The Prophecy of Water | ✔️ 🎖 [2018 Wattys Shortlister]

CHAPTER 23-An Unpleasant Bathing

I see their point, but they can't see mine. Isn't that the biggest tragedy? When two rights fight and not even one of those rights can progress while the battle is waged?

LoG, 60

Squinty heard the sound of an enormous bone horn.

The collective groaning and moaning of the female Apprentices' voices followed immediately after.

Squinty was, as usual, lying in a hole of hardened clay just below her bed. Her head was on Grizzly's stomach that was lifting and lowering at the rhythmical pace. She was already awake and dressed in a brown training uniform, ready to crawl out at any moment.

The Light of The Leader, she thought. Bah.

Ever since the Trainers appointed her to The Barrack 1, Squinty would persistently ignore the softness of her new bed. She furtively went down the hole with her dog every Dark. Squinty didn't pay attention to Orla, a pale-faced blond girl who was her bunkmate.

Her new cot reminded her too much of the joint cradles with bars, from The Orphanage, in which none of the orphans could rest well. This was how Squinty maintained the illusion. Also, she was accustomed to sleeping with Grizzly.

Her bed was made out of a rough but solid dark wood. Instead of the hard floor of the cradle, she could now rest on a soft mattress filled with straw. The new Apprentices had a pillow only for themselves, and she usually took it down to the hole.

Squinty crawled out from there and rubbed her eyes with both hands. Grizzly opened one eye and waved his hairy tail. She liked this way of Vigil thinking. They were aiming for a continuous association between an animal and a fighter.

The "workday" of The Vigils and The Apprentices was organised in such a way they almost didn't get separated from their dog at any moment.

The large ViewStone glittered on the wooden wall of The Barrack 1 with a clear yellowish colour. In the dormitory of the latest Apprentices, The Light came.

How funny all these girls are, Squinty thought. In The Orphanage, I used to wake up during The Dark, and eat during The Light. Their problem is to get out of bed. Mama's brats, Squinty spat with contempt.

"Hey!" Orla complained sleepily, pulling out of the sheets and wiping her right cheek and nose. "You spat in my face," she groaned. "It's not a good way to start The Light."

"I'm sorry," Squinty said laconically, jumping out on the dusty floor. "I didn't know you'd already woken up. That is, I didn't count on it," she added, teasing. She critically looked at her bunk-mate. The first word that appeared on Squinty's mind was "paper-thin."

Orla seemed like a translucent person, with her transparent skin. Her eyes were so pale green that it was hard to notice the viridescent hue at all. They almost seemed to be entirely white. She had a fragile, yellow webbed hair that reached her shoulders.