A Short Walk Through a Wide World

Aubry wakes up. The roots of the jungle hang above her, and around her are thousands of books on shelves carved into tree trunks and branches. She tries to find a way back up to Marta but fails. She resents the library for its exclusivity and now sees the library as another kind of exile. She wanders until she finds a room with a chair and a table. On the table sits a bowl of fruit with a note that reads “FOR THE NEXT” in her own handwriting (331).

Aubry wanders the library for years. She moves from room to room, each different from the last. Some are like grasslands, with shelves hidden in the tall grass. Some are like ancient ruins, mosques, an Egyptian tomb, or a Chinese imperial court. Food and clothes appear when she needs them.

After a while, she realizes that she never falls ill anymore, though she has not left the library in months or years. The sickness replies that she is where it wants her to be: “at home with the history of the world” (335). The voice adds that it wants to brag about things sometimes. Eventually, reading becomes an obsession for Aubry. She reads thousands of books without pause until she is old, with gray hair and wrinkles.

She hears a noise and goes to investigate. She finds a room like the ruins of Pompeii, with bridges over lava, and realizes that she has seen this room before. Across the lava, she sees herself, much younger. She shouts to her younger self that her mother is dying, and then she runs.

Over time, she hears more voices in the distance, sometimes muffled and sometimes clear. She now realizes that it is her own voice. Finally, she finds a blank notebook on a table with a pencil. She understands that these items are for her.

The voice of her sickness tells her to start the story at the well because that is where they first met. Aubry draws elaborate pictures across the pages of her notebook. She draws for days. One day, she draws the image of herself leaving her exhausted mother. When she finishes that page, she cries and does not draw again for weeks. Eventually, she draws the Calanshio Sand Sea and the Russian train. As she draws, she asks if Marta survived, and the voice tells her that she stumbled out of the jungle half-starved but alive and wrote a book about Aubry.

When she completes the book, she walks into the endless books and slides hers in with the rest. She wonders if anyone will ever see it. She thinks that even the books she has read do not tell her a single name. She believes that every death is anonymous and that hers will be the most anonymous of all.

Aubry finds a room with a sofa, lies down, and does not move for months. The voice of her sickness cajoles her to keep going, but she says that she has nothing left. The voice tells her to be grateful, but Aubry is exhausted. For the first time, the voice sounds sorry, admitting that it stole her childhood and everyone she has ever loved. She looks out into the dark corridor beyond her room and sees a vague shape. She says that she can almost see the sickness there. Then, the voice thanks her for the journey and says goodbye.

Aubry lies in the dark. Then, she hears a loud noise in the corridor. She finds a single book on the floor, as if someone threw it off the shelf. She opens it to see ink drawings about a young man who finds a library and reads every book. Eventually, he goes blind. Then, Aubry turns a page and sees color as the man escapes the library and finds his family again, his sight returning. Aubry turns the page again, and the colors begin to glow and move on the page, rushing toward her.

Aubry’s perception fractures. She sees people, light, shapes, and color. She hears singing and voices telling stories. She feels a presence behind her and all doors everywhere opening. Eternity stretches out before her, and she feels herself turning to ash and scattering on the wind.

Aubry is outside. The air is humid, the sun is bright, and the jungle rises around her. She knows that the library is gone forever. With no other options, she starts to walk. Eventually, she finds a small village by a river. She suspects that she is somewhere in the Amazon.

She falls asleep at the edge of the village and wakes when a man approaches her. She panics, and he runs away. Aubry walks into the village and finds a merchant selling paper. Then, she finds a quiet spot to sit and draw. Blood drips onto the paper, and she freezes. It has been so long since her sickness struck that she panics. She rushes through the village asking for a boat until she collapses. She thinks that this is as good a place as any to die. Then, arms lift her and carry her to a canoe. A voice asks her where she is going, but she passes out.

Aubry wakes in a boat that is packed with supplies. The man piloting the boat is old, with leathered skin and silvery hair. He asks who she is and if her illness is contagious. She notices that he has an accent and is clearly not a local, and she makes a wild guess that he is on the run from the law. The man laughs and says that he is from Patagonia and merely ran away from his wife.

His name is Vincente Quevedo. His wife kicked him out of his home because they could not have children. Vincente says proudly that he walked all the way from Patagonia, through Uruguay, Colombia, and Venezuela before stopping here. Aubry stares at him with reverence. He explains that he had to stop because everywhere he went, children followed him. Every night, more children would appear.

Aubry asks how he finally got rid of them. Bashfully, Vincente says that they were young, some could barely walk, and others were sick. So, he made a camp. Aubry finally understands that he has kept them all. The boat pulls up to shore, and 23 children emerge from a large camp to greet them. The children call him Grandpa, and he treats each with gentle calm and seriousness. One child asks how Aubry can contribute to the group, and she offers to hunt.

Aubry and one boy, Ollie, fish in the river. They return to the camp with a large catch, and the children are delighted. As they cook and eat around a large fire, the children tell her stories about their lives. Aubry goes to sleep that night feeling happy. She wakes up in the morning to screaming.

The screaming comes from a little girl who has fallen and broken her leg. Aubry says that they need to find a doctor, but the oldest girl says that Grandpa can handle it. Vincente calmly resets the bone while the girl screams, and then he wraps it in bandages. Aubry again insists that they find a doctor, but Vincente dismisses the suggestion.

The next morning, Aubry wakes with Ollie curled up beside her. Later, Vincente sees a tiny raft floating toward them on the river. He pulls it to shore with a four-year-old girl on board. The girl, Kuliki, explains that a big storm shook her house until it fell down with her parents inside it. She followed fireflies to find this camp.

Aubry wanders down the riverbank and finds Vincente tending to a tomato garden. He explains that they have the room for Kuliki because two of his older children have recently grown up and moved on to other places. He does his best to teach them what he can and let them go when they are ready.

The children ask about Aubry’s travels. One child asks if she has seen everything in the world, and she pauses, unsure of how to answer. In awe, Vincente speculates that she truly has seen everything there is to see. Another asks if Aubry has suffered and if it was worth it. She says yes to both. The next morning, Aubry wakes up with five children curled up beside her.

Vincente unwraps the little girl’s broken leg, and it is healed. The girl walks and then runs with the other children. Aubry says that it is impossible. The oldest girl states, “Impossible things in your world […] are inevitable in ours” (380). Then, Vincente says that he wants to check for donations, explaining that nearby villages sometimes leave gifts at a drop-off spot. Aubry offers to join him.

As they walk, Aubry asks how Vincente healed the girl’s leg. He responds that he has learned not to ask such questions. Then, Aubry realizes that this is her fifth day here and she has never stayed so long in one place before. Vincente suggests that she can stop counting, and Aubry cries.

They reach the drop-off spot, and Aubry freezes. It is a stone well with a carved bearded face. A girl climbs into a bucket, and Vincente lowers her into the well and then lifts her out again. The girl reveals a handful of treasures: Chinese gold coins, a piece of amber, a big tooth on a cord, and other things including Aubry’s puzzle ball.

Aubry recalls the pattern that Marta drew on the globe, and suddenly she knows how to open the puzzle. The ball twists open, revealing a piece of paper inside. It is a painting of a black river surrounded by thick jungle, painted by Qalima, with a birthday message on the back. Aubry feels sudden shock and gratitude for “the miracle of her being” and for where she has ended up (388). Vincente says that it is time to go home, and Aubry agrees. They walk back to the camp together, and Aubry tosses the puzzle ball to the oldest girl, who takes it with a curious smile.