The Orchard of Hope (18 page)

“Are you OK, Nicholas?
”
Maggie asked when the flame
suddenly
lurch
ed
forward.

“I
’
m fine,
”
he replied.
“
This is new for me.
I
’
m still
getting the hang of things.
”

When they were close enough to the
crowd, Roland and Kelsey moved in closer. Roland picked out an
older gentleman and tapped him on the shoulder.

“I
’
m
busy,
”
the man said
without looking to see who was trying to get his
attention.

“No one is too
busy for me,
”
Roland replied. He tipped his sunglasses ever so slightly
forward to reveal part of one eye. As soon as the old man looked at
Roland, he screamed, and there was a sudden gap in the crowd as
people rushed over to see what was wrong. Kelsey moved swiftly
through the temporary gap in the crowd and it closed in around her
again as she reached the base of the flame. She quickly pulled out
her knife and got to work.

“Hey!
”
someone shouted at her.
“
I was here
first!
”
The
woman tried to pull Kelsey away, but Kelsey swung out her fist to
send her backwards. The woman immediately rushed forward and
punched Kelsey in the face, leaving a cut on
Kelsey
’
s
cheekbone. Kelsey struggled with the woman, finally pushing her
opponent down long enough to strike the base of the flame with her
knife. The flame went out completely.

“What the
…
she killed it!
”
a man screamed. The crowd went
into an uproar and was about to attack Kelsey when they heard
Maggie screaming.

“It
’
s not dead! It
’
s over there!
”
a voice shouted, and the people
in the crowd looked up to see
Maggie
’
s flame burning almost exactly like the one that had just
gone out.
“
It
’
s just moved over to where it
smells better!
”
Maggie cried out to encourage them
.

Without much thought, the crowd
rushed toward the light and began surrounding it, while Maggie
deftly slipped away past them to join Kelsey.

“It does smell
better over here,
”
the woman who had punched Kelsey said. The crowd was so
distracted by the fragrance that they didn
’
t notice the flame failed to
make them look beautiful. Nicholas slowly moved the flame down the
street, and the crowd followed loyally.

The flame floated majestically
above the mindless crowd, who followed as if in procession.
However, after a few moments, the flame suddenly dropped and
tumbled in the air for a few moments, nearly burning a young man in
the process. The crowd gasped, and Nicholas managed to raise the
flame again and keep it moving. It was difficult work for him, and
the flame sometimes faltered a bit, but Nicholas kept it moving
away from his friends. He would keep it moving until it
died.

“Let
’
s
go,
”
Kelsey said to
Maggie and Roland, and the three of them moved through the street
as quickly as they could. After about 10 minutes, they heard the
crowd roar with disappointment, and they knew that the flame had
gone out. This is when they started to run, putting as much
distance between themselves and the crowd as
possible.

Kelsey followed Roland, and Maggie
followed Kelsey as they made their way down the main road and
crossed a bridge into another part of town. The bridge was made of
wood, but had two large marble statues on either end. At least, it
looked like they were supposed to be statues, but the forms had
been so polished that it looked more like the marble had melted
smoothly into place. Finally, they stopped in front of a shop, and
Roland opened the door.

“We
’
re
going in here?
”
Kelsey
asked. Roland simply nodded and continued walking inside.
“
I haven't had much
luck with these places,
”
she remarked as she stepped inside. Maggie
looked up at the sign over the door. It said:

Memories Unlimited

More memories. More
choices.

“What is
it?
”
Maggie
asked.

“We
’
re a Memory
Store,
”
the
clerk said happily in response to the question.

“You store
memories here?
”
Maggie asked.

“We buy and
sell memories,
”
the clerk explained, still smiling. She appeared unable to
stop. Even when she smiled, she continued to talk. It was almost as
if she had two mouths: one that smiled incessantly and one that
spoke.
“
Memories Unlimited. We have more memories than anyone else.
That
’
s why the
sign says
‘
More
memories. More choices.
’”

“Cool,
”
Maggie said, obviously impressed. The store was
organized into different rooms, or
“
salons,”
as they were called.
The Happy Salon contained all pleasant memories guaranteed to make
a person smile. It was decorated as if a birthday cake had exploded
all over the walls. There were mismatched ruffles and brightly
colored decorations everywhere, and almost no blank space on any of
the walls. Wherever there wasn
’
t a shelf filled with jars of
memories there were decorations hanging, even from the
ceiling.

“Can I help you
find something?
”
the clerk asked, addressing Roland.

“I
’
m looking for hope. A memory of
a hope-filled dream, to be exact.
”

“I may have
just the thing,
”
the clerk replied through her smile.
“
Follow me.
”

She led the way through several
rooms and up a spiral staircase. They entered a room that looked
like a library, but instead of books on the shelves, there were
jars and jars of memories. The very bottoms of the shelves were
replaced with three rows of drawers running in a horizontal line
across the walls. All of them were tightly closed and appeared very
secure with heavy padlocks. Maggie immediately began to wonder what
could be so important that it needed to be locked up in such a
bizarre place.

“This is our
warehouse,
”
the
continually smiling clerk explained as she
pushed a tall wooden ladder on wheels that was secured to the top
of the shelves on a tracking system. The wheels creaked noisily as
they moved along, and Kelsey cringed at the
sound.

When she reached the appropriate
shelf, the woman climbed up and selected three jars from one of the
upper shelves. She nearly lost her balance as she was making her
way back down the ladder, and Kelsey ran forward to steady the
ladder and prevent the clerk from falling.

However, as Kelsey reached the base
of the ladder, the drawers along the bottom of the shelf near her
began to rapidly open and close in a snapping manner while making a
barking sound. The padlocks were useless, as the drawers easily
snapped them open with their aggression. Kelsey jumped backwards
and away from the dog-like drawers.

“Oh,
don’
t mind those,
”
the clerk said as she reached
the bottom of the ladder.
“
It
’
s
an experiment we
’
re doing by making a hybrid
nightmare-memory.
”

“Nightmare-memory?
”
Kelsey asked.

“Yes, it
instills the memory of a bad dream into a person. The problem is
that nightmares are powerful but at the same time extremely
volatile, so we haven
’
t quite got it right yet,
”
she said, the smile on her face appearing very
odd compared with the solemn tone in which she was speaking. But
then she added optimistically,
“
But we will. We certainly
will.
”

“Cool,
”
Maggie said with undisguised
admiration.

“Have you ever
worked with memories?
”
the woman asked Maggie after studying her for a
moment.

“No. But I
think I
’
d like
to. Especially if I could work with something like
that.
”

“You strike me
as someone who might have talent in this area.
”

“I do?
”

“Yes. I can see
by the way you dress that you
’
re both creative and emotional.
People like you tend to do well in this business. You should think
about it.
”

“Can we please
get back to the business at hand?
”
Kelsey asked, attempting to redirect the
conversation.

“She only has
one emotion,
”
Maggie explained to the clerk.

“What
’
s
that?
”
the
clerk enquired politely.

“Killing,
”
Maggie
replied.

Kelsey ignored Maggie and instead
stared at the three jars. Each one looked different. The first jar
had what appeared to be a blue liquid with little gold stars
floating in it. It smelled like vanilla. The second appeared to be
growing a small meadow inside of it, and the contents had a very
fresh fragrance that reminded Kelsey of cut grass. The third jar
had a clear liquid with sparkling confetti swirling around inside
of it. It sounded and smelled like the ocean. Small roars of surf
could be heard each time Kelsey tipped the jar.

“I like this
one,
”
she
said.

“The sound of
it nauseates me,
”
Roland remarked.
“
You
’
ll
have to carry it.
”

“So we can get
it?
”
Kelsey
asked with enthusiasm.

“We
’
ll take all of
them,
”
Roland
replied.

“All of
them?
”
Kelsey
asked with surprised and then composed herself.
“
Of course, we
’
ll take all of
them,
”
she
repeated, as if the fact were obvious. Maggie
’
s blue eyes became very
large.

“All of them.
Very cool,
”
Maggie said. Perhaps the clerk would have smiled more at
the prospect of making a large sale, but she was already smiling at
capacity. Maggie stared at the clerk’s perennial smile and finally
asked what had been on her mind.
“
Do you ever stop
smiling?
”

“Of course not.
Happiness makes a person beautiful,
”
the clerk explained with
a
shrug.

“Are you happy
that you appear happy all the time?
”
Maggie asked.