Earth
"Sho, hold it properly." Sho's father reprimanded him.
Sho aligned his foot with the wooden stick and looked at his father. And he found nothing but those cold eyes glaring at him. He again tried hard to remember, but the memory didn't come to him. The corners of his eyes were on the verge of becoming wet.
But then he noticed an old man in the corner and hope seemed to come back. The old man pointed to his left leg and then to his toes. Even though being 4 years old, Sho had already got labeled with the tag of genius. By only a hint, he had remembered the last day's teachings. He bent his left leg slightly and brought his elbows directly above his toes.
A smile crept upon his father's face. And Sho felt he had conquered the entire world.
"Good, now perform the Kata till afternoon." His father went out after giving the instruction.
Sho made sure he had gone out of the training room and ran to the old man, "Thanks, Grandpa."
He could see a sweet smile on the old man's face. "You think your father didn't notice?"
Sho's face became pale, and he frantically looked at the entrance. The only thing in his mind was that his father could have been hiding there and would come back to catch him red-handed.
"He has gone. Now come on, I will teach you some tricks."
"Yes, yes. Tricks, yay!"
It's amazing, present even the ugliest looking vegetable to children saying it would give a random power, and they would eat it.
5 years later.
Sho was still a child, but none could fool him now. He looked at the swirling smoke of the incense and the photo of his grandfather behind them. The sweet smile of the past still lingered in his mind, and except for the tears that were rolling down, he couldn't feel anything.
The training had taken a turn for the worst. Everything seemed to break down under the stare of his father and his disappointed look. Sho practiced and practiced, learned all the forms, all the teachings, and yet he never found this man satisfied by anything.
Sho hated him.
Sho hated him for letting his grandfather go away. Sho hated him for not letting him play games like the other boys from his school. And Sho hated him when he understood why he didn't have a mother.
5 more years later.
Sho was not a child anymore. His father had said this to him, and so it must have been true. Sho not only was practicing, but they made him study even harder. He had been missing that sharp look of his father. Now it was enough if his father would come to visit him once in a while.
Sho looked at the adult in front of him, twice his size, and holding a staff called Bo. His father had come today and had brought four martial artists. And there was only one instruction for him.
'Defeat them.' His father had instructed.
Sho was not a clueless child anymore and felt that day was different. He could see his father's eyes, filled with anticipation. He took the form with his wooden swords, Katana and Wakizashi.
"Come."
Sho was now 32 years old. And he had lost the will to hate his father.
Sho kowtowed in front of his grandfather's photo. And he prayed, "Grandfather, give me strength to remain humble, even if I were to surpass you one day."
Sho's father waited for him to stand up. Today was a grand ceremony. All the old and young, who mattered to anything in society, got an invitation for it. Sho's father approached him, holding a ceremonial Katana. This sword represented the status of the successor of the school. This sword would tell the world who would be the successor of the teachings of Japan's oldest Ko-ryū, The School of Heaven and Earth as One.
This sword would declare that he would be the next headmaster of the School.
[…
Life Analyzation Complete
Assigning Class…
Terminating Dream Phase
…]
*
"Hey Annie, don't wander too far from your grandmother, OK?" Annie's mother said, raising an eyebrow high enough that Annie forgot to answer.
"Mum, just keep her away from insects." Annie's mother shouted.
High atop the mountains in Greece, Annie lived in a village. And unlike most of the children of her age, she spent her happiest time hunting for mushrooms in the forest after the rain with her grandmother.
Annie had only a vague memory of her living in the city, but then her mother had brought her here 2 years ago. Pouting at her mother, she proudly declared, "Mother, I am 6. I am a woman now."
"Haha…" Her mother patted her and went back to the kitchen.
"Grandma, what is this little thing called?"
"Hey Grandma, look what I found."
Annie spent most of her next 5 years collecting herbs under the summer Sun and gathering nuts in the fall. She had planted more of her 'Plant-Friends' in their backyard. Herbs, vegetables, flowers, and fruits were just another part of her friend's circle. Even more fascinating were the colors she got to see every day. The Black-eyed Susan was among her favorites.
By the age of 21, her innate curiosity led her to seek even more information through her studies. She got her clinical certificate in Western, Ayurvedic, and Chinese Herbal Medicine. And a Bachelor's Degree in Health Science and Nutrition. At 26, Dr. Annie (Ph.D.), was one of the best herbalists.
And yet, all Annie wanted to do was to go out into the mountains from time to time and explore the world of plants and herbs.
[…
Life Analyzation Complete
Assigning Class…
Terminating Dream Phase
…]
*
"Kill the bastard." A local crime-boss passed the judgment on Logan.
Logan ran like a dog was being chased down by an angry Butcher. And by God, he could run well.
"That's a fast motherfucker," the fatty goon said, already panting at the idea of a long chase.
Logan was fast, but not fast enough to outrun three adults. But he knew the city. If he hadn't, how could he live till the age of 11 years?
"Not today, not today," he whispered. At the end of a dilapidated wall there was a dumpster, and behind that, under the cover of several cardboards was his lair.
Logan held his breath and if people could see him without removing the coverings, then it would have reminded them of a cockroach. Like an insect, Logan had learned to mimic a dead body. And he haughtily declared that he had learned it fastest among his friends. He noticed two of the goons were coming towards him. The third one was leaning on the wall at the turn.
"Where did that little fucker go? Fucking rat." The self-proclaimed leader of the three said, kicking a cat.
The cat wasn't in the mood for getting bullied and hissed maniacally towards him.
"I will kill you first." And with that, he took out a knife. The other goon, quieter of the three, kept looking at the fence by the dumpster.
"I think he jumped over the fence."
"What? Finally became blind. I told you not to smoke that stuff." The fat one had somehow caught up with them.
The fatty's face looked like he had been in a rainfall. With a salty taste of sweat in his mouth, he said, "The fence is too high, stupid. Not enough time to climb."
The 2nd goon was quieter but a goon he was nonetheless. He kicked the fat one and took out a knife.
"Call me stupid one more time. He had enough time to outrun us, fatty."
A whimpering sound came from the other corner and all the three, even Logan, turned their head to look. At some point, the cat had jumped over the 1st goon's head and bit him on the neck. And in sheer frustration, the goon shoved the knife towards the cat. But there was no cat at the end of the knife. The knife, at the loss of his target, made its way to his shoulder and now blood was sipping out from the corner of the wound.
'…'
'…'
'…'
"I think we go over the fence." The 2nd goon said, pointing his knife towards the fence.
"Ah! Take me to the hospital, you morons." The 1st goon screamed in pain.
The fatty eyed him from above and said, "Not enough brain on this one. I had told the boss not to hire him."
With that said, he bent down and with a jerk took out the plunged knife.
"No!" the 2nd goon shouted, but the fatty had already done the deed.
A fountain of blood spurted on the fatty's face and he screamed, "Take me to the hospital! Take me to the hospital!"
"Dumb fuckers everywhere," he ran towards the two, but then halted.
He turned back and approached the dumpster. Logan had already switched to his cockroach mode. With a swift wave of the hand, he opened the lid "Ha! Found you."
But he only found the stench of garbage.
11 more years had passed since then, and Logan had become the go-to guy in the underworld. Logan took out the knife from a man's back, "And this one is for that time 11 years ago."
[…
Life Analyzation Complete
Assigning Class…
Terminating Dream Phase
…]
*
"Now be smart. Why don't you climb that small boulder and leave this one to me."
"No ma! I will climb higher than you. Just wait, you will see."
Boomie's mother sighed.
"This kid would be the death of me," she muttered. "Ok come here, but do exactly as I say."
"Yay!"
Boomie felt his hand would fall off if he did not rest them on something. He slept like a log in the truck until they reached their home.
"Now, in a few weeks, you will be in middle school. I want you to make some good friends there."
Boomie's mother said, emphasizing her words, and dragged him out of the truck.
"Where is your father? Is he supposed to be this late?"
Boomie cleaned away the drool using the end of his sleeve, "I have plenty of friends."
1 month has passed since then.
"Now I would have to take care of this bitch for the rest of my life. Hah!" Boomie's father snorted.
Boomie ran out of home after seeing his father smashing glasses. And soon found himself lost in the crowded town.
'Guo Antique Shop,' Boomie read the signboard. And now, more curious than scared, he went in. Nobody was in the shop, but he found that the things there looked interesting. Checking out things here and there, he found the door to the basement slightly ajar. The darkness was too scary for him, and involuntarily his steps became lighter to not make any sound. He could see a condensed mass of light in a corner. Boomie, still on the stairs, crouched down to look.
Horrified wasn't a word Boomie was much aware of in his age, but he got to experience the immensity of that word.
A boy, almost the same age as him, was cutting up a big lizard using a surgical knife. And no, he didn't seem scared, but Boomie had seen this 'look' many times. Whenever he had gone with his mother for bouldering, he had seen the same expressions on his mother.
The expressions of intense satisfaction and anticipation.
The boy spun his head towards him and Boomie let out a scream. Boomie wasn't sure how fast or in which direction he ran, but somehow he had found his home. The only thing on his mind was to not go out of the house, otherwise the boy would get him. So he locked himself in his mother's room.
He told her everything, but she didn't reply. Crying and clueless, he turned on the TV, and luckily it was his favorite show on the air, Dexter's Laboratory. The horrifying scenes in his memory got lost in the child's fascination with cartoons. And at some point, the image of Dexter got blended with the boy in the basement.
13 years had passed since then.
And not only had he found a great friend as his mother wished but also had become as good as her in climbing.
[…
Life Analyzation Complete
Assigning Class…
Terminating Dream Phase
…]
*
"Son, why don't you show him? Your science project."
"Oh! What a cute child. Is it true?" The man in the gray beard asked.
But Aldrich didn't want to show him. He felt he shouldn't.
Odd feelings for a 4-year-old.
But things weren't in his hands now. The secret project he had made in the basement was not a secret anymore, as his parents had brought home this person.
"Let's see it for yourself." Aldrich's father urged the teacher.
They all came down to the basement and found a fish tank there. An oval-cylindrical object was floating in it.
"You were right, it is a submarine."
The plump teacher held the object in his hands and kept turning it around.
"Hmm, very good. So he made it by himself?" the teacher pointed at Aldrich.
"Yes, yes. What do you think, should we take him to a special school?"
"Haha, no need for that, Mrs. Guo. I will take care of him by myself."
Aldrich's father bowed to him and said, "Thank you. We will provide the tuition fees too. Just help him get into a good college."
"That's too far, father."
"What do you know? Do as we say, Ok?" Aldrich's mother retorted.
Aldrich went to the teacher's home the next day. The teacher seemed somewhat over enthusiastic about him coming over.
"Come, come! My wife has made cookies for you."
"Now I want you to tell me exactly how you made that submarine."
"I don't know."
"But how did you understand all the things? Who helped you in that area?"
"No one did, it was all easy and self-explanatory." Aldrich felt bored by all these questions, a waste of time.
"Here, take this paper and I want you to write the whole procedure."
Aldrich wasn't stupid, and the teacher had not realized it yet. But for the sake of his parents, he had no choice but to write it. And that was the only day he got cookies in that house.
"Now remember, if you do any more projects like this, I want you to come to me first."
1 month later, Aldrich found out that the same teacher's son had won a science project in his high school. Aldrich analyzed there wasn't much a sole person could do. Either conquer the world to lift yourself above mediocrity or make yourself the most normal person. Only then he could do what he loved.
The thoughts of a 4-year-old were too scary.
20 years have passed since then.
Aldrich went to his tent and sat down for his daily meditation.
'This is a dream, this is a dream, this… Wait a minute, something is wrong!' A thought flashed through him.
[…
Life Analyzation Failed
Reinitiating Dream Phase…
Iteration: 2nd
…]
For some people, this night was bound to be longer than others.