Arrival
written by: Elvira R.
He stopped and looked up. To his left and right, the sandstone walls of the city disappeared into the distance, the tops of its towers seemingly touching the blue sky above him. He noticed the remnants of small huts scattered along the outside of the wall, almost unrecognizable among the dunes of sand. In front of him lay the entrance to Gan Eden – the Lost Paradise – the city that had haunted his dreams for decades. It felt surreal to stand at its border now, like a fata morgana born of the merciless glare of the desert sun. He had spent more than half his life searching for it. He straightened his back, sore from rowing the little boat to the shore, took a shaky breath, and put his hand against the giant wooden gate, giving it a soft push. The gate opened, releasing a sound that almost felt like the city had uttered a sigh – relieved to have finally been released from its prison. Without a glance back, he stepped inside, the gate closing silently behind him.
Golden twilight engulfed him, and he felt a deep sense of tranquillity. The entrance to Gan Eden took the form of a circular shrine, so high that he struggled to make out the ceiling in the darkness. Long, slender windows carved into the walls let in rays of sunlight, illuminating the intricate reliefs that adorned the shrine’s interior. In the middle of the tower stood a pedestal holding a delicate triton shell. Mafteah, he whispered, the key to the city. His dreams had prepared him countless times for this moment. Slowly, he approached the centre of the shrine, carefully picking up the shell and raising it to his ear. At first, the only thing that he could hear was the sound of waves rolling on the shore and his own heartbeat. But then he heard them – quiet at first and distant – the murmur of hundreds of voices: old and young, male and female, loud and soft. These were the voices of those who once lived behind these walls.
The people of Gan Eden had once been a proud nation, surrounded by wealth and prosperity, the finest arts, and the newest scientific inventions. Then, one day, the entire population vanished – as if they had fallen from the face of the earth. To this day, no definite knowledge exists of what happened. Only speculation: a foreign invasion, a plague, a jealous god. That was the reason he was here – the reason he had spent almost half a century searching for this city. It was his life’s purpose to discover the true cause behind the disappearance of Gan Eden’s people. And he knew the answers to this riddle lay beyond the northern end of the city. There, a giant gate made of bronze and gold was embedded into the side of the mountain, guarding Gan Eden’s secret – a gate that could only be opened by the Mafteah, by the right person at the right time.
Carefully, he placed the shell into his bag, left the sacred atmosphere of the shrine, and stepped out to what was once the prosperous city of Gan Eden.
