The Adorned Read online

I stared at the list of words for a second.

  “Now Sam while Ms. Elizabeth William prepares supper we’re going to learn basic word meanings.”

  Elizabeth knocked and then walked in, “Jane there’s no need for that right now, thank you; you may idle until dawn.” Ms. William said.

  “Understood Ms. William,” Jane said. “Signing out.”

  A light whirr and then click came from the monitor.

  “Sam, come to the kitchen sweetheart.” She said as she walked off.

  I closed my eyes real tight and rubbed my head. A flash of crimson slit through the black: I gasped.

  The lights flickered and ground trembled lightly, a red light flashed on the monitor. Written on the red: Alert.

  Ms. William rushed in, “Sam you ok?”

  “Yea, but what was that?”

  “I’m not sure, could have been bad power reception.” Ms. William explained.

  Jane’s screen now displayed a big WARNING message flashing on and off; writing began to scroll from the bottom right:

  -Due to an unexpected emergency we have sealed all residential communities’ households, canceled all events, and closed down all shops; please keep aware of the Class A Lockdown until further notice, Thank You-

 

  The window near my bed sealed itself with a metal frame clinging down until it locked and the lights in the room dimmed.

  “J-Just relax Sam… this is just a test.” Ms. William said.

  Another rumble occurred.

  I felt fine, but apparently Ms. William seemed to be freaking out. I wonder what exactly could cause this or if it’s a natural thing… the floor rumbling I mean.

  “Is this what Mary explained as an earthquake Ms. William. The ground trembling beneath our feet?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know what it is Sam… come I guess we can talk in the kitchen while this gets straightened out.”

  Another soft tremor occurred.

  I followed Ms. William back to the kitchen where a fragrance of food consumed the air. On the stove a pot boiled; Ms. William hurried over, took a big wooden spoon from the sink, and stirred the content.

  “Glad I caught this before it boiled too much!” Ms. William giggled nervously, “You can sit Sam. The food is almost done.”

  I sat down, “Ms. William, how did you know Ms. Johnson?”

  “She is a really good friend of mine Sam”

  Mary’s definition of friend catapulted away from my knowledge, “Uh can you explain what a friend is?” My face felt hot.

  Ms. William giggled, “A friend is basically a trustworthy individual. Trustworthy meaning you’d hang out with them, spend time together, share your feelings and thoughts… basically grow with each other… I mean a little part of us becomes a part of them, and a part of them becomes a part of you,” she groaned and shook her head. “Ugh, friendship is complicated to explain.”

  “So are we kind of like friends Ms. William?”

  “Yes, but my goal is to make you into a straight forward gentleman, so I must give you my personal insight and teach you in a different manner, but it’s your job to accept my own council, or reject my teachings, we all have a choice Sam, to believe what is right, or embrace the wrong.” Ms. William said.

  I sat there silent feeling my stomach rumble.

  “But anyways, I got carried away; Amber and I were in the same class for three straight years in a row… we just hit it off and became best friends. This of course was before classes were made into single students courses, Sam… bad things occurred once I graduated school and got my LCP, after that I… I never saw her again until today; it was a pleasant encounter, one I would have never expected.” Ms. William said.

  “So what happened?”

  “I can’t tell you Sam, not until you’re of age, actually I won’t be the one to tell you, your LCP instructor should go over the historical archives of our society, um, but”

  “But, I mean, it’s so strange Ms. William, why is everything such a big secret?”

  “No,” Ms. William interrupted quickly, “Look Sam, you’re only thirteen years old, you still have your entire life ahead of you, don’t rush it ok.”

  Ms. William took the big steaming pot and placed it on the counter. She took some bowls from the cupboard and poured some of the chicken stew in them.

  “You’ll love this Sam, my own stew, pieces of chicken, corn, a special seasoning, and some carrot-bites I’d consider this my specialty,” Ms. William grinned.

  She took one of the steaming bowls of stew and set on the table next to me, “Honestly Sam, if my LCP hadn’t have placed me in the career it did I would of loved to be a chef, you know, like have your own little one-stop restaurant… I would have loved that,” Ms. William’s face became rosy, her eyes glittered, “A fantasy only to rest in my most bizarre of dreams.”

  She went into the drawer and took two silvery teaspoons. She handed me one and placed the other one next to her bowl.

  “Eat up sweetie, before it gets cold.”

  I stared at the floating blobs of random things, the orangey carrot pieces, and white chunks of chicken.

  It felt as though everything Mary had introduced me to, the things I learned in those years of lecture and studying pictures, had been for naught, but out of the blue in my thirteenth birthday this new reality, this beautiful phrase would be brought to life.

  Life: is existence, all the things I’ve learned were just blooming to my consciousness without any form of meaning; concentration was there, my basic meanings were there, I was speaking as though I’ve done it before; I was speaking to a real human-being, not a twenty-two inch monitor named Mary.

  Ms. William was a real person, a real person, someone like me… it was still hard for me to swallow all of this happening so quickly just one day after my thirteenth birthday.

  “Dreams are good Ms. William.” I said with drizzles of stew broth trickling down my lip.

  Ms. William scooped some stew and smiled at me, before she took a bite she handed me a napkin.

  “Dreams are beautiful, Sam… your most outrageous fantasy could come crawling out of the jet black abyss, blooming to life with a tall tale… a story.” Ms. William said.

  “Then why do nightmares exist?”

  “Emotional drought could stir it up, depression, feeling alone. Our fragile bodies are stimulated by our environment: the people we meet, things we experience, it’s this awkward feeling, Sam, I mean it’s impossible to describe; it’s just human.”

  That night after Elizabeth tucked me into my bed, I had another dream.

  ---

  “There are some things done that have no form of forgiveness,” echoed a mysterious voice, “Those actions have only one form of punishment.”

  The darkened figure wearing a black as night cloak, and jaded eyes glowing like the faint stars in the heavens, stepped into the scene, carrying the same long barreled automatic.

  “Do you see, look behind,” the figure pointed afar, beyond the clutter of men and woman knelt and chained together, to an open ocean and blood red sunset, “Beauty awakens after your release, life rewinds itself… you see forgiveness has no price, but it’s punishment is eternal.”

  Church bells clanged in the distance, the ocean waves roared like lions, crashing into the blot of sands.

  “Leave us be!” Bellowed a man, “Untie us, l-let us go!”

  The dark figure laughed beneath his breathe, “I wish I could, I-I really do, honest to god, but what’s more rewarding then being grant access to the second part of life.”

  “You son of bitch! You’re just a pond, a-a pond doing the dirty wor…”

  A thunderous burst brought gasps.

  Wisps of heat released from the barrel.

  He locked the safety back on the rifle and lowered it to his side.

  “Don’t speak unless you’re spoken to.”

  The half of dozen knelt down panted, some wept; the stranger just stood there and stared at them, one b
y one making eye contact with the next. He locked his jaw and straightened his posture.

  “How long have you done this?” Asked the only face that wasn’t blurred by the shadow, it was a younger Dr. Harris Brown.

  The dark figure unlocked the safety and then rashly blasted away at everyone except Harris Brown. Like ragdolls their bodies fell to the ground, blood seeping into the sands.

  “What is your name stranger?” The darkened figure asked.

  Dr. Harris giggled mused, “Is that a rhetorical question? You already know who I am.”

  “Of course I do”

  “Obviously”

  “Don’t speak out of line again, or I promise not to further prolong your departure. Stand.”

  Dr. Harris didn’t hesitate to stand as the dead carcasses sinking into the sand weighed down his hands.

  “Speak; you seem to have something you long to say.” The stranger said.

  Dr. Harris scoffed, “How’d you know?”

  “I don’t answer questions, I ask them. Now speak, or forever hold your tongue.”

  “You took something of mine… something I held dear, something irreplaceable.”

  “Who was this someone?”

  Dr. Harris hesitated and licked his lips, he took a deep breath as though it pained him to say the next words, “My beloved.”

  “Sam…, Sam….”

  ---