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Chapter One – A Strange Week

Monday

“Secunda, hurry up! You’ll be late for school.”

“Yes Mum!” she called back.

She rose from the cross-legged meditative position, where she’d focused on slowing her racing heartbeat, then reacclimatized to the bare, grey, bedroom. Once changed into the cinereal school uniform, she ran out of the house.

Secunda’s best friend, Asir, was leaning against the lamppost at their usual meeting spot. It was convenient, situated midway between their homes. Her long arms were folded in a firm, but somewhat posed, manner across her grey shirt, which she’d discreetly tailored to accentuate her waist. The refinement was subtle enough to look like the shirt simply hung better on her frame than anyone else’s.

“What time do you call this? I don’t want another detention. It’d be my third this term!” Asir declared.

“I know, sorry, strange morning.”

The pair dashed down the grey cobbled road, then crossed the granite bridge to Siberis’s town centre. The imposing two-metre-tall, silver limestone statue of the analysing man, with too much facial hair, studied them like an experiment. A historical figure, Neeto Hotchcick, heralded for his invention of the microscope, crouched down whilst his stone robe draped lazily on the ground, as he peered through his microscope at passers by. Judgement seemed to be his expression. It would have been interesting to have met him to understand how he thought of, let alone created, his invention in Siberis, where critical thinking was reprimanded.

Beyond the statue, stood the bright, white, Siberis Town Hall. The sight of it made Secunda’s hair stand on end. There was an uncanny resemblance between it and the castle in her dream that morning. Both buildings were marble white (in stark contrast to Siberis's predominantly grey structures), had the structural base of a circle tower with an adjoining elongated rectangular wing, and were crowned with turrets that added to their distinctiveness. Secunda inhaled deeply, her breath catching at the eerie resemblances.

A few superficial differences remained. The dark charcoal grey windows on the town hall looked drab compared to the striking emerald glass that jewelled the castle she’d dreamt of, and the smooth stone walls of the town hall were missing the elaborate and intricate elemental carvings on her dream castle’s exterior. The differences, although minimal, changed the aesthetic of the buildings, like an outfit and styling changed a person’s archetype - from grand, mystical and romantic to stripped back and stoic.

“Crikey Secunda! Why have you gone so pale?” Secunda shook her head.

The pair ran the rest of the way to school. Asir feared a third detention, whilst Secunda feared the unravelling of her thoughts.

*

“Relaxing morning?” Mrs Unmi questioned, as they entered their ashen form room filled with mist coloured desks and chairs. The only non-grey shades present in the room, beyond the people, were the white chalk pieces teachers used to write lines about discipline and authority onto the chalkboard with, fountain pens filled with black ink that students copied the lines with, and white paper pads that the lines were written onto. Large paintings covered the walls. The biggest, a framed oblong painting with sharp geometric shapes and the mathematical symbols ‘π’, '=’ and ‘≠’ weaved throughout often caused Secunda to ponder why science was always celebrated, but never nature. Besides that, a metre-long framed charcoal sketch of a muscular human man with eight arms hung from the wall, restrained by the formulas behind him.

In response to Mrs Unmi's question, Asir groaned, feigned a limp, and croaked,

“Sorry, I tripped, fell and hurt myself.” Mrs Unmi narrowed her eyes.

“You look fine. You missed morning recital.” Secunda felt glad to have missed the dull, repetitive oath of devotion to science that morning. Ms Unmi then began one of her three standard lectures they’d heard so frequently that Secunda could repeat each word for word.

“Following rules set by authority is key to maintaining a functioning, fair, efficient society. Following authority, after High School Graduation in July, and as you enter the work-force, is imperative. Without authority….” Secunda stopped listening and pondered her dream. Was I reimagining Siberis into what I wish it was? Is it boredom? Longing?

After the lecture, Mrs Unmi informed Asir that due to her lateness, her third detention would take place at the end of the day.

After school, Secunda waited for an hour outside the gates for Asir, until she limped out, with bloodshot eyes.

“How was it?”

“Painful. I hate Siberis.”

“Me too. Whips?”

Asir nodded,

“and constant screams in my face – getting me to repeat ‘I am not special!’ I’m still bleeding.” Lifting the back of her shirt revealed the red skin and torn flesh caused by the lashings.

“Yikes - that’s the worst I’ve seen. It looks worse than my last one, I couldn’t play Graven Ball for two weeks. Why would they do this to you so soon before the Cup match?”

“Ugh, I don’t care about that right now. I can’t live like this Secunda. I need OUT of this wretched place!”

“You and me both. But we both know there’s nowhere to go, unless you mean death. And I can’t have you die on me.”

Asir let out a chuckle.

Sensing her words were helping, Secunda continued,

“When I graduate and get on the council, I’ll change things, so the kids won't be hurt like us. For now, I’ll grab some ointment for your back from mine, then meet you by the farm. We can go to the field - that will make things better.” Asir agreed.

*

Secunda ran back from her home across town, ointment in hand, to the farm in the Northeast of Siberis. Asir stood, waiting at the fields’ cusps, exposing her pain by wincing when she tried to clap for Secunda’s arrival. Gingerly, Secunda applied the ointment to Asir’s back wounds, although complaints that it was applied too forcefully were still proclaimed. Slowly, they meandered through fields to avoid rushed movement that would tear the early stages of Asir’s healing wounds. They passed the farm barn, filled with parked horse-pulled combine harvesters that had already done their yearly harvesting job. Passed that, was the fifth and final barley field, that tended to be empty. It was their favourite place to visit.

The barley had been harvested early, and precise green hay bricks dotted in linear rows throughout, juxtaposed the untamed yellow fields beyond. Sprawling herself across a hay brick triggered Secunda’s memories of skipping through the field as a child with Asir and playing hide and seek with one another between the bricks. It was the most alive she recalled feeling. The other children in Siberis didn’t like to play games, except for Graven Ball. Because of that, Asir's friendship felt like a slice of technicolour in a muted, washed-out world.

Looking at the expansive wild fields beyond, Asir slowly raised her arms a little, before wincing. She shouted,

“I am CHOKING here. I can’t breathe!” Secunda sighed because she didn’t want to get riled up,

“Asir! Not a day goes by that I don’t consider ending it. The punishments, the brutality - the damm monotony and boredom of it all! But I can lobby to change things once I’m on the council after graduation. I can make an impact. You can make your own shop and sell your clothing designs. And if no one buys them, then they’re boring fools.” Even Secunda doubted what she was saying. Nothing ever changed in Siberis. As she spoke, a gust of wind from the wild fields beyond blew her hair around her face, as if to temper her anger.
“We already know they’re boring fools,” Asir said wryly, rolling her eyes.

That evening, the yellow fields seemed brighter than usual, and Secunda felt a strange impulse. ‘You can go beyond, do it,’ the gentle voice whispered.

“Let’s go past the fields’ edge,” Secunda whispered.

“I’m in agony,” Asir said, gesturing to her back, “and we can’t walk there.”

“Trust me,” Secunda contorted her face into a pleading look, “I had a crazy dream this morning, this feels important. Plus...I always get involved in your plans that get me into trouble. Remember when I wore the crimson sun dress you made through the village hall?” Asir beamed at the memory. Secunda continued, kneeling beneath Asir.

“They put me in isolation for a week like a prisoner! But it was worth it, to wear your clothes whilst feeling like art - and to see the town plebeians concave into themselves.”

Asir took Secunda's hand,

“You’re right, you did do that,” before sighing, “fine.”

They walked to the edge of the barley field, at the cusp of the wild fields’ edge. For the first time, they slowly, hand in hand, took one step forward across the fields’ border from the manned barley field to the untamed yellow field beyond.

As each of their steps landed in the untamed yellow field, a thick, cold mist surrounded them, trapping their bodies in place. Secunda gripped Asir’s hand tighter.

“I can’t... move,” she whispered.

“Nor can I.” A sense of dread rushed through Secundas’ body, and goose pimples covered her skin. The harder they tried to move forward to go beyond the boundary, the denser, thicker and colder the air became. The cold air chill permeated her body into her bones. Are we pushing to our death? Soon, Secunda couldn’t remember what they were trying to do. The resistance to her body’s movements became almost unbearable, and the lack of oxygen prevented her from breathing.

“One...more...push,” Secunda said, forcing her body forward with all her might, yet only moving thirty centimetres deeper into the darkening fog surrounding them.

“I can’t do it,” Asir said, dropping Secundas’ hand, and falling backwards out of the fog. Alone, Secunda could only see deepening darkness. Finally, the suffocation became too much for her body to bare, and she too fell backwards. Both lay on their backs on the hay fields’ sturdy ground. With tomato-red faces, they panted, breathing in as much air as possible. Tears streamed from their eyes.

“Something’s going to change,” Secunda spluttered, “I can feel it.”

“Something already has,” Asir said, then with a sudden surge of triumph, sat up and yelled, “We tried to step past the edge!”

Secunda also felt triumphant for their effort, but the emotion was quickly overrun with worry. She felt eyes other than Asir's watching her, which seemed silly, since she knew townsfolk rarely visited the agricultural side of town. However, picturing the punishment that would await them if someone had seen what they did sent a shudder down her spine.

The sun was setting, signalling home time. They avoided the town hall and went around the outskirts of town. It felt like an electrical current charged the air. After crossing the granite bridge and walking down the cobblestone road to their meeting point lamppost, they parted ways; Secunda went right, and Asir left. For the remainder of the walk, Secunda noticed her senses seemed sharpened; the crumbling deterioration of the cobblestone pathway to her home had never been so apparent. An unusual amount of wind for May gushed around her, and for the first time she could recall, she felt a vague sense of freedom. Who cares even if someone is watching?

Tuesday

Secunda waited for Asir to turn up to the lamp post, where an unusual amount of wind cooled her, despite the beaming sunrays. Whilst admiring her long morning shadow, the constant whooshes of air made it appear like the shadow was trying to detach itself from her body, as it shapeshifted into a distorted alien with a large head and one extremely long leg. Her eyes then shifted right, landing on the orange rust on the grey lamp post’s base, crawling up the bottom of the post. She’d never noticed it before. She watched for ten minutes, attempting to track if the area of rust was growing in real time, before giving up and deciding she was going loopy. Since there was still no sign of Asir, she walked to school alone. This was not an uncommon occurrence, given Asir’s trouble with time-keeping.

Registration began normally. Secunda repeated the Morning Profession of Natural Philosophy with her classmates.

“This day I stand with my fellows and before the order of Rationality.

I affirm that the world is governed by constant laws.

What is true is shown by clear observation, careful measure and”

Asir glid in, with a grin, interrupting the daily oath, which continued in a low murmur. She looked happy.

“Repeated trial. I will not cling to tales that cannot be tested, nor honour claims that rest on fear or fancy.”
“Enough!” Mrs Unmi hissed at the class, silencing the room, before facing Asir.

“Asir, late again! You will attend another detention at the end of the day.” Asir gave no reaction, seemingly unbothered as she took her seat. Secunda was sure she could see a hint of a smirk remain on her face. With a face flushed red with anger, Mrs Unmi slammed a detention slip on Asir's desk. Asir laughed and cocked her head back, as if detention were a joke.

Asir ignored Secunda all day. Secunda saw her hunched over books in the library, at break and lunchtime, which was out of character. In Maths and Chemistry, she looked wistfully out the window and ignored everyone, even smashing a test tube on the ground due to her lack of focus during an experiment. Secunda had long since given up attempting to forge connections with her classmates, but admired Asir’s usual tenacity and uninhibited attempts, no matter how pointless. Perhaps she was acting differently and closed off because of the field events the day before. Maybe hope had infected her, and she was trying to find information about how to pass the invisible barrier again, but felt too embarrassed to share her optimism with Secunda, or didn’t want to spread it too early, in case it was pointless. It would have been preferable that Asir did not go about whatever internal processing she was doing by ignoring Secunda's presence, as the event had impacted her too.

In Secunda’s dream that morning, she’d run free in the wild, untamed yellow fields beyond the town’s edge, then flown across cool skies so far that she arrived at the world she’d dreamt of at the start of the week. Giant pools of crystalline lakes and vast rippled deserts of speckled orange dazzled and invited her to explore the world. The vastness of it was so overwhelming that, when she thought about it, her heart ached with a yearning she’d previously never known where to direct. It would have been nice to share the dream and her feelings with her best friend, as without reassurance otherwise, she questioned if she was going insane.

Secunda waited for Asir outside the school gates after her detention, knowing that she’d feel in severe pain with detention on two consecutive days. With her arms ready to embrace Asir in a hug, Secunda was shocked to see an eyeroll instead.

“There was no need to wait for me. I’ve had detention many times.”

“I had to make sure my best friend stayed alive; you must be so sore!” Secunda said, moving in for a hug.

Asir winced and backed away, with a look of disgust that she’d previously only ever seen from townsfolk.

“How come you didn’t walk with me this morning?”

“I overslept,”

“That’s okay, how did you feel last night?” she asked, “after the field? It was so windy.”

Asir responded quickly,

“I felt normal, why? Did you not?”

“I felt... alive. In a way I never have. I feel it’s linked to my dream. Before that, my dreams were just… dull. And today’s been odd, I wondered if it’s impacted you today.”

“I felt alive too. Tell me about your dream,”

“I passed the boundary into the wild fields easily, then flew through the sky. I saw huge lands, like ginormous snowy hills with big bushy animals roaming. People and animals were producing hauntingly magical melodies and chants and,”

“Enough, Secunda.” Asir interrupted as if she were her parent, “No more. I’m all for you being fanciful but that is ridiculous. I’m going. I can’t face a home punishment after this.” Asir took off to storm down the hill, but after five metres turned back to Secunda and asked,

“Did anything else, beyond it being windy, happen to you on your way home yesterday after we separated?”

With a furrowed brow, Secunda said,

“No, I just felt alive. Like I said.”

Asir squeezed her eyes and watched Secunda, then looked down, before turning her back and hobbling down the hill to town. For the first time in her life, Secunda wondered if Asir was hiding something from her.