Part 7 - Listen to the silence

The next day Vysna and Aaden had carried the tension with them to school. Not just the tests but also the mentoring that was going to take place had made them nervous.

Vysna worried about Tash who was a blabbering mess when he had left for school that morning. She hoped that his academics were not affected by all of this because she truly believed that he would achieve great things in his life.

Aaden didn't know what he would tell Ishil if he was selected, what would he lie to him about. And then he thought about Neela. Would he see her again? But she was leaving in a week he thought he wouldn't see her anyway. It was odd that she was leaving in the middle of a semester, how she had got an admission into another institution was a mystery to him.

Two days passed. Vysna still practised swimming rigorously. The cradle of water was her escape.

Tashvin spent more time after school with his project trying to divert his attention from the whole thing. But was unable to concentrate.

" Hey Vy," he called up Vysna." Where are you?"

" At the pool, I was just about to leave." She said.

" I am planning to watch a movie, I need your company. Come home soon." He said.

" Sounds good. I am on my way." She packed up quickly and left. Her mind was begging for a distraction as well.

Aaden wanted to spend as much time as possible with Ishil. They practised together and then spent time at the cafe.

On his way home from the cafe, Aaden saw Neela waiting for a bus. He stopped near her.

" Hi, shall I drop you home? If you are going home, I mean." He said pointing at his bike. Why did she make him act so weird?

" No, it's ok. I will manage." She said.

" At least let me drop you home, it's no trouble, really." He said.

"Okay," she said and sat behind him.

" So, are you done packing?" He asked.

"Yeah almost. It's been hectic."

"Are you moving to another town?"

"Yes. Do you always ask so many questions?" She said.

"Is it far away, I should be able to come and visit," he said with a little chuckle.

"Aaden..." She said.

"Sorry..." He said laughing. They reached and she got down from the bike.

" Thanks, take care. Bye..." she said was about to turn.

" I won't say bye, I think we will meet again." He said, smiling at her, and then wore his helmet and rode off. He didn't want to say bye to her, in his mind, he still hoped to see her.

They got the news that evening, that Markand has got the approval for their mentorship from the council. And he had called them the next morning to the lake for their first lesson.

" Anyone can make noise, but silence is something that everyone cannot master," Markand said as he stood stoic at the bank of the yellow lake, not that the water of the lake was yellow, but it reflected the colour of the tall, yellow flowering trees that grew beside it, thus giving it the name.

All three of them, Vysna, Tashvin and Aaden, stood in front of him like soldiers in a file, waiting for his orders.

" Leysa has asked me to be your mentor, teach all three of you the way of cracking the SLts. So, from today onwards you all are not going to call me uncle but Sir Markand." He said and smiled as if he had rehearsed saying this before.

"The tests are rigorous and unforgiving. So I want all of you to listen carefully and sincerely follow all the instructions that I give. Your task today is to stand here quietly and concentrate on one sound in particular. That sound can be anything, concentrate on it, figure out where it is coming from, go there and fetch the object that is making that sound. All of you should find that object before 10 a.m. He looked at his watch." It's almost 5.30 now. All of you have to hurry because as the sun rises, the traffic on the road increases and the sound that you want to hear will fade among everything else. I will meet you all at 10 o'clock then."

Tashvin asked, "What if I don't find the object?"

"Then you have failed at your first legacy test." Markand stopped and said with a straight face.

"Are we going to find different objects or the same?" Vysna asked.

"Most of the time it is a different object," he replied. "Best of luck."

" How are we supposed to start," Aaden asked.

"You have to figure that out on your own," Markand said and started walking.

The morning was like any other. The rains had stilled the surroundings. The lake was quiet and not many sounds could be heard. Crickets and a few bugs chirped. It was the perfect place to experience silence. They didn't have much time; as it passed, the sound of vehicles from nearby roads would increase, and the bustle of the city would engulf the sound of nature or any other sound that they wanted to hear.

Aaden sat down in his place folding his legs and closing his eyes.

" What are you doing?" Tashvin asked.

" I am trying to concentrate," he replied opening just one eye.

Tashvin closed his eyes, too, but was unable to do so and looked around. He started walking towards the open space at the western end of the lake.

"Tash, where are you going?" Vysna asked. He shrugged his shoulders and said " I will just look around for the object. I don't have the patience to concentrate on any sounds." He didn't have any idea of what he was going to do.

Aaden still looked like he was meditating so Vysna decided not to talk to him and just stood near the edge of the lake. It was awfully silent. She turned around to look at Aaden, who was still miserably trying to concentrate, so she decided to walk along the edge of the lake to the other end. She felt something so she bent to look at her reflection in the water but saw only ripples. The ripples were not continuous, like the one wind caused, instead, they were at regular intervals as if following a rhythm. Similar to the ripples that are caused by stones when dropped in water one after the other. Perplexed she moved closer. It was slightly windy, so she doubted that it must be caused by the wind, which seemed unlikely. Wondering whether there was something inside the water that was causing ripples, she paused and stood for a minute, took off her sneakers, stuffed her phone in her shoe and dived in. The water was sharp and cold, like ice pressing against her skin; the cardigan that she wore was of no help against the prick of the water, and her jeans did a better job of protecting her. Utter silence, no sound of wind, rustle of leaves, birds or insects. Under the water, she saw reeds of grass surrounding her. She felt the beats of sound from nearby, thumps at regular intervals that were getting stronger as she dived further. The water was clear, and green plants underneath her made it look like a grassy field.

Short of breath she could not swim deeper inside, so she swam back to the surface, floated for a few minutes and was panting. She was not the kind of person who gave up easily, so she took a deep breath and dived right back in, this time swimming faster, to cover as much distance as possible. The bottom of the lake was dark, but she felt the vibrations nearby. She sent a small wave, the same way she had done in the pool.

Following the map that she saw, she reached the bottom of the lake and found a glass ball placed between the long reeds at the bottom of the lake. She grabbed it and swam back to the surface. She held it in the light and observed it. There was an instrument at its centre that ticked in a rhythmic pattern. She couldn't hear any hums when she held it in the air, but when she dipped it back in the water, she could hear the sound. Happy with what she found she swam out to the bank and started to where Aaden was sitting.

Tashvin walked through the grass, further and further moving quicker. He did not know where he wanted to go. He kept on walking. He has to find the object, this desperation sped up his pace. His breath felt hot against the cold breeze, air was musty. Crickets and bugs jumped around him as he rustled the grass beside him while walking. Morning Dew, on the grass, traced patterns on his pants. He heard a thump and stopped. Standing motionless he closed his eyes and heard a thump again. He looked around, and all he saw was a few trees. He could hear the rustle of leaves, so he walked closer towards the trees; now he could hear thumps louder and better. He started climbing, the branches were moist and slippery. Clenching a branch he pulled himself up. The moss got inside his nails and stuck to his clothes, rubbing green colour on his khaki-coloured cargo pants. "Damn it, I just bought them last month." he cursed and continued climbing. He didn't like the outdoors, he'd rather stay at home and let the characters in his video games do the adventures on his behalf. The art of climbing stuff, especially trees was daunting. He cursed under his breath and continued climbing. He halted on a branch, that was strong enough to take his weight. He could not find the object anywhere among the branches. He closed his eyes and could hear the thumping from another tree which was nearby. So he got down, rather in an unorthodox way, with scratches on his elbows and palms and started climbing another tree, this time doubly cursing on his way up. He reached halfway and saw a small bird cage, not bigger than a rugby ball. He pulled it and jumped down. He found an obelisk inside it. There was a small ball that made rhythmic ticks that he could hear. He shoved it in his pant pocket and started walking back towards Aaden.

.

Aaden heard the breeze, the same way he could hear the wind when he ran on the field. But he heard only the wind nothing else; this disturbed him.

" come on, concentrate." He said to himself. Maybe if he concentrated harder he could listen to something else. Something that he should be listening to. So he focused harder. The damp moist air made him uneasy. He heard a thump, not far from where he was sitting. That's cool he thought. He stood up and started walking towards the grassy plain. The thumping was rhythmic and consistent. He bent down touching the ground and heard the thumps. They were coming from a burrow. With caution, he walked closer. Rubbing his hands together and reaching forward, a mouse ran out of the burrow and disappeared into the grass. Startled he fell back on his ass."What the fu-" he cursed. He picked a stick which was lying nearby and poked around in the hole. Nothing. Hesitantly, he reached his hand inside the burrow again and found a pyramid, with a ticking mechanism in it. When he reached where he was sitting he saw Vysna standing there drenched.

" What the hell happened to you," he unzipped his hoodie and gave it to her," wear this or you will catch a cold."

She took it from him and wore it. Then they saw Tash walk towards them. He looked miffed.

" Did you find the object?" asked Aaden.

"What have you got? I got an obelisk." Tashvin said.

"I have an orb." Vysna held it on display. " And you Aaden?" She asked, turning towards him.

"A pyramid" Aaden showed.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Tashvin asked.

"I think we should wait for Unclee no, 'sir' Markand. Coz we have still half an hour left with us." Said Vysna chattering her teeth. "If not the tests these, sessions are going to kill me." She said rubbing her arms.

Aaden told her to sit on the grass with him. "I thought the object would be something beautiful or maybe like an artefact. This is just a glass pyramid, looks more like a souvenir," he said turning it in his hand.

"I wonder what we got to do with these things, I mean they seem very ordinary. " Vysna says as she joins Aaden on the ground.

"These are not ordinary objects, their design is amazing." Tash said as he sat in front of them." Vy, are you able to hear this one?" he asked her.

" No, I can feel a little vibration but no sound at all," she said.

" And you?" He asked Aaden.

" Same, vibration no sound," Aaden replied.

" Fascinating," Tash said.

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