by Namita Singh
And you’re still sweating.”
Stupidly, I check my forehead again which is still clammy. Strange. I am not feeling queasy or anything. A little warm, yes, but that’s ignorable, especially with the distracting conversation going on.
“Want me to drop you off?” he offers.
“No, no.” I say, “I’ll be fine. I am feeling fine. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Okay,” he shrugs, “See you around.” Again, he turns around abruptly without waiting for my response.
I shake my head and walk towards the school gates where Aakir must be waiting as usual. As soon as I have undivided attention solely on myself I notice that I do feel warmer than usual. It’s not uncomfortably hot but just enough to make me notice it. Again, Aakir senses my aura and turns his head in my direction when I am quite far away. He looks pissed off, yet again, as I am late. I smirk as I reach him. And again it’s not a surprise when his anger vanishes. But then he starts looking at me with concern.
“Are you alright?” he asks.
I sigh, “Am I looking that bad?”
“You look pale.” He says. Frowning, he steps closer to me and puts a hand on my forehead. “Oh, God.” He says.
I swat his hand away, annoyed, “What?”
“I think you’re maturing.” He says slowly.
“Huh?”
“I had a fever prior to my maturation, too.” He explains, “Remember?”
“Eh…Yeah.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Alright.” I say, shrugging.
Aakir nods, looking doubtful, “You’re running a temperature. Let’s go home.”
“Uh, how long does it-”
“It was just a few hours for me. It happened overnight.”
With that numbing revelation, I absently follow Aakir towards the woods.
3.The Surprisals
We make it to the woods and break off into a sprint. I have always assumed that I’ll be exceptionally giddy and thrilled to realize that I am finally at the stage of reaching maturity. But right nowI feel…nothing. I wonder if it’s shock that isn’t allowing me to feel the excitement. Or maybe it is because I actually feel no difference. It doesn’t feel like maturing…even though I know it’s going to take a few hours from now. I expect it to be drastic, something that happens in the snap of the moment. This slow drag makes me apprehensive.
Aakir’s maturation, as he said, had taken over the night. I haven’t ever put forth an inquisition regarding the mechanics of our maturing to my father ever. And I am regretting that now. He had only once informed me that it only takes a few hours of process to become mature. Then Aakir had matured right by my side. From what I know of his maturation event, he had simply suffered a burning temperature during the night. And in the morning, viola! He was as mature as any other elder in the house.
The cool air feels dulcet on my hot skin as we run. In just a few hours I’ll be mature. I let that sink in. Then I start feeling something that I have no explanation for. I feel dreadful. Exactly how many hours will it take? Will I come to be as mature as everybody else, or something may go wrong with me? Will my abilities be any match for my father once I’ll be mature, or I’ll continue to get humiliated at his hands? The worst thing in the world is when I feel that I have disappointed my father somehow. Father being father, he never expresses his letdown when I don’t meet his expectations. Everybody else tells me that he never feels the disappointment that I assume him to be feeling. But a father is bound to have some expectations from his son, no? I want to live up to those expectations. I send a silent prayer to the triple goddess who created our species, asking her to let my maturation flow by smoothly.
Still, the knowledge that I’ll be maturing in a short time doesn’t hold the ‘big deal’ feel that I have been anticipating. Probably because it has come so unexpectedly. Yeah, Terry uncle informed me last week that I may get mature soon according to my father, but still.
When we reach the house I keep running across it towards the route of our shop. It’s Friday again, our working day. Plus, I’ll like to inform my mother and Rufina aunt about this sudden development. Terry uncle and father must be at their respective jobs. Only Gwen must be at home. And I know that she is not the first person I want to inform about this.
“Where the hell are you going?” Aakir says, stopping in front of the house.
“At the shop?” I say in a ‘duh’ tone.
“You should stay at home.”
I roll my eyes, “I am fine. What’ll I do at home, anyways? Wait for maturation like a caterpillar?”
It’s his turn to roll his eyes. “You should rest. Even if you ignore the maturation part, you are running a fever. Doesn’t that sound like a big deal? We don’t get sick.”
Yeah, I know that we as therians have very little tendency of developing a sickness. But I am feeling absolutely perfect, if a tad bit warmer. And what the hell does he mean by ‘ignore the maturation part’? What is he trying to entail? That I may not be maturing but simply running a temperature?
“I am fine.” I say exasperatedly. “Don’t be my mom.”
“Josh-”
“You got through it fine. What’s the big deal?” I cut him off.
I watch as Aakir’s ears and neck turn a little pinkish, “Actually…it tends to get a little…uncomfortable.”
I raise my eyebrows. He hasn’t told me anything about any sort of…‘uncomfortable-ness’, so to speak, during his maturation.
I clear my throat, “Eh…what exactly?” I ask.
He shrugs and awkwardly scratches the back of his head, “Itgets a little suffocating….a bit nauseating…”
Okay, I am beginning to believe that Aakir has more pride than I give him credit for. Why else would he not inform anyone of his predicament during the maturation stage? Or maybe he is just a show off.
I huff, “And you didn’t tell me that because?”
“I didn’t think it was important, okay? Just go into the house and rest.”
“I am feeling fine.” I say stubbornly. “Let’s go.”
Aakir puts forth his protestation but I listen nothing of it. I end up winning this round. Sulking, he follows as I run towards our shop. Once we break out of the woods, we start off in a brisk walk. Happiness Reincarnated comes into view and I move on without hesitation. But Aakir’s steps falter.
“What?” I ask, while opening the door to our shop.
Aakir is standing mid-step, apprehensively looking towards the inside of our shop. “Do you feel that?” he asks.
“…What?”
Aakir turns his eyes to me, as if looking at me for the first time. Then he shakes his head as if getting rid of a thought.
…Okay.
I enter the shop and notice that mother is attending two girls at the confectionary section. She sends me a quick smile when she sees me. I smile back and move towards the other end where Aunt Rufina sits behind the cash counter.
“Hey.” I greet her, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek.
“Hello, Josh. How was your day?” she asks, smiling. It never fails to baffle me how different Rufina aunt is from my mother. Mother is so flamboyant, while Rufina aunt basks in simplicity.
“Good.” I tell her ephemerally.
Unexpectedly, she starts scouting my face. She stands up and places her hand on my forehead, much like Aakir had a few moments ago.
“I really need to see a mirror. To see what is giving me away.” I say, exasperated.
Aunt chuckles. “You look ghostly pale. You shouldn’t be here.”
“I am feeling fine.” I tell her.
“Give it a few minutes then you won’t feel so fine anymore.” She smirks.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She pauses, “Are you happy?” she asks.
“Honestly…I don’t know. I suppose it hasn’t sunk in yet that I am finally maturing.”
She shrugs, “It isn’t much of a deal either. All therians mature. It’s just a matter of
time. In our time, we all had matured only after our eighteenth birthdays. But look at you boys, maturing at seventeen. You have beaten us.” She smiles indulgently.
I smile back then let it slip gradually, “You guys never informed that we tend to get sick during maturation. Even Aakir didn’t tell me.”
Aunt chuckles again, “Ah, now he told you, huh? Aakir didn’t want anyone to know. I still remember; I was by his bed all night. He made me promise the next day that I don’t tell anyone how sick he got.”
I scoff, “It would have been a good warning.” I say.
“Personally, seeing how curious you always are, I was surprised that you didn’t enquire into the details of the process.”
“I didn’t ever think it’ll be noticeable.” I admit, “Even now,” I frown, “I am feeling absolutely perfect.”
“Don’t test it. You never know when you’ll start heaving. Go home and rest.” She smiles, patting my left cheek.
Well…as much as I do not want to, it sometimes becomes quite difficult to refuse Rufina aunt. Especially when she gives all the reasonable reasons for her request.
“Alright.” I sigh. “Aakir is going to tease me that I am going to stay at home anyways.” I murmur.
Aunt simply smiles and together we turn to look at the said person. However, the scene that greets us is a little…flummoxing.
Aakir is still standing near the door of our shop, his feet practically glued in the place. He hasn’t moved an inch since he entered the shop. His stare is transfixed and he looks slightly pale, making me wonder if I am looking as pale as him. I follow his line of vision. He is looking at my mother and the customers at the confectionary shelf.
“What’s