THE GLOW

During the next few days, I settled into a routine that felt- well, almost normal. If you do not count the early morning duties which included scrubbing the tables and chairs clean, going for late night security checks and helping in the kitchen. In farming- we had to manually water every plant even though there were massive sprinklers in the farm- which according to the others was not- very-very-stupid, imagine giving you toilet paper and not allowing you to use it.

Alph had said, “Machines are used to make our jobs easier, not do it for us. If we are capable- why not learn something new, it gives us a chance to bond with the environment”.

Alph- I found out, was by far the most hard working kid in the camp- not physically, that post and the runners-up and the consolation all three were bagged by Suhani, who wasn’t bad at learning either. But when it came to studies and knowledge- Alph was not just a storehouse- he was a continent himself. His powerful brain managed to do numerous tasks simultaneously and unlike mine it did not have to take a twenty minutes break- every two minutes. I always knew, there were kids who couldn’t leave books- but Alph was in a different league all together- he believed not only in written knowledge but experimental knowledge also.

Dream had told me during shooting one day. Alph had read somewhere that every one in forty birds had even numbers of feathers- and that was that. She recalled that they had to spend a month inside a cabin filled with hundreds of birds, until Suhani lost her roof, and kicked Alph and his birds outside the cabin- that wasn’t all, then Alph spent another month outside the cabin- until he counted each and every feather of every bird that he had tied from their legs.

Another incident she told was when Alph had read the functions and construction of a bomb from some old book kept in the storage vaults. Alph had spent two whole months- ten hours a day and all night to make a bomb which did not blow how much ever he tried. Ultimately it did blast- but that was when Alph frustratedly threw the bomb inside the toilets- not one- but all the toilets in the whole camp blasted out water and sludge- I tried not to imagine the condition of people who were using them at that moment- the toilets were unusable for almost a week before they were repaired.

Alph had overheard Dream rolling out these instances and described them as, ‘Advanced Experimental Scientific Research For Evaluation Of Facts And Evolution Of Theory’.

The rest of the day we spent either in the Circular hall- studying marketing techniques or Science. Thankfully Oblin or even Hatchet for that matter did not push kids who were not very keen on studying- they felt we should adhere to our heart and take up what we had interest in, and I for one could not agree more.

I wasn’t very good with the bow- wrestling was not really my type. But shooting and spars, I could manage pretty well.

Luna and her party gang- which included her brother Tom and a couple of other cabin one kids had sworn to make my life at the camp hell.

Despite all that- I had started liking it here. I had gotten used to the cool early morning breeze- smell of wet mud in the fields. At night I would sit with my cabin around the camp-fire and watch the spars, occasionally we were handed a patrolling duty along the lake and river.

Yui had said, “Nobody ever comes by, it is just to make us experience the life of a soldier”.

I soon realised guns weren’t just handed out- unless it was a really important mission. In Fact only a few four-five odd kids had them who wanted to get into the security forces later on. Other kids could get a rod or even a sword if they were lucky.

Alph carried with himself no such fatal weapons- since test tubes did not really make it into the fatal category- I agree that the glass shard of a test tube would pain a lot, but still it isn’t very intimidating, imagine carrying test tubes to a sword and gun fight.

Dream carried with her a long right-tipped diamond cut metallic boomerang, the long side had a thin blade along its edges while the other side was blunt, she strapped the boomerang to her back- whenever we went for outdoor duties.

Suhani, had no doubt the strongest weapon in our cabin and the first one to be alerted of coming danger. I make it a point to describe her fabulous bow and arrows. Her bow had a slim diamond cut with an inbuilt laser light for target which also turned into a stick with blades on two sides. Her silver quiver was cylindrically shaped and had a shiny hatch on the top. That sensed everytime her hand came close to the quiver and popped open automatically.

In case of any imminent danger- like a lone wolf we bumped into once in a while. I was the last to actually be able to do something, because by the time I reached the animal Suhani would have already burnt it slightly to scare it with her Occult which was like a long distance heat beam or blasted it away with one of her highly pressurized air arrows. If it ever happened that Suhani got a split second late to react Dream would have struck the animal with the blunt side of the boomerang or blasted it away with her really cool force-field Occult and by chance if the two of them were late to react Alph would launch a series of test tubes at the poor creature.

Yui was to be protected at all times- her Occult made her an electromagnetic detector and allowed her to detect moving objects all around her for almost hundred meters, she could keep the field up for only a few minutes before she got drained out, so her Occult couldn’t be used like a permanent RADAR. Dream could detect sudden movements, faster than even Yui in fact- by releasing minute force-fields but it wasn’t even half as accurate and not completely reliable.

Though the others did not say it, I was the only person in the group who wasn’t being of much help- mostly because my Occult refused to develop. I knew even though they did not try to show it- Oblin and Hatchet were keeping a very close watch on me. Maybe trying to decide what my Occult was exactly and whether I was worth keeping. Alph did not try to be understanding when he plainly stated that by eleven years of age even the most worthless Atleanteans would develop their Occult and added that I could be the first pure born Atlantean without an Occult.

Deep down, I could feel it- there was something inside me, churning my stomach a magical power running through my veins mixing with my blood. Yet there was something else- I was sure- something that was stopping the Occult from coming out, limiting my abilities. I wondered if my injuries had prevented the Occult from coming out as my body was concentrating on repairing itself, but even I knew it was just a lousy excuse- my Occult should have developed three years ago. Was there any other explanation for whatever was happening in my life? Or was I really a defective piece?

My afternoon practices with Suhani continued. I liked it because it was probably the only thing other than shooting that I could do without making a clown out of myself, plus it helped me get away from the other kids who would look at me and whisper something about me being undetermined- even at this age.

We had gotten into the advanced fighting stages- Suhani was visibly making a lot of effort to take me down- but it was becoming difficult for her as my fighting had started coming back to me, my arms were no more the same rusty pieces of logs they were just two weeks ago.

Suhani seemed to notice the change and was extremely satisfied by our twelfth session.

It was only when I was into my second week, that we had our first fishing duty.

“Hey man”, Flaud said, walking up to me as I got out of my cabin in the maroon ‘go Atlantis’ shirt and stretched myself. He was in cabin seven and luckily we had set up a warm friendship with his cabin.

“Hey”, I said, raising my eyebrows.

“Fishing today- first time?”

“Yeah”, I said nodding, “first time”.

“Let’s go- they would be waiting for us at the rectangle”.

“The others are coming out- we could wait”, I stated.

“Come-on we could get ready by then”, Flaud said tilting his head and pointing towards the rectangle.

“Alright”, I sighed.

We walked for a while, passing a few other campers who had just come out of the cabin, “So”, Flaud said, “What’s happening between you and Suhani?”

“What?”, I asked absentmindedly.

“The whole camp knows- the two of you are up to something”.

“They-do?”

“Yes”

“It’s just practice sessions man- she trains me how to spar that’s all”.

“Is it so?”he asked, making his eyes small.

“Yeah”, I said, “just that”.

“Well, that is a pity”, Flaud said, “It has been a while since we have had some comedy at the camp- we’re here”.

We stopped in front of the rectangle- twelve small sheds arranged in a random pattern, it had always remained a mystery as to why the place was called a rectangle.

“Cabin one . . . two . . . there’s eight, catch up in a while Flaud”, I said as I sprinted towards the shed.

A gargle was sitting standing on the single chair in the cabin, fixing some broken splinters. “Tibus”, I said.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH”

The gargle jumped off his chair, and picked up his club kept on the ground, “AAAAHHHH”.

I raised my hand, in front of his face, “Tibus- me, you cabin”, I said- used to such welcomes every morning. Tibus was our cabin gargle, middle sized round-chubby and cute- cuter than others around at least- however he seemed to have short-term memory loss as he had to be reminded every few minutes that- I was a part of his cabin.

“You go-go”, Tibus said annoyingly.

“Tibus- me you- cabin”, I pleaded.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH”, he said, swinging his club in the air.

“Alright- wait see this”, I fumbled in my pocket and pulled out my keycard, “See cabin 8”.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHH”

“Tibus”

A sharp voice came from behind me.

“Suhani”, I said with relief.

Suhani looked at me and smiled- it was a very low one and she tried her best to hide it, “Tibus- this boy-not our cabin- beat-beat”.

“No- Tibus”, I said horrified, “don’t listen to her”, I turned to look at Suhani, “What are you saying?”

“Oops”, she said casually, “slip of tongue”, she zoomed her eyes on me and whispered, “run”.

I didn’t need any more motivation- I ran, it was something I had to do every third day.

Tibus behind me was banging his chest and yelling “Beat-beat”.

I passed Alph and Dream who giggled as they saw me running for my life.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH”, Tibus yelled as he took after me.

“Tibus”, I shouted without looking behind, “me- you- really you- cabin”.

“Beat-beat, AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH”

“You thick-head, why can’t you recognize me ever”, I whined.

“BBBAAAAAAHHHHHH”

I sprinted towards the lake and jumped into it, Tibus was scared of water so I was more or less safe.

‘Blob’

Where did that sound come from?

Shit! Tibus was taking this to the next level, ‘blob’ another stone barely half a meter away from me.

“Tibus, I will give you a chocolate”, I shrieked.

“Bah”, he said with round eyes.

I bit my tongue, “Me- you chocolate”.

Tibus grinned- or at least he tried to since he ended up showcasing his not so clean teeth. “Tibus- forgive”

I wondered if he was asking for forgiveness- or giving it, “thank you”, I sighed as I swam back to the ground.

“How was it?”, Alph asked as I headed back to the shed with Tibus hopping behind me like a happy dog- with its tongue out. “Chocolate”, I said lifting my head slightly.

“What took you so long?”

I turned, Suhani was staring at me- expressionless, “late again- here put this on”, she said tossing a life jacket to me.

I opened my mouth to argue, but then thought better of it and quietly put on my life jacket.

I felt a pair of hands around my waist, I yelled as they lifted me off the ground, “TIBUS”, I hollered, “Me- you chocolate- remember”.

“Bah”, he said as he dropped me.

Yui and Dream could not help but chuckle, even Suhani managed a smile. The only person- who seemed to have any sympathy for me, was Alph, who looked at me and shook his head. Tibus gloated behind me- very happy with himself.

“You’re not done yet?”, Suhani frowned.

“I . . am done”, I said, strapping the life jacket around me.

“Into the boat everybody”, Suhani said, fastening her bow to her shoulder, “Bracer you control”, she said looking at me.

We walked up to the wooden docks, there was a long wooden fishing boat- barely one foot above the water.

There was an old fashioned motor attached to the stern, there were a bunch of fishing rods and nets placed in the center between the wooden planks, which were supposed to be seats.

I saw at the end and pulled the string of the motor, it made a loud- terrible noise as it boomed to life.

The boat lurched towards the port side as the rest of the cabin climbed in.

“Isn’t Tibus coming?”, I asked, trying to hide my relief.

“ Gargles prefer staying on land”, Yui responded.

“God bless them”, I croaked.

“Come on Bracer, fire up the motor”, Dream purred.

“Yeah, absolutely”, I saw holding the handle in my fist and pressing the button. The old boat creaked and lunged forward.

“Alph, Yui”, Suhani barked, “ready the nets, put them in the center of the lake”.

Alph hurried to open the tangled mess, the boat slowly approached the center, “throw it”, Suhani ordered.

Alph and Yui carefully let the net, part-by-part into the water, once they were done, “punch it”, Suhani ordered.

Instinctively my finger pressed the button and the boat lurched forwards, I had been briefed as to what I was supposed to do a day earlier, but still- doing into the murky river filled with crocs with bow and arrows, a boomerang and test tubes was frightening and above all, our ‘super-fast’ boat.

“Carefully in there”, Suhani said as we entered the narrow stream between the cliffs, “One hit- and the boat goes down”.

I had to stop-start the boat a couple of times, and use my arms a lot to get us out of the cliffs in one piece. The thick forest and murky water greeted me again, “There could be dozens of crocs here”, I wheezed.

“There could”, Alph said agreeing, “but the good thing is- you won’t see them coming”.

“Look”, Dream said, “Rains are coming”, I left the handle, the boat glided to a stop, at the horizon we could see an army of massive black clouds heading our way.

“It always comes around this time”, Alph said fumbling with a fishing rod in an, ‘as a matter of fact tone’, he looked up to see the clouds , “that”, he said looking carefully, “is a storm- a very-very strong storm”, he whispered, “probably cyclone- three- maybe, four days away”.

“Cabin games are beginning four days from now, we need to warn the others”, Yui chirped.

“Why didn’t we pick it up earlier? The machines warn us almost a week in advance”, Dream said quickly.

“Two reasons”, Alph said, “could be either of them. One- the storm might have just built up or maybe the weather cabin is down for repairs”.

“Alright, enough discussion”, Suhani said interrupting, “- Bracer, punch the boat for God sake and get us moving- we need to complete our duty then go back to warn the others”.

I punched the button and steered the boat ahead, “how much further?”

“It is shallow here”, Alph said, “hardly any fish- at least a kilometer before we get some good fish”.

“Alright”, I said, not pointing out the fact that many fish is equal to many crocodiles.

We went on for a few minutes, “Stop here”, Suhani said, “Alph spread the second net”.

The boat shook to a stop, Alph let the net into the river and we glided ahead. “Yui and Alph take a rod- each. Bracer and Dream we will be stopping ahead- gather the fruits”.

“Yes”, Dream said nodding.

“Wait”, I said, “nobody mentioned about getting down”.

“We didn’t?” Suhani asked, raising her chin.

“No, you didn’t”.

“Well”, she said, smirking, “I might have left that out, human error”.

Suhani ordered us to dock at the choicest of places- where the woods were the thickest,”more trees meant more fruits”, she had said.

So we entered the forest with a pair of rods, a boomerang and two cloth bags. “The fruits are not much further”, Dream said, “a few minutes maybe”.

I glanced around the forest, and was grateful that I wasn’t alone. Dream was walking a few paces ahead of me, with her boomerang pulled out. Occasionally I saw a rabbit hiding behind shrubs and trees. Why did Suhani have to send me?

We walked deeper into the woods, yet I could see no fruits on the trees. Dream seemed unaffected by the fact that the woods grew thicker around us with every passing minute. It was just a matter of time before we bumped into a pack of hungry wolves or a hungry bear family.

“There should be an empty cave a little further”, Dream murmured.

I wondered if the empty cave was filled with sleeping crocodiles or bears. As we moved further, I felt something weighing down on my finger- my ring was glowing. A lustrous white light was coming out of it, dim but glowing brighter with every next step. Dream noticed it, “Why is your ring glowing?”

“I don’t know”.

She raised her eyebrows and put the matter away. “There’s the cave”.

My ring grew heavier and turned into a mini sun, the glow coming out of the ring was blinding me. I had to cover my hand with the ring as we went ahead- as we put distance between the cave, the glow subsequently began to shimmer and dim down. “Must be some interaction between the stones of the cave and the gem”, Dream said.

“Oh”, I said- putting the topic off my mind.

A little further, the ground turned from mossy to dusty, with leaves fallen all over- crunching below our feet as we walked over them. The trees high above were filled with fruits and a while later we were heading back to the boat with our brown cloth bags filled with guavas, pears, coconuts and a pink color fruit I hadn’t ever seen before. Dream’s boomerang was a blessing- as we didn’t have to climb up the trees to pluck the fruits.

“We’ve got enough fish”, Alph said, holding a bucket filled with fishes.

“They smell weird”, I pointed out.

“They always do”, Alph said, agreeing.

On our way back we withdrew our nets and filled the second bucket half with fish.

After extremely boring marketing techniques and basic sciences lessons we headed to the ampitheatre.

“There are a few things, I must bring to your notice”, Oblin began, “Two days from now, Bracer Phoenix, over here”, he said pointing towards me, “will be taking up the shooting trials”. The whole camp turned to look at me.

“Wait what?”, I quacked, “I never said I would”.

“We put your name”, Dream said, glancing at the others.

“Without asking me?”, I croaked. Things just keep getting better.

“We need a fighter who can provide support to Suhani, since your Occult hasn’t developed yet- a gun is the best option for you”, Yui said explaining.

“But wouldn’t I have to join the military later on”.

“You can always back out”, Dream pointed out.

“Great”, I said, spreading my hands, “and what makes you think, I will be able to clear the trial?”, I asked, remembering- Alph had said the trials were very difficult and hardly one or two managed to clear it in a year.

“You will”, Dream said seriously, “you have to, it is our best chance to get a good rank in the cabin games”.

“Secondly”, Oblin continued, “As informed by cabin eight”, he said looking at us, “a major storm is heading our way, a cyclone perhaps. However, to the joy of some, I would like to inform you all- that the cabin games will be taking place as per schedule. All cabins will be given free time starting from now, to address all required issues in the cabin and train your mates if needed. Task one- Operation Milestone will be commencing at 0700 hours four days from now. For the information of a few”, Oblin spoke, something told me he meant me, the other seemed to notice it too, I saw a few kids pointing at me and whispering in their ears, “Cabin games has four different tasks, the cabins that get selected get to go to the next task. At the end of the games, the ranks obtained by the respective cabins will be their new cabin number- am I clear?”

The other kids nodded, “very well”, Oblin said, “dismissed”.

I got up from my stone bench, I thought of my comfortable bed- it was evening- but I was tired.

“Where do you think you are going Bracer?”.

I glanced back, “To the cabin”, I said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world- maybe Suhani did not know.

“You’re coming with me to the shooting range”, she said, “I can’t have you failing tomorrow”.

“I need to sleep”, I argued.

“You will sleep only after, I am satisfied”, she stated.

I opened my mouth to argue, but closed it- since it wasn’t going to do me any good, “Alright”, I said shrugging, “whatever you say”.

“Good”, she said, nodding her head and eyeing me like a slice of pizza covered with sludge.

I caught the rest of the cabin, looking at me in pity- as if I was going to die, “Don’t mourn, alright”, I stated, “I am not going to die- most probably”, I added.

I spent the rest of my evening in the shooting range, with Suhani- who kept pointing out mistakes in every shot I took- to make matters worse she increased the weight of the gun so much- that it was becoming difficult for me to hold it with my aching shoulders, “It is important”, she had said- that's all, end of topic.

After it had been two hours since we began practising, I looked up at her face hopefully, “food”, I asked.

“No food”, she said blankly.

I went back to shooting with a heavy heart and an hour later, I lifted my head and my hopes crashed as soon as I saw her face, still I forced myself to ask, “Sleep?”

“No sleep, until you give me ten bullseyes in a row”, she said enlarging her eyes and glaring at me- as if to say she was the smart one around.

Of course, I was grateful- but I did not want to show it. Thankfully, I had fitted into the cabin and was warming up with the others. Maybe I was finally going to live a normal life- without adventures. Can it be possible?