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I was laying on a cold, smooth floor, and I had an awful headache. The ceiling above me was one I had never seen before, one made of stone and wooden beams. There was an itchy blanket draped over me. I blinked and sat up. The floor beneath me was made of stone blocks, like marble, but solid gray. The walls were almost covered with rich tapestries, but the weavings didn't quite meet each other, so I could see gray through the gaps. There were a couple elaborate chairs and a table near me, but other than that, the room seemed uncluttered, and unfamiliar. "Huh?" I mumbled incoherently.
In a matter of seconds, two young men rushed through the arched doorway, which I hadn't noticed until that moment. They looked down at me, their eyebrows knitted in what looked like concern. The men were both dressed in beautiful clothes: flowing red jackets with loose sleeves, fitted teal shirts, and black pants which appeared to be velvet. The taller one had shoulder-length black hair, brilliant green eyes, and broad shoulders, with a muscular build. His strong, angular face, and well-defined jawbone made him handsome, so much that I couldn't help but stare at him; he looked kind of like the guy who had been with me in my island fantasy just a half-hour ago. He wore a very heavy-looking necklace, with a huge circular medallion probably made of gold. The shorter one was obviously a few years younger (about my age, I guessed), with short dark brown hair and eyes just a little too big for his face--he was skinny, but kind of cute in a childlike way. His face was much rounder than his companions, making him look younger than he was. He wore a purse, and carried a funny-looking book. The more handsome one slowly walked towards me.
"Cone?"
I had no idea what language he was speaking--his word (sentence?) sounded like the Spanish word for 'with,' but that didn't make any by itself. Carefully stood and tried to speak to them. With a broad motion, I pointed to myself and said, "I'm Bonnie." The two men looked confused. "Do you know English?" Their blank expressions answered the question. I called up my three years of Spanish classes. "Me llama Bonnie?" The men didn't understand that either. "Uh...konnichiwa?" I tried pathetically. "Ich bin ein Bonnie?" None of my sad stabs at other languages even registered with the strangers; if I had been anywhere in the ballpark of their language, or any they had ever heard, they probably would've at least smiled at my accent and grammar. "BONNIE," I finally repeated, motioning to myself.
"Slu Bonnie?" the skinny man--boy?--asked, pointing to me. "Slu Leander;" he said as he motioned to himself. Leander--that sounded like a real name, at least. "Slu Frun," he said, pointing to the other man. I gathered that those must be their names.
Leander smiled and said something to Frun--I thought I heard my name in there. Leander laughed at himself, but his tall companion just looked bored, as if he already knew what Leander was saying. Finally, Frun motioned to me, said a couple words, and left the room.
Leander stared at me for about a minute, looking over all my features, but especially my eyes, I imagined. Then he started talking, slowly, and enunciating all the vowels. Of course I didn't understand a word he was saying, although the words sounded sympathetic, not harsh. I really wished I had learned more about the world's languages, so I could at least have a clue which one they were speaking, and maybe where I was. Less than a minute later, a woman, probably in her late 30's, came into the room. Her hair was wavy and black, with flecks of gray, and pulled up from her face by a huge bow. Her dress was long-sleeved, but otherwise somewhat like a pastel peach toga, draped loosely over her almost (but not quite) stocky build. She wore dark green shoes, almost clogs, which looked a bit uncomfortable (and clashed with the toga and bow, I thought). She quickly and confidently took me by the wrist and led me out of the room. Leander followed us into the hallway where Frun was waiting. As the woman led me down the hall, I looked back at the two strange men. Leander touched his forehead with his fist, and I raised an eyebrow in return, since I had no idea what he was trying to say--if anything at all. Leander gave me a confused look as well. The woman pulled me around a corner and the two men were out of sight.
The woman didn't bother to introduce herself, or even speak to me. With a quick step, she led me off through some plain corridors, and then many rich, carpeted hallways, to another part of the building. It looked even nicer than the pretty room I had fallen into mere minutes ago. The carpets were all a rich blue color, and the walls were hung with gorgeous paintings, all realistic, with people more beautiful than movie stars and bright tapestries finer than any I'd ever seen. The woman opened a wooden door and pulled me inside a room.
It was a very well-furnished and elegant room; I loved it instantly, although I thought it might be just a little too fancy for me. It had a rich, soft bed with a blue spread--the bed was only a few inches off the ground. The room had an open window with a wooden shutter, two beautiful wooden chairs, with pictures woven into the padding, a large wardrobe against one wall, and something like a dresser in the corner. The dresser had only two shallow drawers, but there was a mirror on the wall next to it and a ceramic bucket of water on it--to wash with, I figured. The rug was dark red with blue stripes, and looked kind of like a shag carpet after it had been carefully mowed--at least, it was thick and soft. The walls were adorned with art and tapestries, some even with real jewels worked into the patterns and scenes.
After letting me stare open-jawed at the room for a moment, the woman pulled me over to a chair and sat me down. She whipped off my shoes and my knee-highs, then pulled me back out of the chair and forced me to stand. The carpet felt wonderful on my bare feet--I could walk in heels, but they really weren't comfortable; my toes enjoyed their freedom. Suddenly, the woman unbuttoned my green dress and yanked it off of me.
"What are you doing?!" I yelled, but, even though I was pretty sure she knew the meaning of my shout, she didn't put the dress back on, but instead, clicked her tongue until I stopped talking. Before I could stop her, the woman had unhooked my bra. She tried to pull it off, but I held it against my chest until the woman gave up and re-hooked it. She stared at my fancy underwear, scowling in confusion with her eyes wide, but she didn't try to take anything else off.
The woman went over to the bucket on the dresser, took a cloth out of one of the dresser drawers, dropped it in the bucket, and brought it over to me. She made me sit down, and then she washed my face--I blushed, as I was reminded of a grandmother's spit bath. She washed my hands and feet, but I didn't mind that as much--it was like a manicure and pedicure, without the nail polish. The woman pulled me up again and forced some kind of funny straight tying-thing--kind of like a corset, I guess--around my waist. She tied it really tightly, and it held my breath in, not to mention my flesh, so it really hurt--maybe it was supposed to. Then the woman pulled out a very elaborate dress, with a long, tight-fitting skirt, from the wardrobe. She put the dress on me--it was almost as uncomfortable as the corset, and not made for anyone near my size. But
I looked really pretty and thin in it--it was a shade of deep orange, with jewels along most of its seams. It was much too frilly, though; its long sleeves were nothing but lace. While I was still standing, the woman put a new pair of shoes on me (they were more comfortable than my heels, even she had to use a funny-looking shoehorn to put them on me) and a necklace, along with a pair of earrings on my ears. (Their earrings looped over the top of the ear, and didn't penetrate the ear lobe like ours--I thought they looked really stupid.) Then the woman took off her own shoes. I wondered if I was supposed to dress *her* now. But she just pulled me over near one of the beautiful chairs, then stood up on it with her bare feet and proceeded to do my hair. I realized my tight dress didn't allow me to sit. Well, maybe it would have, if it hadn't been too small for me. So the woman spent what felt like an hour brushing my light brown hair and styling it just right, putting jewels in it and everything. It was kind of frustrating, going through all this and not knowing why, and, since I was so uncomfortable, I hoped I wouldn't have to be dressed up for long, at least. When I was all ready, the woman took me to the mirror again. The thing was poorly made; it was a little wavy, and had a couple bubbles in the glass. But I still saw that I was both beautiful, and dressed funnier than even Jamie had ever been--and she had about the same taste in clothes as a clown. But, for about the first time since my childhood, I felt the way I looked almost didn't seem to be worth the pain of the uncomfortable clothes and all the time it had taken. The woman pulled me from the mirror and spoke to me, urgently. I stared back at her blankly, to make sure she couldn't possibly think I knew what she was talking about. She frowned, then took my wrist and pulled me out of the room.
We went up several flights of stairs and down a few hallways to a place even more beautiful than my room--it looked like the throne room of a castle, which, as I later discovered, was exactly what it was. The whole room was octagonal, which made it look almost round, and the walls were covered with elaborate tapestries, all of which seemed to come together to tell a story about grand men and knights, or something. The floor was pure marble, only a kind I've never seen--white and green. It was so shiny I could see my dress reflected in it. There was a green-jacketed man in each of the eight corners of the room, plus one on either side of the doors in four of the sides of the room (what I assumed were north, south, east, and west). They all wore helmets (although that was their only armor) and held battle-axes. In the center of the room was a beautiful gold throne. It was probably plated, but it had jewels sticking out of almost every part of it. There was a blue cushion on the throne. At least the king got to be comfortable, I thought. The throne was empty, but only for a few moments. A door in the back of the room opened, and the knights all dropped to their knees. The woman who escorted me to the room also did so, and, when I didn't, punched me in the ankle until I complied (which was almost impossible in the long, tight skirt I was wearing). I looked up.
The black-haired man, Frun, had seated himself on the throne. That meant he was the king! "Rla," he said, and everyone got up. I struggled to my feet; the woman who had dressed me had to help. Frun looked at me, then motioned to himself. "Slu Kelar." I looked around; everyone else looked surprised. I shook my head, confused. Frun scowled and narrowed his eyes for a moment, until one of the soldiers dared to approach him (bowing his head and trembling a bit) to say something. Frun listened, nodded, then said something to the woman who had brought me in. She dropped to her knees again, briefly and respectfully, then rose and yanked me back out of the room so quickly I almost tripped. Once she was away from the king, she looked annoyed, and muttered some things under her breath. She took me back to my room, said a few quick words to me, and left me there. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, so I just stood there and waited, since I didn't think I'd be able to get out of that dress by myself had I wanted to, and besides, she had left me nothing to change into. I did look into the wardrobe while I was waiting, but it was empty. In a little while, the woman came back, holding a deep-blue garment. She took me out of my dress, much to my relief, although she left the corset on, then slipped the blue thing on me. It was kind of a cross between a robe and a tunic, very loose-fitting, and made of very soft blue fabric. The woman took my shoes off and slipped on some slipper-like things made of soft leather--they were more comfortable than going around in socks, even. She then turned and looked at me and said a few more words, obviously hoping I would suddenly understand. I just shook my head, and the woman took my wrist and led me out of my room again.
We went up a long, spiraling (though square) flight of stairs, into another hallway, and through the third door we passed. The room we entered had all sorts of weird papers, scrolls, books, and instruments I had never seen before. The fancy books were bound on the shorter sides--the tops, I soon discovered--and all were about as large as a spiral-bound notebook. The woman introduced me to an older-looking man. He was dressed very well, in beautiful deep yellow garments, and wore a poorly-made pair of glasses. He looked at me, got on his knees for a moment, then rose again. I gave the man a funny look, and he nodded, then said some words to the woman, who bowed her head for a second, then dropped my wrist and left. The man looked at me and spoke in a softer, kinder voice.
"Slu Chran," he said, motioning to himself. In a questioning voice, he motioned to me and said, "Slu Bonnie?"
"Uh...yeah," I nodded, thinking I understood.
Chran nodded enthusiastically. "Bo," he said, "slu Chran, ha slu Bonnie."
I shook my head, trying to tell Chran that I was completely lost. He nodded, then took me by the wrist, saying a short sentence very slowly, but I still didn't get it. Chran frowned for a moment, then nodded again, and smiled, pointing to his head. "Bo."
I nodded doubtfully. "Bo?" He was nodding. Did that mean yes here?
"Bo, slu Bonnie," he motioned to me. "Bo?"
"Bo," I finally said. Yes, my name is Bonnie. Nodding must be one of those human universals that every society of humans anywhere knows. You know, like smiling is a sign of pleasure to every known human society. Well, at least, nodding was the first thing besides smiling I recognized here.
Chran motioned to himself and shook his head. "Tu slu Bonnie."
If shaking his head meant 'no,' or 'tu,' he was saying he wasn't Bonnie. This was really silly, but then, the only word I knew--besides a few names--was 'slu,' so he didn't have much to work with. I frowned, then motioned to myself. "Tu slu Chran," I said carefully.
Chran smiled broadly. "Clah!" he exclaimed, nodding. I just stared. Chran halfheartedly smiled at me and said something quietly, but kindly. "Bonnie, glina Chran," he said, and he opened the door of the room. He waited until I finally got up and stood next to him. He walked a few steps, then waited for me, until I gathered he wanted me to follow. Now I had a vocabulary of four words.
Chran led me through the hallways of the building, speaking slowly the whole way, and down some stairs to the lower levels, which weren't anywhere near as luxurious as those higher up--even the blocks that made up the walls and floors were rough, not polished. He took me out a balcony. We overlooked the building, which had turrets and a yard inside some walls, so I decided it was a castle. But the whole castle was shaped like a plus-sign, with a diamond wall surrounding it--not like a rectangle inside a rectangle, like I had always pictured European castles. Where *was* I?
Chran took me down another long flight of stairs and into the courtyard, which was a peaceful area--the castle didn't seem to have any stores or barracks outside, like I assumed castles from my world did. Suddenly, an animal ran up to me. An animal unlike anything I had ever seen.
It was larger than a housecat, but shaped more or less like a mouse, only with small cat fangs, and with long, soft-looking, light green fur. Its eyes were slit like a cat's, but lavender. It made a little whining noise and sat up, pawing at my leg. Its paws looked almost like a dog's.
It was then that I really got scared. Not because of the animal itself--it was really kind of cute, with its long tail and soft fur--but because the animal was unlike anything I had ever seen before, unlike anything which had ever existed on my planet.
It was then that I started to realize I was really in another world.
Chran noticed my shock, and smiled. He said something, but the only word I recognized was 'Frun,' although I was unsure as to its meaning (wasn't that the name of the black-haired man? Maybe this was his pet?). Chran patted the animal on its shoulder. "Lurnay," he said, pointing at it.
"Lurnay," I repeated. Chran smiled, pleased. I was glad to have said something right (even if it was a simple word), but much more disturbed at the idea that I might be somewhere no one from my planet had ever been before...another world...or even another universe.
*****
I really wished I had put on a watch before I was transported to that place. As it was, it seemed like their days were a bit shorter than ours, even though time really passed in horrific slow motion for me, being in an entirely unfamiliar place. By the time the sun set, I had learned quite a few words--Chran easily and quickly taught me the names for a bunch of different items, utensils, and foods, even. (Unfortunately, that lesson had made me even hungrier than I already had been.) I, in turn, told him a few of my words--he couldn't understand any of them, but he seemed interested.
After the sun set, Chran took me to the center of the castle, into what seemed like a great hall, although it didn't really resemble what they looked like in movies. There were no dogs around to eat the table scraps, and only a few people. The hall was beautifully decorated, like the finer parts of the castle were, and the walls were smooth. There was a huge fireplace on the far side of the room, and a long, almost narrow table in the center. Light was provided by a lot of candles set into the walls at close intervals, as well as some on the table and a few in crude chandeliers directly above the table. The large table was bare except for its candles. The king was sitting in a large, elaborate, gold-plated chair at the center of the table; Leander--well, I guessed it was him, although I couldn't be sure I recognized him--was in a nice, polished hardwood chair to the king's right. Both of them were now in deep violet outfits; the king still wore his heavy-looking necklace. I felt underdressed, but no one seemed to mind. Chran led me over to the chair on the other side of Frun (or Kelar, or whoever he was). I nervously sat down. Chran sat on the other side of me; that made me feel a little better.
The four of us sat in silence for a while. Everyone was looking at me. Finally, I swallowed and nervously said to the black-haired king, "Tu slu Frun? Slu Kelar?"
The man looked a little surprised, and nodded at Chran, smiling. "Bo, slu Kelar," the king said. "Dlee Bonnie, slu Kelar."
I understood six of the seven words Kelar had said to me. Okay, two were repeated, one was his name, and one was mine. All right; the whole second sentence made no sense. All I knew was that I could call the black-haired king Kelar instead of Frun. I couldn't really say anything else, but Kelar seemed satisfied, anyway.
Chran spoke to Kelar for a while. I looked over at Kelar and the young man with the short brown hair--Kelar smiled widely as he listened to Chran, and his companion--it was Leander, I decided--was a little concerned, a little pleased, and a bit...awed?
They all stopped speaking when four people--even I could tell they were servants, by their old, patched clothes--came into the room, each carrying large covered trays. Each of the servants placed a tray in front of one of us, then removed the covers. Inside was a meal which looked strange (I've never seen so much purple in cooked food before) but smelled good, probably because I hadn't eaten since breakfast. I looked at the others, to see what they would do or eat first. They all scooted their chairs back and dropped to their knees, then laid flat on the ground. I was surprised--these people must be awfully religious! I quickly joined them on the floor, and Leander spoke what sounded like a long sentence, then Chran, then finally Kelar. Each of their sentences had my name in it. They stayed on the floor, in silence, for about two minutes, before they got up and sat back at the table. I got up when they did, then watched to see what they'd do next (and if we could finally eat).
First, everyone put a fancy cloth bib from the top of the tray around their necks. (Chran pointed to it and called it a 'noy ranlee--' I quickly realized this would be a vocabulary lesson as well as a meal.) I copied them; the bib was warm, and it felt nice. Then, they ate a little green fruit at the upper left-hand corner of the plate (called a 'tranu'). It was very sweet, but I just chewed and swallowed mine, while everyone else took at least a minute to finish theirs.
In that time, my stomach refused to quiet itself. The center of the tray had a bowl of something which looked like soup. I was so hungry, I picked up a metal utensil which looked like a spoon (but was called a 'wink,' as I had learned earlier that day). Chran touched my shoulder. "Tu, Bonnie. Golag."
I was pretty sure he had just told me to use my fork (well, a fork with only two tines) to eat the soup with. I shrugged, and did so. The soup ('lime vlen') had big chunks of a meat (it tasted kind of like beef) and things which were kind of like noodles, as well as small bits of mushy vegetables. The whole thing tasted funny to me; I realized the flavorings in that country (maybe that *world,* I thought, shuddering) must be very different from ours. It wasn't spicy or anything, though, and I managed to eat most of it. When Chran was done, he picked up the bowl in his hands and drank the broth. I did the same--it was pretty good, and salty. I tried not to think of how many calories must be in it.
There was a ring of crunchy purple stuff around the place where the bowl went on the tray. Everyone ate that next, with a spoon. It tasted a little like peas or corn, only really crisp. I've never been fond of either of those vegetables, but was afraid to look rude (plus, I was still hungry!) so I ate all of the 'jastlee.'
At the corners of the tray (except the upper-left hand corner) there were clumps of little things which looked like biscuits (only with a green tint to them). They were much softer and chewier, though, and one ate them by poking them through with a long, thin, round utensil (kind of like a straight piece of coat-hanger with a handle, or one of the poking tools I remembered using in ceramics class). I used my 'yond' to eat the 'tona tona' (as Chran called it).
By now the trays were empty, and I was feeling a bit thirsty. The servants came back to take the trays, and another servant placed huge cups in front of us (like the largest size you can get at a convenience store). They were filled with some deep purple liquid. Chran called it 'baflay,' but I was pretty sure it was wine--probably enough to give me a hangover for two weeks. The three men drank the stuff quickly, but I hesitated. Finally I sipped at it--it was a delicate, sweet flavor which reminded me of flowers and cherries. Good enough to make me down the whole thing, though I feared I'd regret it the next morning. Servants quickly took the glasses back, too.
Kelar and Leander got up, so I figured the meal was over. Chran got up and knelt on the ground. I started to do the same, but Kelar grabbed my shoulder and shook his head. I stood and stared. Kelar bowed his head to me, and Leander knelt briefly, facing me as well. Kelar said a few words to Chran, who stood up, and Kelar and Leander left.
"Clah, clah," Chran said to me as he led me out of the great hall. I had guessed that meant 'good,' (or maybe 'right') since he said that whenever I seemed to grasp another concept or word he gave me. He took me back to the doorway of my bedroom (which I never would have found on my own, since the castle was so huge) and knelt to me again, then left me.
I entered my bedroom, and, even in the dim candlelight which lit it, I immediately spotted the woman who had dressed me earlier, standing to the left side of my door. She was now dressed in a simple white garment, and she was barefoot. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me over to the wardrobe, where she put a nice-looking, soft, white garment on me, one much fancier than hers. I figured it was a nightgown. The woman quickly washed my face, sat me down, and took my shoes off. She made me stand again, and actually folded the sheets of my bed down for me.
"Clah," I told her. The woman looked very surprised, and said some unfamiliar words, quickly (and a bit rudely, I thought). I just frowned, then said, "Slu Bonnie" to her. I guess that was a fairly standard introduction in that country; the woman grudgingly said, "Slu Dlarka." I smiled. The woman's expression softened a bit--smiling, at least, really *does* have a universal meaning throughout humankind. (These people were human, weren't they?) Dlarka waited until I got into the bed before she blew out two of candles in the room and took the third out the door with her.
Now that I was alone, I could truly ponder what had happened to me. I decided to reason the whole thing out. One moment, I had been in church, and now I was *here.* I was pretty sure I wasn't dreaming; my dreams never lasted more than a few minutes. Maybe I was dead? Unfamiliar with the language of heaven, or something? But if I was, how come I hadn't met Jesus yet? Southern Baptists don't believe in purgatory, and even if I could be in hell, this place, so far, didn't really seem that bad. The only explanation that made sense was that I was somewhere far from home, in another time, probably another world. The thought scared me, yet I was slightly relieved to at least have decided what had happened to me. I wished I'd wake up the next morning in my own bed, but something in my heart made me doubt such a thing would happen. No, I was really in another world. But then, what were the odds of humans evolving separately on two different planets? Well, I guess that meant the Bible won out over school books...maybe... But then, why would God put humans on two different planets? Why didn't it make any sense?
I suddenly stopped thinking of these questions and shifted gears to statements. Chilling statements.
I was in a world where I didn't even know the language.
I was completely at the mercy of these people who had just met me today.
If they got angry at me and kicked me out, I would be unable to survive. I would die.
Even if I did somehow learn the language and make friends, I'd never see my family again.
At that point, I stopped thinking, but instead, cried myself to sleep.
