ON THE WAY HOME

Accompanied by a friend of his, Sean had ventured to the ocean banks and had gone fishing in his father’s old boat with his friend during the afternoon some minutes after he left the arcade which he had found boring before the incident with him going up against someone he knew was from a wealthy family occurred.

There were quite a few fishermen already sailing from the crowded harbor when himself and his companion arrived at the bank of the ebbing ocean whilst the seagulls and birds were still keeping to their nocturnal flight around the above the heads of the people walking around the silent beach, surfing from one boat to another but in a quick manner so that they won’t get caught by the locals who often ignored them trying to feed on their life-baits. They seemed to have already gotten used to having them around that they usually pay less attention to the arboreal creatures.

“Robin, there’s the boat”

“I can see it. Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Robin replied as they both walked on the wooden pier heading to the fishing vessel which lay far ahead of them in between two fancy white yachts.

“I’m sure. Dad won’t get mad once he knows that I can go fishing on my own”

“It’s not that I don’t want your dad to be proud about us going fishing on our own”

“Then why the upset face?”

“Today’s the moon ritual”

Robin replied and Sean stopped walking. He had totally forgotten about it and he suddenly recalled what his father told him in the morning, to be return home early for the ceremony he was to go through and which would change everything that he himself knew to exist around him. He paused for some minutes to think if it would be in their best interest to continue their plan to go fishing at sea since they had come close enough to the boat which he was to inherit from his father someday and the boat was only two metres away from where they stood in deep thought. He flinched nervously and tossed the thought of going home early into back of his mind. Then he resumed his march though his feet were highly reluctant to move but he compelled himself nevertheless.

“The moon ritual? But the full moon hasn’t appeared for months now”

“It hasn’t but it’s a rule the elders made for all of us”

“I hate rules”

“We have no choice but to return home as soon as we can”

“You think we’ll make it back in time?”

“I’m not sure and that’s why I said we should quit fishing today”

“We are already here anyway. Let’s do this”

“The ritual starts few hours after sundown”

“We’ll make it in time, I promise”

Sean replied convincingly.

“Fine, you’ll take the blame for it if we don’t return by dusk”

“I’ll keep that in mind. For now, let’s sail”

Sean answered with grin across his face and kept walking ahead of Robin who trailed behind him till he reached the boat. They were at sea fishing till sunset and were the last fishermen to arrive at the harbor late in the night, only to find out empty vessels and trawlers anchored all around the dock but they made it safely to an edge near the pier even though it was way past their bedtime since the time had clocked seven pm by the time they were done spending the rest of the sunny day getting a good game and were lucky to have caught some few fishes to serve as an excuse in case they reached home late than usual.

Sean and his partner safely anchored the trawler amidst other boats beside the pier, with more ease than when they left the dockyard in spite of the heavy darkness that cloaked them as soon as they were done tying the boat to a stake of the pier. Then they left the dockyard with barely enough strength to carry off some of the catch they fished from the ocean, taking the route that they had taken when it was still daylight.

The night had fully descended upon them even before they arrived at a neighborhood on foot not too far from where they lived and all they could hear was the shrill noise of the crickets resounded at every trees and trimmed shrubs planted at both side of the road followed by the distant horning of cars in the town as they head home. After walking a quarter mile from the beach into town, they found most of neighborhood very silent and too serene for them to pass through while some of the street lights had gone off but they weren’t scared nor frightened by the hollow darkness that almost concealed the tarmac road from their sight since they were able to see their way through thanks to the electric lights from the houses which illumined the streets where they ventured without fear of being attacked by hoodlums lurking in the shadows.

The night wind was getting a bit more coldly each passing minute for the two teenagers as they find their way back home and were still a long way off from reaching the penultimate neighborhood before theirs since both Sean and Robin happened to live in the same vicinity when they saw an old pickup truck heading their way from afar. They heard the car engine clanging from afar as it drove towards them, disturbing the quietness of the night and thanks to their keener eyes, they were able to see through the darkness and could decipher two to three odd human shapes standing on the back of the truck while it’s being driven by two men inside the car.

The headlights of the vehicle greeted Sean’s eyes as soon as he recognized the automated vehicle to belong to his father and Robin had also realized that as well since they both possess the optical vision to see any life-forms obscured in the night even though the distance could be very far.

Sean stopped walking abruptly upon realization that he and Robin were already late for the ritual ceremony and that his father was already on his way to the mountains with some of tougher members of the pack. Anxiety instantly dawned on him and Robin noticing his demeanor quickly tapped him on the shoulder to instill in him some confidence to face his father whom they both know would be furious with them for returning late when they ought to have arrived some hours before dusk.

“It’s the third chief and the others”

“I can see that”

“Judging by the fact that they are still here, only means…”

“That the ritual hasn’t started yet”

Sean mumbled as he felt the cold rushing in along with the air into his nostrils which became thin with nervousness hovering around the two holes of his nose.

“Phew. I guess we made it”

“It’s too soon to feel relieved”

Sean advised keeping his brows in check and looked anxiously at Robin who returned his gaze with perplexion

“Sean, you’re just been paranoid. He won’t hurt you”

“No, he won’t hurt me now because of the ritual but he will when we get home”

Sean swallowed a lump of profound anxiety into his throat when he recalled what happened to him last time.

“Hope he would get angry like last time”

He mumbled looking squarely at the incoming vehicle that was just approaching where they stood awaiting judgment.

“I just pray he doesn’t get mad at me”

“Don’t worry, I assure you that he would be considerate if you told him it was my idea to fishing”

“You won’t understand. He had warned me not to touch his boat without permission”

“But I thought…..”

Robin eyes widened in disbelief.

“I know, right. I screwed up lying to you, Okay”

Robin felt a bit stunned when he heard Sean’s response and dropped his jaw in acceptance of the possible outcome of what was Sean was to go through later.

“Well…In that case, let’s hope he’s in a good mood to hear what happened from you”

Robin replied and gripped his stomach with his right palm when he suddenly felt something missing inside it.

“Gosh, I feel hungry”

“There’ll be plenty of food after ritual, so, bear it. They are coming”

Sean replied when he saw the truck getting closer than ever and quickly picked up the sack containing fish before stepping aside from the main road for the approaching vehicle to halt beside them. Robin followed suit as well and hid himself behind the son of the third chief so as not to get scolded for his late coming.