D: Fancy That

Fancy That
by
Dr. Leyrose

"Boy, what do you think you are doing? Haven't I told you to leave
things alone? What am I going to do about this?" Frederick's father
wasn't as angry as he pretended to be. Actually he though many of
Frederick's escapades were kind of funny. He also thought it was
healthy the way Frederick explored everything. Basically, as far as he
was concerned, as long as Frederick didn't hurt himself or someone
else, there was actually little harm that could come of his antics.
Sometimes, when he was trying to disclipline Frederick he had to fight
back a smile or resist the urge to giggle. Without a doubt Frederick
could find amazing ways to destroy something. This time is was an old
clock. The thing hadn't worked in a very long time, but the point he
wanted Frederick to understand was that he couldn't aimlessly go around
destroying things just to find out how they worked. He had to learn
respect for things that didn't belong to him. Now, Frederick's mother
took a slightly different view. Above all else, she was afraid that his
curiosity would get him into something one day that he wouldn't be able
to get out of. She wasn't a pessimist, she was just leary of Frederick
making a mistake that would affect the rest of his life. To her, there
was enough myster in the world to keep Frederick occupied. But there
was more than enough opportunity for Frederick to get into the wrong
things. Because of that, she continually reminded Frederick's father
that Frederick had to start learning about what he could do and what he
couldn't; about the things he could explore and the things better left
alone.
Frederick looked up at his father with another of those faces that was
so innocent it made you want to smile. With clock parts scattered all
over his bedroom floor, and still looking up at his father, Frederick
pleaded, "I just wanted to see if I could fix it. I know where every
part goes, and as soon as I find the bad part, I'll fix it and put it
all back together. This time it's different I really can fix it."
Fredericks father sat down beside Frederick and started looking at all
the pieces. He really wanted to chuckle at the big mess, but he had to
get Frederick to start accepting he had done something wrong. As much
as he wanted to encourage him, Frederick's father knew he had to dole
out some punishment. At the very least, he had to help Frederick clean
up the mess before his mother got home. So, together they both started
picking up the pieces as he began to mix in a little friendly advice.
"Son, I know how much you like to figure things out, but your mother
buys you all kinds of puzzles, games, and things for you to explore.
You have a microscope kit, and all kinds of kits to assemble. You can
build a radio or something. The point is you have got to stop taking
everything apart. I just got the vacuum cleaner fixed that you took
apart last week. And I don't think I'll ever get all my tools organized
again. Look, I'm not angry with you, but it's like your mother says,
you have to stop messing with things that don't belong to you. Why
don't you start going to the bazaar and seeing what you can find. I'm
sure there are lots of things you can explore and see how they work.
Tomorrow is Saturday, I'll go with you and show you where everything
is. We'll look at all of the different things and get an idea what's
out there. How dioes that sound?" Frederick, excited by the prospect,
quickly decided it was better than getting in trouble. Immediately his
imagination began to run wild. Wow, he thought to himself, this is
better than anything I could have thought of. Then he said, "That would
be great, do you really mean it?" With a smile his father confirmed his
offer and together they finished cleaning up the clock parts. And with
a promise to not tell his mother about the clock, Frederick's father
left him alone to finish straightening up his room.
The next morning frederick rose early, after barely sleeping. This was
going to be his first trip to the bazaar and he could hardly wait. Like
a cat, he lept right into the bed and began trying to stir his father
from sleep. While his father groped around trying to wake, Frederick
giggled and continued to prod his father. "Come on, wake up. You said
we were going to the bazaar today. I'll go finish getting ready while
you get up. All I have to do is put on my sandals and I'll be ready."
His father, still trying to bring himself to get out of bed, lay still
blinking and thinking he should have waited until today to tell
Frederick about the bazaar. Gradually he managed to sit up on the side
of the bed just as Frederick came running back into the room. Like a
babbling brook, frederick kept talking and talking while he grabbed his
father's arm and pulled. There was no use trying to buy any time.
Frederick was excited, it was his fault, and now he had to "pay the
piper". With a smile and a "see you two later" from his wife,
Frederick's father stood and began to dress. Once he finally got awake,
he began to look forward to their little outing. It was the first time
he and Frederick had done something like this. Frederick's father could
hardly wait to see how he would act or what he would do.
At the bazaar were all kind of vendors. You could buy just about
anything. There was food, tools, clothes, and much much more. Some of
the wares were just for decoration and others, well, Frederick just
wasn't sure wjhat they were for. To Frederick, this was a dream come
true. He had never imagined so many things. There was even a few stands
that had mystical items, artifacts, and antiquities from times gone
bye. Many of the items were obvious fakes and just meant to delight the
eye. But some of them looked very real and the merchants swore by their
craftsmanship and origins. At each stop, with almost every item, there
was a story usually rooted in some old myth or legend. Tempting enough
for some adults, the stories proved irrestible for children. It was a
good thing Frederick's father was there to help separate the facts from
the fiction. Although he liked listening to many of the stories
himself, that's all they were was stories. He realized that any good
salesman had to have a story, and these street merchants were some of
the best salesmen in the world. Occasionally Frederick and his father
would stand close by as one of the crafty peddlers would hook some
tourists into buying many worthless items for a ridiculous price. Yes,
they were good at what they did. It wasn't personal, it was just
business. Frederick's father understood the mentality. It was prevalent
in just about any culture. It mainly centered around the axiom that
business was business and there were really no rules or constraints.
The vendors saw absolutely nothing wrong with charging people 50 times
what something was worth. To them, if someone was willing to pay the
price, it was just good business to accept the money. And, if you
didn't haggle about price, then you were considered foolish. It was
like many say, a fool and his money are soon parted. If these merchants
didn't take the money someone else would. Frederick, his father hoped,
was getting a few lessons in life as they meandered through the many
stands along the street. Learning by doing was always the best he
felt.
Frederick saw many things that day that caught his fancy. But he
didn't select anything to take home. He told his father that he wanted
to think about some of the things and maybe decide the next time he was
there. His father, proud of this newly gained wisdom, told him that he
had made a wise decision. Along the way, they talked about the things
they had seen, about the thousands of items, about fakes, and about how
funny the tourists were. It was an amazing day for both of them. It was
a dya Frederick and his father would remember for a long time to come.
Frederick's father wished he had taked him to the bazaar sooner.
Frederick wished he had too. Now frederick had a whole new world to
explore and many things he examine. There didn't seem to be any
limitations for Frederick's sharp mind and ravenous curiosity. Maybe
this was the best idea his father had ever had. They both hoped
Frederick's mother would be as excited about things as they were. When
they got home Frederick talked for hours, telling his mother about
everything he'd seen. Although she was happy about his new experience,
she again saw a lrge measure of danger. Trying not to let her concern
overshadow the joy of the occasion, she simply remarked that Frederick
should be very careful. Even though he was a local boy, there were
merchants that would take advantage of his innocence. But, at least she
thought, her or his father could rectify something if he was cheated or
otherwise taken advantage of. So, with reservations, she gave trips to
the bazaar her blessings.
For several days Frederick sifted through much that the vendors had to
offer. Sometimes he would come home with some small item, but his taste
was very limited. Although, like most children, he had a bad case of
wants, he had never gotten everything he wanted. Desiring his father
and mother to be proud of his choices, he was very careful about what
he selected. Generally he brought things for his mother and father,
things for the house, and sometimes things for himself. But, as a
general rule, he made very prodent choices. He learned very quickly to
spot cheap imitations and worthless trinkets. As a matter of fact
several of the street merchants held a growing respect for him. Still,
there were some that would kindle his imagination with one of their
stories, but before he would make a purchase he'd listen to that little
voice inside and walk away, after thanking them for the wonderful
story. As he continued to learn and demonstrate sound judgement, his
father and mother began to depend on him to make purchases for them.
Along with his increased responsibility they also granted him a greater
budget for his personal acquisitions. They were very proud of this new
direction he had taken, and it seemed that he had found something to
both occupy his time and help him focus all that curiosity.
One afternoon, as Frederick was reviewing some of the new wares along
his route, he walked over to a stand that had only two boxes sitting on
a carpet. They were different than any he had seen before. They weren't
really boxes, they were more like chests. They weren't big enough to
hold much, but there was something about them that kept his attention.
As he further scrutinized them he noticed they weren't new. As a matter
of fact thay looked very old. They were both trimmed with some kind of
metal and heavily engraved. He couldn't read the engraving, but it
looked like some kind of language. To get a really good look at one of
them he lifted it up and turned it about holding it in the light where
he could see more clearly. It seemed very light considering they way it
was constructed. He did the same for the other chest, and found it to
be much heavier than the first. By all appearances they looked very
much the same. The only real difference between the two was the color
of the large stone mounted on top. One had a bright red stone that
looked like a ruby, and the other had a green stone that resembled an
emerald. Just as he tried to open one to peer inside the merchant
stepped into view and introduced himself. "Hello young man, I'm glad
you stopped by today. My name is Gerome. I see you are interested in
the Baalakim. That is what the two precious chests are called in my
country. Would you like to learn more about them?" Fascinated by the
genuine uniqueness of the two chests, Frederick asked the man to tell
him his story and as much as he could about them. Following Frederick's
last words, Gerome pulled out a very old looking parchment and began to
read it to Frederick.
"The Baalakim is only for those who are seeking, for those who want
and cannot find. Among the most ancient of treasures, it cannot be
owned only used for a time. The time depends on the heart of the user
and the time required to learn the answer." Then, removing a smaller
parchment he began reading again. This time his voice was different,
more penetrating, more hyptnotic. As he read, the world aroung
Frederick seemed to slowly fade and all of his attention began to focus
on the words and Gerome's voice.
"Not through his will or by his deeds,
Like chaff scattered among good seeds,
The quest through time a man it leads.
A warning heard to him who heeds,
Through his wants he finds his needs.

Not gold or silver or precious beads
For the man whose heart Baalakim reads.
Just as the broken musap bleeds,
The Baalkalim on desire it feeds.
Through his wants, he finds his needs.

A house of mud and bed of reeds,
For secret vows and silent creeds,
To separate the wheat and weeds.
With his own breath the man concedes,
Through his wants, he finds his needs."

Then with a penetrating smile, Gerome asked Frederick if he wanted the
Baalkalim. He could already see the answer in Frederick's eyes before
he asked. But he had to ask, it was part of the game. He knew that a
boy such as Frederick would have extreme difficulty resisting something
so unusual, so mysterious. It was easy to see how the cryptic poem had
captured Frederick's imagination. In a dreamlike trance, completely
caught up in his imagination and driven by his curiosity, Frederick
began to press the man for more details. He wanted to know everything,
and he even told Gerome how much he fancied the two chests. Oddly
enough Gerome didn't seem interested in money. Every time Frederick
would start talking about it, he would talk about something else. But
the part that really sealed the deal for Frederick was how Gerome
described the things Frederick could do with the chests. Frederick
didn't listen too closely to the things he couldn't do though. Touching
the chest with the red stone on top, Gerome began, "Each day you may
take from the chest anything you choose. But at night, before midnight,
you must place it back inside. If you choose to keep what you remove,
you may replace it with something you own. But no matter which you
choose to do, you must do it before midnight." Then laying his hand on
the other chest, the one with the green stone on top, he he looked at
Frederick with a twisted strange smile and said, "You must never open
this one. You must never allow anyone else to open it. You may touch it
as much as you please, keep it where you desire, but must always know
where it is. And one last thing, you must open the other chest every
day. If you do not, you will no longer be able to remove anything from
it and must allow someone else the honor of using the chest."
Frederick, now almost in a frenzy, finally talked Gerome into revealing
the price for the chests. Although less than he expected to pay, he
attempted to haggle with Gerome over the price. He wasn't trying to
impress Gerome, it was just the way the game was played. Eventually
Gerome agreed to sell at a lower price and Frederick took his prize
home, along with a few other treasures he had obtained.
Over three weeks frederick opened the chest every day and placed
something back every night. But one afternoon, as he sat looking at all
the things he had amassed, he began to become dissatisfied with all of
it. He began thinking about the cryptic poem and the other box. Gerome
didn't tell him anything bad would happen if he opened the other chest.
Actually he really didn't say much at all about what would happen if he
opened it. He continually told himself that the poem and the story
Gerome told him were just stories made up to make someone like him buy
the chests. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced
that gerome was hiding something from him. Lifting the chest up,
Frederick thought it was much heavier than he remembered. It actually
felt like it had been filled with lead. But how could that be, he knew
that it hadn't been opened. He had the only key and never let it out of
his sight. Maybe it was just his imagination, after all it had been
quite a while since he lifted it. Maybe it was always that heavy and he
just forgot. One of them was always heavier than the other, he just
couldn't remember which was which anymore. But it really didn't matter.
He was going to open the chest just to prove all that stuff was a big
fib. When Frederick opened the chest there was a big flash of light,
then darkness for a while. Once his eyes adjusted again, he looked
around quickly. To his disbelief he was standing behind a table, with
two chests sitting on a carpet. They were the same two chests that he
had purchased, but what was going on? How did he get there? He must be
dreaming. As he stood trying to figure out what was happening to him,
he realized he was no longer a boy, but a fully grown man. Then,
looking down at a little boy, he said, "Hello young man, I'm glad you
stopped by today. My name is Frederick. I see you are interested in the
Baalakim. That is what the two precious chests are called in my
country. Would you like to learn more about them?" Then pulling out an
old parchment he began to read to the boy. "The Baalakim is only for
those who are seeking, for those who want and cannot find....."