"What do you think it'll be?" I asked, side-glancing at the man pacing next to me. "A horse? A jackal? I'm thinking of an otter."
The heat had beaten down early in the morning. Walking to the Auxiliary's Yearly was predicted to take about ten minutes, but it seemed a minute too long, unrelenting even for the special day.
Though, none of it was apparent in the way people wandered around the city with their heads diverted to the ground and oblivious nature to the certain uproar of activity that was happening around. Maybe it was because of the familiarity of the yearly tradition that they chose not to care.
None of them were walking alone, however, and along their side was an animal-their animal- all different depending on the Auxiliary.
My older brother, Sean, huffed next to me, his short, dark hair almost shining underneath the sunrays. "Alright, we'll see."
"Hurry. We might be late," my older sister, Lien, snapped.
I opened my mouth to argue but stopped. A woman with hot pink hair and green tips brushed past us, mumbling as she did so with an echidna strutting right behind, its body ambling side-to-side and sniffing the woman's spiked boots as they lifted off the ground.
"How long does The Evaluation take?" I asked, watching as the animal and its Auxiliary disappear around a corner.
"As long as it does," Lien answered.
I let out a long sigh, "Never mind."
The number of trees in the city did little to provide us shade. It wasn't until we reached the park where the Auxiliary's Yearly was taking place that we were encased in heavy shadows. There was foliage in all directions, so dense it was impossible to see the other side of the park.
We walked a couple more steps and we could already see the popular elevated walkways and the large wooden building, so large that it created shadows among the shadows within the foliage. That was the building the Auxiliary's Yearly was taking place this year. Though the location of the Auxiliary's Yearly changed every year, the design of the building was no different than the ones from previous years. It was so distinguishable that every student had always named the building, Future Endeavor. Almost as if expecting potential for what's to come afterwards.
The wooden building was distinguishable by the vastness of its size, stretching so wide that it looked like a lonesome singer under a spotlight. The interlocking wooden blocks of the building formed a small base and then gradually widened, reaching all the way to the canopy of the trees and beckoning the sky as the limit. Hundreds of people were lined up in front of the entrance of the building, chattering loudly and scaring the birds.
At the sight of the line, I immediately pointed at it, "Hurry, let's line up." Sean, Lien, and I, in unison, ran toward it. That was the easy part, of course. Waiting in the line was the pain.
The noise from the people, although loud, was nothing compared to the open air above with the echoing calls of the birds' incessant shrills. Sure, the park had always been lively, but it had never been so lively as today. The vacuum-like atmosphere seemed to press on me, focusing all my attention on the woman in front, who suddenly shouted, "Next!" ushering me to walk up with hurried gestures.
I stepped forward to face the woman just as a man disappeared inside the building. The woman had a distinct scowl on her face when she droned, "Your name?"
"Iridian Cantor," I replied, trying my best to stress the ending of my name to be polite.
She still had not lifted her head up, nodding and skimming her long fingers along the tablet in her hands. Once she found my name, she stopped and checked it off. "May I ask you who you're coming with today?"
"My sister and my brother," I said smiling, pointing behind me.
Her robotic voice seemed to cease as she continued to talk, "You know they must not be present during the testing period-"
"Yes, I know full well," I interrupted, keeping my smile and friendly tone.
She finally glanced up from her device and to Lien. The woman then looked at me and smacked her lips. She pushed her glasses on the bridge of her nose all the while waiting to print me an entrance ticket.
Then, "Alright, you may go in. Good luck."
I waited to the side for Sean to receive his own ticket before entering the Future Endeavor. A strong aroma permeated the building, coming from a lone coffee stand in the corner. Behind it, a large set of stairs jutted up to more levels and then into darkness.
Hushed voices were the only thing permitted and each step from others seemed to be more restrained and elegant. Everyone else was also trying their hardest to keep the professional atmosphere intact. Even the animals alongside their workers were performing diligently, not once looking up to see the outside chaos.
I craned my neck to see what was on the next level and saw separate rooms, lined on either side of a hallway, each closed by a heavy wooden door. The Auxiliary Evaluation seemed a lot closer than it had been just moments before.
"What is your assigned room?" a worker interjected. An ostrich stood next to him, drawing its eyebrows at me.
I drew back the ticket from his eyesight and declared, "Room 38?"
"Yes," the man stuttered. "Come this way."
I left Sean with another escort, glancing back once to say to Lien and her animal to stay where they were as I followed the man and his ostrich up a flight of stairs.
Downstairs was quiet, upstairs was deathly. I whisked past door after door, my eyes blurring with golden plaques of the room numbers and warnings Do not enter until instructed on both sides of me.
We stopped at Room 38 where I could properly see what the doors looked like. No rust coated the sides of the plaque, making me wonder how long this building had been around here. By the looks of it, it hadn't been long which was no surprise. The Auxiliary's Yearly always changed locations every year. Luckily for me, this year was right next to home.
It hadn't been too long since people started working with animals. Only 55 years ago when Iona was elected Main Advisor and issued the system of cooperation of animals and humans. It still felt like an ever-refining process stuck to the idea of progress and creativity. The Auxiliary's Yearly was the only thing on adults' minds and for it to finally be here for me, it was hard to comprehend. Once my animal was chosen, I would be able to fulfill Iona's vision of progress.
I never minded the hard work even though countless times people had told me I was born with a silver spoon. I enjoyed the process of progress and creativity that Iona imagined. Have an animal companion and accomplish things together with a personal flair that one human could not do. To imagine any animal with me to reach those goals, however, was hard. Especially when that animal could be any in the world.
My escort jabbed a finger to the door, turned on his heels, and stalked away without glancing back to see if I had entered the room. His ostrich waddled after him.
The door was looming over me, threatening to tower over. It was here. I was here. My hand rested on the knob of the door. My chest began to hurt with the throbbing of my heart. I hope I will become an Otter Auxiliary. I forcibly twisted the knob to the side and swung the door open.
I realized as soon as I opened the door that I should have knocked. But too late for that.
The moment I picked my gaze off the floor, I saw a young man hunched over a desk, talking calmly to a lady sitting at a chair with her arms crossed over her chest. They were so focused to the conversation that they hadn't noticed me enter the room. But nothing convinced me to go out the door. I waited there.
"So, you're saying no one has gotten it in ten years?" the man asked. There was a pause, then, "Veronica?"
The woman named Veronica snapped her head back to the man's face. She was so intent on whatever papers were scattered on the desk that she hadn't noticed me or the man's clear confusion. "I can't be too sure. Let me go check with the head mayor about it. Please don't worry about it, just own the title for now."
From where I was standing, I could see her perfectly through the open gap of the man's propped arms. Blonde hair cascaded in waves over her shoulders just stopping at the top of her chest. Her eyes were a pale, light-green color, and she wore a hint of lipstick, faint compared to her dark blue vest and black pants that all the workers in the building were wearing.
The man let loose a hand from the desk, leaning only on his right hand. "Have you read the description?"
Veronica chuckled. "Right, it sounds bizarre. I did check twice though, Logan. Shouldn't you be helping someone with their test now?"
Even though I couldn't see the man's face, I knew he was still frowning, from the way his jaws tightened. "Could you check again? If you can?"
"Yes," Veronica replied, standing up from her chair. She smiled softly at the man, touching his arm with a hand. "Don't get so hung up on it. You will know how to work with it."
I quickly rapped on the wall behind me, making sure it was loud enough to hear. The man-Logan-jolted and tensed, swerving back to look at me. The lady glanced up from the desk and watched me with careful eyes.
"Hi, I was assigned to this room. I'm going to take The Evaluation here?"
The lady instantly smiled. "I've got to go talk to the mayor. You'll take over this one for me, Logan?"
"Yeah, I'll take it from here."
Veronica walked past me and out the door in about a second. She made sure to close the door with a whoosh of air following her, leaving the room back to its state of quietness.
Logan fully turned himself from the desk. "Hi I'm-"
"Logan," I smiled. "I know."
His eyes softened from his earlier scowl. Everything about his features was soft, even though it seemed otherwise. Sharp jawbone, profound cheekbones, yet his dark brown eyes were large and transparent, the same color as his hair that was neither spiky nor straight but still fluffy and unkempt, covering his forehead and long enough for it to slightly curl at the bottom of his ear. He also wore a uniform like the woman, but it was a little tight on him, enunciating the way his broad shoulders held on to his frame.
"Oh," he said, slightly leaning against the desk behind him. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you were there the whole time."
"No," I replied. "It says so on your tag."
I pointed to his uniform where a metal tab was attached to the right pocket. His eyes widened when he saw my finger pointing to his chest and his hand automatically shot up to rub his name plaque pinned to his uniform while keeping his eyes on me. The words Logan Adrian were etched onto the name tag.
Then, he sighed, bringing his hands away from himself and to the desk, "Alright, please sit down. We'll start your Evaluation right away."