Experience with Merimei
One week can feel very long in Merimei Village. However, if you were to mention it to a long-time resident, they might give you a funny look. From their perspective, each day is full to the brim and down to the second. Even sleep and rest are carefully measured to not interfere with everything that needs to happen before and after it. The more time is left unoccupied, the more opportunities there are for things to go differently.
By the time Shell received his last pay at the end of the week, he wasted no time packing his bags to escape. Just as he arrives at the ornate trellises marking the main entrance of the village, a voice calls out to him from behind.
“What a coincidence, looks like we’re heading out at the same time.” The traveller he had met a week prior was leaning against one of the wooden posts holding up the canopy. Something in her tone suggested that the encounter had not been entirely coincidental.
Recognizing the woman, Shell pauses for a moment to allow her to catch up with him. “I was just beginning to wonder how long you planned to stay. There’s only so long you can hang around this place until it starts to get to you.”
The woman gives a small laugh, “I think you exaggerate too much, but as you say, I’ve seen what I needed to see.” As she passes in front of Shell, she turns back to look at him, “How about we walk together for a while. Is there somewhere you’re heading?”
“I haven’t really decided. Supposedly there’s another town up the road this way, but I’ve only ever heard about it in passing.” Only once they village was well behind them did Shell come to a realization, “By the way, I don’t think I asked for your name before.”
“Ah, sorry, I always forget about that part when I meet new people. You can call me… Wim.”
Shell’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “That was an odd pause. Did you just make that name up?”
The traveller laughs again, but not in the nervous way Shell anticipated. It wasn’t the laugh of someone hiding something, but almost the laugh of someone telling you ‘you’ll understand when you’re older’. “I didn’t just make it up. I’ve just picked up nicknames over time that roll off the tongue better, and I offer them to people on a… whim!”
“Are you mocking me!? Why can’t you just give me your name?” Shell stops walking to confront the traveller.
Wim puts a hand up defensively, “Please don’t think of it that way. It’s nothing against you, I’m just not ready to give out my name just yet.”
“Whatever!” Shell swings his head away from her in a show of annoyance and finds himself looking back at Merimei. He knew it was a small village, but it looked absolutely tiny from this far away. He could easily see both ends of the village without needing to turn his head. The entire village was surrounded by forest, except for the side that opened up to the ocean. Shell suddenly felt a tension in his stomach thinking about the vastness the world beyond that forest.
Just as the thought of turning back creeps into his mind, Wim’s voice cuts through the atmosphere, “So, what is the deal with Merimei anyway? I sort of overheard some of your discussions with that older lady back at the hotel.”
Torn between relief at having a distraction and exasperation at being reminded of his reason for leaving, Shell lets out a grunt, “It’s some stupid rumour. Supposedly hundreds of years ago some great historical figure came to live in the village. When they died, they had someone ‘preserve the timeless beauty’ of this village by ‘putting a curse on the people who lived there’.”
“So what exactly is this ‘curse’ then?” Wim questions, hardly missing a beat. “Does it have something to do with why everyone does the same things every day?”
“They seem to think that this great person’s friend cast some kind of spell on them that will cause them to age with every new experience they have.” Shell scoffs at the ridiculousness of his own words, “That’s why they try to do the same thing over and over. They think they can extend their lives by not doing new things and sticking to what they know.”
Wim looks at him with an impenetrable expression, “Well, I would say there could be some truth in that, but it is a bit naive…”
“Are you really taking this seriously? It’s just a pathetic comedy routine that has gone on too long and become stale!”
“I’ve encountered some humourous predicaments during my travels, but this sounds more like generations of people living in fear of the unknown.” Wim’s voice trails off as she thinks, “Has anything happened to enforce this belief?”
“You mean people dying of too many experiences?” Shell was becoming increasingly baffled by her reaction. “I don’t think so, but there have been many people who live longer than average lives. The elders will even call someone dying in their nineties ‘too soon’.”
Wim turns her gaze back towards the village once, as if surveying the individual residents inside. “I see… Let’s keep walking for a bit. We have a lot of forest to clear and we don’t want to be stuck in there at night.”
