The Decipherment

  * * *

  Sometimes, the things that lie at the back of our lids make us open our eyes and see the light in front. But sometimes, these things can shut the windows of our minds forever, thus keeping our minds captured in the dark of ignorance.

  Isabelle Aimery had never thought of what she might see at the other side of her dreams . . . but now that thought seemed far away, distant from where she was. When the same feeling of hollowness settled within her, she was sure she was in her dream; that she hadn’t fallen in some other lost and estranged place. And she was also sure that when she looked round her, she would find the same people standing on a chessboard. She could feel the unease building up within her, but didn’t have the strength to fight it. It was as if all her energy had been drained.

  Maybe the dream world is channeling my energy or something, she thought.

  She had seen others standing on the chess board, but hadn’t thought she’d be one of them too.

  You chose to be here, remember? There’s no turning back now.

  She was in the last, eighth column, first row from the right, last block . . . and it was white. As it was the end of the board, she could clearly see everyone – all the men and women in front of her, occupying all the black and white blocks. They were all standing so silently, patiently, looking in . . .

  What are they looking into?

  As Isabelle looked closely, she found the others staring intently into videos flashing before their eyes, playing fast and rapidly. They all looked hypnotized. She tried to focus on what the videos were showing. Her jaw dropped open at the sights before her.

  She noticed that the videos played differently for everyone. Those who were standing on the white blocks had pleasant and happy flashbacks before them, of good times and memories, whereas the videos playing for those standing on the black tiles were dark, gloomy, of torture and killing.

  Isabelle wandered why there was no video playing before her. But as she concentrated hard, she could see there were flashbacks moving in front of her too, though in distorted blurs.

  What are they?

  My memories?

  My dreams?

  Thinking they were just another of her mind’s fragments, she tried to see through the blurs on the flashbacks. Little by little, everything became clear. Isabelle gasped in shock. And then she realized that what these flashbacks were of.

  Just like the rest of the men and women standing near her, she was looking at all the good parts of her life; all the happy moments she had spent with her parents as a child, all the places and people that had inspired her and made her feel good, every good deed she had ever done – it was all there, rehashing rapidly right before her eyes. It was as if someone had made a recording of her life and was now playing it before her.

  It bought tears to her eyes, to see how happy she had once been with her parents, all the joy they had brought her, all the good times she had spent with them. She was happy then.

  Now where is that woman who once truly knew how to smile?

  You abandoned her long ago, remember? Isolated her just to be in the confines of the shadow you think is you!

  But she ignored the dark thoughts hovering in her mind. Right now, she needed to deal with this.

  Why isn’t everyone doing or saying anything?

  She tried to call out to them, but no one seemed to hear her. She couldn’t even hear her own voice, like it had died within the silence all around – and then it started to happen, just like in her dream.

  Every person standing on the black tiles started to disappear, vanishing completely into thin air. She bit back a tremble of fear just as the man standing before and the woman standing next to her vanished too. Nothing was left of them, not even a puff of smoke.

  Now only a few people were left standing on the board, all on the white tiles. Isabelle tried her best to think of a meaning to all this, of anything that might explain why all this was happening the way it was, but she came up blank.

  Start over again.

  A chess board, eight columns, eight rows, black and white tiles . . . but no chess pieces,only living humans.

  Evil and good deeds, black and white . . .

  Black and white!

  And then it struck her. Finally, it all made sense now.

  White for good and black for evil – two colors signifying two simple aspects of nature.

  Why hadn’t I thought of this before?

  She had read it somewhere that each aspect of nature is often represented by a symbol or a color. Just like there were symbols for the four basic elements fire, air, earth and water, there were colors too. Just like blue stands for water; green for earth; yellow for fire and so on, black stood for evil, signifying a dark side just like evil itself; and similarly white stood for good, symbolizing purity and peace. Now it all made sense to her.

  Those standing on the white tiles were being shown the good side of their life and all the good deeds they had done while those on the black tiles were being shown the dark, sinister side of their life along with the evil they had done

  Perhaps that’s why they disappeared, as a punishment for their sins, and the good ones stayed . . . but for what? To get a reward or something of that sort?

  But she figured she would find out soon enough as she was also among the ones still standing. She couldn’t help but chuckle to herself.

  That means I’m one of the good guys.

  She was busy thinking of her “reward” when suddenly the board started moving; shaking and tumbling from every side. Isabelle tried to look down, to see if it was joined with something or held on to some strong support, but she found herself unable to move from her place, as if some strong invisible hands held her there.

  The whole board began to shack violently. The others didn’t even seem to notice or feel anything. They all just stood their ground like statues. Isabelle tried desperately to free herself from whatever was restraining her movements. And then the board started to break, small cracks appeared in its centre, and started to grow outward, shattering the tiles around them. Isabelle wished this dream to end – and now seemed the perfect time for that to happen.

  She saw the front rows fall and the cracks deepening fast, inching closer to the edges until the last bit of the board was broken. Isabelle wandered if she would die, or get saved at the last minute like she was in her previous dream. Just then the last remains of the board broke off and it shattered to pieces, falling in the void beneath.

  The tile Isabelle stood on also separated from the rest of the board, but just before she was going to fall downward, she felt a kick start up her spine and then the whole world collapsed around her. All the people falling around her vanished, the blackness disappeared and her little flight landed her right where she had left – right before her dreams!