Tsandu’s Introduction

There is a world – far from human sight and away from human hearing – that can be captured for a brief moment in the shadow of a star or brought softly on a moon breeze.  Very few have been fortunate enough to catch a glimpse or a whisper, for that moment lasts for such a short space of time and is gone in the blink of an eye.

Just occasionally a human might chance upon this mystical world in the midst of the ebb and flow of sleep, or in a moment of deep meditation.  Most, if not all, put the wonders that they suddenly see before them down to being ‘just a dream’.  For how could such a place exist?  There is no place quite like it on Earth.

There are many who may have tried – or will try in the future – to capture once more the true beauties in the world around you.  Maybe the brief sight of mine will have inspired you?  I know this.  I have observed the people of Earth for a long time.  You see I am older than your mountains, but younger than the sun that lights your lives each day.  There is, in reality, only a hair's breadth between our two worlds yet we are not in a parallel universe.

Are you confused?  I apologise for speaking in riddles.  For hundreds of years I have studied your people - a silent observer.    I have watched you grow as a race like the flowers grow.  So long I have waited for this opportunity to reveal to you the existence of my world… to reveal myself to you.  Now I hardly know where to begin.  I have never quite grasped the intricacies of the human mind beyond logic – the thought processes and feelings behind your emotions.

I suppose the clearest way to explain is to say that it is as though there is a window between our worlds; with glass so fine and clear that it cannot be seen.  Now imagine that there is a curtain across the window – a curtain made up of all the things that your brain can perceive to be real: the sky, the grass, the buildings, trees and flowers – all that you would deem to be normal.  This curtain exists because over the centuries your own minds have closed to the existence of my world.  Hundreds of years ago, before people had the knowledge of ‘their’ world and ‘their’ solar system, they were more receptive to things that are now referred to as ‘magic’ and ‘fairy stories’.  Back in those days so long ago, the human race could see us and we them; they held us in the greatest respect, as we did them.  Gradually your world changed – human opinions changed and although we remain where we have always been, interest and belief in us was lost until we could be seen no more.  For although you have gained and progressed much as a race with your scientific developments and constant striving to be the best, this also blinkers you to that which cannot be explained by your science.  Our world should not exist, according to your scientific rules and equations, but it does exist nonetheless.

Far from the sight of humankind and away from human hearing… yet if you were only to draw back the curtains of your mind and open your ears then things could be as they were so long ago.  That which you humans call your imagination is actually the key to bridging the gap between our worlds and rebuilding the connections.

So – why have I come to you now after all this time?  Why am I suddenly trying to raise your awareness of my world?  The answer is simple – we have had a visit from a human.  This human managed to enter our world and it is, in part, for their sake that I am bringing you this story.  The other reason is that through the human, I realised something that centuries of study and observation had not revealed to me: that each of you need to be able to see a little of our world soemtimes – in order to save your own.  After all, everyone needs a little ‘magic’ now and then.  Not everyone is, or wants to be, receptive to our magic; their minds are too firmly shut and they have already found their place in the world and are reluctant to change.  As I see your eyes darting eagerly over the pages of this book, absorbing all of the words as water in a sponge, I know that I have made the right choice.  You may think that you have chosen to read this book with a free will – but it is the other way around.  I have chosen youand you have responded admirably to my calling.

I am aware that there are certain formalities that are observed by humans and I am ashamed to say that in my excitement at finally being able to communicate with you I had forgotten what was required.  So I will now correct that and introduce myself.

My name is Tsandu and I am one of the senior guardians of my world.  There are five guardians including myself, and we each have our own task.  Once there were six of us, as there shall be again, but this will be explained later, when you are ready.  My own task is that of Record Keeper.  It is mainly a scientific task; studying changes all around us, and in different places such as your world.  It is also useful to be aware of these changes in case any should suggest a threat to our world. Our world may be peaceful, but this is not necessarily the case Outside.

Our world is called Serendipus.  The days are filled with all the colours of your spectrum and more that you will never have seen.  At night the world is filled with a gentle blue light and stars cover the sky.  We have two moons to light our way – one is blue and appears only at our harvest time about every two Earth years, and the other is golden and makes everything shine.  Shooting stars are a common sight and leave behind a rainbow trail across the night sky.  Although our atmosphere is much the same as yours, the air is completely pure.  The water that runs in our River Cleft is as clear as the crystals that twinkle in the rocks of the Lilac Mountains.  Everything is considered as a living thing – and everything exists in harmony.

I am happy to tell you that this is so… it came so close to falling apart.  So, for now, I will leave the recounting of our story to Shamlack, the Storyteller, who has gathered every detail in his mind and is much more adept with telling tales than I.  He will of course tell the tale in the third person; for ultimately, in matters of this world, there is no ‘I’ there is only ‘we’.