painted white, sarajevo

VI

"And you say it was just sitting on a shelf in antique shop?"

Elias nodded as he walked alongside Ada, his gaze on the ground.

"Yeah, just an antique shop on the side of a street. Pretty similar to this one, actually." Elias gestured at the store in front of him.

Ada lifted a hand to tap at her lip, her brown eyes going glassy as she thought about the notebook. Elias didn't hesitate to keep walking, despite the slackening in Ada's brisk pace.

The two had spoken almost all afternoon, and now that the light of the sun, just a small bit of white among a sea of gray, stretched above their heads, they had decided to head back to Elias' hotel room—or, at least, find a more suitable place so that he could work on his computer and take notes.

Already, he found comfort in the translator's presence.

"Most interesting," she mused. "Perhaps I can stumble upon something important one day as well. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

She clasped her hands above where her heart was, a single, silver chain between the curve of her fingers. "Then I would be able to fulfill my mother's dream!"

Immediately, his curiosity shot up tenfold, his eyes focusing on the chain. From the looks of it, it curved into the shadow of her hair and around her neck. "What's that?"

Ada pulled herself back to the present, threading the chain loosely with her fingers as they walked. The hotel was in sight now, and she pursed her lips. "A gift from the past, Mr. Wilcox. Nothing more. Perhaps, one day, I shall tell you its story, but that day is not today."

With that, her pace quickened again. Elias frowned, trying to match her footsteps.

"Why not now?"

"I don't think we reached that level of trust yet. As I mentioned, perhaps a day will come."

As they slowed to a halt in front of the hotel, Ada spun to face Elias. "And I am the only one who knows of this notebook, aside from you?"

"The man from the shop didn't seem to notice that book was something from before the Great Recreational Age," he told her. "Actually, it sounded like he thought it was just a regular book. Like all the others in his store."

They walked into the lobby, and Elias dipped his head in greeting to Niko working at the front desk, shouldering his bag once again.

Ada shifted slightly. "A—Are we going to your room?"

"Yeah."

She exhaled, trying to loosen her stiff frame. "I see."

Opening the door, Elias allowed her inside.

"Take a look." He tossed the notebook onto the bed as he plugged his computer in. "How long do you think it'll take you to translate the few first pages?"

"I really don't know. I just skimmed it the first time and recognized different words here and there," she replied. "Alas, I don't know. Greatest apologizes. I would suspect one to two days, maybe three."

Opening up a browser, Elias typed in "Bosnian" into the search engine bar. Behind him, he could hear the scrape of Ada pulling a chair out.

Did you mean BIUSA?

"No, I didn't, thank you," Elias muttered, pulling away from the screen and keyboard to dig through his bag, rummaging around for a piece of paper to write on. "What are some keywords you see?"

"Ones I'm assuming are important?"

"Yeah."

Ada flicked through the pages, lifting her gaze as Elias sat down at the desk, notepad and pen ready. He twisted around to look expectantly at her, a spark of curiosity in his eyes, a light for anyone to see.

"Sarajevo. Spelled S-A-R-A-J-E-V-O."

Elias' brow furrowed as he scribbled down the letters, taking note of how she pronounced it.

"Up next is a word in Bosnian, TUNEL SPASA, but it translates to the word Tunnel of Hope. Normally, I would dismiss it, but it's capitalized."

Elias tapped his utensil against the paper, scribbling down the words.

"This man's name is Safet." Ada flipped the page. "Ah! There's...the Sebilj!"

Elias' brow furrowed. "Wait. Sebilj? The place we met? It's that old? Why wasn't it erased?"

"I suppose they overlooked it," Ada mused, tapping a fingernail against the paper. "Seeing how small Wistinburg is as a city, it's possible that they just forgot it even existed."

"True," he said. "But to think that there's all this history, still here, still standing? Incredible! I just...I just thought everything old was wiped out. How many more of them could be out there?"

"You have stars in your eyes, Mr. Wilcox. While, yes, they shine brightly, I'd rather not become blind."

"Sorry."

"Do not apologize. You have passion in you, Elias Wilcox. Don't be ashamed of it."

"Yeah, I guess. Anything else I should note?"

"Until further translation, no." Shaking her head, she picked herself up off the bed and placed the notebook next to him.

"Oh, no, keep it. I can trust you, right? You're aware of what this notebook is, right? It's...it's priceless. I can trust you not share it with anyone, can't I?" Elias asked, looking up at the translator. "You can contact me when you got the first few pages translated. I have some stuff to busy myself with, so I won't be too bored!"

Ada paused, then picked up the notebook again, cradling it carefully as if she were handling a bomb. "Why, it is an honor, Mr. Wilcox. I shan't disappoint you."

"Whoa, whoa. Don't act like I'm placing you in a life-or-death situation!"

Ada tapped a fingernail against the cover of the notebook, biting her lip. "When should I contact you again?"

"Whenever is fine. Just contact me every so often, okay?" Elias had already turned his attention back to the page before him with the keywords. "I have all these to look up—I'll be busy until you're ready."

He stood, turning towards the door. "I'll escort you out, okay?"

"Very well." Ada followed him into the hallway. "I appreciate the opportunity to work with you, Mr. Wilcox."

"Oh, yeah. And I only need the best translator!" Elias laughed. "Am I right?"

She was quiet, turning on her heel to walk down the hallway and into the lobby. He jogged after her, ducking out into the melancholic streets of Wistinburg.

"Bye, Ada!"

"It was a pleasure to meet you," Ada called over her shoulder.

Elias was left waving at her retreating back, and only after she disappeared from his sight, did he allow his hand to drop to his side.

"Whew... These next few days are gonna be AWESOME!"

I'm not dreaming. I can't believe it. I'm not dreaming.

He spun around, punching the air, about to skip off when a cool voice entered the air.

"Elias, what are ya doin'?"