Anansi's Web

I walked through the city, surrounded by thrashing winds carrying sweet with smells from every corner of the metropolis. The grey cement pavements were a bit worn, and beaten, but to have my own feet walk on them was like stepping on the ground that had only existed in my imagination. Giants of buildings rose from the ground like metal trees from hard grey dirt. The sun reflected golden off of the clear glass windows, shining down on all of the people. It was like I had walked into a city from storybooks.

We walked into a large building with unfiltered sunlight washing the room with light from a glass ceiling. People walked around, making a low chatter the background music. It smelled like luggage, and city air. I couldn’t help but smile as my shoes clanked on the polished white floors.

As I soaked in my surroundings someone stood out to me. There was a girl headed towards the entrance, lugging a huge red luggage, with a backpack sliding off of her shoulders, and carrying a bag as well. I wondered if I should go and help her, when she tripped on her own feet, and was thrown forward, her long umber hair flying from her head in an arc.

I rushed up to her past the people, and helped her up. Her face was red, and tears swelled in her eyes, but judging from her face they were angry tears. Her watery emerald eyes were full of embarrassment

“Do you want some help?” I asked.

She waited for a few seconds before replying.

“Yeah” She sighed.

I grabbed her back pack gently, and placed it over both of my shoulders. It was pretty heavy, and I felt broken shards inside of it, but I didn’t want to say anything. It felt like it might have been full of glass, or hardened clay.

She grabbed the luggage, and a man handed her the other bag. She murmured thanks as she shuffled towards the entrance, seeming like she was more than ready to leave.

I followed her best I could but she was walking pretty fast and I couldn’t keep up, especially with all of the people around me.

When we got to the entrance doors I stopped her with a question. “What’s your name?”

She stumbled to a stop, and looked back at me, “Cara.”

“My name’s Angelo. Are you here for the event?”

“Yeah, but no one came with me, and it’s kind of scary.”

“Really? You’re parents let you come alone? I’m here with my parents, and sometimes I wish I was here alone.”

“I would ask you if you wanted to go to the festival tomorrow with me, but you can barely say we’ve met, and it’s not like we’re going to see each other afterwards so I guess that was a stupid idea.”

“Well, we both live in Othal right? That’s where the train came from. Where do you live?”

“I live near the castle, but I’m still not sure, do you want to go with me?”

“I’m like thirty minutes away from the castle, and I would love to get away from my parents for a day.” I said eagerly.

Cara tugged at her hair, put her hands into the pockets of the oversized black sweat shirt that she wore, and rubbed the side of her neck before answering.

“Alright,” She said as she took her book bag from my shoulders. She scowled as she pulled out a dripping wet pen. “Hold out your arm.”

I gave her my arm. And let her write her phone number on it. She stuck the pen in her pocket and walked away, still having some trouble with her bags. I wondered where her parents were...

I looked around and tried to see if I could find my own parents. I pushed through the crowd, and I finally saw them in line at a desk labeled assistance.

I walked as fast as I could without tripping or falling to reach my parents. My mom looked relived, but my dad had grown a stern scowl.

“Where did you go?” My mom asked, her hand clasped to her forehead.

“I was talking to someone.”

“Don’t go wondering off like that, didn’t we raise you better?” My dad said.

You barely raised me at all, I thought, but I would never say it. “Yes sir.”

They almost completely forgot the entire thing while we walked through the city to the hotel. Luckily though, they didn’t make me hold their hands. I kind of liked it when they worked together, even if it meant that I was on the receiving end of a lecture. I wondered when they would get a divorce, or if they were going to divorce at all. It was a grim thought, but at my age it didn’t matter much, they never fought, they just didn’t have a real connection anymore.

The hotel was decent. I expected a lot of people to be here for the festival, but there actually weren’t that many. Maybe there weren’t that many people because this was a lower rated hotel in the back of the city, but I liked it anyway.

The carpets were red and thin so I could hear my shoes thump against the wood underneath. The walls were brown, and decorated with multiple hastily placed decorations for the event. The man at the desk was tired, but kind as he gave us the room key.

We got into our room, on the second floor. Inside, there were two beds with fluffy brown sheets. There was a table to the side of one of the beds where my dad was looking through the book of people that you can call. My mom sat on the other bed, pulling her work back up on her laptop.

I stood there wondering what to do. I just had a four hour trip, and I spent the last thirty minutes walking around the city. My body was pretty tired, but the excitement of it all helped me to stay awake. I didn’t want to just rest here, I wanted to go out and see this place for myself. Everyone always says that Sraff is incredible, and I want to see what they talk about.

I walked over to the closed curtains, and I tore them open, releasing a flurry of dust. Sunshine poured from open curtains, filling the room with gentle warmth. The sound of people, and cars reached us even all the way up here. Down below the people glimmered with neon necklaces, and outfits as loud as the cars rushing past. That was where I needed to be, not up here in this stuffy room with my silent parents.

“Mom,” I began, tearing away from the window, “Can I go into the city?”

“Hmm, we already lost you once today. You can go if one of us goes with you.”

Maybe going with one of my parents wouldn’t be so bad, I mean a lot of people will be with their parents, but it might not be as fun for me. Dad would hardly talk to me, and mom would talk, but I would feel weird because we hardly ever talk.

“Can we hang out here tonight? Maybe find a movie?” I said.

“Sure, but what is your decision about leaving?” My mom asked.

I looked at the smeared ink on my arm that was Cara’s number. “Can I go with my new friend? I’ll call you so that I can get back to the hotel, or you can pick me up.”

My mom looked up from her screen, her eyes searching the floor. “Sure, that’s fine. And we’ll definitely have movie night tonight.” She looked up at me, smiling.

I smiled back, “Thanks mom.” I wanted to give her a hug, but she was sitting down, and I don’t like asking for a hug, it’s awkward.

“You should call them first.” My dad chimed from the other bed.

“What?” I asked.

“Call your new ‘friend’ and put it on speaker, I want to make sure you’ll be safe.”

“It’s a girl dad.”

He looked me in the eyes, “Does that mean she can’t murder you, or be a bad influence?”

I groaned, “I don’t think she’ll murder me, she lives near the castle in Othal so she probably lives in a mansion.”

Dad got his famous scowl, “Rich people are usually more reckless. Call her, or you can’t go.”

I sighed, and fell to the bed my mom was on, taking my phone out of my pocket, deciphering the number that Cara had written sloppily in drippy ink on my flesh.

As the phone rang throughout the room I hoped that I dialed the right number. After twenty seconds I heard Cara’s voice, but it sounded less distracted and more happy, and free. “You, good sir or madam has reached the voicemail thingy of Cara Rachel Aveline. Leave a message after the beep.”

I gave a faint smile, but when I turned to my dad he seemed less than amused. “She almost sounds drunk.” He said.

“No she doesn’t.” My mom retorted. I could feel her giving my dad a look, but I didn’t look directly at her, because Cara was calling back.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey, who is this?”

“It’s Angelo, the boy from the train station.”

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to walk around the city today.”

After some time of consideration, Cara agreed, and we decided to meet at the train station again. Mom went ahead and decided to take me there. We didn’t have a car here or anything, but we were fairly close to the center of town, and sometimes there were taxi’s you could take.

We walked all the way to the train station again, and I was almost exhausted, but I forced myself to enjoy the city. I soaked up the energy of the people around me, and took a deep breath that filled me with determination.

The inside of the train station was like a cool blast of arctic air in a desert. It wasn’t hot outside, but it was pretty warm and after all of the walking I’ve done I could use some cool air.

As we sat there, and I waited for Cara to text me back, I remembered what the pirate had said to me on the train. I looked at all of the people around me, and wondered if any of them had heard about a secret war. Mom said it was a joke, but what if it wasn’t? He sounded serious. If the pirate was right then all of these people including myself, and thousands of others were in danger. I felt frozen thinking about how many people were in this space alone. Every person was talking; going about their lives completely normally, even me. I wondered how much stress it would be to have a war on your back, and having to keep it hidden from the people. Then again, it could all be a lie, some dumb rumor. Yet I still wondered why the pirate would mention it at all.

My mom put her hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay honey?” She asked, looking at me with her tired brown eyes and a smile across her aging face. I smiled, feeling a warm sense of home.

“Yeah. I love you mom.”

She put her hand on my back. “I love you too.”

My phone dinged, and I checked it. Cara had texted me that she was walking in the doors now. I got up, and looked around. She was walking through the people from the entrance, I think she saw me.

“Is she coming?”

“Yeah,” I told my mom.

She got up, and her hand slid off of my shoulder. “Be good, I’ll be back when you call.”

“I will.” I said as she walked away. She had a very brief exchange of words with Cara that I couldn’t hear, but Cara was smiling.

“Hey.” I said when she got to me.

“Hey, that was your mom?”

“Yeah,”

“You guys don’t look that much alike. I think you have her nose, and maybe her mouth. Your hair must be dyed to; it doesn’t look natural on you.”

“Yeah, my natural color is brown.”

I didn’t really like her analyzing my features to see if I look like my mom, but we were going to be friends, and I think I didn’t feel comfortable because I didn’t know her that well.

We walked out of the hissing sliding doors, and into the bright, cement world.

“So have you been here before?” She asked.

“No, it’s my first time.”

“Me too, it’s cool isn’t it?”

“Yeah” I said, breathless again with awe.

Cara smiled, which made her look like she got a joke that I didn’t understand.

“Hey, what was in that bag that I helped you with earlier?”

“So, they were alchemy things, not that important. There were some clay pots in there too, but they weren’t perfect.”

“Oh, sorry about what happened to it.”

“No, it’s fine. So Angelo, what is your favorite…color?”

“What’s my favorite color?” I said.

“Oh come on, I’m curious. Mine’s Neon green, and if neon doesn’t count then I like grey.”

I snorted, “Those are totally different colors.”

Cara shrugged, “It’s what I like.”

We continued through the city, watching people dressed in colorful clothes walk past, whooping because their sibling, or friend was running in the marathon. Everyone thought that their friend was going to win. I found it funny when someone sounded concerned that their family member wouldn’t get back at all.

I watched motorcycles grumble through the streets. I felt the sunlight that reflected off of shiny cars and onto my face. Everyone here was in a good mood. It was the birth event after all, of all times to come to the big city it was now. Banners hung off the side of buildings with signs wishing everyone a happy festival. Confetti burst from random street corners as people laughed, and talked together. There was a parade yesterday, but I missed that, there were still old streamers, and noise makers lying on the sidewalks. Balloons bobbed from light posts, swaying lazily in the breeze.

“So, what do you like to do?” Cara asked.

“I played soccer, but I stopped, and I tried to play the guitar but I gave up.”

“So, is that it? What do you do now, if you stopped playing soccer, and can’t play the guitar?”

“I just hang out with my friends, and when I’m home I’m watching TV.” I said with a sudden wave of shame.

“Do you like my shoes?” Cara asked.

I looked down. She was wearing low shoes, with bursts of purple, green, and black that looked like outer space. “Yeah, they’re-”

Cara tugged me to the side, and I stumbled after her, trying to keep up.

“Let’s go in here,” I heard her say quickly as I was harshly pulled through a doorway.

When I regained my balance I saw that we were in a small shop, with a counter in front of me. Behind me was a huge window that was tinted black, so you couldn’t see the outside. The walls were made of traditional red bricks, and the smell was sweet, but bland. The only noise was the sound of air quietly bouncing off the walls. A soft yellow light bloomed from the ceiling, giving Cara’s face a fain glow.

“No one’s here, come on,” She said, pulling me further into the space.

The next part of the shop was much like the first, but it was much larger. This was where they actually sold things. It was such a drastic change from the loud, bright city. Here the soft light gleamed low on the glass cabinets that contained samples of metals, and potions that bubbled in glass bottles. Books lined the walls on damp, rotting wooden shelves adorned with spider webs. In place of the loud chatter that overflowed into the city air, there was only silence that echoed off the bland, red walls.

Cara was enjoying herself though. She was on the other side of the room, with her face almost pressing into the glass of a cabinet.

“An alchemy shop?” I asked her.

When she didn’t answer I walked over to her. “Did you hear me?”

She turned from the cabinet slowly, as if she was moving in slow motion. “Yeah I heard you; it’s hard not to hear you. I was just so interested in all of this. I wish I could find the owner. I just need to talk to him about something-Um, if you want to leave I’d understand,” she said, with her eyes pointing toward the floor.

“No, this is interesting.”

Cara looked up, and smiled, “Thanks.” She tackled me into a hug that made me stumble backwards.

“Uh, okay-” I mumbled.

She let go, and pulled me to the cabinet that she was staring at. “This is alicorn. It’s a shaved unicorn’s horn. And this is-”

“Eh, hello,” said a very rusty voice. It sounded like someone was gargling gravel. Cara stopped talking, and looked around to see who the owner of the voice was.

We stopped looking when we saw a very old man standing next to us. He came from a room close by. His face was so wrinkled it looked like a piece of old-timey paper. His skin looked just as dry as paper too. He had very dark skin, and several black spots dotted his cheeks, and forehead. His breathing sounded cracked, and it hurt to listen to it. The little hair that he had was on the sides of his head, and was hardly there.

“What can I…do for you?” he asked, pausing in between his words.

“Um,” Cara spoke up, “you said on your sign outside that you knew something about how to make the Azoth.”

The old man smiled, “Yes, yes, but you two seem much too young to…find the ingredients.”

“I won’t go looking for them; I just want to know what they are-” Cara said. Her voice was about to burst with eagerness.

“Knowledge is very powerful, young lady…when you have it you’ll use it, whether it’s now or later. People act on their desires when they have the…knowledge.” The old man swallowed, and continued, “You must promise me that this knowledge will not be…used until later.”

Cara was almost bouncing with excitement, “Please sir, I promise.”

“Um, what’s the Azoth?” I asked.

Cara looked at me like I was keeping her from the most important moment in her life, and the old man was looking at me as if he forgot I was there.

“The Azoth is an alchemy potion that can heal anything except for death,” Cara shot from the corner of her mouth.

The old man seemed to have struggled to understand her, but after a few seconds he nodded in affirmation.

Cara whipped back around as the old man took a stool from the room he came out of, and placed it in front of us so he could sit down.

“The ingredients are the saliva of a mountain wolf, one small vial. One whole imp. Peryton tears, a medium vial. Venom from a naga… mini vial. Alicorn, peridot, and the sap of a grasper tree, one bottle.”

Cara turned to the alicorn in the class cabinet. “Can I have that alicorn over there?” she asked.

“Do you have money to pay?”

Cara stood still, and sighed, “No.”

The old man left his chair. “Sorry, young lady my answer is no. I hope you two have a…good day. Enjoy the event.”

With that, the old man hobbled back into his room and closed the door.

“I wonder if he meant to put a closed sign on the front door.” I said as we walked out.

Cara shrugged, “Who cares? I got the Azoth ingredients. Wait, I need to write them down, uh, oh no, I’m gonna forget.”

Cara urgently begged nearby people if she could borrow a pen and paper. Someone finally let her, and she wrote down the ingredients.

As we left, I saw the pirate from the train walking towards the alchemy store. I wondered if pirates were any good at alchemy. Maybe he wanted the Azoth ingredients too.

We walked back to the train station as the sun began to set on the partying city. I asked Cara if she would really make the Azoth.

“Maybe, but not soon. Things like that are just so interesting to me, ya know?”

I nodded as I walked to the bench where my mom and I sat. The train station was near empty except form a man working there who head red hair, and freckles all over his face.

“Bye, I’ll text you.” Cara said as she left. Her voice echoed through the empty room.

I looked out at the emptiness. The Azoth could cure anything, could it cure someone’s mind? The thought of the war was troubling me, and I wanted to know why someone would want to kill so many people to get what they wanted. In this case, if the war was real I don’t even know what they want. I sighed, and looked at my phone. I didn’t feel like focusing on that anymore. I just texted Cara until my mom came.