Twist and shout

Come on, come on, come, come on, baby, now

Come on and work it on out

***

CHAPTER 14:

PINK CHICKEN

Alfie was a stork. The stork was Alfie.

Once I accepted this truth, the rest became easier to digest. Alfie the stork was in charge of the library. If you needed a book, you'd call out to him, and he'd hand you the book you wanted. Organizing the shelves, keeping the library clean, and tracking down forgotten books were all part of his duties. I hadn't bothered to ask how he appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared just as quickly. When everything around me was so surreal, what did it matter? Somehow, he was here, somehow, I was here, and somehow, he popped up next to me again with a burst of pink clouds. This time, he had five books under his wings. He proudly placed them on the table in front of me.

"I've compiled a selection of books that I thought might help you, lady Olive. If you need, I can expand the research. But my guess is you'll only get through these until the next full moon."

I forced myself to nod. "Th-thanks, Alfie."

He smiled. I think. No stork had ever smiled at me before.

"Any other requests, lady Olive?"

"No," I said. "Just... please, call me Olive."

I was just trying to reduce the weirdness of the situation we were in, but my comment seemed to offend the stork.

"Oh, that would be quite inappropriate," he said in panic. Then, he bowed down and disappeared with the same burst he came in with, wishing me luck.

I found myself gazing absently at the trail of pink smoke he left behind. As my eyes shifted to the books he had brought, the same blank stare followed. There was no need to flip them open; it was evident they were a collection of various fairy tales. Alfie had already given a brief introduction to the library. While constantly refreshed, there were thousands of books here. Each book was meticulously curated to illuminate the path of souls. After all, what could serve as a better beacon than a book of fairy tales?

Internet access could have been very useful, I wanted to say, but managed to hold it in. Even as a child, I didn't have much chance to read many fairy tales. My family made the book choices for me. And now, almost as an adult, I had to find my way through fables. Great! The pit of helplessness was once again a step ahead of me, and darkness was rapidly pulling me into its arms.

I shook off the frustration and rose swiftly. No, I wouldn't surrender at the first hurdle! There were still classes awaiting me, which meant there was still hope. Draping my bag over my shoulder and clutching the books tightly, I marched out with purpose. The halls were quiet, with only a few early risers around. But their stares were enough to make me uneasy until I reached my room. How nice, everyone still remembered the incident from yesterday.

Focus on your work, Olive! Think about your classes. You're leaving here anyway! It doesn't matter who says what behind your back!

The voice of reason echoed in my ears. What a wise voice it was. And yet, my heart stubbornly refused to listen to it. When I entered my room, my face matched the color of my clothes. I threw the books onto the bed and hurried to the mailbox. Focus on classes! Focus on classes! Focus on classes! The envelope I was waiting for had arrived. I eagerly opened it and unfolded the paper. I had to take a deep breath and grit my teeth to keep from folding it back and stuffing it into the envelope.

"Ceramics Workshop?" I choked out.

What had happened to the rule of daily classes being determined by a soul's needs? Who could have deemed such a class suitable for me? It was certain that I had no talent for it. It was clear as day that it wouldn't benefit me to reach my goal. I squinted and looked around the room.

"Dorm!" I muttered through gritted teeth as if there was a physical enemy in front of me.

Whether physical or not, there was no doubt that the enemy saw and heard me this time. Because at that very moment, the mailbox came to life, another letter arrived. I opened it with astonishment and read it.

Program Change Notification.

Your daily class has been updated as follows.

B I R D O B S E R V A T I O N

Note: Equipment needed by participants will be distributed before class.

The entrance to the forest was marked on the bottom sketch. My eyes twitched. It seemed that the Dorm didn't like questioning its decisions and had a sick punishment technique. Although I waited for a new envelope for a while, the decision was clear. If I didn't want to get my hands dirty with mud, I would spend the whole day watching birds.

AAAAAAA!

With a scream bursting inside me like a balloon, I left my room inflated. My Tamagotchi would have been perfect to wake up and accompany me right now. But no, it was sleeping peacefully in its egg. I, on the other hand, had to descend to breakfast with an army of souls already underway.

It was sad to see that death didn't really change human nature. Every gaze that pierced me as if I was some sensational gossip material, only reinforced my negative opinions about high school. If the person I argued with wasn't Mars, would they still care about me like this? I wasn't sure. But fate had brought me face to face with the only person who had captured everyone's heart. In this story, Mars was Batman, and I was the Joker.

I kept my eyes on the ground as much as possible and headed for the most secluded corner of the cafeteria. Since I woke up, there had been only one good thing that happened to me, and that was Mars not showing up for breakfast this morning. Considering he spent the whole night in the library, my soulmate was probably sleeping in his room. I thought this would at least give me a slight advantage. Until Ursa chased after me, shouting my name.

Her intentions were definitely good, so I swallowed the words that came to my tongue. She probably didn't want me to be alone after witnessing the disaster the previous day. She dragged me to the table where Diego was sitting. Helene and Lark joined us with their animals shortly after. I wasn't lying, I didn't know how to feel about this strange group of friends. It was clear they weren't the most normal people. Still... Not being alone really did feel good, and it helped me forget some of the stress I was carrying.

Even better was learning that Lark and Helene would be joining the same class as me. When Diego and Ursa left us for their Paper Folding class, we headed towards the forest. Spook had disappeared ahead as if scouting the area. The garden was much fuller today compared to yesterday because everyone with outdoor classes was heading towards their destination. Still, wandering among the flowers made me smile. I couldn't help but envy the group getting ready to start class in the rose garden. The Dorm definitely treated some souls better than others.

Today, we must have taken a shortcut because, ten minutes later, we had left the flowers, fruit trees, and fields behind, and reached at the entrance to the forest. Souls who had arrived before us were waiting in groups. Following Lark's suggestion, we moved under one of the trees. As the surroundings grew increasingly crowded, the restlessness I had momentarily forgotten resurfaced. Naturally, everyone had come with their soulmates. And when the class started in a few moments, I would be the only one left standing alone like a fool.

"Good morning, young souls!"

Suddenly, something fell from the tree beside me. I jumped back so quickly that Helene and Lark, clutching each other, barely avoided falling over. When the figure spread its arms, I realized it was a man. But he was no ordinary man. He wore a camouflaged cloak covered in feathers. He was probably the class instructor, and judging by my urge to squint, he was also an angel.

"We have a long day ahead of us!" he announced cheerfully. "Get dressed, grab your equipment, grab your partner, and let's get started!"

Everyone except me had turned in the same direction. Of course, they would. They all had a mate, a hope. With a muttered complaint, I walked a few steps behind them and stand before the long table set up between the trees. Half of the table was filled with clothes similar to those of our teacher, and the other half was filled with equipment like binoculars, knives, and sketchbooks.

Since I waited for the others to finish collecting their gear, I was left with no choice but to don the long-sleeved jumpsuit covered in leaves. Once I had it on, I looked like a pink chicken. It was as if I were a child forced to go to a Halloween party in a dreadful outfit chosen by their mother. The situation with the equipment was no different. There was only one pair of binoculars, one notebook, one thermos, and one bag left, as everything was probably arranged by the number of participants.

"We can share if you want."

I hadn't expected anyone to talk to me, so it wasn't until he locked eyes with me that I realized I was the one he was addressing.

"U... um?"

There was a boy next to me. A tall, lean boy. His hair, falling over his shoulders from under his hat, was such a light shade of blond that it almost looked white. His hands were in the pockets of his baggy pants. He nodded towards the equipment on the table.

"We can use the stuff together. Or do you want to hang out alone?"

"I..."

I hadn't understood. My confusion made the boy smile. "Sorry, I went straight to the point. Let me start from the beginning." He reached out his hand to me. "I'm Tarben. I'm alone because my soulmate can't attend class today. And from what I can see, yours isn't here either. Do you want to partner up, or do you want to go alone? In that case, we can share. Although, I'm not sure how helpful that would be. I've never bird-watched without binoculars before."

Even if I managed to shake his hand, I couldn't answer his question. Among all those sentences, I was fixated on one thing. "Are... are you alone in class?"

Tarben smiled again. He looked around as if searching for something, then nodded his head. "Yes, I'm quite alone."

So many emotions rushed to my heart at once that I couldn't choose among them. Shock, doubt, excitement, hope... So... So I wasn't the only soul condemned to this terrible fate, huh? I pondered how to ask him this without hurting his feelings. After all, I knew better than anyone what helplessness meant.

"You..." I said hesitantly. "Do you always... attend classes alone?" I wanted to ask him how he tolerated it, if he had found a solution, what he thought about the outcome, but I swallowed my curiosity. Despite my excitement, Tarben was calm, and it was clear he wasn't complaining about the situation.

"Sometimes..." he said, shrugging. "Everyone has their own life after all. Just because we are soulmates, we can't always hang out together, right?"

What?

"B... but..." I blurted out. "You can't be successful like this. What about classes? Clearly, everything is designed for soulmates. How are we going to get through without our mates' help? How are we going to escape from here? It's so unfair for them to leave us alone! And there's no punishment!"

My sudden and unexpected outburst of anger definitely caught Tarben off guard. With his hands in his pockets, he leaned toward me, examining my face intently from under his hat. "You're right; having a good soulmate makes everything much easier here. But this is my path. In the end, what happens is up to me. Whether with or without them, when the time comes, I'll go where I need to go. It wouldn't be fair to blame someone else for what I did or didn't accomplish, would it?"

I looked into his black eyes without exhaling, trying to digest the wisdom in his words. This boy appeared before me like a walking mantra out of nowhere. From the tone of his voice to the calmness in his demeanor, he seemed centuries older than me. Although it was difficult to accept, he wasn't wrong in what he said. Seeing that I didn't object, he smiled again, put on his cloak, and slung the bag over his arm.

"Now, since neither of us is expecting anyone else, shall we get started?"

***

All right, all right, all right! The second guy has just dropped into the story. We all know what this means: complications, triangles and CHAOS! Oh, I LOVE CHAOS!

Since you met with all characters, now it is time to go deeper in their stories. But before that, lets VOTE for your most favourite character so far. 

OLIVE

MARS

TARBEN

BLUE

URSA

DIEGO

HELENE

LARK

Until next time, kisses and love, EC.