Awaken His Eyes | The Awakened Book One

Chapter 20

The bright sunlight did little to warm Kael as he sat on a rock outcropping overlooking the ocean. The air was cold and calm, except for the occasional gust of wind. There were hardly any clouds to be seen, though it would not have mattered to Kael anyway. He sat, legs crossed, with his eyes closed. He had found this spot shortly after arriving at the monastery, though at the time it wasn't the hiding place it had now become. Seven years had passed, and with each year, Kael had grown more distant from the people around him. His heart had become heavy, and he couldn't figure out why. But it was always restorative to hear the ocean and feel the breeze on his face. Some days, when he had free time, he would sit in this place for hours with his eyes closed and try to feel everything that was happening around him. Today was no different.

Darkness filled his vision. Memory and imagination completed the picture. Years of watching the waves below and the wind as it passed through the pale grasses in the field behind him, told his mind what should be happening. The sound of his heart was loud in his head, even though he was not doing anything strenuous. He had lost track of how long he had been in this position, but it didn't matter. It was soothing to his soul.

He tried to think back over the time he had spent in this place and the friends he had made. Even though he knew almost everything there was to know about each of his brothers, as they called each other, he was sure that they all knew far less about him. With the passing of time he found it harder to relate to those around him. Even the things he was learning in class made less sense lately. Sometimes Ukiru would be teaching a subject and it would remind Kael of a long time ago, when he and Saba would talk for hours. It seemed like he was doing more listening than talking lately.

Kael tried to push the thoughts out of his head. He had been dwelling on this matter for too long now and was tired of it consuming his mind. He took a deep breath and replaced the negative imagery in his head with the soothing feeling of nature. He could feel the air stir to his left and blow gently across his face. He imagined all of his negative thoughts floating away on the breeze. He imagined them tumbling and dancing like leaves off the cliff, out over the water. Occasionally one of the leaves would fall from the group and swirl downward until it was too small to see. The rest kept tumbling into each other as they moved farther away until they too were lost. Somewhere off to the right, just above the cliff face, he imagined the air stirring, driven by a lone seagull. It flew in from the ocean and hovered for a second above the rocks before pulling its wings inward for the slow landing. When it reached the ground, it let out a screech and tucked its wings close to its body.

Kael suddenly felt silly to be imagining such things, even though it was fun to let his mind wander for a time. He opened his eyes to the bright sun and blinked at its harshness, unable to stop himself from yawning.

A second screech sounded and Kael glanced to his right. It took him longer than it should have to realize that the seagull perched on the rocks, only thirty feet away, was real. He shook his head and looked back, but the bird was still there. He slowly got to his feet and watched as the bird, previously unaware of his presence, leaped off the cliff and spread its wings to catch the air. It glided for a while before it began to beat its wings, slowly descending to the beach below.

Did I watch the seagull come to a landing, or were my eyes really closed when it happened? Kael continued to watch the bird as it retreated. No. I'm sure I had my eyes closed the whole time. But just as he came to that conclusion, he dismissed the idea as impossible. If I had my eyes closed, then I saw it in my mind before it even made a sound. I'm definitely not feeling well! Turning around, Kael headed back to the monastery to get some sleep.

~

Kael slept from before sundown until the next morning. He awoke feeling refreshed and realized that it had been quite some time since he had slept so well. The morning's activities passed in a blur, as they usually did, and he found himself in the arena, standing next to the other young men, awaiting the opportunity to act upon the instruction of Ukiru. The teacher, who was now only taller than a few of his pupils, paced back and forth in front of the group.