1
Long ago, in a remote land where winters lasts half the year, a poor couple was pregnant with a baby boy. Even before he was born, they loved him with all their heart, and they didn’t want him to suffer the same atrocious and heartbreaking experiences they’d been through. So they sought the help of the local sorceress who lived in the apple tree in the forest. She promised to grant anyone’s wish for a small price.
She helped them by infusing baby food with a special potion that would render the kid unable to feel sadness, fear, or pain. He’d only be happy for the rest of his life, without letting hardships deter him like they had deterred his parents so many times.
“There is one small caveat, though,” the sorceress said, pulling the bottle of infused food back from the mother’s stretched hand. “If he falls in love and said love is corresponded before his twentieth birthday, the potion’s effect will be reverted and he will be able to feel other emotions other than happiness.”
“That will be easy. All we need to do is keep him in our shack until he turns twenty,” the father said. The mother nodded effusively.
“You believe it to be easy, but don’t be fooled, you have no idea. Now, back to my payment…”
“What do you want?” the mother asked.
“Oh, not much, really. I just want to name the baby.”
The parents hesitated, considering the sorceress closely. Why would she want such a banal payment? “What name are you considering?” the mother ventured.
The sorceress pretended to ponder the question. Then she said, “Isaac. It means ‘He will laugh’ or ‘He will rejoice’, depending on whom you ask. Close enough to happiness, if you ask me.”
The parents decided it wasn’t a bad name, they’d never heard it before, but it didn’t sound bad. If that was all the sorceress wanted as payment, then they would gladly do it.
“It’s done, then,” the sorceress said, handing the bottle to the mother. “Thanks for coming. It was a pleasure doing business with you., she called after them.
Isaac was born a couple of months later, during the worst part of that year’s winter season. They raised him as well as they could, considering their lack of currency and food. They gave him as much as they could, which wasn’t much, but all of it was given with unwavering love. He grew strong and, more importantly, happy. Wherever he went in the shack, he always brought a radiant smile and a contagious laugh with him. That filled them with happiness, too, as their son would never feel the sadness and helplessness they’d felt throughout all their lives.
When he turned thirteen and became strong enough to work, his father took him to work as a lumberjack with him. The payment was meager, but the second salary would help a lot in the house. They got up at four in the morning every day (two hours before the village began to stir) and spent the day alone hacking trees down, just the two of them, then they returned back home at three in the afternoon, when most people were still working and the streets were the emptiest during the day. They took the long way home, which wound through the forest and most people avoided. His father always carried a blindfold with him to put over Isaac’s eyes if they happened upon anyone during their journeys.
Isaac spent seven years of his life doing that every day of the week, every week of the month, and every month of the year without stop, never complaining and always accepting their tasks with a smile on his face and a sunny disposition. His parents were happier than ever with him. It was a blessing to have a child who never felt crestfallen or disappointed. They masked their emotions in front of him when they were sad, so he wouldn’t ask what happened.
Then, Isaac’s twentieth birthday finally came around. His parents were relieved they would finally be able to let him out of the house to meet new people whom he could infect with his smile and happiness. It had been a bit difficult, keeping the outer world from him for twenty years, but they had promised they’d show him the world outside properly on the day after his twentieth birthday. He looked forward to going to the village and meet new people and explore new settings other than their shack and the forest.
And they had almost succeeded, but during the late morning a soft knock came from the front door. Isaac’s mother ushered him to his room and locked him there, then both parents opened the door. It was a young woman with long auburn hair and a freckled nose. She wore a patched dress and tattered kerchief tied to her head.
“Hi,” she said brightly. “Do you have any food to spare? It’s been a hard, long winter, and me and my family have nothing to eat.”
Isaac was listening from his bedroom, and knew, by her voice alone, that she wanted to meet its owner. He knew he wasn’t supposed to leave until tomorrow, but he wanted to meet the woman outside, so he scurried silently toward the window in his room and peeked out. From his place he could only see the back of the woman’s dress and her rich hair, cascading past her shoulders. He decided to climb out and steal a glance from outside as well. He creeped next to the outer stone wall of the shack, careful not to make any noise, and leaned over to see the woman better.
He had to catch his breath when he saw her. She was the most beautiful person he’d ever seen in his life—and one of the only ones, considering that, apart from himself, he’d only seen both his parents until then. He decided to talk to her anyway, at least say hello. What difference would a day make anyway?
When his parents closed the door, he approached the woman.
“Hello,” he said. “I’m Isaac.”
“Oh, hi! My name is Abigail. Please to meet you.” She did a little courtesy.
Isaac laughed and mimicked her.
Abigail laughed. “You’re funny. Do you leave he—”
The door crashed open and his parents were there, fuming.
“YOU!” his father snapped at the woman. “WE GIVE YOU OUR LAST APPLE AND HOW DO YOU PAY US? LIKE THIS! GO AWAY!”
The girl turned the color of a morning cloud and fled without having to be told twice. She didn’t spare a second look.
“AND YOU—” his father pointed at him. “WHAT DID WE TELL YOU? YOU DON’T GET TO TALK TO ANYONE UNTIL TOMORROW.”
“Wait… talk to anyone? Is that why you don’t want me going to the village or anywhere else but the forest? I thought it was for my safety.”
His father’s voice faltered. His mother spoke instead. “It is because of your safety. But it should have been tomorrow, not today. Now get in.”
Isaac’s smile got bigger. Because he was incapable of displaying or feeling negative emotions, he responded with a extreme smile. It distorted his face horribly and made him look mad. “I didn’t even leave the house, Mother. Please admit it was about meeting people.”
“It wasn’t, love, we—”
“You know what, I don’t care, I’m just going somewhere else. See you later.” His smile got even bigger, and he ran toward the forest.
Isaac found an apple tree in the heart of the forest and grabbed an apple from a lower branch. Then he decided it was as good a place to rest as any, and lay in its shade. He felt odd, as if he wasn’t supposed to feel such extreme feelings, as if his response to the situation weren’t natural. He pondered his dilemma while eating the apple. Was he being unfair to his parents? They had raised him after all. They knew what was best for him. But still, he had only wanted to meet the visitor. And the way they yelled at her… why had they been so… so… what? Then an apple hit him in the head. He looked up and saw an old woman with red hair staring down at him.
“Who are you?” Isaac asked.
“I don’t think you’re the one who should be asking the questions.” The woman cackled. She slid down the trunk of the tree and landed gracefully next to him. “But I don’t need questions. I know everything. You’re Isaac, aren’t you?”
He felt surprised. “Yes… who are you?” he repeated.
“Doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re in my home and I want to help you. You shouldn’t be feeling happiness after what happened. You should be angry.”
“Angry?”
“Yes, angry. Anger. But you’re uncapable of that, so I’ll give you a piece of advice: you should go meet the girl.”
“The girl? What do you know about the girl?”
“I told you, I know everything. I know that you find her beautiful, and I think that she could find you beautiful as well. Go after her. Don’t let your parents stop you. It’s your life.”
“But I don’t even know where she went. I don’t even know the village properly.”
“Leave that to me.” The sorceress disappeared inside a whole in the tree and appeared some moments later with a small mirror. “Show me the girl,” she commanded.
The image in the mirror shimmered and Abigail appeared walking down a cobblestone road. She looked around and then approached a house.
“Thanks,” Isaac told the sorceress, “but I don’t know the village. I don’t know where to find her.”
“Let me take you, then.” She snapped her finger and a green cloud engulfed them. They appeared in an alley of the village. The girl was talking to a woman in the house on the other side of the street.
“Go,” the sorceress told Isaac, and the urgency in his voice told him that it was something that he must do.
He crossed the street and reached the woman as she was leaving the house.
“Hello again,” he told her.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, surprised. “Hello. Sorry if your parents were angry at you if… you know.”
“No, that’s okay. They acted… weird.”
They stood there for hours talking about their lives and how Isaac had never gone to the village. They talked about food and work and the forest. Abigail took him to the library and the store. After a while, and because he didn’t have a lot of experience with new people, Isaac fell deeply in love with her, and she started warming up to him as someone she could get used to spending time with.
That was when eternal happiness left and he was invaded with the possibility of a thousand emotions at the same time. And, even though at the moment he was only feeling happiness and love, he understood now everything he’d missed during his twenty years, and that life wasn’t going to be easy from now on.
He decided to invite Abigail to the quaint celebration they were having in his shack in honor of his birthday. When they arrived, his parents received them gently and took him to his room to talk with him. They explained that the sorceress had come by and told them what had happened. Then they told him about their journey to the apple tree twenty years before.
“We understand that it’s impossible to shield you from everything, but we tried. We’re sorry,” his mother said. “Life is supposed to be lived, and even though we can’t give you everything, at least we can give you love.”
“I forgive you,” Isaac replied. “What did the sorceress ask in return for the potion?” he asked. It was a detail his parents had left out.
They both exchanged a look. “To name you.”
“Strange request,” Isaac mused.
“Yes, we thought that too, until now. She asked that to know your name. Names have power, and she wanted power over you in case something like… this happened. We just hope that, even though you can feel sadness and fear and anger now, you continue to be happy.”
“I’ll try,” Isaac promised. “Now, let’s go out.”
They went into the living room to celebrate with Abigail, and for the first time in his life Isaac felt new peace he’d never known before. He was about to enter a world filled with disappointments and difficulties and negative feelings, and he was ready for it.
