The Lover's Parable Through A Seven World Journey (2 page)

Permission was required to enter the Highway at all times. And every destination upon it was the same: a place where there was some apparent involvement with the Red Plant.

There was a guarded, red, brick passage,
the Gate
, which stood between the City and the Highway. It was a striking contrast to the sterile, grayish-white Corral that enclosed the City due to its crimson color, and also due to the fact that it was the only break in the entirety of the continuity of the wall. It had several aisles through which the workers would drive their transporters after being retinal scanned and positively identified.

Most of the work force, those individuals with authorization to perform their duties outside of the city, is similar in demeanor to the Monster, cruel and mean. For most of the populace, the Red Plant was a mystery of which the ignorant did not inquire about, a mystery of which John had no interest in discovering its truth.

Oftentimes, when they were alone on the rooftop, John would sit silently staring at the open, free land. These were the most serene moments of his life, and the most conducive times for pondering its deeper meaning. He wondered what his destination in life was and what was to happen when his education was complete. Would he become just another slave in an isolated cubicle, designing (as was his occupational appointment) machines for a cause of which he knew nothing about, for a war that had spanned further back in time than his historical knowledge possessed, even generations.

The war seemed to exist only on the tele-monitors, the newsprints and announcements during the Education lectures. A vague enemy existed somewhere. There were soldiers fighting. But these soldiers, they were not from Labor City. He had seen many pictures of them and motion captures of their hard fought battles. The thought of where they might be from was too perplexing. As far as he knew, neither he nor Sofia had ever met one. They were not related to anyone in the military, either. Although John did inwardly harbor a bit of envy with regards to their heroic exploits, it was a relief to know that he would not become one.

John knew that his life was prearranged: what type of position he would hold, where he would live, how he would live. It was
all
preplanned. At the end of the workday he would probably have to return to some pathetic grovel, like his parents’ apartment, with nary any room to stretch out his legs and actually call
home
. Just as every married male in the building, he would probably bicker with an over-stressed wife that rapidly grew too old and ugly to have any desirable qualities. He would struggle to pay his rent, to pay for food, to pay for clothes. He would always
just make it
at the end of every paycheck. Most of his economic loss would go to the powers that be. Where the money went from there was as much of a mystery as the Red Plant, considering Labor seemed to require little maintenance to sustain it. These were the deeper thoughts of John.

But today there was a peculiar energy in the air. It seemed so different than all the past moments of their rooftop time together. There was a springing forth of inner light, like the grasping of an idea after spending many nights trying to comprehend some difficult concept. It filled up John’s heart the moment that light from the dark void of space had fallen upon him. Even though his thoughts of the future were, at the same time, causing him to feel that familiar emptiness, he knew today was the day that he needed to do something about it. With a quick glance at the stair-step, concrete buildings, that bizarre pattern of gray, white sterility that marched out to the center of the city, John knew something was different. An acute desire to change his course in life was pressing upon
him.

“Why don’t we leave Labor forever,” he asked, “and never come back?”

“John,” Sofia’s voice broke, as she sat up, pulling out a few strands of hair that had snagged on the uneven texture of the porous rooftop.

Her hand slipped out from under John’s grasp as she attempted to rub the pain out.

“Leave? Leave to where?” she asked.

The rich green of the hills, rolling to the horizon, settled upon a bluish-white sky. It was the direction from which the Savior was traveling. Perhaps all this time it was a sign: the way to freedom. Was it their destiny to find their way up here? Was the direction of the rising light actually a path that was beckoning them to follow it to a land where they could be free to be together, to escape? Although nobody ever spoke to him of that which existed beyond the City’s walls, John knew deep within his heart that there was a calling from something… or someone.

“How about out there?” he said, pointing towards the east.

Sofia did not answer him. She was just sitting, staring: a rational, existing being, visually consuming the environment. Although she was silent, he knew that she was actually considering the proposition, contemplating making that final run with him.

As the shedding of an article of clothing drops gently to the floor, so she let her hand fall back onto his. Sofia left her matted patch of hair untouched. The great beyond was before her: that immense mystery of their world. What could be out there, she thought. Was John just being silly, or was he onto something with that suggestion?

The flowering fields and grassy abundance were tempting her desires. What an adventure they would have.

The metallic door creaked to a close. A single ray of Savior settled upon John’s eye as he eased it shut. Sofia caught a glimpse of the thin, honey colored stream that narrowed to the width of a hair before fading away completely. The corridor was so dark that, had she not already known, she could not make out the slightest hint that John was in the room. At long last the blooming of the sickly red glow from the retinal scanner illuminated the Forbidden Area.

The Savior gazing ended in such a strange fashion, John thought. The two of them had never spoken like that before. It was a crime to speak of the outside world. How much more when conspiring with another person about an escape? They had already broken so many laws by leaving their colorless existence below, engaging with the illuminated world above. Planning an escape could not be any worse. Since they had found their rooftop paradise they had ipso facto made themselves enemies of the state. It was a fearful thought at what the punishment would be. But those few, fleeting moments of time together in their little slice of paradise was well worth anything that could be thrown at them, if they happened to be
caught.

Time is such a strange concept. It goes by without notice. And the moment one notices the particular time of which one is thinking, that piece of time has already passed away. That moment of time is gone forever. These thoughts stirred in John’s consciousness as the two of them bathed in the red light of the Forbidden Room. Where had the time gone and where would it lead?

It had been a couple of years since John and Sofia first happened upon the defunct scanner of the Forbidden Room. Passing through the ocean of people that commonly tread upon the sidewalks everyday as they were returning home from the Education, there was nothing in particular about the day that would lead them to believe that their lives would be changed, or that there was going to be an alteration in the way they would view their entire world.

For some odd reason, of which she had no previous inclination, Sofia passed her gaze upward just in time to see an object fall from their apartment’s rooftop overhang onto the next building below. She beckoned to John to cast his eyes upward as well. But the object was already out of sight, as it could have only been seen for a fraction of a second due to the limited amount of space that was visible.

With a tight grip, Sofia wrapped her fingers around John’s hand and pulled him closer to the curbside and out into the street. She wanted to move faster without being further hindered by the crowds.

“Come on. Let’s go see what that was,” she said with a laugh.

Although John momentarily considered holding Sofia back from her desire, deep down inside he was just as curious as she was to solve the mystery of what it was that she had seen.

After a great deal of maneuvering, it was not long before they made their way to the entrance of their apartment building. The swinging, glass doors slammed into the walls as they rushed through with the urgent intent of reaching their destination.

Arriving at the computer terminal mounted on the wall first, without hesitation Sofia peered into the camera of the retinal scanner. There was the familiar sound of the mechanical drive system stirring behind the two sliding, metallic doors of the elevator. The glowing red screen of the monitor was replaced by a green
approval
hue as the doors slid open, revealing the white-tiled compartment inside. They stepped in with haste, their bags dropping to the floor as they settled in for the ride.

Of the two of them, Sofia was the more adventurous. John was fond of adventure as well, but not nearly as fond as she, for it was Sofia who had always initiated the fun. And, although they really had not been on a
true
adventure before, they both felt that rapid beating of the heart, believing that this was the closest thing as they could possibly get to a genuine venture.

The metal railing was a familiar feeling pressing into their shoulder blades as they rested back against the walls of the upward moving vehicle. Living, as they both did, on the top floor, the ride always felt rather drawn out and slow. But today, that time-sticky feeling was even more pronounced. They were giddy with wonder at what they would find once they reached the Red Room that housed the Forbidden Door that opened to the rooftop.

With a ringing of the muffled, digital bells, the doors creaked aside, and John and Sofia hurried one another out. The hall, like the rest of the city, was cold and uninviting. It was partially lit by the low intensity, orange lights that were scattered across the ceiling, leaving patches of blackness along its eerie corridors. As they made their way down its poorly illuminated path, Sofia startled at the sound of a slamming door that echoed from around the corner and down one of the long, blackened walkways. She felt John pulling her back into the shadows as footsteps could be heard making their way from the same direction as the curious slamming.

It seemed as if many minutes of silence had passed, when suddenly, a silhouette appeared to round the corner several doors down. Whoever it was, he limped with a gait that neither of them recognized. One footstep was hard, making the clackity-clack sound of a shoe upon linoleum, while the other was soft and almost completely silent. The stranger slowly made his way to the threshold of apartment eleven-ten. His head looked this way and that way with an air of caution before bending over the apartment’s door scanner.

The red light was glowing brightly as his eyes neared the cups. That is when the face of Mr. Sanders was momentarily exposed. The scanner had not only given away his identity, but it also grossly exaggerated the features of his already worn and wrinkled face, giving him the appearance of someone to fear.

Although John lived in the apartment directly in front of room eleven-ten, and Sofia’s parents were housed just a little further down the hall, neither of them had very much contact with the man. He was a unique character in the building, readily recognized by the pair as the old loner with an oddly hunched back and a balding top with a horseshoe-shaped tuft of hair that wrapped around his head from ear to ear. He hardly ever spoke with anybody (especially after the Labor Security reassigned his wife to Restful Haven nearly two years ago). He was also the last of the aged engineers of his generation to live, or rather pass the time, outside of Restful Haven, the final destination where a worker was sent to expire.

Mr. Sanders gazed into the scanner’s eyecups, accessing the security identification network. His face morphed from a blood, red tone to a sickly green as the
approval
screen appeared on the scanner’s monitor. The door’s lock released, then he disappeared into his abode. He closed the door with such gentleness that there was no sound until the automated-lock initiated.

John eased forward, careful to stay within the shadows. With his hand held tightly to Sofia’s, he led the way forward. As they passed along the wall, just opposite Mr. Sanders’ peephole, a muffled noise of mournful wailing filled the emptiness around them. Sofia’s attempt to move into the light and press her ear against the door for a clearer sound was met with a silent waving of John’s hand. He pressed his finger against her lips, motioning with his eyes toward the winding corridor that led to their original
terminus.

They continued to move past several abodes, silently making their way through the apartment halls. It was quite the contrast with regards to the noise level when compared to the evenings when all the grown-ups had returned home from work and the cursing and screaming began.

At long last the Forbidden Room was in sight. It was a much more narrow access to the rooftop than either of them could have imagined. Having never entered into the Forbidden Area’s glowing arena before, but only gazing upon it from a distance, there was an unexpected, liberating feeling that entered into both of their hearts upon seeing it so close.

With all the novelty that The Room had brought to them as they stepped their feet into it, there was one item of which they were both very familiar with, and it was quite apparent to them that something was askew. The retinal scanner, which allowed access through the Door, was intermittently flashing, something neither John nor Sofia had ever seen before.

Crouching down to get a closer look, John could see that the underside cover was missing. Upon further inspection, he noticed that a few wires had been cut from the circuit board and were pushed back into the body of the scanner, as if to be hidden from
sight.

“Someone’s been messing with this,” he said with a curious look. “Maybe we should leave… before we get blamed. What do you think?”

Sofia thought for a moment before shaking her head in agreement. Reaching up and grasping the topside of the unit, John hoisted himself up. But an accidental depression of his finger across the retinal-sensor plate initiated a metallic click that emitted from the door jam, just beside the knob. The Red Room suddenly filled with that same sickly, green glow that had painted Mr. Sanders’ face just moments earlier:
the glow of approval
. A mischievous smile formed at the corner of Sofia’s mouth as her eyes passed a quick glance towards the doorknob and then back again at John.

“Oh, no, young lady. We’re not going up there,” John quietly protested.

“Oh, yes we are,” she whispered. “Don’t you want to see what that strange man was up to?”

“No. It’s none of our business.”

John began to walk toward the hall from which they had first presented. He had not taken but three steps before there came an interruption of his gait made by an abrupt tightness from around his neck. He was suddenly pulled backward by the collar.

“What are you doing? Stop that,” he growled, pulling at his shirt.

“Please go up with me,” Sofia giggled.

The curling of John’s lip was a sure sign that he was thinking, thinking hard. Sofia walked up the small flight of steps to the rooftop entrance.

“Come on, we haven’t got all day,” she laughed.

“Alright,” John spoke with a stutter. “But if we get caught up there, I’m never talking to you again.”

With a triumphant smile Sofia slowly turned the knob to the Forbidden Door. A blinding gust of golden light filled their faces as it drew open, causing them to momentarily look away. Through squinted eyelids, their burning, watery view allowed only a glimpse of the blurry imagery of what there was before them, but it was beautiful. It was pure and fresh.

Their eyes quickly adjusted to their alien surroundings as they ascended the flight of stairs just beyond the doorway. Finding themselves standing high above the City, with a panoramic view unlike anything they had ever experienced in the past, neither John nor Sofia was able to say a word.

The expanse above them was so deep and blue, decorated with puffs and waves of all sorts of curious cloud formations. There were creatures of various feathered species flying in circular patterns. There was the Great Light burning in the sky of which no one spoke openly, but only that of which children handed down to children over many generations in their silly, mythical
stories.

The walk to the rooftop’s edge was exhilarating. They were, for the first time, able to openly see the rolling hills and thick green trees that spanned for an incomprehensible distance before disappearing over the horizon. It was obvious that there was nobody else with them. They were alone, but together.

Sofia peered into John’s eyes with that irresponsibly playful smile again and slowly moved away from him. Her sly demeanor was letting him know she was gearing up for something
adventurous.

“What are you up to, girl?” he questioned with a pseudo-authoritative tone.

Holding John’s hand as she moved away, her steps were rhythmical, proceeding with a suspicious purpose. As their arms stretched out she suddenly dropped his hands and began sprinting across the concrete structure, leaping and laughing like a captured creature finally set free. John watched with delight for a moment. He was hesitant. But, upon seeing the stairs that would lead him back into his gloomy existence below, he knew that it would be foolish of him not to join in on the fun. Racing around, hopping over the pipes and cables that stretched here and there, it was the most incredible, and least expected, event of the day… in their lives.

Being the cautious person that he was, John’s running area was further from any of the drop-off points at the edges of the roof than Sofia’s. But as the calming comfort of being far from the misery of daily living was settling in, he began to make wider his playful perimeter. It was not long before he realized that he was at the edge of the apartment that faced inward into the city. He was gazing out over the same place from which the mysterious body was seen falling from the street below. He slowly dropped to his knees, guardedly creeping towards the edge, overlooking the rooftop of the next building. There was an object, brown and shiny, propped up against a lattice of gray and white pipes and cables. It looked terribly out of
place.