by B L Barkey
“But daddy, I thought we had large storages?” Ammon had asked. “We do, and we would survive. But even then, sometimes it is good to partake of the fruit of the sea. The fish, you see. It’s a good taste to acquire for the rest of your life. Though I hope you never have to capture the fish yourself.”
“Why Daddy? Is it dangerous?”
His Father had looked seriously into the depths at this question.
“Not inherently,” Father answered, before remembering he was talking to a small child of seven.
“If you are careful, it’s not dangerous at all. But it’s what goes on there. It is magnificent, as you can see. But it exists because of death. Death is not always a bad thing. It is a death of a different sort. It is the death of the fish and fruits that give us life. New life often follows death. Yet that does not mean it should be common. It is an important lesson to learn in life, one that you will learn someday. But not for many years.” Father rustled his young boy’s yellow hair at that. He had said something else, but the rest of the memory faded into a blur.
Ammon remembered more of his Father’s expression and words than he did of the actual sight. In fact, he hardly remembered at all what he had seen. Except for one thing. Its name was quite fitting, for it was a whirlpool swirling the most magnificent emerald colors with the natural blues of the ocean. But that was all he could remember.
Desire was planted in his heart for the second time that day, startling him. Having forgotten what he had seen that day, he now wanted more than anything to look upon the Emerald Whirlpool again. He knew he shouldn’t want it, nor should he go. Yet that only seemed to strengthen the desire. The feeling was uncomfortable.
As they approached the others, Mikael called out.
“Alright! So whose brilliant idea was it to take our towels and shoes? We’re freezing, and our feet are sliced finer than a seventy-pound tuna.” He sounded slightly playful, as if to dispel some of the tension. Mikael would do that, Ammon thought.
Chalice looked at them with sheer enjoyment on his face. There were five of them. The closest was Ivani Mavi, a slightly younger boy with darker complexion and a true passion for music. On either side of Ivani were Amber and Dillon, who were brother and sister from the Monjin family. And then there was Maison, sitting quietly in the back, not looking at any of them. Chills, too cool to be from the ocean, swept up Ammon’s spine. He saw Sadie shiver as well, which strengthened his resolve. He stood closer to her as if to shield her from an unseen force.
The siblings Amber and Dillon were both red-headed and green-eyed, and brilliant in their technological skills. They were almost identical, though a year a part, and both were equally as extensive in their intelligence. They were the only real rivals for Jonah in the Leviticum, constantly battling him in almost every game created. Some they won, while others Jonah was undefeated. Still, it was always close. They were nice people, though a bit ruthless in competition.
Ivani was known for creating a device the Levitians now implemented in the Leviticum. His invention was called the Imion, or ‘innovative musical instrument of nature’. It collected water from rainstorms, then spiraled the droplets through several glass containers, all varying in shape and size, to cause harmonious vibrations weaved through intricate patterns. After the symphony of a rainstorm would pass, the water would be collected and injected immediately into the Leviticum for recycling.
Throughout his life, Ammon had tasted water from many different sources. He had drank from springs, from lakes, from oceans (unwillingly), and even from raindrops directly from the sky. Given this, none compared to the taste of rainwater passed through the Imion.
Ammon had read the studies from Ivani’s papers. He was afterwards convinced that water was alive, and had intrinsic properties of memory, carrying ribbons of all the water went through in its life, just like DNA carries through humans to create certain ancestral traits. If Ammon would ever describe water as alive, he would start with the waters passed through Ivani’s Imion.
This similar taste was also present in waters that were only in places of nature, and ten times over in the water that ran off Cloud Mountain and into the Living Spring. But both still paled in comparison to the taste of water from an Imion.
“Why are you guys hanging out with this baboon?” Ammon asked the three who were not Chalice and Maison. Ammon hoped Maison would remain quiet in the corner.
Ivani laughed, not even bothering to stifle it as he continued to set up a smaller kit of glass shapes. The siblings giggled, then hid it after seeing the look on Chalice’s face. The look was plain and passive. He was thinking. It’s never good when that boy tries to think, Ammon thought.
“Are you constipated, Chalice? There’re some thick bushes over there, calling your name. You could even try the berries, they may help it pass.” The girls all snickered, while Chalice blushed bright pink.
“You guys look cold. If we only had some spare towels…” Chalice said, looking pointedly away.
“You can just give us our own towels back?” suggested Mikael.
“Oh yeah, you can have those. Thing is, right when we got here, a rogue wave came out of nowhere. It was twenty-feet high and soaked all of your belongings.” He looked back at them.
“Sorry about that.”
“My book!” Sadie cried. “It has all my notes in it!”
“And your stuff stayed dry, I expect,” Mikael said coolly to Chalice, as Sadie rushed for her dripping satchel.
“We couldn’t carry all of it,” Chalice said with disdain. “That’s insane. No, instead we dropped our stuff at the edge of the trees, while trying to take care of your stuff first. But alas, our selflessness backfired. Don’t you hate it when that happens?”
Ammon searched the expressions of the others for signs of dishonesty. Ivani remained focused on his task with the Imion. The siblings were looking away. Ammon turned to Sadie, and found tears in her eyes. His heart instantly melted, then girded itself with metal.
“Baboon was too nice a comparison for you, Chalice,” Ammon started. “You are the red ass of a baboon. Nigh, the collection of dirt and gnats that get caught in the hairs of the red ass of a baboon. You’re a waste. A bi-product. An annoyance.”
It felt good to say it, but Ammon knew it wasn’t the right thing to do. It would only fuel the conflict, like stoking a fire.
“Our stuff,” Mikael demanded, all tone of playfulness gone from his voice. It seems he is done playing mediator, Ammon thought. Finally.
Chalice didn’t hesitate. “It’s all right there, of course. Left in the shade to stay cool.”
“Or you could’ve placed them in the Sun to dry,” said Liz, shaking her bag free of sand.
“Oh yes, that would’ve been better, huh? I’ll remember that for next time,” Chalice said, before wading into the approaching tide.
Ammon and Mikael grabbed their gear, just as Ivani dropped a handful of ocean water over the receiving part of the Imion. There was a brief whistle of wonderful notes, as if it were a short, sweet apology. Ammon did not fault any of them for Chalice’s actions. To be blatantly against Chalice was a headache. Neutrality was the best tactic for most. Yet Ammon and Mikael were not most people. They would get their revenge.
They walked back over to the girls and began walking further along the coast towards the Cliff.
“Where you going?” Chalice called. “You aren’t mad about the wet clothes, are you? You ladies look much better without the clothes anyways.”
“Just keep walking,” Mikael whispered to them all. Ammon almost listened to him, then stopped and turned around.
“Hey Chalice, when you’re ready for a real fight with a real man, come talk to me. Today. Tomorrow. Any day, really. Maybe on a day when I’m sick, to level the playing field.”
They then turned around and walked on to the entanglement of breeze and tidal waves.
III
After a few moments of walking clumsily along the intertwined paths of the hermit crabs, t
hey found the wide drag of a giant blue starfish. Blue dust was all over the beach, though it was more concentrated along the path.
“Star King?” Mikael asked. The tone between them was somber, though his request piqued light back into their moods.
“Oh, I haven’t played that in forever,” cried Sadie. She seemed much happier now, especially after finding her book dry in her bag. It seemed someone had removed her book before Chalice had dipped the rest of the bags in the ocean. The book was still damp on the cover, but the inked underlines and notes were untouched. It was Ivani, Ammon thought. He knew it to be true.
“Let’s do it!” cheered Liz, and they all followed the trail of the starfish. It traced the coast to the east, then pulled further south onto the beach, through a small patch of brush, then into a circular grove of palm trees. There was equal mixture of black and white sand here, along with an old hammock hanging which looked over a century old. Ammon sat in it as they passed, and was surprised as it held firm. After walking into the grove, they found the end of the trail, as well as the starfish.
To call the creatures large seemed a gross understatement. Ammon was reminded of this each time he saw one. While a typical, tropical starfish was reddish-orange and the size of his hand, a blue starfish was always larger than elephants of old. While the textured patterns of a smaller starfish seemed too intricate to follow, the same patterns etched into the blue starfish were traceable with eyes and fingers. The patterns were still intricate and lengthy, but they were visible. The mouth of a smaller starfish was at the center and at the bottom as it ate on the move. It was easy to find, but not easy to see. Its teeth were tiny, as the food it had to chew was nearly microscopic.
The blue starfish was exactly the same, though its mouth was much larger, as was its food and its teeth. The blue starfish moved slow, but if given the time, it could easily consume the entire arm of a person. It wouldn’t do this on purpose, of course. It lived only to eat coral, rocks, and empty hermit crab shells. But sometimes a careless napper would find themselves half covered by the leg of a blue starfish upon awakening, which was an experience no one wanted to have.
Ammon always checked the beach around him before napping, to make sure none of the blue starfish were nearby. If they were close, and he was too lazy to move further away, he would just nap on top of them. It was a little rough on his skin, but overall it was still pleasant. He would fall asleep on the warm stone-like flesh of the creatures in one place, only to wake up somewhere totally different.
In the two hours it took him to nap, the starfish would rarely get far. But that, mixed with the usual confusion that fogged his mind after a nap (sometimes to the point where he would forget his own name), made it difficult to recognize where he was on the island. One time, he had woken up just as ocean water rushed down his throat, as the starfish had set course for the bottom of the ocean. It was funny after the fact, though it had been an upsetting way to wake up.
They approached the starfish tenderly. There was no harm in spooking it, though they wanted it to know they were there for good intentions. Especially since they planned on climbing on top of it and playing their favorite game.
‘Star King’ was a common game on Cephas that had been played for centuries. The game was simple. Remain the last one standing atop the Blue Starfish. There were two ways to play. The first was for fun, where anyone could get back on after being knocked off, and the round would end when the starfish crept to the edge of a circle drawn evenly in the sand around it. The second was much more intense, as it involved combatives and ended the moment an opponent touched the sand.
They were going to play the light-hearted version. They drew the circle in the sand with their heels, the boys giving the girls a hard time for drawing their lines unevenly. Though in reality, Ammon and Mikael had redrawn the lines in the sands when the girls weren’t looking. The girls were befuddled at first, but quickly caught on. Still, they played along. It didn’t matter if the circle was perfectly even, since the game ended for all anyways, depending on the direction the starfish wanted to go.
They each dropped their stuff on a warm rock, then walked up and touched the starfish. Its skin was smoother than others Ammon had touched, meaning it loved to move around the island, rolling onto its top, and even passing through the rockier parts of the land. Its skin was still textured though, and after rubbing his sweaty hand firmly down the side, blue stardust clung to his hand.
He climbed onto the creature. The chalk-blue stone-flesh whirled upwards with a gust of wind, scattering stardust all about them, creating an entirely new aura.
Ammon and Mikael were on adjacent legs of the starfish, while Sadie and Liz climbed on opposites from them. They each stood, trying to acquire their balance. After about a minute, Sadie had to crouch to find her balance. They all laughed and teased, screaming as they took turns falling off. And then, Ammon gave the hand gesture for good will on Cephas. Thumb and pinky up, pointing to himself with his thumb and to the sky with his little finger.
“Ready?” he called. They each nodded.
“Go!”
Ammon took a step forward. No one else moved. He then rocked as he stopped himself, almost losing his balance. They all laughed.
“What the heck guys! I said go!”
“Yes, we know,” said Mikael, “but that doesn’t mean we have to move!”
Just then, Liz and Sadie both took several steps forward to the center. The two girls still had no shirts on, and what unfolded before the brothers was something legends were written about. Sunlight beaming. Starfish fighting. Blue-chalked grappling, showing where each girl tried to take hold of each other, giggling the whole time. Their muscles flexed as they each genuinely tried to fling one another off , utilizing shoves and hip throws.
When their backs were turned, Mikael hoppedanother leg away from Ammon. Ammon then approached the girls, grabbing their attention. They watched Ammon, though they continued to wrestle each other with their blue, sweaty palms. Mikael then snuck up behind the girls, giving them both a slight nudge on the back. They screamed, then toppled off into the sands.
“Not fair!” cried Sadie.
“You jerk!” followed Liz. “See if you get any kisses tonight,” she pouted, folding her arms.
“Oh, come now,” Mikael laughed with a wink.
Ammon took his chance then, springing towards his brother who was now at the center. It partly worked as Mikael staggered back, off-balance. But he recovered quickly, then stepped towards Ammon with firm stance. And so it begins, Ammon thought with a grin.
He circled his brother, taking a half-step back onto the legs of the starfish, and then hopping from one to another. He landed on his toes each time, softening his landing. They knew from studies in the Leviticum that it took severe blunt force to really injure the creature. There were even studies that the giant creatures seemed to delight in the fast-paced action of the game in their lives. It also helped them shed much of their old chalky skin at a faster rate. So, it was a game where both the Star Kings and the starfish were winners.
The two brothers went at it for almost twenty minutes. They traded swipes and grapples, though neither had a desire to beat the other. The day was a day of fun and entertainment. Both worked up a sweat, combing their fingers through their hair, causing it to stick up in golden triangles outlined with blue.
The Sun fell behind the canopy, making it easier to breathe. Both boys grew slower and less ambitious, though the girls were still entertained, as they sat in the shade of the trees.
“The starfish is close to the line! Only another few inches!” Sadie called.
Ammon went to sweep the leg, but Mikael leapt over the kick and landed firmly in the center.
“Show-off!” Liz yelled through cupped hands.
Mikael lunged towards Ammon, who stepped back, planting his front foot on top of Mikael’s own, holding him in place. Ammon twisted his hips, driving his knee into Mikael’s thigh, forcing him to turn as well. Ammon then
swept behind his brother and wrapped his arms around his waist. He lifted his brother from the starfish, and bent backwards to throw him into the sand.
But Mikael chopped both his forearms down onto Ammon’s grip, breaking free just in time to fall on top of Ammon.
In the rush to clamber to their feet, Ammon looked to the boundary line. The game was almost up, with one-inch to go.
“You almost had him!” Sadie cheered. Both girls held each other tight, hoping for the rising tension to be released soon.
Ammon could feel his heart thumping in his ears. “That was a close one,” Mikael panted.
“Soon enough,” Ammon responded, smirking.
And then came voices. A crowd was approaching.
“…sands get everywhere…tough to…my parents are,” the voice said.
Ammon had several thoughts flow into his mind at once then.
That’s Chalice and the rest of them.