chapter 1

“The land has magic in it”

“What?”

“The land, it’s got magic in it you know”

“Uh-huh”, replied Sebastian, shrugging his shoulders and trying to keep his eyes fixed upon the path ahead.

He’s crazy. He’s definitely crazy, he thought. He had heard things about this boy. Strange things. He wondered why he walking beside him in the first place. He had been told to keep distance from him, to steer clear whenever he was in sight.

“But it’s astonishing how no-one ever notices it”

Maybe they were right. Maybe he is a little weird. Maybe walking home with him wasn’t such a good idea after all.

We have been walking in silence for the past twenty minutes and suddenly he talks about the land having magic? What’s with him? Who talks like this?

It made him a little uneasy though he hoped he didn’t show any signs of nervousness. He tried to stride along at a normal pace, but with every step he took, the instinct to make an excuse and run away from the scene grew stronger. But he reminded himself that it was he who had asked Evlae if they could walk home together. He had been observing him from the time he had first seen him a week ago. Ever since he shifted to Abercott , he had heard so much about Evlae from his aunt, in a tone one would talk about an evil spirit or ghastly ghoul, that he had become very curious to interact with “that boy” personally, his name seldom used for the fear that maybe that very act would summon him to their doorstep.

So, a week ago, when Sebastian finally entered his new class and found a boy perched up all alone on the last bench who seemed to match his aunt’s descriptions, Sebastian couldn’t help but let his mind wander. Sebastian soon discovered that the two shared a good half an hour of their journey home, parting ways only at the fork, the left of which led to Evlae’s home towards the foot of the mountains while the right saw the hem of a row of tiny houses, one of which belonged to Sebastian’s aunt. He realized the only way to satisfy his curiosity was to approach Evlae directly, and strike up some sort of conversation maybe, regardless of the countless stories he had heard and the numerous advices that had been handed down to him by his aunt.

He remembered her telling him about the time when some villagers saw him talking to what was left of a withered tree, the time when he confronted ‘the wild elephant who had run amuck on the village streets’ and calmed him all by himself and numerous other stories which said how the birds never feared him, that it was said he could communicate with the other side, that he could travel in time for people claimed to see him in two places at a time,  how the strays somehow always sensed him before his arrival, how things just seemed very different  in his presence and the aura of mystery he cast around everything he passed.

Being born and bought up in a town, these things seemed very passé to Sebstian. It seemed hard to digest these stories which were conveyed with a sincere undertone of belief and somewhere, fear. It was this resistance to accept these ‘myths’, which he perchance believed them to be, that drew him towards Evlae.

Sebastian had moved to the Abercott a month back, following the death of his mother. He never really had any account of his father, lest he count his mothers words about ‘what a brave man he was who travelled the seas in a vessel fit for the kings’. His questions to his mother regarding his father’s whereabouts always met silence. Sebastian presumed his father was either a victim of the mighty storms or a betrayer to them for a better life overseas. Within him, he knew he would never know for sure. As such, the death of his mother left him orphaned and in the hands of his only living relative, his aunt Fargie who ran a diary farm here in Abercott.

Sebastian wasn’t too keen on moving to a village, but considering the little choice he had, he relented. He barely had had time to recover from ordeal of his mother’s death, and was now going to live a completely different lifestyle, what without all the amenities that he was used to and the things his mother pampered him to. At eleven, he wasn’t sure how much more he could handle.

The first few days were hard. He had expected them to be so. What troubled him the most was the fact that there was no-one whom he could share his ordeal with. He was used to sharing everything with his mother, an equation with he found he didn’t share with his aunt. True, they were sisters but Sebastian could never imagine his mother to be a woman whose world would be ruled by superstitions and folklore. He missed her. He hoped she did too.

Now, walking beside Evlae, Sebastian was confronted by the similar feeling of uncertainty that had gripped him during his first days here. Earlier, it was about the future and now about this boy who was walking beside him. Sebastian threw a quick glance at him. There was something odd about him, he thought. Not the way he behaves or anything, there just seems to be something oddly mysterious about him. Maybe it’s this aura of mystery that this boy carries that’s sparked off the hundreds of rumours. Thank God, he’s stopped his nonsensical muttering though.

Then just as if his thoughts had found a voice, Sebastian asked, “You know they talk about you, don’t you?” wishing the very moment, he hadn’t opened his mouth.

Evlae looked towards him, though Sebastian couldn’t really decipher his expression. It was almost blank without any hint of questioning within. But he asked again anyways, “You do know things they talk about you, don’t you? About you not being normal and all? Why do you let them?”

“Ha, they talk because they must. It’s what they choose to do. It is none of my concern,” replied Evlae, almost immediately, as if he knew what questions Sebastian was about to throw at him.

Evlae’s reply took Sebastian a little by surprise, for he didn’t know what to say to something like that. They walked awhile in silence, each seemingly lost in his very own thoughts. When they reached the fork, Evlae winked at Sebastian, “Time to fly!” and sped off along his path. Sebastian never understood what that meant.

Author's Note

hi .. im just getting startd .. please share your thoughts on this .. cheers :)

Reviews

[Norma M Sutton]

I think this has the making of a very good story. I wasn't sure at first, but it caught my full attention about the second paragraph. I did have one question. Was his aunt's farm a diary farm or a dairy farm? Big difference there lol

[Questa]

I agree that it is hard to follow the roles, maybe you should specify who is talking at the beginning, though once i read down further i understood. Also in the beginning when the boys are talking and the author is in 3rd person and one of the paragraphs then says:
"We have been walking in silence for the past twenty minutes and suddenly he talks about the land having magic? What’s with him? Who talks like this?"
Is this supposed to be a thought from Sebastian? It sort of makes it seem like your switching to 1st person, it threw me off a little.
Anyways I love the idea of the story and the vocabulary that you use is wonderful, i look forward to reading more :)

[Shade Teller]

I like the story a lot. I'm not sure if its just me and I was getting a little out of focus but I got Sebastian and Evlae confused in what role they played. Part of the time I thought Evlae was the orphan and vice versa. I like the inner description you give of each character, but for me personally I need a physical description as well to get a general idea of what each character looks like. You did well at this first chapter and I really enjoyed reading it.