Everyone breaks up once again, but the loud festivities tone down to mild companionship, where everyone once had to shout over one another to get a word in edgewise, can now comfortably talk in regular speaking tone over the soft string music.  The dancing in the town center fills in and resumes, but to a slower and calmer set of steps, many choosing this time to retreat back to their homes and rooms, leaving those still wanting to socialize able to do so in smaller groups rather than a massive crowd.  We back up as the inn closes its doors once again and though only the die-hards sit up and drink at the bar, Lucy and I choose to take our cordial and sit by the fire as we’ve done on many other occasions.

“Did you know this was going to happen?”

“I had absolutely no clue”

“Wow, we’ve got some great timing, then,”  I say off-handed as Lucy nods in agreement.

“I suppose we can stay instead of leave to observe the custom, but I think it is really important we plan our next plan of action as we made this trip haphazardly.”

“It was mainly your idea to come here because of your hunch.  I figured you had a plan of action other than just stepping into a new world without any idea of where to go and whatnot.”

“Quite the contrary, I did not.”

“Wait, what?!”  I am was flabbergasted, to say the least, as I never would have pegged Lucy as a fly by your pant sort of person.  I couldn’t contain my surprise and thrill at how wrong I had been of his character up until this point, but honestly, it shouldn’t have been a shock with how well he traveled with me around to the waterfalls with no complaint despite his aloof behavior.  He definitely shocked me now and I couldn’t contain my amusement as I started to crack up and giggle like a child non-stop.  

“And what pray tell is so amusing?”  He raised an eyebrow at me and his smirk was almost broad enough to be considered a wry grin.

“You, of course!  I thought I had you pegged as a stuffy old codger but there’s still life in you yet, old man!”

“And here I thought you were just a young whippersnapper with no manners.”

I raised my own eyebrow at him and then gestured with my hand to continue but he only looked shocked at the gesture before saying, “Oh, I still do.  That’s it.”

Jerk!

I busted out in fits of laugher that turned into loud guffaws and slapped him on the shoulder pretty hard.  His shocked expression seemed to point out that my actions proved his point, but so what!  I rolled my eyes before I turned my attention back to the bar and ordering a round of the house liqueur recommended by many of the patrons.  When I looked into the cup, there were suspended seeds surrounded by a gel capsule within my long and skinny conical glass.  I raised it to eye level and watched as the floating bodies drifted slowly through a gradient of green to dark blue liquid and I brought it to my nose and only smelt something akin to cumin or anise.  

I brought them back to our place by the fire and handed Lucy his drink.  He gave it a once over before raising it and saying, “To Hiloh!” it sounded like.  I repeated it in question and after we both had a taste, Lucy proceeded to explain the meaning, “Health, wealth and longevity, through high and low points in our short lives.”  I took my first sip of the alluring aqueous mixture and instantly fell in love with the sweet tangy drink.  The tapioca at the bottom of my drink were swimming in chia seeds that cracked with a hard snap in the middle if I bit down on it.  The seed itself had a very strong citrus flavor that balanced the drinks sweet overtones.  I enjoyed the textures as much if not more than the flavor and didn’t realize I drank the majority of my concoction while experimenting with the textures.

“I like that.”  And I gave the drink one last swig of the liqueur before getting up to possibly get a snack.  As I got up, I felt all the blood rush to my face and instantly started to get warm and felt the need to sit down and stumbled a bit from the sudden light headed feeling.

I instantly felt a hand on my back right as I was feeling like I was going to fall back into my seat.  

“Easy.  I think it is about time you get some rest.”  I heard Lucy stand behind me as he leaned closer to make sure I don’t topple over.

“There’s too much going on.  I feel like I won’t be able to see everything ever again.”

“You have had enough excitement for one night.  Come along.”  It wasn’t a stern command or even a request.  It was a statement of a fact.  I was going to be escorted to my room whether I like it or not.  I didn’t have the energy to fight him so I started to walk slowly toward the stairs trying my best to walk a straight line but once we started to walk up the stairs, it was a whole different story.  The first few steps were okay but as I made my way up, the task at hand became more and more daunting and making it to the first floor had my pulse was pounding at my temples and I am sure I was flushed.  I rested for a moment to catch my breath and when we started to walk up again, feeling confident that I have a handle on my balance and that I didn’t need to worry about my pulse getting stronger with each step.  All will be good once I land in bed.  

Well, I made I managed the first few steps leading up to the next floor when suddenly the room started to spin and my grip on the banister loosened completely!  I tried to reach for it again, but it was too late, I was going to fall!  There was a brief millisecond of fear set in during my free fall when I felt myself stop and safely held in Lucy’s arms.  He reached down and scooped up my legs and I felt safe against his chest, felt my breathing slow, my pulse no longer pounding behind my eyes and I felt myself drift asleep.  

I walk up to the balcony and look out the window to see the expanse of the village.  Our room seems to be at the very top of the tree, just above the branches where I could see the edge of the village in the valley and beyond.  I can actually look up and see parts of the narrow stairway, I can now see how long we traveled the day before.  Now that the sun is shining and most everyone is likely still recovering from the festivities from yesterday, I am quite shocked how wide and sprawling some of the streets are below me.  The village is starting to wake up and movement, sparse and slow at best this morning, is like watching ants moving in a vast colony of trees and branches.  As I look around, I feel like the trees may have grown taller, bushier even over night, with fuller leaves and flowers just about over populating the branches.  In fact, the density of the branches could almost count as a second roof over all the once open spaces.  I really want to see what the village looks like now that all the trees have grown in so I dash off to get dressed and when I am finally ready, I quietly leave the room and close the door behind me.  

Lucy is still fast asleep and he probably had a long night making sure I didn’t kill myself on those stairs, so I may as well let him sleep.  Walking down to the bar, I am greeted by the innkeep.

“Ah, good morning!  I’m glad to see you are not sick from yesterday’s festivities.”

“Good morning.  Surprisingly, I woke up bright and early with no hangover.  What happened to the trees yesterday.”

“Oh, yes.  I keep on forgetting you are not from here.  For the festivities, we elect a caller to the plants to promote growth and symbolize prosperity for that quarter of the year.”

I must look utterly confused because his pause indicates that he is done talking but then continues to explain, “a caller is what others would call a shifter, bender, or as the city likes to refer to them, as magnat or mags for short.  They are people in our society that have special abilities that shape the environment around them.”

Now I know, I had a look of confusion because he then sighs, flips up the swinging counter top into a perpendicular angle to allow his portly body to fit through the opening that usually bars him his guests.  He comes to stand in front of me, rolls up his sleeve and then claps his hands in front of him almost like one does for a prayer but I suddenly saw a crack in the floor.  The breach in the floorboards widened to allow a small seedling to materialize and I couldn’t contain my shock at I look from him to the seedling to confirm what I am actually seeing.

“Wait, what?”  I ask him incredulously, my eyes, I’m sure are as round as my mouth hanging open in shock.  “Are you actually doing that?”

The older man’s eyes seem to twinkle and he slowly pulls his hand apart and widen the seam in the boards to allow for more growth.  The sprout started to elongate and the leaves start to populate the small slip up a plant until it turns into a bushy shrub.  The more Pops expanded and pulls his hands apart, the more the shrub fills in and grows.  He stops his hands and starts to wiggle his fingers and suddenly buds of flowers start to pop up and sprouts all over the shrub.  

“How are you doing that?”

“Most of the people in this valley can call to nature in some form or another.  My son, the one that you met on your way down here, he’s actually very adept at shifting rocks and calling terra firma.  Have you no skill in it.”

“I’ve never tried but I can open gateways.”

“Well, I’ll be!  I’ve never seen one of you before but glad to finally lay eyes on a crosser!  Here, folks mainly call to things in nature.  Why, that’s how I started this inn.  For as long as this village has been here, we’ve lived in trees and homes carved out of the mountain but I wanted to have a specialized place that is distinctly mine, so I started to shape my inn with my shifting and bending and customize most of my rooms and furniture to my liking.”

“Oh!  Is that how you were able to design such fluid tables?”

“Yes and no.  I shaped and shifted all my furnature to look as natural as possible but I like a lot of the designs of the Alter Reial with machines and whatnot.”

“The Alter Reial?”
“The place that you can likely cross from those gateways you mention.  Not many people have access to that side of the world in these parts.  We don’t have an open access portal like they do in the city but maybe we can ask you to open one for us in these parts of the valley.  Otherwise we would have to go to the city to apply for access and that costs too much and it’s too far.”

“I’ve never been to the city.  What is it like?”

“Hm, another small town girl.  Well, nothing but buildings and a heap of people.  I personally don’t venture to that part of the world because there is nothing there they have to offer me that I can’t get here, but the youngins like going there.  Many don’t come back because the opportunities as well as the new experiences over there call to them.  The ones that don’t venture that way, stay here and help out our villages and improve our area.  

I can’t complain as I’ve been to the city a long time ago, but it wasn’t for me.  The call of nature was too strong and the city drowns out most of that call.  I’d say that call is what brings our kids back to us here if not the overwhelming lifestyle they face in the city.  Many that move away from their calling and it starts to fade until they forget about it.  That’s why many don’t realize they have it.  It’s quite possible you have it as well.  From what I’ve heard, those from the Alter Reial have mainly lost that calling like the city dwellers but there are few that to answer it and find their way back home.”

“Wow, I never knew.”

“Give it a try.”

“What do I do?”

“Just close your eyes and see if you hear anything.”  Pops offered and scooted a walking stool towards me to take a seat.

What could it hurt, right?

I close my eyes and tried to feel for something, anything that may feel like it’s calling to me.  Inwardly, I was thinking, hoping that something would come and would answer my call, but I just feel like I’m thinking to myself.  

Please, Please Please Please Please….

“Try not to think to hard and clear your mind.  This particular skill doesn’t need you to actually find it.  It’ll find you.”  

Pop’s words float away from my thoughts as I try and think of everything swirling in my head and push it out of my mind in one fell swoop.  I inhale deeply and exhale, slowly but surely clearing away the thoughts and hopes I had so that all I can picture in my mind’s eye is black.  A dark canvas, and nothing else.  I take one more deep breath and physically feel my body loosen and relax, my breathing becomes steady.  When I feel my mind is empty, I just focus on my breath and nothing else.  A shiver runs down my spine and suddenly feel myself warm up as though the sun's rays are slowly thawing the cold chill down my back and chase that feeling away completely, shedding light on my body and inflaming my senses.  Suddenly I’m acutely aware of things around me like minute sounds of the rustling leaves, a mild breeze upon my skin and a tingling at my fingertips.  I flex my digits in reaction to the feeling and stretch them out as though I am reaching for something just beyond my reach, just so that I may touch it and see how it responds.  I almost picture a warm glow before me and just when I am about to have it within my grasp-

“Ms. Ao, if you’re quite done, I do think we need to be heading out.” A clip voice slices through my concentration and the warmth, the tingling and the thrill of something new - something that may be defining of who I was, or am - just gone.  I look up to see Lucy waiting for me expectantly, arms crossed imperiously over his chest and foot tapping as he looked down his aristocratic nose from the top of the second floor just above me at my left.  My shoulders slump and my arms now lax at my side after mimicking Pops motions from earlier.  I tear my eyes away from Lucy and look down with my lips pursed one sided before sighing and nodding.