Sidestory 1: Mina's miserable week

Every teacher from the mainland had to work in any one of the three islands of Marina for one whole academic year. This was mandatory for a promotion, from probationary staff to professional staff.

Mina chose Mann  only for two reasons. One, it was closest to the city. Should she feel miserable, which she knew she would, she would be able to run back home.

The other reason was that it had the biggest school. The other two islands barely had huts. No way would she be able to survive in a remote land with no infrastructure! Long gone were the ape men days.

She reached Mann a week before school started. Her school allocated a room in the Teacher's quarters, walking distance from the school.

She was certainly neither impressed nor satisfied. It was a one-room flat with no AC, a common bath, and a common canteen with a fixed menu. Seriously? Is this training or some new means of torture?

She was irritated. She wasn't used to such a life. The temperature on an island was no joke. How could people not have ACs?

She dumped her bags on the bed and decided to walk around, which was a bad idea, by the way.

She barely made it back. Not very fond of walking, she decided to rent a bicycle to visit the marketplace. There was a mini-market, some 10 kilometers away, which sold bare essentials. Obviously, there weren't any luxury brands or cinema halls.

The lush green fields, the sweet smell of the sea, the island kids running around in their cute little straw hats, checked shirts, and skirts failed to impress her.

Defeated, she turned back, tired from the pedaling and the scorching sun.

During dinner, she overheard people talking about the powerful Apām temple, where the God was capable of granting wishes and the priest really knew his mojo.

She decided to visit the temple on the weekend. She wasn't one to believe in the existence of the supernatural, but right now, she needed luck.

*****

Nobody told her that the darn temple was on a hill or that the only way to reach it was by climbing up 300 steps. This was madness! Which god would want to torture their devotee?

She huffed and puffed as she reached the top, cursing everything under the sun.

The temple itself was magnificent, made of wood and rock, with intricately carved pillars that illustrated common beliefs and mythical stories.

The weekend was the time when most people visited, so it was quite crowded. The smell of incense sticks and the sight of vibrant colored flower garlands would have enchanted anyone.

She was too tired to notice the splendor. She walked into the temple hallway.

She saw some people rushing over to the meditation hall, where sermon sessions were held.

She caught hold of a lady running towards the session and asked her what it was.

"Oh! The young master is talking today. It is bound to be fun."

"Err.. what is he talking about?"

"How to live."

"Oh.. no thanks. Is he good?"

"People here love his sessions. He is more interesting than the high priest, if I may say so..."And more handsome." She giggled. "You should attend them."

"Right." She made a wry face.

Curiosity got the better of her, and she tried to take a peek. The person giving the sermon was robed in white. He wore an eye mask in white, his head covered in a white cloth, as is customary, to pay respect to the deity.

She walked out. Nothing could be seen; what a waste of time.

She then moved toward the main temple to offer her prayers and seek good luck.

She saw a man robes riestly robes,  cleaning the floor. His head was covered as well, but he wasn't wearing any mask.

He had a welcoming face, and people went out of their way to greet him before going to the altar.

She found the custom a bit weird; nobody in Marina greeted temple sweepers as a practice, so she decided to walk toward the altar.

She tried spotting the deity, but there was nothing that resembled a statue.

"Excuse me," she approached the priest. "Where do I find the statue?"

That man looked at her blankly. "Which statue?" He asked her politely.

Mina rolled her eyes. Which statue could she be talking about in this godforsaken temple?

"The statue of the local God, obviously. I need to offer my prayers."

The priest smiled at her, amused. A kid next to her, somewhere around  eight or nine years old,  overheard this conversation and laughed out loud. "Aunty, you see that cup of water? That is God."

Mina scowled. "Call me sister. Do I look old enough to be an aunty? Stop eavesdropping on elders' conversations."

The kid decided to walk away, not happy with the rude behavior. The priest wasn't happy either. "He was trying to be helpful. A 'thank you' would have sounded better. The cup of water is God."

She looked at the priest. "This is incredulous! You mean I walked three hundred steps to pray to a cup of water? Do you take me to be an idiot?"

The priest did not say anything. He continued his cleaning activity.

Mina, irritated, walked out in a huff, in no mood to offer her salutations.

"This island is weird; the villagers are loony. I can't believe I have to deal with this for one whole year!"

As if this wasn't bad enough, she was in a school that was co-ed only in name. Ninety percent were boys. Girls seemed to drop out after middle school to pursue either farming or deep-sea fishing.

Mina was a bit biased toward girls, as they did not behave violently, unlike guys, who broke things, made loud noises, and did not focus on their studies, she believed.

She was given the responsibility of handling middle school biology, which was fine by her. There weren't that many teachers, probably eight in all. The staffroom was quite small, with a separate cabin for the principal.

Her first-day schedule seemed decent; she had one morning class and one evening class. She was free to do whatever she wanted in between. She had just finished her first class and was debating sleeping off her stress in her room when a crazy, dirty, and bizarre-looking kid screamed as he barged in, randomly attacking a fellow teacher, who ran for his life.Who was this hooligan? Such children needed to be properly disciplined. She was determined to do her duty as a teacher and straighten him out.

Not even gangsters wore jewelry or dyed their hair these days.

When the boy could not argue back, she felt a sense of victory. Yes, the timid teacher needed someone like her to protect the image of all teachers.

Things would have gone smoothly, if not for that country bumpkin of a teacher who kept butting in and defending that hooligan, and worse still, embarrassing her.

All in all, it was a horrid week. The only nice thing was the teacher who ran for his life was handsome. And he seemed to be grateful toward ar. Maybe, she might find in friend in him.