Ice Castles Part I: Ice Castles Snow began to fall. Minute by minute it became stronger. Soon there’ll be hailstorm. Now, the roads were harder to see. And the car was moving slower and slower, until the driver finally went into a stop. He was afraid of something that could make his trip back home fatal. Even if he was shivering cold inside with only a thick jacket to bring back the heat in his body, he dared went outside. He tried to look at, if the road was clear of huge rocks. He went back in, nose as red as Rudolph’s. He was not in good condition. In fact he’s being unwell was accompanied more by his fright of driving on a night like this on a country road. But he never put to mind his fears. He must reach home even if it was so late in the evening and the odds of him making it back was thinner than of a straw. So he started the engine and continued to drive. As he was driving the engine suddenly stopped! The car stopped. There was something wrong with it. He tried several times to start the engine, but it failed. It couldn’t be happening. He was in the middle of nowhere with no one. How can he survive?? He had no other choice now, he was alone and no hope of making it through. Only his fighting spirit, his desire to be with his family again was the one keeping him alive. “My two sons, and daughter, my wife… I must come home”, he whispered. He was strong indeed, not physically but spiritually. He prayed ten times that may God guide and guard him to the rest of the trip, and give him the courage and wisdom to find a way back home. He took his backpack and the keys to his car and left. “I must find a gasoline station nearby or a residence of anybody living near…” he said to himself. That was his goals now. So he started to walk and continued to find a way to reach them. Thirty minutes have gone by yet there was no sign of any gasoline station or a residence of anybody living near. His eyelids were falling down. He was getting drowsy, and it’s only a matter of minutes before he begins to fall too and sleep an eternal sleep. His knees were shaking. The coldness of the night plus the hailstorm, made his body weak and stiff. He loses his clear eyesight and his all shaken body fell to the ground. As eyes were to shut down, he saw what he called, “…bright lights”. Scenery of a dark and gloomy castle built in ice was passing his clearing eyesight. It was getting nearer to him as if he was going to enter it. “Am I in hell or in heaven?” he asked afraid. “No you are not in any of them, sir!” said the man seated in front of him. Then he heard through his surprise, the neigh of horse and its shoes walking through a solid crystal ground. “Well then, where am I?” He asked the coachman. “You are in an ice castle, sir!” replied the coachman as he was getting really tired of man’s ignorance of the place. “So I’m not dead?” he asked again gladly. “Not yet, sir!” The coachman replied annoyed by the man he rescued. The gates of the castle opened. And the gloomy place became much sadder than what it looked like from afar. The trees in its grounds were all dead, and all covered with ice, crystal clear. The moon was seen at the top of castle, as if it was a constant decoration of the place. Everything in that place was gloomy and sad. He was frightened as they passed by its grounds. He was even more frightened when the coachman looked at him face to face, and said, “Here we are, sir!” He was shocked and so he turned back from his seat but he pretended politely that he was only coughing. The coachman looked only a little better than the crypt keeper. He was almost, and yet if you failed to notice his thin pale skin, a walking skeleton. The man’s hands began to shake, but at the moment the coachman opened the door, he hold his hands tightly and again pretended that it was only because of the cold. Part II: Princess Fairy Tale The man identified himself to the coachman as Jostal. He was five feet and nine inches tall. He was a fat man of thirties, who lives with his family in the city. He has three children, two sons and a daughter. They all are the apples of his eyes. And his wife, Kakai was his girlfriend since college. Although scared of the weirdness and eccentricity of the coachman, he managed to talk and share whenever he was asked about himself. The coachman identified himself as Xandro. He was as described before as frightening creature, a very skinny man of maybe sixties or so, who lived in the castle all of his life. He never shared much about himself. But from the way he talked it seems that the place has gotten inside him. Same sadness has taken over him. Jostal, to keep the conversation going, asked about the masters of the castle. “Who are the owners of this castle??” Xandro looked at him and said. “Only the Princess and us live here.” Jostal in shame that he has asked about such sensitive part of Xandro’s life, said, “Sorry…” most politely. He stopped asking questions, but he never stopped wondering what happened to the princess, now that she was the only one alive in her family. “Poor child!” He said to himself. Xandro brought him to their receiving area, the living room and left him to wait there. There was no comfort in the sala, there was no fireplace, and couches were all made of crystal ice. There was no source of light only a small flickering light. It was still very cold inside the castle, but anybody who lived there must be quite used to it. A little later, while he was sitting on one of the couches, an old scary woman arrived. She was more like a witch in a maid’s uniform or something. Surprised as he was again, the presence of the tea that she was holding was much too comforting. “Here’s your tea, sir!” Said the old woman in a seemingly happy face. Jostal took it without thinking twice, only to find out that it was an iced tea placed in a cup. “Ma’am, not to be rude or anything, but do you have something in the kitchen that is not cold?” asked Jostal, in a polite manner. “Oh, but that was not cold!” Said the old woman her faced became sad. “You know we always try to keep it hot in here but the place is like a refrigerator or something that everything hot turns cold.” She added. Jostal can no longer say anything except to thank her. The place was really refrigerated anyway. That night the old woman guided him to his temporary room, in the top floor. But she brought with her a candle lit with fire. The place may be cold but there was no wind to kill a small fire. “There you go, a candle to keep you warm” she said. The room was made of ice too, but the pieces of furniture weren’t. She placed the candle at the top of the wooden table. And she said, “be careful, you might burn the place…” and she laughed hysterically. Then she added, in a concerned and motherly tone, “Remember, lower your voice when you talk and don’t make much noise… everyone is sleeping!” then she left. When she left, she only left doubts in Jostal’s mind. He couldn’t keep thinking about the princess who didn’t even welcome her visitor, and the existence of wooden furniture in that room in the castle. Last but not least, the beddings of his wooden bed were all made of wool. “So much for people who are used to such coldness…” he pondered to himself. That night, he couldn’t go to sleep. So he searched the room for something to take his time. Then he saw a name scratched on the table. It was scribbled, a name probably written by a young man. The name was Jeremy and at the other end of the table was another name, it was Lina. Jeremy probably was the owner of the room, and Lina too. Jostal thought that maybe they are siblings. Because of the coldness of the place and the lateness of the time, he began to feel drowsy and he slept. “What are you doing here? This is not your room, get out of here!” Jostal opened his eyes, and saw a young man probably at sixteen or seventeen. His color was pale, and eyes were dark and filled with eye bugs. He was like a dead person. And he was screaming, “Get out of my room! Get out of here! Stranger!” Jostal was terrified, he screamed at the sight of a ghost. “Aaaah! Hellppp!” Knock! Knock! Knock! “Jeremy!!! Are you there? Open the door please!” a woman’s voice crying. Jostal woke up with sweat falling from his face. It was only a bad dream. He was pale, and when he opened the door, he even become paler. He saw a white lady in front of him, now, a real ghost. He screamed, until he lost his consciousness and fell to the ground. When he woke up, it was Xandro and the old woman who were in front of him. They were talking in whispers. Jostal was looking hard at them. He can no longer take the eccentricity of the place. He wants to drive out to the country on the morning. He slept again waiting for the sun to rise. In his mind, tomorrow I’ll be back with the normal people and with my family. While Jostal was asleep, Xandro and the old woman talked in whispers. Xandro said, “Why did you let him use that room? Everyone knows, that the princess doesn’t want anyone to use it!” “But he looked pitiful that night, that room was the only one with furniture and beddings for normal people.” The old woman replied. “C’mon let’s explain to the princess”. Xandro suggested. Both of them rush out from the receiving area where they left Jostal fully covered with the wool beddings they gave him last night. When the morning came, nobody else knew. There was no sun it was like five o’clock still even if it was already ten in the morning. However, Jostal really wanted to leave the place. So, even when Xandro tried to stop him because of the bad weather and the hailstorm in the country road where he was found lying was still as bad as before, he still continued to go. It was only when the old woman said, “Wait, the princess has forgiven you!” that he stopped for a while and looked back. He said, “The princess, was she? I mean was she the woman last night??” “Yes, she is.” The old woman answered. Interested on the thought of knowing the mystery behind every doubt he has had last night, he decided to stay but only until the next morning. But first he asked them where he could contact his family to assure them that he was all right. Xandro asked him to make a letter so he could deliver it to the nearest post office. As soon as Jostal was able to finish the letter, Xandro sent it right away. That afternoon, Jostal asked if he could talk to the mistress of the house. But the old woman only said that the princess refuses to talk to anybody. Jostal, in his disappointment, got contended in conversing with the old woman instead. “Last night, I had a very bad dream. A man probably at his teens, appeared in front of, he was dead, his face and lips were pale. And his eyes were dark and devilish. He said he owns the furnished room I slept in. Who was he?” The old woman kept silent for a while, and said, “Here in this place we are really not allowed to say anything.” “I understand. But who was this Jeremy guy, I heard his name last night from your crying princess. And I even saw his name written on the table with the name Lina” he said while examining the change in the face of the old woman. “I see you know a lot. I can only tell you much but you have to keep silent. Once the lady of the house knew you know something, it will all be over for you.” She said, in a rather sly tone. “The princess Lina fell in love with a man named Jeremy. He got lost in the woods near the country road where you were found. He too fell in love with her. But the man was not used to living like us, so he soon felt that he must go. But he loved the princess so much that he wanted to take her with him to wherever place he would go. You see the princess, can’t leave this place, she was used to this. She ordered Xandro to furnish the man’s room with things that you people use, like chairs and tables etc. And that kept the man in this castle for a little longer. But then, there was a time when he got bored of the usual things in this castle, and longed for sunshine and the normal. There was even a time where he had tantrums, and both of them began fighting. This was normal for several times. The man felt that his love for her could no longer suffice for the pain and unhappiness that was eating him inside this place. So he told the princess that he would leave, and he will return and take her if she was willing to. The princess warned him, and pleaded for him to stay. But he didn’t stay. He went away and never returned. The hopes of the princess are still high until now, for her he would soon come back to her.” The old woman narrated. “What a sad story…” Jostal said. As he was walking inside the castle, he was feeling the deep sorrow that the princess felt when her loved one left her. “Two worlds that are so much different…” he whispered to himself. While passing the room he slept at, he saw a glimpse of the princess. He stepped back and looked at her. She was beautiful in an exotic way. She was wearing all white. And her hair was as long as her back. She was sitting on the bed of her beloved. She was crying. Part III: The Secret With all pity for the young girl, he approached her. She was not surprised to see him. The princess huddled herself, like a lost young child. He sat near her, and asked her, “You miss him, don’t you?” The princess didn’t answer back. She remained silent. He was looking at her full of sympathy. And the princess just stared back at him, with sad eyes. She said, “Lonely isn’t? Once you’re here, you can never go away.” Jostal thought that she was referring to herself, given the fact she doesn’t have the chance to be with her loved one when he was asking her to go with him. “But you can, you just didn’t take the chance.” He said comforting her. “Don’t you realize it yet? Reality is harsh!” She said, now smiling cunningly. “Yes, of course, my dear child. You don’t always have to live like this. All alone in a creepy snow island, you don’t want this. If he ever comes back go with him.” He answered, as if it were to help the poor girl. There was silence after which. Jostal felt the loneliness for himself, he realized his family was too far away from him, and he was longing to be with them too. “You know, I have a family too, they were all waiting for me. Waiting for my return. My kids if you ever get to know them, they’re really nice. And my wife, the best! My eldest is about ten years old. You’re just a few years older I suppose. How old are you anyway?” “Good, you’re missing them. Beautiful isn’t it? I mean life. My age? I don’t know, time stopped around here and we stopped growing old. You too…” She smiled, and added, “You’ll get to enjoy life the same way we do.” “Princess, my family needs me and I need them too. I can’t stay here and be one of your servants. I know you understand, just like you understand him… Jeremy. When he left and searched for his own freedom and happiness.” “I didn’t want to stop him from finding his freedom and happiness. I just want to save him from reality. The reality is that he will never have that freedom and happiness anymore. I love him… and I know he loves me too. He will come back!” The princess started crying like a child, looking at every memory left by her love. “What reality? Don’t be too hard on yourself…” Looking at her with pity. He knew he would never come back, not anymore. That night he slept at another room, the coldness seemed to be more tolerable than before. “I guess I’m getting used to it now…” he said to himself. That night he was into another dream, it was more hair raising than before. He dreamt that he was coming back home. He reached his house and he began to knock. “Who’s there?” asked Rose. “It’s me honey, I’m home!” Jostal said while happily waving his hand at the window. Rose opened the door, and looked at every angle trying to find who was behind the door, then she closed it as if she didn’t see anybody. But he was in front of her all along. Then he peeped to the window and saw her crying while looking at his picture. And there was a letter that she was holding too. “Wait, that was my letter! Rose I’m right here…” He protested. There was a cop coming from behind him, knocking at the door. Rose opened the door. And let the officer in, Jostal came in too. “Did you find his body?” Rose asked. “Yes, we have. Sorry ma’am, but he was as cold as ice.” The officer replied. “Don’t tell me… oh no!” Rose began to cry. “..He’s dead! Your husband is dead!” The officer said looking down. Jostal couldn’t believe it. Then he tried to read the letter but he couldn’t even touch it with his bare hands. He couldn’t hold his wife, his children, and his home. He was dead. He screamed to the top of his lungs and he woke up. It was the old woman who came. “What is it again? You keep having bad dreams! Go to sleep, we all want to be at peace!” “At peace? I’m dead!” He said panicking. “Don’t be silly, as long as stay here you’ll be fine” The woman said hesitantly. She left the place and let Jostal sleep. When the morning came, he packed his things and got ready to leave. Xandro tried to stop him again, but this time the princess came and said, “Let him find his happiness and freedom, we all want to be at peace here.” She smiled, and Xandro helped Jostal pack his things. “If ever you see him, sir, tell him to come back to me, and I’ll be ready to join him wherever he might go” The princess added. Everyone was shocked. But they find themselves happy for her decision to leave the place. When Jostal left the castle, he was told never to look back. But out of his curiosity and pity for the people living there, he did look back. And to his surprise, the castle was gone, it was merely a mountain covered with snow. He was frightened so he let the horse run faster than before. When he reached the country road, two or three men came near him, stopping the crazy horse. He went down from the animal and looked at the people looking at what looked like a crime scene. He went nearer and oozed from the cluster of people curious of what happened. And truly shocked of what he saw, he saw a dead man. Head facing the group, the man was wearing a thick jacket same as his, a trousers still same as his. And struck him most, was at the left hand of the dead man, was a wedding ring, same as his. He ran and ran going nowhere. And at every corner of that place he saw a bunch of souls nowhere to go. And he remembered what the princess told him… “I just want to save him from reality. The reality is that he will never have that freedom and happiness anymore.” “I am dead, and so were they! We were nothing more than lost souls.”
Copyright © 2006 Krupska Miranda |