As the thunder from the first lightning strike was rubbing through the sky another bolt looked to be building up in the clouds, James was looking directly at it. He knew exactly what he was doing, the first one had been a test to see if his theory was correct, now he knew he wasn’t crazy. He built up the lightning bolt in the clouds to the maximum capacity of electricity it could handle then commanded it to strike down on the water in the middle of the community of Rowers. They had all disrespected the Gifted for too long, it was long past time one of them took a stand. Obviously many other Gifted had the same idea because soon lightning was coming from the sky almost as rapidly as the pouring rain above their heads. James and the other Gifted in the water knew they would be safe if they capsized because they could control the water and anything in it. However, the Ungifted would most likely die on impact with the water because of the high amount of electricity coursing through it.
The families canoe suddenly tipped over, throwing the men into the water along with most of the other Rowers. The lightning stopped abruptly as the community flailed around in the water. The Gifted all sank to the bottom immediately and quickly swam to a location about a half mile away from the panicked families to converse. They needed to discuss what happened and figure out how to get everyone to safety. In total there was about 45 Gifted on the water that day, only 40 were gathered. Some were still left to deal with the drowning people in the middle of the water.
After all of the Gifted settled down at the bottom they took off their breathing masks to speak more effectively, they all adjusted the water to float around their faces so that they could still breathe without the masks. While looking around at the circle of Gifted, James spoke first, “so... the Gifted are real, huh?” Several of the other kids looked about as shocked as he felt but most of the others seemed like they had known for years.
“You mean your parents didn’t tell you? I’ve known that I’m a Gifted for years.” A conceited, purple-haired girl stated. She was standing in the middle of the water but her vibrant hair and clothes weren’t the slightest bit wet. She looked as if she belonged on a runway with her stunning hair and eyes that almost glowed red.
Man, this Purple girl would be gorgeous if she didn’t have that self-righteous smirk glued to her face. James thought.
Thanks, kid, but I’m too old for you. Purple said. Also, I have a name and it’s not Purple.
It was at this moment that James realized that the other kids were talking amongst themselves, Purple was talking with the kid who had jumped in to try and save their family a while before but her mouth wasn’t forming the words he was hearing.
Wait, are you mind speaking? He asked.
Duh. He heard as she kept talking with the shorter blonde kid.
Oh man, this isn’t good. This isn’t good at all. He thought.
Throw up your wall, kid! Your thoughts are annoying me.
What wall?
Imagine a thick, strong, metal wall then imagine wrapping it around yourself. It creates a wall that blocks out other people's thoughts and will stop your insufferable whining from entering my brain.
Okay, but I still don’t know your name.
It's Noneya.
Noneya?
Yeah, none ya business!
James threw up his “wall” shortly after that. He didn’t need to hear any more from the sassy girl. Well, that didn’t go as planned. I guess I’ll have to find another way to learn about being Gifted. I wonder if Jonah or Miles know anything. I’m sure they do, they know a lot about a lot of things. James thought to himself.
He swam around at the bottom of the water for a bit while he decided whether or not to go back to the surface the blonde kid who jumped after the family came over to talk to him.
“Hi, my name’s Okes. I saw you in the circle and I wanted to talk to you.” As they said this, James heard a quiver in their voice from when they were sobbing earlier with Purple.
“Okay, what did you want to talk about?”
“Well, you see, I don’t really… well, I don’t have a family anymore. My family fell into the water during the storm and they didn’t make it. I think I’m going to be kicked out of my house soon and you looked like a trustworthy person, I was wondering if it would be okay if I stayed with you and your family for a while. Just until I have the means to get a house for myself.”
James was a bit shocked by this, he’d never talked to this kid before but they seemed really familiar to him in a way no stranger had ever felt before. “Sure, you can stay with us. I mean, I’ll have to ask my fa-” James was cut off from his sentence by an abrupt hug from the Okes.
“Thank you thank you thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me!”
“U-um, you’re welcome?” James stuttered.
“I have to go now, I’ll talk to you in a few days.”
“Okay, see you then. My name is James by the way.
“Nice to meet you, James.” The smile Okes gave James after saying that sparked a fire in his chest that he’d never felt ignite until before then. He quickly snuffed it out, chalking it up to interest in a new person rather than a budding crush.
After the interaction with Okes, James decided to swim back to his father and brothers who happened to be halfway to The Wall’s entrance, they left without him. They must have thought that I died, I need to catch up to them quickly, James thought as he strapped back on his breather. He swam to the surface as fast as he possibly could. When he finally went to his father, the man turned to him and said, “took you long enough. Come on, boy, we’re gonna be stuck out here if we stay here any longer.”
Okay, so he knew I wasn’t dead… That means they left me. James thought somberly.
The miserable teen followed his father to the edge of The Wall and they climbed the stairs. They were at the back of the group because they had stopped to talk, James could tell that his father was not happy about that. As the men were walking back to their house in the middle of the Rower community James started thinking about what had happened out passed The Wall. So, I’m Gifted… and my dad knows… and apparently, there are a ton of other Gifted near me that I didn’t know about. I have no idea what to do with this information. I need to get in contact with Purple again. She seems to more about being Gifted than I do, she’ll probably be able to help me figure some things out if she doesn’t rip my head off first.
The discouraged family arrived at their dark, cold house at 10 pm that night after an uncomfortably long walk through the dead brown woods that surround their two-story Tudor style house. James ran the final ¼ mile, he was 2 miles past ready to be done with that day and needed to get some sleep before he collapsed. He figured that everything was so confusing and tiring today that it might make sense after he woke up, he’d figure it out tomorrow. He raced through the front door and up the flight of stairs to his bedroom then slammed the door before throwing himself onto his bed.
Elsewhere, the other men entered the house and started silently preparing the traditional Ceremony of Loss. Within the community of the Rowers, there were certain rules and traditions they have to follow, one of which was the Ceremony of Loss. Every time a relative/member of the community passed, everyone would take out their black canoes to the Wall and make their way over to the closed-off gazebo where the Ceremony of Loss was typically held. The ceremony includes laying the deceased’s black coffin on a short but long rectangular pedestal of gray and white marble. Once the coffin was laid out black and white roses would be placed on and around it to symbolize the loss of life and the gain of another soul in the sky. The Rowers believed that every person had a dim star waiting for them in the sky and once they die the star will ignite with the flame of their soul. After the flowers have been placed the community gathers around the coffin in the formation of a five-pointed star. They hold hands with the person next to them as they sing the traditional song that is supposed to help the person’s soul successfully rise to the stars.
However, this ceremony was different. The Rowers had only encountered this problem once before, the year Adrian’s parents died. He was very close with them and was very upset about their death so something was bound to happen. A large storm rolled across the village of the Rowers as they were in the water on the way to the funeral just as it had this year. Derek knew about Adrian’s Gift long before this event so the entire way to the funeral he was trying to keep him calm while trying to keep their son, Jonah - who was an infant at that time - out of the rain with their dysfunctional, black umbrella. Adrian caused a massive storm to strike down on their community of canoes along with around 60 other Gifted and they had to swim back to their home. Although, that time was harder because they had to swim back without Breathers and with a small baby they had to keep above the water. Breathers weren’t accessible to the general public at that time so only the very rich were able to purchase them. After the event, Derek and Adrian never spoke of it, especially around other people. They both wanted to keep it hidden so in the case that none of their sons inherited the Gift they would be able to live normally without knowing that their father possessed it.
Derek, Miles, and Jonah had finished the preparations for their home ceremony as quickly as possible, they all wanted to get it done. However, no one wanted to volunteer to wake the James up so they decided to settle the dilemma in the most adult way possible...Rock Paper Scissors. The men gathered in a circle. Miles and Derek held out their left-hand flat with their right hand in a fist, Jonah held his hands the opposite way because he was left-handed.
“Okay, boys” Derek whispered as officially as he could manage, “we’re gonna go on a shoot.”
“Got it!” The two boys whispered. Their house had thin walls so they had to speak quietly in order to not wake up James.
“Okay, 3… 2… 1!” Derek yelled.
“Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!” They all screamed, forgetting about trying not to wake up James.
“Ah, man! I lost! Two out of three?” Bargained Jonah. However, that was unnecessary because soon after that a muffled yell came from upstairs.
“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you?” Miles yelled opening the door that blocked off the stairs to James’s room.
James opened his bedroom door with a blotchy, red cheeks, tears streaking down his oval-shaped face. His messy chestnut brown hair was still dripping with water along with his black button up and slacks, he hadn’t changed out of his wet clothes yet. He had gotten home, went to his room, and cried out his struggles formed from a day beyond The Wall.
“I said shut up!” Lightning crashed, accenting the last word. “I’m trying to sleep, leave me alone!” He was obviously crying instead of sleeping but his brothers and father didn’t mention that.
“No can do, TIMS, it’s time for the home ceremony. After that, you can hide in solitude.” Derek shouted up the stairs.
“What does TIMS mean? That’s not even close to my name.” He yelled back, exasperated.
“It’s an acronym, you imbecile. Now, don’t be a pouty baby, get down here. It’s time to perform the ceremony.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then I won’t tell you what’s wrong with you.”
“I know what’s wrong with me.”
“You don’t know why, though.”
“So what? What if I don’t want to know.”
“We both know you do, stop playing games and get down here!” Derek was starting to lose his patience.
“Fine, but if I don’t like what I hear I’m going back to my room until Market Day.” Market Day was when the Rowers all left across the wall to shop at the big open-air market day was in two days. The young boy walked down the stairs while wiping the last tears from his eyes before sticking out his hand to shake.
“Deal?” He asked.
“Deal.” Derek agreed, shaking his hand. “Now come on, we’ve got a ceremony to perform.”
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