Behind the Wall of Time

More about Behind the Wall of Time

It began with the whispering of old bricks. No one went to the wall behind the gardens anymore. It was a forgotten ridge of the world, weathered, plastered with layers of memories: circus posters, faded flower drawings, a frame without a picture. It was said that whoever looked through the round hole there would see more than just trees and the valley. One evening, a child crept there in a much too large gray coat. The coat had once belonged to the grandmother, they said, or perhaps to a dream. He sat down on the stone steps in front of the hole, softly padded with grass and time. Next to him, a white cat leaped out of nowhere, as if it had always been there. Together they looked through. And there it was. The house at the edge of the world. Its roof glittered like dragonfly wings in a turquoise-green scale. The many turrets looked as if they had collected fairy tales to blow out at the full moon. The large, weathered green door stood like a memory in the middle of nowhere. Flowers grew wild, colorful, and stubborn on the steep paths leading up to the house. And beneath the cliff, a river meandered through the valley, shining like liquid glass. But it was the girl at the door who wouldn't let the child go. She looked like... herself. Only a little brighter. A little more confident. A little more at peace. The child frowned. The cat purred softly, as if to say, "Look closely." And suddenly the child felt it—a tugging behind the chest, like when you want to write down a star but don't yet know what it sounds like. It wanted to be there. Not just see it. To feel what it was like to open a door behind which stories live. But there was that wall. The child stood up, stepped closer. The bricks were rough, warm from the previous day's sun. It placed its hand over the hole, so round, as if someone had deliberately cut a circle—not by force, but with longing. The cat jumped onto the bench, looked at the child, then to the other side, then back. "You can go," said something inside the child—perhaps a thought, perhaps the cat, perhaps the light. "But I'm not ready yet," it whispered. The cat tilted its head. Its eyes flashed. Then it leaped through the hole. For a single moment, the child was alone. The wind blew gently, as if someone were quietly turning a page. And then... the child stepped through. Not with a step. Not with a leap. But with a breath. The air there was different—softer, full of sound. The path beneath its feet was made of old stones, overgrown with grass. Flowers tilted slightly, as if greeting. The house didn't wait. It was simply there—as if the child had known it for a long time. In front of the large green door stood the other child. It smiled. "You took your time," it said. "I wanted to be sure," the child said.