Fighting the Light - Shallan Stockton
Fighting the Light by Shallan Stockton was the First Place Winner of the 2023 Murrumbidgee Short Story Competition in the Under 18 Category.
Fighting the Light
Rati Benedictionem. Nimis cito nostra benedictio facta est maledictio. Cave. Lucem non desideres, sed in tenebris vigemus.
- Jonathon Dyer. Elder. May his soul reach the heavens.
Her grandfather's words run through her mind constantly. One word stood out. Tenebris. Darkness. It was a permanent fixture in her life, in all their lives. Its presence a persistent shadow. One we had been forced to grow accustomed to. For the past one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three days we had lived without the sun's rays. To us the sun meant death. The first time it happened was 10 years ago, then again five years ago. That's how the elders discovered the pattern. She couldn't remember much about the first time. All she remembered was pain and confusion. Her nine-year-old self didn’t understand what the sudden light was. It wasn't until her skin started turning red that her brain caught up. Then pain took over. Shouts and cries for help filled her ears but the pain wouldn't stop. Silent tears burned her cheeks.
"Mami. Papa" Her whispered cries couldn't be heard over the screams filling the air. Chaos erupted as a figure to her left caught fire. A raw howl escaped his lips before being silenced by the all-encompassing flames. His face morphed and burnt was forever ingrained in her brain. A constant presence in her nightmares. White spots filled her vision, her head fuzzy with pain, lungs screaming against the smoky clouds taking up residence in the air. A tiny arm wrapped around her waist pulling her out of the light. The arm dragged her almost limp body into the shadows. A whimper escaped her mouth, the burning had stopped but her skin was still hot to touch. A light infiltrated the darkness, causing her to flinch. When the light remained but no pain followed, she leant forward. An unknown face sat opposite hers. Half in shadow, the other half only visible by the candle he held in his fist. She reached forward bringing a hand to his face. The barest of flinches passed beneath her fingers as they traced his scar. The raised skin was the last thing she felt before falling into complete darkness. She never saw the boy who had saved her again. He became as much a mystery as the sun that could disappear at will. That was the first time it happened. It only lasts 24 hours, as soon the clock strikes 12 the next day the sun disappears once more, leaving us to our darkness. After almost a year of normalcy the elders declared it a freak event. People believed them, that was until it happened again five years ago. If it wasn't for a raging fever keeping her bedridden, she probably would have died among the 200 others lost to the light. After occurring twice, people stopped obsessing over the why and started worrying about the when. The scholars worked for years before discovering the pattern. Every five years the sun would emerge, blinding our world. But worse. Killing our people. What was once our light; Our warmth and comfort, had become our curse. Our death. And soon it would happen again.
Two days. That was how long we had before it would happen again. There was only so much shelter to protect us. We hadn't rebuilt properly after the last time brought half our buildings down in crumbling waves. The heat too much for their structures to handle. Her grandfather's last words linger, we thought it a blessing. Too soon our blessing became a curse. Beware. We do not crave the light, rather we thrive within the darkness. He always liked riddles. If only it had been a little less crazed because it's been nine years, and we still don't have a clue what it means. Father believes the pain had gotten to him, driving him to madness. She didn't agree. She saw him not long before he died. It was right after her tenth birthday, and he offered to take her out for the day so her parents could get their work done. Everything was normal, great even. We got food, walked around the market space. He even got her a braided bracelet. It wasn't until she started to really think about that day that she remembered the worried looks that would overtake his face when he thought she wasn't looking. Or the mumbled words she'd catch him saying. She didn't think much of it at the time, she was a kid, his problems weren't real to her. But she knew in her heart that he was trying to tell them something, something to do with the sun's deathly rays. That is what she had spent the last nine years investigating. Her sister thought it an obsession, one that would leave her as mad as their grandfather. It didn’t matter what anyone else thought, she knew she was close. Close to something big, she just needed a bit more time to figure things out. Preferably before hell visited in two days.
Pages lay scattered across the floor, demolishing the invisible line separating her side of the room from her sisters.
"Seriously soror what did I tell you about letting your side of the room overtake mine. I warned you. I believe my threat mentioned something about burning your stuff. I mean it Aurelia; I'll do it this time. I live here too."
"Jeez Lettie, you invoked the whole first name, you must be serious."
Crossing her arms over her chest she huffs. "I am very serious."
"You know your threats would be a lot scarier if you weren't covered in flour." The laugh Rela had been smothering burst free as she watched her younger sister scrub furiously at her face, somehow managing to cover more of her face in flour.
"I'm guessing by your appearance you've been helping Mami with the baking."
"Yeah, well one of us has to."
Guilt twinges at her words.
"You know I was following a lead."
"Following a lead? A lead to what Rela, you're always off chasing some fantasy or absorbed in your books. You don't even know what you're looking for." Her sisters’ words are laced with hurt.
"Look, I'm sorry I've been a little absent but I'm on to something I know it."
Defeated her sister turns but not before kicking the papers back onto Rela's side of the room.
"Whatever Rela. Have fun chasing your ghosts, I'm going to bathe. Make sure your home for supper."
"Yes, mother." The bathing chamber door slams, signalling her sister heard her sarcastic reply. Honestly Rela hadn't meant to upset Lettie, but she couldn't let this go. It had consumed her whole life for the past nine and a half years. She had read anything she could get her hands on that might explain the sun's ability to kill or her grandfather's cryptic message. And finally, after nearly a year with no leads, she had at last located a text that could hold the answers. It had taken time and a lot of bartering on her part, but she eventually convinced its previous that she would be a more suitable guardian. Slipping it from its hiding slot beside her cot, she brushed her fingers over the cover. Supposedly the text held information about solar patterns and reasons that could divert the suns regular path. The only problem was it was written entirely on the old language. She could decipher pieces, but understanding was a bit rough. Her grandfather's teachings stopped a little before he died, she tried to teach herself after, but patience had never been her strongest attribute. She needed to find someone who could transcribe the book for her. That was where Ambrose came in. He had a store in the market, selling wares and trinkets. Well, that’s what most people thought anyway. After a little digging two years ago, Rela discovered it was a front. Ambrose sold a lot more than sand from the deserts of Atah or water from the tops of Mount Latia. Information was his speciality. If anyone could find a transcriber it would be him. Wrapping the book in an old shirt she secures it in her bag before calling out to her mother and sister.
"I'm going to the markets, be back soon."
Her sisters voice reaches her from the bathing chambers. "Make sure you're here for supper."
Sighing she yells back, "I promise. Also, Lettie, you're not my mother."
Leaving before she could reply, Rela took off in the direction of the market space. Ambling forward she passed a couple of her neighbours heading the same way. Pasting a polite smile on her face she overtakes them, hoping no one wants to stop and talk.
The walk to the markets didn't take long, thankfully no one stopped her. Gaze tracking each of the stalls, she kept her eyes peeled for someone in particular. A buzzed head catches her attention. Striding towards the stall, she waits till he is alone before approaching.
"Jeez, anyone would think you got into a fight with a pair of garden shears. I'd say by the looks of it the shears one."
"Oh, come now baby girl, we all know I can pull off any look. This is just my latest trial."
"I thought I told you the next time you called me baby girl I'd knock your teeth out. Maybe I should, it might distract from the haircut."
"You wound me." The boy clutches his chest, fake pain etched across his face. Smiling I greet him properly.
"It's good to see you, Ambrose."
"Wait now your being nice to me, now I know you need something. What did I tell you Rela, you gotta hold onto your cards, you can't let anyone see them all at once."
"Considering the last time, we played cards you lost every round I think I'll survive without your life advise. I do however have need of your services. What do you know about the old language?"
"Me personally, nothing. I might however know someone who could possibly read it. Why?"
"If I told you, then you'd see all my cards."
"Touche." The grin was back on his face.
"So where can I find this mysterious person."
"That's gonna cost you more, cause tracking him down is a pain in the ass." Turning away from her Ambrose grabs a compass from beneath his workbench.
"Add it to my tab."
"You know one day I'd like it if you actually paid that tab but anyway here." He tosses the compass in Rela's direction. "Follow the point and it will lead you to him."
"What kinda person has to be found by compass."
"Someone who doesn't like to be found." With that cryptic answer Ambrose returned to the front of his stall, signalling it was time for her to go. Leaving the way, she came Rela made it to the edge of the market space before Ambrose's call forced her to turn around.
"Oh, and be careful Rela, the guy you’re looking for he isn't exactly the most welcoming to strangers." Nodding in ascent to her warning she turns back around. Looking down at the compass she set off, hoping this mysterious 'unwelcoming' man wasn't as hard to find as Ambrose made it seem.
Sweat dripped down her face, its path leading directly into her eyes.
"Seriously who is this guy, Mole Man." The compass had been steadily leading her deeper and deeper underground and still there was sign of Ambrose's contact. It had been at least an hour since she had first entered the tunnels, two since she left the market. She hadn't even realised the tunnels went this far. Why didn’t everyone know about it was the real question. This place would the perfect safe place for when the sun emerged in two days. It was so far underground there was no way the sun could reach them. She wondered if the Elders knew about it, she would have to ask her father at supper.
"I swear of this is one of Ambrose's jokes, I am actually going to kill hi-," a sound somewhere ahead of her cut off her rant. Lowering the candle, she had been using to guide her she stopped. Listening carefully, she thought she almost heard an exhale but before she could investigate further the compass tumbled from her hands.
"Urrg, seriously this has got to be the worst place to lose the one thing that can direct you." Leaning down her hands fumble in the darkness. With her head down she didn't sense the movement behind her before it was too late. A hand grasped the back of her head, smashing it into the side of the tunnel. As darkness took over, she sent up a silent apology to her sister, it didn’t look like she was going to make it to supper. That was the last thought before she no longer thought at all.
A sharp pain pounds into her subconscious. Flashes of memory flit past, moments from the first assault ten years ago. She could see the man who caught fire and hear the cries for help. Lurching awake she strained to sit up, but a physical weight holds her down.
"Rope, seriously. Oh jeez, my head is pounding. This is the last time I trust Ambrose ever. Unfriendly you say Ambrose, I am literally tied up, that's not unfriendly, that’s psychotic." A voice cuts through her mumbled raving.
"You talk a lot." She didn’t recognise the voice and there was not enough light for her to see her attacker.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to inconvenience you with my babbling. It’s not like I'm being held against my will or anything. Next time I get knocked out and tied up I'll try to stay silent." A chuckle sounds from the direction of the voice.
"Oh, now you think I'm funny. How about you come a little closer and we'll see who's laughing then." The laughter gets louder.
"Okay, now I'm offended." Biting her cheek before she said something she'd later regret she looked around, taking stock of the situation. It looked like she was still in the tunnels, which meant this was most likely the man Ambrose had sent her to find. Oh, he was really going to get it when she saw him next. Assuming his psychotic buddy didn’t kill her first. The man's laughter finally stopped, leaning them in silence. Squinting through the darkness she tried to discern any visible features. All she could make out was his outline. He was tall, way taller than her short frame. Swallowing nervously, she tugged at the ropes, they didn't budge. The silence continued, filling the space.
"So are you going to talk or are we just sitting in silence." Her question came out louder than she intended but at least it broke the quiet. A sigh sounded from the shadow man's direction. Almost silently he made his way towards her. Finally close enough for Rela to see his face she gasped at what she saw. The scar. An image of the boy who saved her ten years ago flashes through her mind. He had the same scar.
"You." The word came out choked. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She had searched for him after that day, but everyone told her she imagined him, that he didn't exist. And yet here he was, living beneath them.
"I wondered how long it would take before you found me Aurelia." His piercing eyes found mine.
"How do you know my name?"
His stare remains locked with mine. Tilting his head as if weighing whether he should answer. Decision made he opens his mouth, and, in that moment, I know that whatever he says is going to change my life.
"I knew your grandfather." And with that admission he turned on his heel, leaving her tied to the chair. Dozens of questions crowd but only one leaves her lips.
"Who the hell are you?"
Silence is her only answer.
