“Well, as I told you before, it’s to prevent the villagers from entering the forest and causing damage.”

“There’s no need for such a massive wall for that. A small fine and a couple of days in jail as a warning would settle everything. Isn’t it a natural right for people to breathe freely in the forest? And if the goal is to protect it, then why aren’t the other forests on the island off-limits?” said Abraham, shaking his head from side to side.

“You know that explanation isn’t reasonable.”

“Well… yes, I can’t say you’re wrong. Maybe the wall was built to protect us from an enemy we don’t know about. To be honest, I’ve avoided asking questions I knew I couldn’t answer, so I never really questioned this wall.”

“When you say enemy, do you mean the island where the Qabils live? Does such a place really exist, Father?”

Petrus gave Abraham a firm pat on the back.

“My son, if you wish to be happy on this island, you must never even utter the name of the Qabil. Know that I love you dearly—so take this warning seriously.”

Abraham nodded and said:

“But when I can’t find answers to the questions in my mind, it feels as if they’re gnawing at my brain. I have to say this: if this wall is meant to stop an attack from outside, as you claim, then why wasn’t it built along the shore, surrounding the entire island? Anyone with half a mind would realize that preventing the enemy from stepping onto land in the first place is the real barrier. It’s obvious this wall was built to stop the islanders from entering the forest. There is something hidden in this forest—or beyond it—that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the island. Perhaps someone the Lord wishes to conceal… or perhaps a door…” he said.

“I understood everything except—where did the door come from?” Petrus burst into laughter.
“You call yourself intelligent and inquisitive, yet you still believe in the fairy tales told to help children fall asleep and grow their imagination.”

Then Petrus suddenly turned serious. Pointing toward the depths of the forest, his eyes widened with a fearful expression:

“Abraham, do you see that?” he asked.

“Father, see what? I hear a rustle, but what is it?”

“The witch over there!” Petrus said, laughing again, holding onto a tree to keep from falling over.
Realizing the rustling sound was just a rabbit, Abraham began laughing at the whole situation himself.

“My son, those women you told me about—the ones possessed by demons—weren’t they called witches? You know, the ones flying on broomsticks. What kind of imagination do you have?”

“That wasn’t imagination. It was written in the black book in the library—the one that tells the history of Europe, where some of our ancestors lived nine centuries after the Savior.”

Petrus suddenly stopped and turned to Abraham.

“Are you in your right mind, son? Our ancestors came here half a century after the Savior’s birth, fleeing the tyrant king’s cruelty. Sixteen or seventeen centuries have passed since then, and we’ve had no connection with the outside world in all that time. So it is impossible for such a book to exist on this island.”

Abraham replied with unwavering confidence:

“If you’re not afraid of the Lord, come to the library with me and I’ll show you the book myself.”

“I think someone is playing a very nasty trick on you, Mr. Wise Man! If I were you, I still wouldn’t step into that forbidden section of the library,” Petrus said—while thinking to himself, “Not that it matters; you’ll go there anyway. But at least I’ll have said my part as your father.”

Abraham and his father eventually reached the guard cabins nestled within the forest. Wearied by the long walk, Abraham withdrew to his room. One of his windows overlooked the mist-covered lake, while the other opened toward the depths of the evergreen pine forest. When he lifted his gaze slightly, he noticed the many cones scattered across the ground—an autumn sight. For them, these cones were the forest’s greatest blessing.

While the rest of the island’s people struggled to find dry wood and fuel, they had an endless supply of cones right at their doorstep. And since others were forbidden from entering the forest, there was no need to hurry or compete to gather them. Abraham had a plan in mind— actually, a new invention—but he would have to wait for warm weather before he could attempt it.

Just as Abraham was about to leave the window and go to bed like his father, he saw his mother, Linda, approaching the house with buckets of water in her hands. He pictured in his mind all the sacrifices she made for them. Every morning, before sunrise, she performed her prayer; and as the sun rose, she emptied the stove’s ash pan, carrying it to the clearing behind their home.

After filling the bottom of the pan with wood and the top with pine cones, she placed it back into the stove and lit the fire. At times, the stove pipes became clogged and smoke drifted into the house. Because of this, she cleaned the pipes frequently, despite how troublesome it was. Once the fire blazed and the house reached a certain warmth, she would wake her husband first, and then her son—trying to keep them from falling ill in the cold.

Abraham realized how exhausted his mother must be—hauling water, dealing with smoke and soot, emptying ashes, preparing the fire day after day. He could not remain indifferent to the love and tenderness beating in her heart. “I must do something for my mother,” he thought.

He first considered building an outdoor stove; that way the smoke and soot wouldn’t dirty the house, and she wouldn’t have to constantly fill, empty, and carry the stove’s ash pan. According to the system he had in mind, he would place a large water container on top of the stove.

This container, he thought, would have to be made of metal—copper or iron—so it could withstand high heat. His plan was to transfer the water, warmed by the fire, into the house through a pipe. He made the pipe from baked clay. But after a few trials, he realized the clay pipe could not endure the temperature changes; it cracked and leaked water. So he focused his attention on solving that issue.

There was, however, a second problem: even though the distance between the outdoor stove and the house was only a few meters, the hot water lost heat as it traveled through the pipes. In truth, he didn’t worry too much about that. They had far more pine cones than they ever needed—who would wake up in the middle of the night just to feed the stove? For that reason, he needed to preserve as much heat in the pipes as possible. And of course, a pipe alone wouldn’t heat the house. Once the water reached the house, it had to collect in a wide tank that conducted heat efficiently. He could easily take care of that by using the metal parts of a second stove—but how would he prevent heat loss?

As he gazed around absentmindedly, his eyes landed on the tall pine trunks with their sharp tips. He remembered the day he had asked his father about the source of the pine scent that filled the air. That day, Petrus had shown him the pine resin on the bark, explaining that it was not only the source of the tree’s fragrance but also nourishment for birds and animals. Abraham thought to himself that from these mighty pines, both animals and humans found benefit.

“Then what benefit could resin have for us?” he wondered, and soon realized he could use it for heat insulation. After a few tests, he saw he had been right, and immediately began assembling the system he had planned. The stove pipe and the water tank were already prepared. All he needed to do was drill a hole in the wall the width of the stove pipe.

Once the hot water traveled through the pipes and collected in the indoor tank to warm the house, it would eventually cool. When that happened, another pipe beneath the tank carried the cooled water back to the outdoor stove’s container. In this way, the water circulated continuously, and with the opening and closing of a valve, the warmth of the house could be adjusted.

Abraham installed this system for his mother’s birthday, surprising her with the gift. Linda knew her son was always tinkering with something, always trying to invent new things—but she had never imagined that this invention would make her life so much easier. The surprise filled her with joy. Holding her son in her arms for the very first time, she had prayed, “May this little one bring us goodness and happiness.” Now she understood once more how that prayer had been answered.

With Abraham’s invention, Linda’s work had become much easier, yet she still had to carry water all the way from the distant château with a bucket. She never complained, not wanting her son to grow tired or fall behind in his studies. A mother’s heart could not bear to burden her child. Abraham, however, was fully aware of how deeply his parents loved him. He had once overheard his father speaking to his mother:

“Yes, we show Abraham how much we love him through our actions, but we must also say it with words. I believe parents trying to appear strict for the sake of authority is a great mistake. Even if he hasn’t said he loves us, we must be the ones to say it to him.”

That day Abraham, beating them to it, had thrown his arms around their necks and said:

“I love you more than this island—more than the whole universe!”

Remembering those days, Abraham murmured to himself:

“I can’t wait for summer. I must get to work immediately and prepare the second invention for my mother. This one will be even more practical than the first.”

The island lay on the lake, but neither fish nor plants grew in its waters. No one knew the reason behind this mystery. To discover the cause, Abraham gave lake water to some of the mice he raised, and household water—the water they carried from the château—to the others. At first, he noticed no difference between the two groups, but after a few months he saw that the mice drinking lake water had died.

There were ten mice in each group. They were of the same breed, the same size, and lived under identical conditions. Therefore, the death of the mice that drank lake water could only be explained by the water itself. From the alchemy book in the library, Abraham had learned that every liquid has a different boiling point. He concluded that the lake water must contain liquids other than water. To separate the water from them, he began boiling the lake water, but he watched the bubbling carefully, making sure not to let the temperature rise too much.

In this way, he prevented the other liquids—those with higher boiling points—from evaporating, allowing only the water to turn into vapor. He covered the pot and directed the steam through a pipe into another container. He surrounded this second container with ice and snow he had brought from the mountain peak. Thus, the steam entering the container lost its heat and condensed back into water. Abraham had succeeded: he had obtained pure water.

But this raised new questions in his mind. Once the water vapor had escaped, he noticed—by the difference in color—that the remaining liquid actually contained two separate substances. What were they? Were both poisonous? What made them different? Did they have the same effect?

With Abraham’s latest invention, Linda no longer had to carry water from the château miles away. The island’s only fresh-water well was located in the garden of the Lord’s château. Petrus didn’t know whether this invention would please the Lord or whether he would even allow it. Fearing the Lord’s wrath, he didn’t dare say anything.

Abraham, however, wanted to offer his mother’s newfound convenience to the entire island. It wouldn’t be difficult—he could set up purification systems around the lake at regular intervals to cleanse and distill the water. Then the people living along the shore wouldn’t have to walk miles every day to carry water back to their homes.

After explaining all this to his father, Abraham asked:

“Weren’t you the one who said the Lord is our master? And doesn’t every master want the comfort and well-being of those who serve him? He knows they will serve him better that way. People won’t be exhausted from carrying buckets anymore. They’ll be able to work longer hours in the fields and tend to the animals. Our harvest and food will increase, and both we and the Lord will be happier. In fact, if they give me a few helpers, I can carry this purified water through clay pipes to every home on the island.”

While Petrus was torn with indecision, the Lord began to grow suspicious when Linda stopped coming to the château to fetch water from the well. Through his spies, he learned of Abraham’s new invention. After casting an anxious glance at his assistant—who knew certain things about him—the Lord said:

“You know we cannot allow this. Otherwise everything will fall apart! As the people grow more prosperous, they will begin to make new demands and call for change. Even if we ignore the fact that they’ll have more time to think and question things once they’re no longer exhausted, this situation will cause us serious trouble in no more than five or six years. They’ll stop believing in us and stop obeying our commands.”

“Yes, you are right, my Lord. But others have already heard about this invention. We must find a reason—an excuse—to forbid it.”

“We will do what we always do. I will tell them that altering what God has created is an act of defiance—an attempt to challenge God Himself.”

“So you mean to say that God created the lake water as it is, and attempting to change it is an act of rebellion against Him. Therefore such an invention cannot be accepted!”

“Yes, that is exactly what I will say. And before the people have any chance to think, we must act and destroy everything related to this invention—so they won’t even dare to discuss it!”

Without wasting any time, the Lord gave orders to his servants:

“Find that system, tear it apart, and throw it into the lake!”

When they returned, they brought Petrus with them and presented him before the Lord. After telling Petrus that God was furious with him—yet that he, the Lord, had pleaded for forgiveness on his behalf and that God had accepted it—he added:

“Years ago, you made me a promise. But today I see that you are not keeping it!”

Petrus continued to beg for forgiveness, not daring to lift his head in the Lord’s presence. After thinking for a while, the Lord said:

“This is your and Abraham’s final chance. Otherwise, I will not hesitate to do what I should have done years ago! Abraham may be young, but follow our traditions and marry him off. In this way, you will show your loyalty to God and to our customs. Show him the sealed ones so he may learn his lesson. We must hasten Abraham’s development.”

Knowing full well what that expression meant between them, Petrus said:

“My Lord, it is far too early to even think of such things.”

The Lord grew angry. “And what makes you think I was imagining what you had in mind? I merely meant—do not forget your promise, and do not neglect the preparations!” he shouted, then dismissed him from his presence.