He took off his eyeglasses and placed them on top of his study table as he heaved a sigh and closed his mathematics notebook. While checking the time on his alarm clock which read a quarter past midnight, he couldn’t help yawning. ‘Perhaps,’ he thought, ‘I will give it another try tomorrow.’
Lyndon Benitez went off to bed without finishing his homework, which was highly unlikely of him. On his fifth grade, he constantly tops the class, is a teacher’s favorite, submits his project on time and, of course does his homework conscientiously. That was the first time he let off an assignment without finishing it.
While he lied on the bed with his eyes fixed on the ceiling, Lyndon thought of what had happened over dinner earlier with his father.
They were seated at the either end of the table facing each other, which apart from them, was empty.
“Dad, uhm, can I ask you something?” he said with his voice barely more than a whisper while doing his stew.
Mr. Benitez, who approaches late thirties, tall and handsome but always wears the formidable look paused with his utensils and spared him a mere half glance then continued eating.
Lyndon, far use to this cold treatment took it as an assent for him to spill the beans. He put down his fork and knife, took something out from his breast pocket, stood up and went to his father’s side.
“Parents’ Day next week at school,” he said meekly, handing out the invitation to his father, his eyes were on the floor. “I just thought you might want to come—“
A banging fist on the table greeted his words. The whole house which is considerably big and quiet went quieter still.
Mr. Benitez stood up and went away without a word. Lyndon, still clutching the invitation in his held-out hands, was left alone.
As far as he could remember, his father had been same to him ever since—cold, distant, unapproachable. It was because his mom, apparently after giving birth to him, died and his father blamed him for that. . .
He had no recollection whatsoever of how his mother looked like. There had been no picture of any sort left in their house, even the wedding picture of his parents was nowhere to be found. Sometimes, when he missed his mom, he would just make up a face on his mind of a sweet and gentle looking lady with a warm smile to spare for him and he feels immediately well.
He stood up from bed and went beside the window. He is tired, yet he couldn’t sleep. He’s in no mood to continue working on his homework either. Somehow, though he had been used to it, his father’s indifference seems to dampen his spirit and causes him to be restless.
He opened the window and let the rush of cool night air pressed on his face and took a deep breath.
A panoramic view of the city beyond filled his eyes, which was enough to hold someone in awe but not him . . .
For him, the distant city was like his father—splendid but unreachable from where he was…
Plat
As he was absorbed with the scenery, he did not notice that it started to rain until a drop fell on his forehead. He smiled in spite of himself. He did not know why the rain had been so beautiful to him. Or any water, for that matter. Plat plat plat
When they had the swimming lesson at school, he could not explain why he felt so relaxed, so at home with the water. He liked sport and he particularly excelled in swimming. As his coach told him once, he was a natural swimmer. He swims like a fish.
He stuck out his tongue and tasted the rain. And then he actually laughed. He did not know why but he did.
“There he is, there’s the Umajia Potenti!” a voice from the dark quipped.
Who was that? He squinted through the dark and saw three hooded figures pointing at his window. He immediately thought of robbers and shut the window closed.
He was almost at the door when it burst opened, his dad panting.
“We should clear out to your Aunt Felyna’s. Come quickly,” Mr. Benitez seized him by the arm and before he knew it, they were running.
“Uh, Dad what’s going on? Who were those people at the front yard? They were pointing at the house—“
“Shut up Lyndon! There’s no time,” his father snapped as they continued to descend the stairs.
For a while, they kept on walk-running—walking so that the intruders would not hear from outside but with the speed and swiftness of running to get away from the house. They were on the backdoor when Mr. Benitez suddenly spoke.
“You must go from here. I’ll keep the gryndgers at bay while you are escaping. Head north to your Aunt Felyna’s, she’ll know what to do. And no more questions (he was about to open his lips then), just do as I say.”
He stood silent for a minute.
“What are you waiting? Move!” his father commanded.
“How about you?” he was looking at him and saw tension and… was it fear? He never knew there were things that his dad would be afraid of. For him, he was a fortress that was so dependable and unbreakable. But by that time, he saw another man.
“I can fend off for myself. Now go or it would be lot harder for me with you hanging around. Just go.”
With one last look at Mr. Benitez, he turned his back and started running. He didn’t see his Dad looking at him and whispering his name ‘Lyndon, take care son.'
He trotted from the backdoor to the side gate they had at the left of the veranda. The intruders must be at their porch. He must be very cautious… he must follow his dad’s orders. He must head to his Aunt Felyna’s and she would know what to do next. At the back of his mind there were a lot of questions. He felt like heading back inside their house and helping his Dad but he believed Mr. Benitez knew better. Just like the experiments he did at school, answers to questions would reveal themselves at the right time. He can wait. For now, his safety would be his first concern. He must reach his Aunt Felyna’s place. At the gate, he made one last look at the house and sped away.
Not long after, he heard ruckus inside their house and somebody screaming. He didn’t dare look back for he knew once he did, he could never help but go back. He kept on running and running until suddenly, goose bumps were starting to spread all over his body. He stopped and with agonizing fear and terror, he looked back. What he saw nearly made him faint.
It was their house on fire.
“Dad!”
He was about to return when a sturdy hand grabbed him in the middle. “Get off me, get off—“
“Lyndon!”
He stopped wriggling upon hearing his name. He felt the grip loosen up, and he wheeled around to see who was impeding him to go back.
“Scott?” he squinted through the dark. He forgot his eyeglasses on his room.
“Lyndon, yeah…. It’s me. Mom sent me to fetch you. Uncle Edward sent a word to her that you must get into our place before the dawn.”
With the mere mention of his dad, he remembered their blazing house and set to go back, “Dad, yeah. Scott, you must help me, our house is on fire and Dad’s still there, we must hurry!” he turned his back and set to return but once again his older cousin, a well-built lacrosse player, made a grab of him.
“No Lyndon, we must get into our house where you will be safest. Uncle Edward made it clear. We should not go back,”
“But you don’t understand, Dad’s still—“
“We must follow his orders; he doesn’t want you to come back.”
He stood there half hearing what Scott had said and daring to believe the half he had heard.
“Scott, you don’t understand, please… Dad’s still in the house we must save him…”
Scott loosened his grip on him once more but nevertheless Lyndon still cannot run away. He patted his shoulder and
kneeled so he could look him in the eyes.
“He had saved you. There’s no point going back in there and be caught by the gyndgers and laid waste the sacrifice your dad has made. I know it’s pretty hard to just walk away from here with your house and your dad back up there but there were things you still do not understand and it would be a lot better if you would just follow what has been told of you. Please, I ask of you. It’s your safety we are all concerned of.”
He saw pity in his eyes and he hated it. But he knew what he had said was true. His dad would not want him to come back. Didn’t he make it clear? ‘I can fend off for myself. Now go or it would be lot harder for me with you hanging around. Just go,’
He was crying once again before he knew it. He was staring blankly at his cousin face and for the first time in his life, did not know what to say. At school, he could readily give answers to questions posed to him, he knew how to handle the situations he was in and everybody looked up to him as their leader. His classmates believed and depended on him and his bright ideas. He was the hero back then.
But that night, he lay helpless in his cousin arms, sobbing and submissively carried away, away from the house which held all the memories of his life—bittersweet memories of his childhood… childhood that would be swiftly taken away from him as days would go by.
“I’m so sorry Lyndon,” his cousin murmured as he continued to cry silently on his arms.
Although the night seemed to be cool and peaceful, it posed danger and melancholy. Scott continued walking on athletic pace. They had deserted the main road and chose the one that led to the forest.
“I know they are still looking for you. We must get home safe and fast,” Scott was looking down on him, “Lyndon, you must understand that your safety is our utmost concern for tonight. I know that this whole thing pains you, I could explain to you everything but I do not have that authority. However,” he turned away his face from him and looked up at the starry sky, “Mom would try to give you the gist.” Silently, they moved through the thick foliage.
Lyndon, who was half asleep, felt on his breast pocket the invitation he had held out to his father earlier that evening and cried even more, though this time oblivious with things around him.
************
He was awoken by the sweet aroma of food. When he opened his eyes, he saw the smiling face of Aunt Felyna, on the bedside is the tray of fried rice and eggs, bacon, croissant and kettle of hot chocolate. He felt his stomach growled. But he kept his eyes from it and looked at her. There were too many questions to ask, the food can wait.
“Aunt, Dad sent me here, there were people in the yard, the house was on fire—“
“Yes, yes dear, I know. I understand there are too many question, but I think it would be the best that we feed your stomach first before it complains again, shall we?” She poured the hot chocolate from the kettle to a mug and gave it to him which he reluctantly accepted. “But Dad—“
“There was no body found in your house, which meant that either your father has escaped, or is now held captive by the gryndgers. Now dear, please eat these first and we shall talk about last night.”
Relieved that somehow his father was not burned together with their house, Lyndon took a bite on the croissant. He ate obligingly and when he just cannot take it anymore, he gulped the chocolate and begun firing away questions.
“Where they could have taken Dad? Who are they, what do they want from us?”
He got off the bed and went to his Aunt’s side. She sighed and took his hand.
“It is a long story Lyndon. Your parents had kept you in the dark for so many years, although I advice against it. Now, the inevitable has happened, they already found you. I think it is better that you know the truth.” She went to the window and opened them. The sea breeze blew gently on his face and he could feel its sweetness, its calming effect to his agitated mind and senses. He forgot that Aunt Felyna and her family lived near the beach. He looked outside and saw the magnificence of the sea, the great blue sea. Then his Aunt Felyna called out to somebody
“Aurora!”
He was not so sure if there was anybody out there she was calling for because, although without his glasses on, he noticed nobody was outside. There was just the sea and few birds flying and circling the ocean. Wait a minute…
He squinted to see more clearly, the most his impaired eyes could let him. The birds seemed to act weird. They were circling that part of the sea overlooked by the window. There were few of them maybe six or seven, circling and circling. He was not familiar with that formation.
“Auntie, what are those birds? Why are they circling the sea?” he asked.
She just smiled at him and said, “You’ll see.”
And as just the birds started to descend their circling motion, there were bubbles, visible to where they were, starting to form in that portion of the sea. And slowly, as if in the movies he had watched, slowly, a head came out and more slowly a body, definitely a woman’s and then her legs and finally her feet. There in the sea, walking towards them was the most bizarre creature he had ever seen. A woman, yes, but with fins on her ears, her eyes were bulging without lids just like the fish he used to have at lunch, her arms are flapping with a web-like something attached to her side and her skin were scales. With his 150-75 eye grade, that was all he could see. When the creature finally reached the window, the birds carried her perpendicular to the floor and let her in the room. Her auntie gave way. And there she was, a six foot tall woman-creature standing in front of them.
He could not speak, nor move. He was enchanted by the being. He did not yet believe he was not actually dreaming, he blinked twice, he blinked thrice. No, the creature was definitely there. Until finally, he heard somewhat his Auntie’s voice
“Lyndon, I want you to meet Aurora, your mother.”
