in my crazy head?

That’s what happened with
the girl in that movie...What was the name of movie? She went to
college and was involved a car accident. Oh, I remember!
It’s
Soul Survivors
. In that movie, nothing was real, but she thought it was.
Actually, she’d slipped into a coma and in her mind she was
hallucinating about events and people who weren’t with her...like a
perpetual nightmare.

Is the same thing happening to me? The
months I’d spent in Hadrian’s Wall would only last a few seconds of
my life? Why hadn’t that thought occurred to me before? Simon
Cridder attacked me and right now I’m dying in the woods of South
Portland. None of this is real, I...

Delilah poked me, worried about my look of
panic. I turned to her and pinched her arm.

“Geez! Are you mad at me?”

“I’m sorry!” I pulled my hand away, looking
confused “I think it’s you who must pinch me, so I can find out if
I’m awake.”

“With pleasure!” she said angrily.

She pinched me hard and it hurt.

I expected something extraordinary to
happen, but the heavens and the earth did not move. That meant I
still was where I thought that I was—and very much alive!

“I know that everything here is amazing for
anyone who sees it for the first time, but you’re awake,” she said,
half angry, half amused. “See, you’re not crazy!”

Delilah pointed ahead. I held my breath and
stepping back a few steps, I saw the rest of the street. It wound
its way down, following the entire length of wall to a large
building that looked like block-shaped crates and square towers
overlapping each other. The wall also descended the slope parallel
with the street, forming a corner with the exact point where the
street disappeared among the trees - probably cutting through the
forest and reaching other areas of the campus.

“In that direction, you will find swimming
pools, skate ramps and a recreation center with an ice skating
rink,” Abby said.

“Wait.” Violet
’s face bore a mischievous expression.
“I heard that you had attended the Summer Session,
but that can’t be. It’s obvious that this is the first time you’ve
visited the campus.”

Silence settled over the group. I could see
the surprised expression on the faces of the others because they
hadn’t thought about that. And to be honest, I hadn’t either. I am,
by nature, a bad liar. But incredible as it seemed, David saved me,
again!

“You forget, Violet, the Summer Session has
a lyceum in the downtown center.” Turning to me, he asked with a
strange look, “By chance, did you enroll over there?”

“It is...” I ventured.

“See?” I was deceived or his look was relief
when he faced Violet, but she didn’t seem convinced.

“Did you take a leave of absence from
college?” She wanted to know.

“Yes, I just took a leave...because of the
accident, you know...”

“Hmmm”.

Delilah looked at me thoughtfully. I averted
my eyes from hers and steadily stared at the entryway.

“Your school assessment must have been
phenomenal for you to have done it without harming your
performance. What was your score?” Janice asked. Violet looked at
her, pleasantly surprised with the new line of attack.

Now, I was lost. The silence stretched.

“I don’t remember!”

This time Delilah and Abby also professed
disbelief.

“How could you not remember?” Janice raised
her voice a little. “People here crammed for the UWall acceptance.
These are students who simply have the best performance in their
home states or who have an enviable track record, full of projects
and community action. What did you do to be here?”

“Besides being the darling of Adrian
Cahill...” Violet clucked her tongue.

I was about to answer or rather I was about
to confess that I had done nothing to get that opportunity when
David saved me again.

“Since when do geniuses cling to things as
mundane as the score of a standardized test?”