Straight Lines

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Sparks flew on the anvil for quite some time before he dropped the hammer. Then he clicked and popped his bones and settled in the chair. Big Papa’s workshop was a dark hot mess. Oval, once upon a time a quaint village located at the foothills of Mount Barbaros, had been transformed by his iron fist ever since he had arrived fourteen years ago. Bridges, horse carts, pulleys, and farming tools were all forged in the workshop. Sporting bulging arms and a rocklike face, no one dared to question his voice. But all the reverence and riches did him no good.

Every evening as he sat on the porch, his eyes grew increasingly sad. The hot sweaty evenings did nothing to soothe his agony as the summer crawled away. Ten years to their marriage and Lily had not yet bore a child. ‘Why has life been so unfair to you?’ Lily had seen him wail like a child for the first time in all these years. That year it rained like cats and dogs as if the heavens were in agony. The following summer was born Aline, the cream of their lives. However, their joy lasted untainted for a few moments until they realised that the baby could not smile. All that her lips managed to do was draw a sad straight line.This time, Big Papa didn’t cry. He went straight to the workshop and tried in vain to hammer his grief.

As Aline grew up, her plight became a joke for the village: ‘Girl with a straight smile’, ‘Hey Aline, they named you right, a…line’, ‘Sorry, can’t tell you a joke. My dear, how will you laugh?’. The sweet little girl was teased every other day. Girls giggled and women gossiped as she passed through the alleys while men mocked Big Papa in private.

One evening, when he saw Aline weeping in a corner, he was shocked. ‘Why aren’t you out, playing with other children?’ he asked. ‘They don’t call me anymore,’ she replied, with eyes glued to the floor. Big Papa found out that this had been so for a couple of weeks. Furious, he left without consoling Aline. Lily, who was troubled on watching this, knew that he was up to something. Big Papa had always been a man with a plan. No problem was mighty enough to stop him.

The air in the workshop turned intense. Clearing his desk of all old sheets and scraps, Big Papa spread out a large drafting sheet and began sketching. 'What's this, boss?' asked one, as all his true-blue men gathered around with bated breath. They had never seen him so focused. 'New order?' asked another, as their questions met with a strong gaze. Seeing his pencil move swiftly over the paper, they realised that it wasn't some regular order. Was it something sinister? 'Get ready' said Big Papa, 'and lock the workshop!' 'What for?' squeaked a short one, biting on his nails. Big Papa explained the cause to the workers. ‘It's time to prove your loyalty to the anvil. Tonight we will set out to build the first Big Iron in this village.’ ‘Big Iron?’ they whispered. ‘Put anything under it, dead or alive,’ he continued ‘and it will set things straight. No wrinkles, curves or even smiles. Just perfect straight lines. I can’t see my child suffer for no reason. Jack, get the furnace ready. Smith, set the bellows blowing. Lay your hands on all the scrap in here, boys.'

After eight days of struggle, the mighty monster was ready. Boys and men worked without a break while all that the village folks could hear were strikes and blows. The Big Iron turned out to be so huge after assembly that the workshop had to be rebuilt. The furnace was still hot when Big Papa nailed the board onto the gate. The Iron Camp, it read.

'I'll go in first,' said Big Papa as he passionately walked in while his men were left dumbfounded. 'For Aline,' cheered Jack and the rest echoed. One by one, as everyone emerged from the Big Iron, all that was left of their sinewy arms and crooked smiles were straight lines. He named them Iron Gang. 'It's time to welcome the villagers,' grunted Smith. The gang went to each house and dragged every man, woman, and child to the Camp. As news about the horror spread like wildfire, some managed to flee the village while the rest met their fate under the Big Iron; the ones who had mocked Aline as well as the ones who pitied her.

Within a week, the entire village was transformed. It was now called Square instead of Oval. Men, women, and children were left bereft of a smile. Terrified of the Iron Gang on their daily patrol, hens laid eggs that were like ceramic cubes and trees had fruits that looked like colourful juicy boxes. While passing over the village, the sun shivered and the moon quivered as they became squares during their short journey.

'This won't relieve his grief,' cried out Jamie, the potter, as the Iron Gang broke all his pots. Big Papa recruited more men to keep a count of the newborns. If an infant could smile, it was immediately brought to the Iron Camp. Be it detainment or death, Jamie and Jacqueline were determined to break this tyranny. Robin's birth made them forget the troubles but another problem was in store. He was born with a delightful smile which they couldn't part with. With Jacqueline's ingenious ways of handling clay, they managed to conceal Robin's smile and keep the Iron Gang away, at least for now.

Year after year, as Big Papa, who had grown tired and grumpy, went on setting things straight, curious Jamie worked in a hidden shed under his pottery workshop. He toiled late into the night assisted by Jacqueline. 'What if they find out?' she asked one night, shuddering after realising Jamie's plan. He was working on altering the Big Iron's working with the secretly procured designs. 'It will be too late before they can whiff it. Isn't it, Rob?' he replied. Robin smiled back at him. He was now a bright and cheerful lad of eight, the last person who could smile in the entire village. 'I had warned Big Papa that this wouldn't help,' said Jamie, 'before he put me under the Iron'.

One day, like every other evening, Big Papa was smoking cigars on the porch, sulking about the days gone by. 'Can I play with Julie?' asked Aline. 'Yes,' he curtly replied. After all these years, her eyes showed no hint of joy.

That night, as the candles continued to burn bright, Jamie and Robin were busy at the shed. 'It is time,' said Jamie, handing over the wooden box to the lad. 'At the break of dawn, you have to reach the Camp and follow the plan,' he added in a hushed voice and blew out the candles. ‘Don't worry. We’ll do it, papa,' replied Robin, as they walked out into the moonlight.

At the hour when the street dogs were ready to doze off after a busy night, Robin landed quietly at the Iron Camp. He picked up a stone and hurled it straight at the gate. Bang! It hit the nameplate. There was no response. He signalled to his friends hiding in the bushes and the gate was showered with stones, big and small. Terrified of the strange rumble, a few guards came out with sticks and guns. All they could see was little Robin on the street littered with stones.

'What do you want, boy?' grunted a guard. 'Did you throw the stone? I mean…all these stones? croaked another, rubbing his sleepy eyes. 'I didn't. The ghosts did,' he replied with a smile. News about the ghosts shook the village out of slumber and Robin's smile left Big Papa furious. He was immediately detained at the Camp. 'How in my wildest dream, did this happen? Were they fooling us for all these years? Set the boy straight, right away,' ordered Big Papa, fuming over the incident.

In the early morning dim light, Robin climbed up the dusty old Big Iron and replaced the components as instructed. Before the guards reached the chamber, he was back on the floor. 'Load the boy,' ordered Jack while the rest tried to start the idle monster. Robin happily entered the Iron as the doors closed. Jamie and the children peeped anxiously through the windows. 'What's happening, boys?' asked Smith, seeing the Big Iron still cold. Within a few minutes, the machine groaned and Robin popped out onto the floor. Smith approached him only to see his smiling face. 'Damn it! One more time folks. Crank it harder,' he ordered as the guards hurled Robin in. No matter how terrible the machine sounded this time, it made no difference to the boy. As news spread all over, villagers gathered outside the Camp. 'The camp is haunted,' they whispered. Terrified guards locked the chamber and rushed to Big Papa who was headed towards the Camp.

'What sorcery is this? My design can't fail,' screamed Big Papa, furiously checking the master design. The previous evening, Jamie and Jacqueline had covertly managed to win over Lily to their side. Meanwhile, the children sneaked Aline into Robin's chamber. As Big Papa and his gang opened the camp, they were puzzled to see Robin ready to drop Aline in the Big Iron. 'No…,' cried Big Papa as the guards froze with horror. In the dark chamber he had built with his own hands, as he stared into Aline's hopeful eyes, years of accumulated agony and hatred burst out as tears and he collapsed onto the floor.

As Robin closed the Big Iron and it groaned one more time, the villagers watched on with parched throats. Two minutes seemed like aeons to Jamie as he witnessed his genius put to test. As the girl popped out, Robin heaved a sigh of relief. 'She looks like a daisy. Daisy with a dimple,' quipped Jamie, enamoured by her smile. Big Papa couldn't believe his eyes and neither could the rest. Aline, or the newly christened Daisy, could finally smile. Lily made her way through the crowd and hugged her girl. 'Daisy!' the mother cried out, planting a hundred kisses all over her face.

Jamie's work had paid off. The Big Iron had been successfully tweaked to finally set things as they were. It took weeks before the entire village passed under the Big Iron. Once again, hens laid regular eggs, trees bore round fruits, children were born plump and cute, men were relieved to be able to flaunt their muscles, and women admired themselves in the mirror. As the village was renamed to Oval, Big Papa demolished every bit of the Iron Camp. He turned it into a children's park where all the iron was transformed into slides, swings, and merry-go-rounds. Joy in all shapes, sizes, and colours returned to the village. The sun and moon shone gloriously after eight long years over the village where once every smile was forged straight.