Oliver the Abderian
This story happens after the story “Smile but frown, Laugh but Cry” by. Janessa Sexton
A tan boy with curly brown hair, stunning emerald colored eyes, and an outgoing, adventurous kind of laugh. That’s how my friends, and most others see me. However, if they knew my story, they would be surprised how different I am on the inside. As you are probably wondering, my name is Oliver, I am almost fourteen, and I live in Abdera. Now, if you’re a giant Greek history nerd, you will know that a very very long time ago Abdera was a Greek city, apparently founded by Hercules. However, I am definitely not living in the real Abdera! Instead, I live on a small, remote island that is simply named after the real city… However, Abdera is pretty nice, it has great, green rolling hills, giant jagged mountains, and a beautiful, blue-green sea with a nice, sandy beach. It even has a big, dark, supposedly haunted forest! This forest just happens to be where my story starts, and also, where it all went wrong for me...
It was a beautiful day in Abdera, or so I’m told
because at that time I was only a baby, and the sun was
peaking her face over the hills as Farmer Tim set off
for work in the fields. That day, Farmer Tim just felt
it right to a take the longer way to work, and go past the old,
(supposedly) haunted spirit woods. Now, let me just tell you, it was a good thing that Farmer Tim went that way on that day, which was September 26th, because my fate was at stake. So as Farmer Tim neared the woods, he noticed a small bundle on the ground, not knowing what the bundle was, he neared it curiously, but cautiously. Little did Farmer Tim know, he was nearing me, well, baby me, anyway. As Farmer Tim realized that he was looking at a baby, he was very startled, and confused. You see, Abdera is so small, that if anyone is pregnant or has a baby, EVERYONE will know about it, and Farmer Tim didn’t remember any recent births or pregnancies. Because his first thought had been, “Oh no! someone lost their baby!” But then he thought, that wouldn’t make sense, it must have been abandoned by someone who was visiting the island! Of course, on this point he was right, my parents, whoever they were or are, abandoned me as a baby. So, with his kind, loving heart, Tim picked me up gently, apparently I was sleeping, and read the piece of paper attached to the women’s cloak that I was wrapped in. “Oliver. Born September 25th” it said in a graceful, yet hasty scrawl, as if it was hardly worth my parents’ time to write my name down. Also, as Tim picked me up, a ring fell out of the cloak that I was wrapped in. He picked up the stone ring, and after closer examination, notices the ruby set on the top of it, and the small ruins carved into the sides of the ring (Greek, although he didn’t know it at the time). Tim then turned back the way he came, and carried me (and the ring) home with him. When he arrived home he told Mother Helga (everyone calls her “Mother” Helga) the story of how he had found me. She exclaimed with tears pouring down her cheeks, that a poor girl had not been able to care for me, and so God had seen that I should be found by Farmer Tim, and brought up by both him and Mother Helga! You see, Mother Helga and Farmer Tim were an older couple, and had not in Mother Helga’s words “been blessed by any children of their own” and so she was certain that they were supposed to bring me up, the poor baby.
So, they did, of course, raise me, and I grew up calling them Uncle Tim, and Aunt Helga. They didn’t tell me the story until I was nine years old. I don’t know what I thought about what had happened before then. I think that the only thing that I knew was that Helga and Tim weren’t my parents. I thought that they were my Aunt and Uncle. So, on my ninth birthday, after the party had ceased, and the party goers had gone home, Tim called me into the sitting room with a tone of sorrow in his voice. I had wondered what he could possibly be sad about, I mean it was my birthday for goodness sakes! But when I walked in and looked down upon Tim and Helga sitting there, Helga knitting somberly, and Tim with his hands folded on his knees, a look of deep remorse on his face, I knew something very serious was about to happen. It was then that Tim told me the story that I have told you. He also gave me the cloak that I was wrapped in, the stone ring with the ruby on it, and the piece of paper with my name and birthday on it. As I looked at my Aunt and Uncle, the two people who I had loved, who I would have been happy to do anything for, and most importantly, who I had trusted, I felt sadness, anger and most of all, mistrust. It felt as if the walls of my world were crumbling, and falling piece by piece around me. Because I felt that everything that I knew, and had known was false, that I couldn’t trust anything or anyone if I couldn’t trust the two people who I had held most closely to my heart. I stormed out of the room, threw myself on my bed, deciding that I wouldn’t completely trust from then on, no matter what.
Well, I certainly still feel that way, although I have long since forgiven Helga and Tim, and I still hold them very close to me. However, I kept my word when I said that I would never completely and blindly trust anyone else again, and the only other people that I told my story to were my two closest friends. Now, there was also the matter of my parents. I have gone back and forth over the matter of my parents over the years, but I have finally come to a decision on what to do. I want to believe that my parents had good reason to leave me, and that they may have left me some sort of message. You see, the cloak had to have come from somewhere, and I’m going to find out where.
My plan was to take place on my 14th birthday, at nighttime, after the festivities had ended and Helga and Tim had gone to bed. It would have to be this way, because Helga and Tim could not know where I was going and what I was doing, until I was gone. So I would leave a note on the kitchen table, so they wouldn’t worry. But, before that, on the morning of my birthday., I would go to see the cloak maker of the island.
It was the morning of my 14th birthday, and dawn had come swiftly and beautifully. After I awoke, I got dressed, and headed out the door, holding my mother’s cloak. The second I got out of the door and took a deep breath of cool, refreshing air, it seemed that my worries about the quest seemed to drift away with the morning breeze. I headed down the garden path, and out the gate. As I walked down the vacant road, I thought to myself that if I died on this trip, at least I would get to celebrate my 14th birthday. I came to a fork in the road, one way leading to the spirit woods, and one way leading to the town. There was also a small path, imperceptible from the road, that was covered by two tall, old blueberry bushes, the fruit long gone since summer, but the leaves still clinging to the branches. This was the path I choose, I squeezed in between the two bushes, and walked down the familiar, winding path that went through a small wood, until I came to a wide open space in the woods, with a small river running through it, three thatched huts, and a fire pit, with logs set around it on the ground for seats. I approached the middle hut, entered, and closed the door behind me. The hut was made of strong wood and kept warmth inside. There was a knitted rug and bedding on the ground. Also, there was a journal and a pen sitting on top of a large flat rock, After hanging my mother’s cloak on a peg on the wall, I sat on the bedding, and waited for my friends to arrive. Now, you may be wondering what this place is, and I will tell you. My friends and I found this place when we were about 7 and started building on it when we were 8. The other two huts belong to my friends, Abby and Jim, I will tell more about them later.
So, there I sat in my hut, daydreaming… until I heard a crashing noise outside and nearly jumped out of my skin. I cautiously approached my hut door and listened with my ear to the wall, and sure enough, I heard a boy cursing loudly. I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself, because I knew who was outside of the hut, in the clearing. I opened the door, and walked out to see one of my best friends, Jim hopping around like a bunny on one foot, clutching the other and still, you guessed it, swearing loudly. He must have seen me, and so he stopped hopping around on one foot, and instead sat down on a log seat by the fire. Jim was a tall, brown skinned boy, with brown hair, and brown eyes. He had turned 14 a month ago, and had boasted about it for at least a week and a half after his birthday."
“Hey, Oliver! I fell and hit my foot on that big rock over there,” said Jim “Oh yeah, and Happy 14th Birthday my old friend!”
“Thanks, Jim!” I said with a grin on my face, “ Do you know where Abby is? She’s usually here before everyone, and this time she is five minutes late.” But Jim never got to answer my question because at that moment, a 13 ¾ year-old girl with orange hair, green eyes, peach colored skin, and freckles came hurtling down the path, out of breath and holding a box out in front of her.
“Yes, Oliver, in fact I think that I do know where Abby is.” said Jim with a wide grin on his face.
“I’m-sorry-I-am-late-I-got-
“So, Abby, Jim, I’ve got to tell you something, but you can’t tell anyone else.” I said with a tone of restraint in my voice.
“Okay, what is it, Oliver?” asked Jim and Abby at the same time with serious looks on their faces. Normally, they would have laughed at this coincidence, but I think that they sensed that something serious was about to be said.
“
“Okay.” said Abby, a look of understanding and decisiveness on her face.
“What do you mean, Okay? Oliver, you might die if you do this, you may even have to cross the spirit woods, and no one has ever come out of there alive!” said Jim, a scared look on his face. I can’t remember the last time I saw Jim scared like that. In fact, I can’t ever remember seeing Jim scared before.
“Guys calm down, I know what you’re telling me is true, and I have thought everything over. I am going, and you can’t stop me. I just wanted you to know where I was going, and what was happening.” I saw Jim and Abby exchange a look that clearly said, we can’t change his mind about anything, and it’s no use trying. Then Abby spoke,
“Okay, Oliver. We both understand how important that this is to you, and we won’t try to stop you from going.” after Abby had said that, I looked at them, and I mean really looked at them, and then I understood. I had two of the best friends in the world. I then saw that Abby, who wasn’t afraid of anything, and almost never cried, had silent tears sliding down her face. I also saw that Jim was looking at me with a sadness that I had never seen in him before. I then felt myself moving towards them, sitting down between them and pulling them close to me. Abby started to sob and Jim was patting me on the back, slowly, as if I had just lost a loved one, and he was giving me his condolences. When we had finally all calmed down, Abby smiled said, “Oh, and Happy Birthday Oliver!” She then brought out the package that had made her late, and opened it to reveal a chocolate and vanilla birthday cake. We all laughed at the irony of it, seeing as I might die on this quest of mine, and here we are eating cake, but soon we couldn’t resist and we all dug into the moist, fluffy cake that Abby had made.
After I had promised to Abby and Jim that I would see them at the party, I grabbed my mother’s cloak from out of my hut, and then I left Abby and Jim to go and see the cloak maker. As I trekked up the winding path, out of the blueberry bushes, and onto the road, there were a million different questions flying around in my head. Would I survive my quest? Would I ever see my friends again? Could it be that it might only be a day until I meet my parents for the first time? Lost in my own thoughts, I hadn’t notice where I was, until I looked up and realized that I had arrived at the cloak makers'. The cloak makers’ shop was a small, run down old house that was badly in need of fixing. There was moss growing on every single spot of the roof, and the only real way to tell that it was a shop was the old, rusty sign hanging on the gate. It said: Nithercott Cloak Making: EST. after EST. it said a date, but it was so old and worn, that I couldn’t read it. So, I took a deep breath and then opened the garden gate with a loud, squeak and then closed it, some of the dirt and rust coming off into my hand. I hastily wiped the grime off on my pants, and then slowly walked down the garden path, and through the overgrown garden.
I reached the front door, which, I think, was the only thing that had been replaced since the house was built. In reaching the door, I knocked three times, and then I waited patiently for someone to answer. After I had waited a few more minutes, I figured that I might knock again, but as I was raising my fist to knock on the door, I noticed a sign there. It said: If you have business to attend with the cloak maker, please knock five times. If you have business to attend with Mrs.Nithercott please knock twice, If you have business to attend with Mr.Nithercott please knock ten times. Thank You! After reading this sign and silently thinking to myself that with old age, the cloak maker, Mr.Nithercott, must have gone slightly off his rocker, I knocked on the door five times. The door then opened suddenly, as if someone was just waiting for the door to open, and there stood a rather queer looking little old man. I could only assume that this must be Mr.Nithercott, and I also had to assume that my prediction about him was correct, and he had gone off his rocker! Mr.Nithercott had wispy white hair on the sides of his head, big, bright blue eyes, and he wore big golden goggle-like glasses which bore similarity to a mad scientist’s goggles. He had just been standing there staring at me, as if he were studying me and so when he spoke, I nearly jumped out of my skin (for the second time that day).
“You were requesting business with the cloak maker?” he croaked, it was as if he hadn’t spoken for a few hundred years. I shook myself, as if coming out of a trance before I spoke.
“Y-yes, I thought that you may be able to identify an old c-cloak that I have. As long as that is okay w-with you.” I responded, stuttering.
“Hmmm...” he said, as he scratched his head “,Well then, alright! I’ll do it! It’s very rare for me to get people knocking at my door these days!” he had said this last sentence with a great big smile on his face. “Well, come in! In with you!” and he gestured me inside. When I stepped inside, I was not just startled, I was shocked! The house was very nice on the inside, with lots of room, bookcases everywhere, filled to the brim with books, there were cloaks and sewing machines and sewing kits, and what looked like a bedroom and a kitchen down the hall. Mr.Nithercott gestured me into what looked like his sitting room, with a nice, cozy fire in the hearth, some tea and cookies set out on a little table in front of a small couch with an armchair on each end of the couch. He gestured for me to sit down on the couch, and after I had, he then poured tea and gave each of us a cup of tea and a sugar cookie. He then sat down beside me.
“So, let’s have a looksie at this cloak shall we?” he asked me. his voice was much less croaky now, as if he just needed to warm it up a bit. I handed him the cloak very gently, and as if he somehow knew that it was important to me, he received the cloak just as gently. Now he looked very closely at the cloak, rubbed it between his fingers, and even smelled it, all the while muttering, “No!” and “It can’t be!” After a while of this, he sat up straight, stared straight at me, and very seriously said, “This cloak comes from the dark side of the island.” Now, “the dark side of the island” is just another name for “on the other side of the spirit woods". I sighed, and then looked at my feet.
“I’m not surprised.” I said.
“Young man! How can you say that you were not surprised!!! Nobody has come out from the other side of those woods for over 100 years! Yet you can seriously tell me that you are not surprised?” He said with a somewhat exasperated tone in his voice.
“No. I’m not.” I responded, “Thank you for your time, Mr.Nithercott. You have helped me greatly on this day. Goodbye!” and with that last word I took a 10-dollar bill out of my pocket, gave it to him, and then took my cloak and left. I walked out the door, down the garden path, out the gate, and onto the road. I would have left right then and therefore the spirit woods, if I hadn’t needed to see Mother Helga and Farmer Tim for one last time. So, instead, I traced my footsteps back to the little cottage which I called “home”.
There was a great party that night, for on Abdera it’s a big deal to turn 14 because that is when you come of age, and you are allowed to vote for some town matters. It seemed that everyone was there, Helga, Tim, Abby’s Mom, Abby, Jim’s parents, Jim, the baker, Mr.Nithercott, the shoemaker, and countless others. But after all the festivities had died down, and the party goers had gone, the only people that were left were Helga, Tim, and Me. I gave each of them a hug, and a kiss, telling them goodnight, and then I went into my bedroom and, little did they know it, packed for my trip. After I had heard both of them go to bed, I grabbed my rucksack and dropped the note explaining what I was doing onto the table, and then I snuck out the front door, crept down the walk and ran down the road until the small cottage was out of sight.
I came to the same cross-roads that I had come to earlier that day, except this time, I choose the path to the left, that lead to the edge of the spirit woods. At this point, I lit my lantern and I ran down the dirt road, as quiet as a mouse. Finally, I came to the spirit woods. The trees stood before me as if they were huge menacing monsters, who wanted to snatch me up and eat me. But I took a deep breath, and knowing that I might never come out of those woods, walked straight into them.
My lantern cast a small circle of light in front of me, I couldn’t see much anything except dark and trees. Also, I had the eerie feeling that someone was watching me. I pulled my compass out of my bag, and knowing that I had to head North, turned slightly to the right of where I was standing, and started to walk northward. After I had walked for what felt like ages, I checked my watch and realized that three hours had passed since I had entered the spirit woods. I knew logically that woods can’t go on forever, but I knew that they could stretch for many, many miles. I decided not to stop yet, but to keep going for at least an hour and a half more. I checked my compass to check that I was going the right way, and I realized that I had been heading steadily more eastward by the hour, and was now going completely and utterly east!!!
“Oh no!!!” I exclaimed aloud, I realized that my voice was going hoarse from not using it for so long. No, no...I can’t be lost, I-I-I just can’t be!!! If I’m lost, that means that I’ll die in here! I was panicking, wishing that Jim or Abby was here to tell me that everything would be okay. That was when I looked around and thought I saw smoke in the distance. Immediately I thought that I was seeing a mirage. I had read about mirages and knew that they happened when the person especially wanted or needed something very badly, but they couldn’t have it. But after a minute or two, I looked again, blinked a few times, and then realized that what I was seeing was real, and that it wasn’t a mirage at all but real campfire smoke. I cautiously approached the smoke, because I couldn’t know who, or what for that matter, could be sitting by that campfire. As I drew nearer to the fire, I realized that someone was humming, and that it was a human voice. I relaxed a little bit, but did not put my guard down. Now I could smell the aroma of a hot, roasting chicken. I hadn’t eaten anything since my birthday cake at my party that evening, and so I was famished. As I grew nearer I realized that it was not a man humming, but a short part goat-part man creature. He must have sensed me, and so he looked up, and stopped his humming.
“Well, hello there! I thought that I heard someone! Now, what’s your name?” he asked me, all the while smiling, talking to me as if he were simply commenting on the weather. “Not the talkative type? Okay! That’s fine, I’ll talk! My name is Ron, but everybody calls me Ronald. I'm a satyr and um… you’re lost aren't ya?”
“Well, I don’t know if lost is the right word… more like mislead… for now.” I responded hesitantly.
“Oh no! I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s fine if you're lost! In fact, people used to come in here all the time, then they realized that instead of heading North they were headed East, even though two minutes before, they had checked and made sure they were going North.” he sat shaking his head, thinking to himself until I felt brave enough to speak up.
“Well, aren't you lost also?” I asked him. I had sat down on the log seat across of the fire from him now, and I was staring at him.
“Oh no! I live in these woods! I guess you could call me the guardian of the spirit woods.” he said, all the while still smiling kindly at me.
“But, then you know how to get around here? All alone?”
“Well, don’t be so surprised! When you live somewhere for 100 years, you tend to get used to it.” He was now looking at me curiously, as if he were wondering how I would respond. However, I had seen too many strange things today to care, “You know, I could show you the way out if you would like, I offer because whenever some other lost traveler would find me, by now they would have a sword or a knife at my throat. I always refuse but they don’t do me in, they march away angrily.Those guys never come out of the spirit woods.” Now, as much as I wanted to get out of here, if this guy was lying, it might cost me my life, if he was telling the truth, then I would make it out of here alive. If I trusted this satyr, I would be going against my vow never to completely and blindly trust anyone ever again. But, I thought, this was to find my parents, and I need help. I would have to trust him.
“Ok. I’ll accept your help.” I said, warily.
“Oh, good, good, come on, this way!” he said, as he picked up my lantern and started leading the way, “Okay, so where was that path? Umm… oh! Here it is! Just stay on this path until you come to a cross roads, then turn right to get out of the woods.” He was casting the lantern’s light on a small, worn dirt path. He had tipped his horns to me, and was heading back to his fire, when I spoke.
“Wait! How do I get back to the other side of the island when I’m done over there?” I asked
“Just follow the trail of dandelions. They will lead you to your path.” he said, with a very wise tone to his voice I didn’t know what this meant, but I just decided to go with it. After all, he hadn’t tricked me, and cost me my life, and I was eternally grateful.
“Thanks Ronald. Thank you so very much.” I said while kindly smiling at him.
“You’re welcome, kid” He said smiling back at me.
“Oliver!” I said to his retreating back. “That’s my name. You asked, so there it is, Oliver.”
“I know.” He said, still walking away. I didn’t know how he knew my name, and I didn’t really want to know. I watched his back retreating, and then wrapping my mother’s cloak around me, I started off down the path.
About a half an hour later, I was still walking down the path when I saw a light, straight ahead. Making sure that I was still walking on the path, I walked to that light as fast as I could. When I got there, I burst out of the spirit woods, and out into an open clearing bathed in moonlight, with a sparkling stream wandering through it, birch trees growing on the sides of it, and flowers everywhere. I looked around, smiling, thinking to myself, I’m not going to die! When suddenly, I saw it. I didn’t know what caught my eye on it for a while, but as I grew closer to this flat, tablet-like rock, I saw writing scratched onto it, and just not any writing. The words were written in a graceful, but hasty scrawl. Tears filled my eyes, and I dropped to the ground on my knees, tears making silent tracks down my face, it wasn’t with sadness, anger, and mistrust that I looked down upon my mother’s handwriting, it was with happiness.
The scratched-on writing was a little worn, from age, but I could still read it. The message said: My Dearest Oliver- If you are reading this, you have made a brave, tough journey, just to find out information about your parents. Let us hope that Ronald helped you find your way. You must be a lot like your father. Oliver, we need you to know, that we never wanted to abandon you! Right after you were born, your father and I had to go on a very important, but very dangerous quest. Not knowing if we would survive this quest, we knew that you couldn’t come with us. I hope you understand that. So, instead we left you here, on the island, where we had once also had travels of our own. We knew that the kind people of Abdera would watch over you, and we hoped that you would be okay. Your father and I will be at Abdera on your 14th birthday at midnight, but we can only be there until 2 a.m, if we survive this quest, because we can’t be seen by anyone. We hope that we are right and that while you are reading this, it’s your 14th birthday, if it is, and you don't show, we will simply assume that you do not wish to meet us. We will be at the docks, hurry son. We love you!- Misty and Nathan Novell
After I read this with silent tears pouring down my face, I almost freaked out.. I checked my watch, it said that it was 1:30 am and his parents could only be here for 30 more minutes!!! Okay, it’s fine. I just have to get to the docks, but how do I get out of here?!? What did Ronald say? Oh yeah, follow the dandelions to find your path… What does that mean? Dandelions… I looked around me at the wildflowers, daisies, tulips, roses, and then suddenly I saw them, a line of dandelions. I followed these yellow weeds, and at the end of them, found a dirt path, heading back into the dark, dank spirit woods. Deciding that I had no choice, and had to trust Ronald yet again, I ran down that dirt path, because it was my only chance of finding my parents. I ran so fast and hard that my feet hurt, my legs were sore, and the horrid ache in my chest told me that if this path didn’t end soon, I would simply collapse from lack of oxygen. The dark of the forest began to get lighter and lighter as I neared the end of the path, and finally, I reached the end, and collapsed, gasping for breath. But I told myself that I had to get up, that I had to reach the docks, so even though my body was complaining from how hard that I was pushing it, I got back up, and I kept running, pushing myself harder and harder. I checked my watch as I ran, it was 1:55 am, and the docks were still at least 10 minutes away still. Faster and Faster I ran, sorer and sorer my chest, legs and feet got. it was 1:58 am, and I still had a five-minute journey ahead of me. Finally, the docks came into my sight! I ran closer and closer, until finally, I was there! I checked my watch to see to my dismay, it was 2:05! I had got here too late! It slowly sunk in, and when I looked out onto the harbor, I saw a small ship sailing away from the island, sailing away from me. It was like some kind of horrible, wicked nightmare. My heart sunk into my stomach watching the boat’s progress. I slowly sunk to my knees, tears silently streaming down my face, and put my face into my hands. I would never see my parents, or meet them. Ever.
I looked up, my eyes red and puffy from crying, and my heart skipped a beat. It was coming back. The ship was coming back. It sailed closer and closer as I stood up, hardly daring to breathe because I was scared that if I did, it would blow away. The ship finally reached the harbor, and docked. Before it had even fully stopped, a woman with curly hair jumped off the boat, and wrapped her arms around me, and a man with my tear laden, emerald eyes stepped towards us and wrapped us both in a bear hug.
“Mom? Dad?” I asked, my voice wavering.
“Yes, Oliver. We’re here, and we won’t ever let you go again.” responded my mother, her voice wavering with joy. So that’s my story, interesting enough, isn’t it? Well, to make things even more interesting, now my parents live in a small cottage on the island and I am writing this story 15 years later. I now live in my own cottage, on Abdera, and I live with my wife, Abby and our soon-to-be child. Jim never married, but apprenticed under Mr.Nithercott for a number of years, and when the old man died of old age, Jim inherited the cloak making business because Mr.Nithercott had no child. As for Mother Helga and Tim, they are still the ones I love most, and they are still my Aunt and Uncle.
As he finished his sentence with a flourish, the handsome man with curly brown hair and stunning emerald eyes looked up from his writing desk and out on to the island of Abdera. Suddenly, he heard a woman screech in the next room. He ran in to see his wife, Abby with her long, orange hair, and her beautiful green eyes look up at him, a hand on her huge, round belly and with a groan said, "The baby's coming!"
...To Be Continued...
