Redraft #1 Name change, content unchanged

2016

Removing his sword from its scabbard which hung around his waist, Aleph turned to face his attacker. Actually sword is a bit of a misnomer, since the weapon he held was nothing more than a scrap of slightly rusted metal filed to a sharp edge, with a piece of wood screwed on to act as a handle. It could still cleave a man in two and his attacker, recognizing this, raised his shield, a reinforced rubbish bin lid, to protect himself. The attacker was a tree trunk of a man with thick black hair and a thick black beard. His well muscled arms held a wooden club in one hand and the shield in the other. Aleph was tall for his age and, whereas his opponent had the bulk of a musk ox, Aleph had the musculature of a tiger. He had let his light brown hair grow longer as of late and it now reached the nape of his neck. Although he prided himself in it, his early pubescent beard was nearly invisible to anyone more than a metre away.

They had arrived at this pantry in the rubble of a house at the same time, and neither wanted to back down and let the other remove the twenty canned goods which the pantry held. With no words spoken, the man swung the club at Aleph’s head. Aleph blocked using the blade of his sword. Although the club was now nearly split in two, the force of the blow from the bigger man had knocked Aleph off balance and now he struggled to regain his footing. The attacker used this opportunity to his advantage and kicked Aleph in the stomach driving the wind out of him. Aleph fell to the ground, a piece of brick scraping his back. The man looked down at Aleph, conscious that ten years ago he would be sent to jail for this, and prepared to deliver a finishing blow with the remnants of his club. The man noticed a smirk on Aleph’s face and the young man’s blue eyes glancing over his shoulder milliseconds before a blow to the back of the head rendered the dark haired man unconscious. Aleph had to roll to the side to prevent the 115 kilograms of dead weight from crushing him. Aleph was helped to his feet by a smiling Hei who held a heavy quarterstaff which had been used to incapacitate his brother’s attacker.

“Thanks buddy, I would have got him….but as always your timing is impeccable.”, Aleph said to his brother, giving him a manly patting hug. Hei smiled at his brother, “Cheers Bro”. Though his back hurt tremendously, the wound was not deep and the blood had clotted before they were finished gathering up the loot. They quickly made their way home as dusk fell because a worse fate befell those who stayed out after dark.

Hei was the youngest of the Dobro clan. The way his bright mind worked through ingenious solutions to problems surprised both his parents and his older siblings. A long grey cloak hung loose over his slim frame. His blue eyes exhibited wisdom far older than his twelve years of age but there was also a laughter in his eyes that revealed his love for life.

The family Dobro had arrived in this country of rocky beaches, mountains, lakes and rivers, ten years earlier, shortly before the Great Devastation. When the riots began, the family of five had headed for the mountains which surrounded the city where they had been living. They abandoned their house, and set up a tent in a crevasse in an area not frequented by trampers in the past. The tent was covered by branches from the surrounding shrubbery camouflaging it from marauders. They thought it was safer to be away from the city below. Many people had stayed to defend their city dwellings and had paid the ultimate price. When the electricity had ceased world-wide the majority of humanity seemed to devolve, reverting to animal instinct, and it was now survival of the fittest.

When Aleph and Hei arrived home their older sister Yôdh was roasting a hare she had snared earlier in the day. Yôdh had developed into an adept hunter in the ten years since the family had moved to the hills. She could move quickly and silently through the trees hunting her prey with preternatural ability. The family had recently celebrated her sixteenth birthday. She wore the front of her hair in plaits which were pulled back to form a tiara that kept her hair out of her big blue eyes. Her sleek but newly acquired womanly figure was tastefully covered by a short green dress that was cinched around the waist giving her an elfish appearance.

Dàleth and Sāmekh, their father and mother, arrived at the camp at the same time as the boys and were happy to see that the boys had scavenged a large amount of food. Dàleth and Sāmekh carried a jug of fresh water between them. This was one of the real difficulties with the placement of their camp. Though the camp was out of sight from marauders, it was far from sources of fresh water, with the exception of rainwater. They had a set up to collect the water but it was not enough and this had to be supplemented with water from one of the mountain streams.

Dàleth had long bushy red hair on his head and a thin but full beard on his face. He wore well-worn blue jeans and a rugby style jersey. Ten years of physical labour had hardened his office-work-induced flabby body. After frequent sunburns in the early years, this outdoor life had darkened his skin and caused the former dappling of freckles to expand considerably.

Sāmekh’s long dark brown hair was tied back in a crown made of plaits like her daughter’s. Her figure had also benefited from the outdoor hard physical life, though she already had a beautiful body when the Great Devastation had hit. She wore capri-style jeans and a tight fitting short sleeve blue shirt. Her dark complexion was enhanced by the constant sun and despite the dirtiness associated with living outside the new environment made her all the more striking. Her huge green eyes caused many men who looked into them to become spell bound.

They settled in for dinner of canned beans and the roasted hare. Hunger satisfied they sat around the fire sharing the occurrences of their day. The boys had left early in the morning to scavenge in the city and had plenty of stories from the people they had met.
“We met this group who belonged to some kind of cult or weird religion…” Aleph said chuckling.

Hei cut in: “…and they said that the Great Devastation was caused by the ire of Gaia because of man’s treatment of earth’s creatures and the environment.”

“They wore these white robes and called themselves the…uhh…” Aleph pondered while he stroked his peach fuzz covered chin causing Dàleth to mask a snicker with a cough.

“..the Earth’s People.” Hei cut in to limit his brother’s embarrassment. “I thought that maybe Yôdh would be interested in joining” he added causing Aleph to join him in laughter.

Unfazed by the ridicule by her brothers, Yôdh spoke up proudly to announce “I spent most of the day up on the hill in meditation”. In the years since the Great Devastation some people had begun to develop what could only be described as magical abilities. The going theory was that with the removal of the steps between their everyday survival and the cycles of the earth, the innate powers of some individuals began to express. Yôdh spent many hours a day developing her new aptitudes. At present her abilities consisted of sensing where to find her prey while out hunting and limited communication with some of the animals but Yôdh was confident that with practice and concentration she could develop these further.

“Al and Hei, please don’t make fun of your sister. I am very proud of all of you and what you contribute to our survival. Alright, it’s getting late, time to tuck in for the night” Dàleth announced. A long day for all meant that this announcement was greeted with agreement from all and soon they were in the tent for the night.

The children left early the next morning. Since the boys had returned with that cache of cans and because Yôdh could pretty much catch meat for them anytime they needed it, the children were allowed to do as they pleased today provided they stuck together. They decided to climb over the ridge of the mountain and go for a swim in the stream that provided their drinking water.

As they crested the ridge of the mountain the wind hit them hard and drowned out any attempt at conversation. It would be this way until they reached the valley below. Hei wrapped his cloak tightly around him. Neither Aleph nor Yôdh had any covering so they toughed it out.

Suddenly, Yôdh halted the party with hand signals they had developed. She pointed to a copse of trees 10 metres below them and motioned for her brothers to stay silent. Weapons were drawn immediately to defend themselves - Aleph his sword, Hei his quarterstaff and Yôdh her bow. The government run biosecurity system had failed when the world was thrown into chaos and if it was an animal it could be anything. Many fearsome beasts that had been imported from overseas to protect their owners, had escaped and become feral. They had heard tales of tigers and giant snakes prowling the hills in search of a meal, though luckily they had yet to encounter any. Domesticated animals had also become a threat. Dogs that had once been friendly pets now roamed around in wild packs, viciously attacking anything that could be food. Pigs had gone feral and had grown tusks and bristly hair within weeks, confirming an interesting fact that Dàleth had seen on Discovery channel many years before.

But what emerged from the trees were humans, though the lowest form of this species. The three men were closer to trolls in appearance than humans. Their heads looked too big for their massive bodies. Heavy brow ridges and strong jaws increased their Neanderthal-like appearance. Each man held a spear and they looked like they were out hunting but when they saw the party of youths on the hill above them it became apparent that their prey had changed. A growl from one of the men came to them carried by the howling wind as the trio of trolls charged the siblings.

Yôdh let fly an arrow she had cocked in anticipation. It hit its target, straight through the eye socket of the man who led the attackers, killing him instantly. The other two men stepped over their fallen comrade and were upon the Dobro youth before Yôdh could level another arrow. Aleph stepped in first and his blade whistled through the air aiming for the throat of the closest attacker. Drug induced anger radiated from the eyes of the attacker as he easily stepped back to avoid Aleph’s attack and quickly responded with a swing of his spear using it as a club.

Hei was engaged in combat with the second man, effectively blocking blows with his quarterstaff, but never quite being able to gain the offensive. They were fighting seasoned warriors and although this was not the first fight for the siblings they were still honing their crafts.

Between blows Aleph chanced a glance over his shoulder to check on his brother and sister. He found his brother still locked in battle with his adversary but was surprised to find his sister sitting cross-legged, eyes closed, only a few metres from her brothers’ life or death struggle. The anger that welled up in him caused him to lose concentration and provided his opponent the opportunity he had been waiting for. With a brutal blow to his wrist, Aleph was suddenly disarmed. Now Aleph was backing away as the attacker pressed at him trying to end his life with a jab to his heart or other vital organ. Just as he was losing hope of surviving this incident, with his brother too preoccupied with his own struggle to lend aid and his sister uselessly meditating, the ground below the large troll-esque man turned to liquid and he was pulled down into a pool of mud which seconds before had been solid rock. Aleph looked over to see that his brother’s opponent had succumbed to a similar fate and saw a flailing hand trying to find some solid earth as the man was swallowed by the earth.

Both brothers turned to find their sister, eyes still closed, visibly radiating energy and smiling to herself. She opened her eyes and the ground returned to its solid state. Mouths agape the brothers could say nothing for the whole walk home. They had decided through mutual, though silent, agreement that speaking to their parents about Yôdh’s new abilities was more important than a swim in the stream.




1987

Trillium

“Go out and don’t come back ‘til dinner time”, her mother said. This was the usual routine for the summer months. Between June and August, right after lunch everyday, Kirsten and her older brothers were sent down the street to play. Their yard was not quite big enough to contain the chaos that was her brothers so they ended up at the field at the end of the street. This area, which divided her neighbourhood from the high school and sports centre on the other side of a large copse of trees, had yet to be developed with houses, save for the bike path which ran east-west under power lines.

The boys jumped on their bikes and rode off before Kirsten could click on her helmet, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears, and climb onto her bicycle. Though she peddled as fast as she could she was left behind, yelling, “Wait up!” as her brothers pulled away. They were already off their bikes and tossing around the football when she arrived at the end of the block. As usual, Kirsten was excluded from any game that David and Michael were playing. Michael was twice as old as six year old Kirsten and only sixteen months separated the two boys. Kirsten was thought of as a nuisance to the boys who were not only brothers but also best friends.

The boys would toss a ball around the field or play soldiers in the forest beyond, while Kirsten sat in the tall grass. She loved to lie listening to the boys and stare up at the clouds racing by in the wind. Or watching an ant crawling across the dirt between the blades of grass, pulling crumbs from the crunchy cookie she had been eating. Or observing the butterfly which lit on a dandelion and as she turned to examine it more closely, flew off into the sun. She felt safe here hidden from the world in the tall grass but connected to her brothers by the sound of their laughter. Her father could not find her here.

She heard Michael’s laughter stop abruptly and she sat up to watch his breathe go out of him as he was hit by David’s flying tackle. David didn’t outweigh his younger brother by much even though he was a couple of inches taller. Michael was a chubby kid and he often used this to his advantage in fights with his older brother. This made the hit all the more satisfying for David as he drove his brother to the ground with his shoulder in his brother’s flabby belly. The football rolled away toward Kirsten as Michael clubbed David in the back to get him off. Soon they were rolling around in the grass, arms flaying, though neither gaining enough leverage to badly injure the other. Eventually David was able to disentangle himself from his brother long enough to get to his feet and make a run for the forest. Michael yelled, “Stupid idiot, I’m gonna get you!” but laughed as he pursue his brother into the trees. Kirsten removed her shoes and slowly followed the boys into the forest, enjoying the feeling of the grass between her toes, stepping lightly to avoid hurting her feet. As she stepped in the sunlight-dappled cool forest she could hear her brothers had banded together to fight invisible ninja who were apparently attacking from the trees above.

Whenua

He sat in his mother’s lap as she chanted defiantly with the other university students: “Hell no! We won’t go!” His mother had organized this sit-in to stop the razing of their campus pub to make way for a Double Double coffee shop. The corporate behemoth Double Double had negotiated a partnership with the university, which consequently allowed the pub to be pulled down and replaced by a coffee shop. The university was also trying to clean up its image after a student died of alcohol poisoning during last year’s frosh week. None of these factors concerned his mother or the students who followed her. This was their pub and nobody was going to tear it down. The labourers and their huge machinery which had arrived early in the morning had been greeted by jeering protestors.

Taonga’s mother was in the first year of an Arts degree when he was born. With plenty of difficulty and with plenty of government financial assistance, she had completed that degree in only five years and was now beginning a Masters degree in Political Science. Taonga’s mother successfully integrated motherhood with academia. He had grown up on campus, spending the time when his mother had class in the on-campus day care, and he was even successfully breastfed for the first full year of his life between classes. His mother was always involved in student politics and was always accompanied by her son.

Although she had her suspicions, his mother was never sure who the father was and none of the potentials stayed around long enough to find out. His darker skin and hair and larger size, even shortly after his birth, relative to his age-mates, hinted at his father’s identity and led his mother to choose a Maori name for her son. Taonga translates into English as “most treasured person”, and this relationship was evident to all who knew Taonga and his mother.

They lived in a house with three other girls who helped out with his care when the need arose though Taonga’s mother was devoted to her son and seldom left his side unless absolutely necessary. Taonga was loved by his mother more than anything and although his upbringing was far from average thus far he was a very happy boy. Taonga laughed with pleasure as he waved a sign above his head which read “Double Double is Double Trouble!” His mother lead the troops in “We shall overcome”, and Taonga joined in.

As campus security arrived to break up the protest, Taongo joined arms between his mother and another protester. At 6 years of age he was already well experienced in protest activities.

Staedelin

Brushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes, Jimmy turned the page of his story book. Jimmy had learned to communicate in sign language when he was 9 months old. He could speak English in full sentences when he was 24 months old and shortly after could add bilingual English/French to his resume. His parents had taught him to read and write in his third year of life. At six years old, Jimmy could read almost anything, though he preferred to read fairy tales.

…clippety-clop, clippety-clop, clippety-clop.

“Who’s that crossing over MY bridge?” growled the troll. “It is I the youngest billy goat gruff and I am going up the mountain to eat lots of grass to get fat for winter” replied the young goat.

“Oh, no your not,” snarled the troll, “I’m going to eat you for my dinner!”

“You should not eat me,” replied the goat “I am much too small to fill your belly. My older brother will be along soon and he would make a much better meal.”

“Hmmm…alright” said the troll “SCRAM!”

The youngest billy goat clippety-clopped away up the mountain to get fat for the winter.

The sound of his parents speaking in the kitchen caused him to pause his reading.

“Jimmy is such a big boy, isn’t he? I am so proud that he is growing up so quickly. If we keep this up, I’m sure he’ll get into any university we want him to.” his mother said. “He’ll be a doctor before we know it.” responded his father proudly. “He has such an advantage over his peers who are out rabblerousing in the street while he’s in here developing his mind.” his mother added.

Jimmy went back to his reading, pleased to know that his parents were proud of him.



2016

By the time they could see the crevasse which hid their tent, they were running, excited to tell their parents of the development of Yôdh’s talents. Out of the corner of his eye, Aleph could see that Yôdh was smiling. He knew she must be feeling proud that all her hard work and long hours of discipline had paid off. He now regretted the many times he and his brother had ridiculed her efforts to develop her talents.

When the siblings arrived back at their camp, their parents were nowhere in sight. They must have been in the vicinity because the fire was still burning. The family had to be constantly cognisant of the threat of marauders and their parents would have extinguished the fire before going far. Hei had an uneasy feeling about the absence of his parents and that’s when Aleph pointed out others things in the camp were amiss.

There was an overturned dinner plate by the fire and their father’s sword was lying on the ground. Closer examination showed that their food cache had been raided but in a haphazard fashion, taking some cans of food but leaving others, that indicated that this was not the goal of the attack. Aleph whistled their family call, and waited. He received no reply so tried again and still no response. Their parents would never have given chase to the robbers without first taking care to hide their camp, lest a discovered camp put their children in danger.

Hei was the first to express what they all were feeling, “Someone has taken mum and dad! Who would do that?”

“And why?” Aleph added.

No one had answers to either question so there was a momentary silence.

“Unless they are very far away from here I believe that I will be able to sense the direction the kidnappers have taken”, said Yôdh. She then sat in her meditative posture, closed her eyes, and silenced the world around her. For minutes the boys watched their sister enter the meditative state that half-an-hour earlier had permitted her to harness the powers of nature to swallow two men into the earth. They barely breathed, afraid it would ruin her concentration.

Yôdh opened her eyes, but the boys could see that she was in another phase of consciousness. “They have gone in that direction,” she said, pointing north-east from where they stood. “They are at the edge of my ability to locate them so if we want to catch them we better move quickly.” With a slow blink Yôdh returned to wakeful consciousness.

They were ready in ten minutes. They each carried a canteen of water, small amounts of food, and their weapons - Aleph his sword, Hei his quarterstaff, and Yôdh brought her bow and took all the arrows she had been patiently fashioning. They set off north-east across the mountains, keeping a good pace. Although their parents’ captors had covered their tracks close to camp, they had chosen speed over stealth and further a field had begun to leave traces of their passing. This allowed Yôdh to use her mundane abilities as a hunter to track her parents and their captors. She reported to the boys there were five large men leading their parents. With grim determination they picked up the pace.

As the sun set, the rain came suddenly and with it came the wind. Wet to the bone, their minds urged them to find shelter but their hearts drove them forward to find their parents. The rain had obliterated the tracks but, hoping their captors would continue travelling in a straight line, the siblings continued on their previous vector. Unfortunately, the clouds and the rain obscured the moonlight and they were soon travelling blindly. It became evident that they were more likely to fall off a steep embankment and break their necks than they were of finding their parents tonight. Knowing that their quarry would also be finding a dry place to stop for the night, they decided to find a place to sleep. They slept beneath a quickly fashioned lean-to against the rock face. The rain prevented them from lighting a fire so, though they huddled together for warmth, it was a cold night and with the worry about their parents, the siblings slept little.

Luckily, dawn brought with it an end to the rain and provided Yôdh the opportunity to employ her magic to attempt the location spell that she was now beginning to perfect. This time she was able to pinpoint her parents’ location and it was easily within the range of her magical ability. She awakened from her meditative state feeling certain that her parents were in the valley just over the next ridge.

“I feel that they are just beyond the trees there”, she said pointing up the hill, “but I believe we need to advance with caution because I sense that there are many people together with them.”

They climbed the hill with care, ears perked to hear any sound and eyes straining in the dim dawn light. Hei was reached the top ahead of the others, army crawling on his belly to avoid detection. He could not believe what he saw in the valley beyond. It was a semi-permanent-looking tent village with hundreds of people in it, rough looking types, plenty of weapons, and even some rifles could be seen. Each wore a green armband on their left arm, marking them as a gang of some sort, though Hei was unfamiliar with these markings. Hei had never seen so many people in one place. He was too young to remember the time before the Great Devastation, when hundreds of thousands of people lived in the city below their camp. Ten years later that city had perhaps a few hundred citizens and people tended to avoid public gatherings as fear of the Virus still haunted many people’s thoughts. Guns were also seldom seen, Hei had only seen a few specimens in his lifetime and none of them had bullets. Bullets were a valuable commodity as they were no longer being mass produced since nothing was being mass produced any longer.

Aleph and Yôdh crawled up beside their brother. Aleph pointed to a herd of about fifty people being forced into rows. They were roped together by their ankles, six people to a cluster. Even from up here on the hill, they could see open wounds on some of the prisoners from the rope chafing their skin. The rains had caused the valley to become thick with mud and the prisoners were dirty and many looked like they were going to faint from exhaustion. Aleph’s keen eye sight spotted their parents at the far side of the group of prisoners. They were tied in a six person row with two young men who looked to be brothers in the front, their parents, a young woman, and a middle-aged man.

They backed down the hill slowly to avoid detection to allow discussion of how to proceed. It was obvious that they would not take this group by force. Although it pained them to allow their parents to continue to suffer, the siblings agreed that the best course of action was to wait and watch to see if they could figure out why their parents were being held, in hopes that this information would facilitate their release.

Slavery was the conclusion that they came to after a quick discussion. It was unclear whether the prisoners were going to be sold by the gang individually to other people or whether they were going to be used en masse by the gangsters in some large project. They figured their best move was to wait for their parents to be moved and to extricate them at that time.

Hei went off to scout out a better vantage point to observe their parents. He had just found a clump of low lying alpine bushes, which would provide the cover they needed, when his sharp ears heard heavy footfalls behind him. He concealed himself in the bushes and watched as a man carrying a rifle lumbered past him, obviously searching for something. The man was off towards his siblings and Hei followed silently behind him. The man saw Aleph and Yôdh before they could notice him and levelled his gun. Before he could complete that move, Hei stepped in beside him and the butt of his quarterstaff shattered the man’s jaw. His scream of agony came out as more of a muffled gurgle and reflexively he dropped the rifle as his hands tried to staunch the blood that was pouring from his mouth. Aleph was quick to silence any further noises from the man with a slice of his sword, beheading him.

Although they now lived in a kill or be killed world, Aleph still regretted the necessity of ending another beings life. Hei retrieved the rifle from the ground and found one bullet in the chamber. A search of the body found an additional two bullets. He slung the rifle across his back and put the bullets in his satchel. They hid all parts of the man down a steep embankment, the bottom of which was thick with shrubbery and moved on, knowing that someone from down in the valley would be up to search for their friend.

The area that Hei had found was not safely far enough away so they decided to move to the other side of the valley by skirting around the camp at a safe distance. This way they would also be closer to where their parents were being held. On the look out for additional guards they moved out to the south-east, looking for a good place to cross over to the other side of the valley. A couple of kilometres down the valley they found an area that was out of sight of the camp and filled with short alpine vegetation that should cover their descent into the valley as well as their ascent of the other side. They proceeded cautiously down the steep slope, picking their way between groups of trees to avoid detection by any patrols from the tent city.

Arriving safely at the top of the hill on the other side they made their way back towards the camp. They were able to get closer to the camp on this side of the valley because of they could crouch behind trees. They observed that three groups of six slaves, including their parents, were being herded up by five men and a woman. It looked like the slaves were going to travel since the captors had backpacks and they watched as the slaves were being forced to march south-east along the valley, back towards where the siblings had just come from. Realising that this was the opportunity they had been waiting for the siblings ran ahead to the treed area where they had crossed the valley floor to mount an ambush.




1992

Trillium

“We find the defendant guilty as charged.” Kirsten sat, no emotion showing on her face, though she was full of turmoil inside. She was drowning in her feelings…rage, shame, sadness, loneliness, love, hurt, pride, humiliation, blame. Her mother was a nurse and worked shift-work at the hospital. This meant that she was frequently left with her brothers in the care of their father. After her older brothers went down for the night, her father would come in to tuck her in. Stinking of whiskey he would enter her bedroom and, hard as she would try, he could tell that she was not asleep. “I love you Kirsten, remember that always.” Each time, as he left her bedroom, he said these words and they became the soundtrack that haunted her every waking moment. It started six years ago and today it was finished.

She looked over at her mother who sat on the bench to the right of her. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. Clad in a pink blouse that used to fit her but now accentuated her obesity, her large chest was heaving though no sound was coming out. Kirsten’s mother had found her husband passed out naked from the waist down in her youngest child’s pink-painted bedroom. Though she suspected that this was occurring, she had been using lack of proof as a way to avoid facing the reality. This time though she called the police even before speaking to her daughter and they had vacated their home with the boys before her husband awoke from his drunken slumber.

Kirsten looked to her left at her brother David and beside him Michael. It was suspected that both the boys had been abused as well, although this never came out in the trial. David had the same weight problems as his mother and had beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He eyed the exits of the courtroom as though he wanted to escape the trial and the feelings that it brought up in him.

Rage was radiating from Michael, in his posture, his face and how he stared in blatant hatred at his father. When his eyes momentarily moved to his sister, she shrunk back, as the anger appeared directed at her as well. Michael had moved out on his own while the trial was taking place and Kirsten expected that this courtroom was the last time she would set eyes on him.

Her father was sentenced to seven years in prison. Kirsten had heard from some kids at the park in her neighbourhood that child molesters were often killed by other inmates in the prison. She still had some feelings for her father in her heart and she hoped that he did not suffer too much when they ended his life.


Whenua

The mountain lay before them rising into the clouds. Green grass covered most of the area, with alpine shrubs and small bushes growing in clumps where there was sufficient depth of soil. Sheep grazed on the sides of the mountain and trekked across the crest. A radio tower, which marked the highest point, was their goal.

Taonga had skipped school today with a group of five boys to go tramping in the hills. The path that snaked its way up the mountain was long but the slope was never too great. They would be fighting the wind as they neared the peak so it was going to be a tiring climb but they were all in good shapes, top athletes in their school. They carried their lunches in their backpacks and would eat when they reached the top. The boys loved the exhilaration of reaching the summit and being significantly higher than everything for as far as their eyes could see in every direction.

Taonga was a good student and when he became passionate about a subject he excelled at it. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm often came at the detriment of all other subjects. He was well loved by his teachers and those who still cared for teaching competed for his interest in their specialty. At present his passion was not a subject taught at his school. He loved to explore and he could not be confined to a playground for another beautiful December day.

“Come on slow coaches, we have to keep up the pace if we are going to reach the top by lunch time”, said Taonga, as they set off up the hill. The warmth of the sun on his back caused him to remove his jersey though he knew that he would have to put it back on shortly since the wind near the top would obliterate any heat that the sun could provide him.

Their escape from school had been hampered by their Geography teacher. They had planned to be the first out of class at recess and meet at the corner of the fence, farthest from the school. If executed correctly they could be over the fence and down the road before the teachers on recess patrol made it to their posts. Unfortunately, their Geography teacher, who was also their rugby coach, had pulled them aside after class.

“Hey men, did you see the rugby test on Saturday?” he asked. Not waiting for an answer, he added “We would have won had the referee not allowed them to continuously go offside during the breakdowns.”

Unable to restrain himself, Taonga’s friend Ryan responded, “Come on sir, they were up by three tries and totally outplaying us.”

“True, but I still believe that the referee needed to step in there a few times but chickened out. It might have been a very different result.”

“I think the ref needs to let the players play” Ryan said, with a bit of frustration showing in his voice.

Taonga cut in, “Uhh…sorry coach, but we gotta go. We’ll see you tomorrow afternoon for practice.” He grabbed his friend and pushed him out the door, followed by the other three boys who had been waiting.

“Idiot”, whispered Taonga when they were out of hearing range of the teacher, “now we missed our chance. All the teachers are out there, we have no chance to sneak out.” Although their delay was only momentary, they would not be the first out the door and the teachers would now be on patrol. He gave his friend Ryan a playful yet powerful punch in the arm.

“Its just that coach thinks he knows what he’s talkin’ about. He knows the rules but he doesn’t know game…you know.”

“And you know better?” said Taonga with a smirk on his face.

“Well, ya.” Everyone, including Ryan, laughed at that.

When the laughter subsided, Taika, another boy from their posse asked, “Now what T? How do we make our great escape?”

Although it’d be riskier than leaving before the teachers got there, they figured they would wait until the end of recess and hopefully none of the teachers would notice that they were hanging about and not making their way for their late morning studies. If they could sneak past the last sweep of the teacher patrol, they could climb over the fence and they would be out.

They played tag for the recess but they were also keeping an eye on the teachers’ movements. They noticed that Mr. Henderson, who at the start of the recess was patrolling the far corner, had snuck away from the students to go have a smoke in the front parking lot of the school. This provided them the opportunity they needed. When the school bell rang and all the other students made their way to the institution of learning, Taonga and his gang scampered over the fence and made their way to freedom.

At half past twelve they arrived at the summit of the mountain. It was a good hike and their muscles hurt. The green vegetation on the mountain made the blue of the sky all the more striking. The few white clouds that flew by quickly, pushed by the strong wind, looked close enough to touch. From where they stood they could see beautiful blue ocean to the south and even, on this very clear day, the hint of land beyond. To the south-east was more of the green mountain range, speckled with sheep climbing up impossibly steep slopes. In north-east they could look down on the city’s centre, set beside the ocean waterfront. Even the tallest buildings looked tiny from up here. Taika picked out the rugby stadium, which from up here looked no larger than a 50 cent piece. Far off to the north-west, were outlying villages, that they knew sheltered thousands of people but from up here looked absolutely insignificant.

They sat eating their lunches in the grass, somewhat sheltered from the wind by the walled compound which surrounded the radio tower. Noticing pride in the faces of his peers, Taonga expressed his inner thoughts, “That was worth it, eh?”

Staedelin

He sat alone, away from the other children, reading a novel while they played soccer on the field. He could not hear them anymore as he entered the world of Sighaal.

The young mage wrapped his red robes around him. Although he walked by burning torches that lit the passageway, a supernatural cold chilled his soul. The hairs on the back of his neck tingled as footsteps broke the silence that had followed him since entering the keep. At least half a dozen creatures were approaching quickly from up ahead. Their heavy footfalls marked them as inhuman, likely trolls by the guttural laughter he heard. He frantically searched for a place to hide. He spotted a door to his left and he tried turning the handle, hoping this was an avenue for escape. He found the door locked and had no time to find another place to hide as six trolls rounded the corner ahead of him.

The trolls prepared to attack the intruder. The mage understood that his dagger would be of little use against their battle worn swords. He could see that the steel of the leader’s sword was stained a dull red either from rust or dried blood. Using his fear to gain access to the well of power within him he chanted an incantation. The trolls, recognizing the arcane words as magic, ran at him to prevent the completion of the spell. They did not reach the mage in time and this was a costly mistake. A ball of blue flame erupted from the boy’s hands and engulfed his attackers. They screamed in agony as their hideous bodies melted away from the heat of the mystical fire. Soon all that was left of the fearsome monsters were charred remains. The red robed mage hurried onward to complete his quest.

Jimmy shut the book, closed his eyes and imagined the power he could have if he was a mage. His introspective nature and his skinny physique made him the brunt of attacks by bullies at school, though by shying away from the crowds of kids and burying himself in a book he was usually able to avoid serious trouble. He had no friends, giving him ample time for study, so he excelled at school, further separating him from his school cohort.