The Well of Wisdom
Published by Shane Rynhart at Smashwords
Copyright Shane Rynhart 2012
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Cover image by Flickr user Dave Stokes http://www.flickr.com/photos/33909700@N02/3158866141/
Image used fairly under a Creative Commons Attribution license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en
Thank you for downloading this short story, a preview of Shane Rynhart’s debut short story anthology Not Quite Normal. To find out more about the author or the Not Quite Normal project, please visit http://plasticcastlemagic.wordpress.com
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The Well Of Wisdom
Long ago, there was a young farm boy. Though he was kind of heart, he and his parents had nary two copper pieces to rub together.
One winter was particularly hard on the family’s farm. Much of their livestock died in the cold and their crops had not grown, despite other farms in Illisah having a good harvest. Not a single neighbour offered charity, however, and the family faced starvation.
The boy’s parents decided to take drastic action: they had not enough money to even feed two, let alone three. So it was with heavy heart that the boy’s father took him out deep into Grand Forest one night while he was sleeping, and left him there.
When the boy awoke, he soon realised he was alone. He began to cry with deep despair and call out for his parents. But there was no response except his own echo. He attempted to find his way home, but it was useless – no matter which direction he travelled, he found only more forest. A cave near an ancient statue of a one-armed hunter became his home that night. It was the only place that could protect him from the winter weather.
When he awoke the next day, he heard a noise. The screech of a creature in agony. He followed the sound and discovered a young deer, her leg trapped beneath a fallen tree. The boy summoned all his strength and lifted the log from the poor animal. She licked his face in gesture, and they became instant friends. The deer also had no-one to call mother or father. They were companions in loneliness.
The boy and the deer stuck together no matter what, and they had a great many adventures in the forest together. Days, weeks, months and years passed in this manner. The boy, by now a young man, had constructed a house out of a rockslide for he and his companion to live in. They were happy.
Almost three years after the boy had entered the forest, they stumbled upon a cave that had appeared overnight. The boy recognised it, however. Just beyond was a statue of the one-armed hunter. He had not seen this place for many moons. Intrigued, the boy entered ‘his’ cave once more. It was bigger than he remembered, and now well lit by torches. The pair followed the light and descended deep into the earth, far deeper than he knew it was possible to go. The deer remained brave and stuck by the boy’s side.
Soon, the pair arrived in a chamber. It was decked with gold and riches beyond the boy’s wildest dreams. Most curiously, however, there was an old stone well in the centre. A thick matted rope held a rusty pail above a deep drop. The boy allowed the bucket to descend into the water: he and the deer were mighty thirsty after such a long trek. The water he drew up was the purest he had ever seen, as fresh as the forest air. Without a second thought, he put the pail on the floor, and they began to drink from it.
He felt strange. His head began to swim. He felt his feet lift from the floor and hover a short distance above the ground. “You have three choices,” said a man’s voice, from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. The boy was scared, but he listened on. “Wisdom. Wealth. Power. One of these great gifts is now yours. Choose, boy.” The boy was torn. But he realised he had no need for wealth or power when he had not seen another living soul for three years.
“Wisdom,” he said aloud. He suddenly felt an immense power coursing through his veins, as a glut of information assaulted his mind. Images sprung into his head, showing vast cities, long-past battles, hundreds of creatures great and small…
A few moments later, it was over, and he floated gently back to earth. His head was still coursing with knowledge: he knew the secrets of life that even the staunchest experience could not teach. He and the deer returned to the surface and burst out into the bright winter sunlight. The boy now knew exactly how the light worked, how trees grew, why the grass smelled, how the birds sang...everything that had been a mystery to him for so many years was now as clear as the water he’d drunk.
But he knew much more than the mechanics of the forest: he knew where he had come from. He knew his way home. After a rest, the boy and the deer began to walk back through the forest. Soon, they came upon an old cottage, which was mostly in ruins and looked abandoned. A wall had collapsed, and the roof was as patchy as an old man’s hair. Dead livestock lay all around, and the fields were barren. The boy entered the house, and the long-dead corpses of his parents greeted him.
He looked upon them, poor creatures who had simply run their course. He did not cry; after all, they had deserted him. But he still loved them. They had brought him into the world, and through the harshest act of cruelty had managed to save his life. He had to do something in return. At the back of his mind, in an area that even with his vast newfound knowledge was hard to unlock, he discovered a way to return life to these people. The boy began to chant words that felt alien to him. No more than a few minutes later, breath returned to his parents’ lungs, and they upped with a start.
The boy heard a screech of pain from outside. A noise he recognised. He had forgotten his companion. He rushed outside, to find the deer running low on breath. She died a moment later in his arms. Only then did the boy then realise what had happened – a life for a life. This time, there was nothing he could do. The deer would have to be a sacrifice. Though he had saved his family, he had killed his best friend.
The boy couldn’t take the pain as his parents came to the doorway, their faces still rotten, maggots crawling from their eye sockets. They could not speak, they could not see. They were less than alive, more than dead. Was it really worth it?
The boy ran away, leaving everything he knew far behind him. No one knows what became of him, but it is said that his voice still whispers on the wind in the very heart of the Grand Forest of Illisah.
The End
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If you enjoyed this story, please visit http://plasticcastlemagic.wordpress.com for more information on the author. Not Quite Normal, Shane Rynhart’s debut short story anthology, will be released digitally on 29/2/12. Thank you for reading.