Legend CV – Aife and the House Behind the Circle

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No one knew anymore who had built the wall, yet it stood firmly in the heart of the city, as if it didn't belong there, and yet was inextricably linked to its memory. Its bricks were old, cracked, and covered with faded posters whose words no one had read for a long time. In its center, however, was a perfectly circular opening, so smooth and precise that it didn't seem like a gate, but rather like a missing piece of reality. Those who looked through it didn't see the courtyard beyond, but a small house on a narrow cliff, surrounded by flowers and crooked trees, with a river flowing silently through the land beyond. Most people saw nothing but stone and shadows. But on this day, a girl named Aife sat on the stone threshold of the circle and saw the house so clearly, as if it had always been a part of her life. Her gray coat was too big, her feet barely touched the ground, and her hands rested calmly in her lap, as if she were listening to an inner calling. Beside her sat a white cat on a wooden bench, motionless, with watchful eyes, as if guarding something that must not be disturbed. Aife hadn't come here by chance. For a long time, she had sensed that there were places that looked at you without being visible. Places that didn't want to be entered, but recognized. The house beyond the circle had never sent her words, but a feeling of stillness that wasn't empty, but full. It stood on a narrow stone path, surrounded by flowers that shouldn't have grown there, and its two slender towers rose like thoughts left unfinished. Aife knew, without being able to explain it, that this house wasn't for everyone. Adults walked past it; children sometimes stopped. It was said that the house was built from decisions, from all the paths one could have taken but hadn't, from answers that had never been asked. Whoever entered it didn't need to bring anything with them, because everything one held onto there weighed twice as much. The cat blinked slowly as Aife rose. It had never been her pet, but her companion since the first day she had noticed the circle. Cats, it was said, always stayed on the side you had to leave so you could find the courage to move on. As Aife took her first step, the stones crunched softly, and for a moment the city behind her seemed to hold its breath. The smell of old bricks mingled with the fragrance of flowers, and the house drew nearer, not in space, but in meaning. Aife didn't turn around. Farewells lose their truth when you look them in the face. When she finally stood before the green door, it opened silently. Inside, it was warm, and the house breathed as if it had waited a long time. Some say Aife never returned. Others say that sometimes you see a child sitting in the window, attentive and still, not sad, but watchful, as if guarding something fragile.