Damian Witt

Night. Vast fields, forests, and rivers, which in ordinary times would look like a beautiful landscape before the gaze of the beholder, were now hidden behind a huge accumulation of black dots, slowly, heavily, and surely moving forward.

All this mass of indistinguishable things was heading towards the majestic and long river. It was so vast and extensive that it seemed as if all this endless canvas could fit in it. Across the river, waiting for its end, stood a village. Its inhabitants gathered in the center, looking at the river with fear and hope, without ceasing to mutter prayers.

On a hill between the river and the village, a middle-aged man was holding a bow in his hands. He gazed intensely at the impending disaster and waited. Thanks to his eagle vision, he could see the black dots that were moving forward so insistently. Each black dot represented a ferocious, hungry, and aggressive beast in his eyes. This animal was somewhat reminiscent of enormously grown hyenas, saliva dripped from its mouth, and narrow pupils emitted a dark red glow.

After some time, the horde of animals finally finished its frightening march. The same majestic river stood in its way. From the total mass of animals, several approached the water and carefully looked deep into it as if checking, sniffing, and listening to the mysterious flow of the river. After a while, the animals that stood in front of everyone finally decided to go into the river, and the next ones followed them, and after these, more animals and more. The river was quickly filled with formidable predators, which would immediately destroy everything in their path as soon as they got to the opposite shore.

As soon as the man on the hill noticed that the animals stopped walking and began to swim, he took an arrow from his quiver, raised the tip to his palm, and a second later, a miracle happened, and the tip of the arrow burst into a bright flame. The archer put the arrow on the string and smoothly raised the bow to the sky. Closing his eyes, he quietly whispered: "May Afagnir bless you, Damian" The arrow, like a comet, flew straight into the sky, illuminating the gloomy night.

Inside the forest, located near the hill, opposite the loud entrance to the cave, which looked more like a huge bottomless hole than an entrance, stood a young man who had been stubbornly peering into the sky for a long time. At the moment when he finally saw a small bright dot that rapidly flew out of the hill, his gaze dropped, and his slightly trembling hands reached for the rope that led into the dark depths of the cave. Like a man with a bow, the boy held his trembling hand near the rope for a while, after which it flared up, and the fire along the rope began to move into the cave quickly.

The young man took a deep breath and gathered his strength. With his slightly trembling legs, he rushed to the river, which was already half full of a ferocious beast. Jumping between trees, moving from branch to branch, and avoiding fragile-looking trees, he soon reached the other side of the river, which the horde of animals was trying so furiously to reach.

He took a deep breath of the cold night air. His eyes began to emit a dangerous gleam. Spreading his arms to the side, he yelled as loud as he could.

-COME!!! COME, YOU HERD OF FILTHY DOGS, COME IF YOU WANT TO DIE!!!

The horde of animals, which had already completely immersed themselves in this river, sharply reacted and began to violently flounder in the water, pushing off their comrades and trying to get to the other end as quickly as possible, the sight of the prey in front of them was too sweet, and the feeling of hunger was too strong, none of the animals could resist.

But suddenly, out of nowhere, the earth trembled and moved, like in an earthquake. The waves created by vibration at first only interfered with the advancement of the herd but very quickly began to bury whole packs of giant hyenas under them. An incomparable panic began among the animals, they drove themselves right into the jaws of a natural disaster, and no one could do anything about it. The young man cast a cold glance over the river, after which, in the tone of a judge pronouncing a sentence, he said.

"Begone."

The night horizon, which was calm like a water surface a second ago, was lit up by the fire. Huge columns of flames, like a towering phoenix, burst out from under the bottom of the river, sweeping away everything living and non-living in its path. A furious explosion pierced the river! Water and heat mixed, forming hot steam that did not spare any mighty animals! Pillars of fire, like furious beasts, were chasing from the earth's bowels up to heaven! And the horde of beasts, which just a second ago seemed like an insurmountable disaster, the nemesis of all living things, was demolished as if it had never existed! The grandiose expanses of the river now seemed like a natural purgatory. The temperature was so tremendous and exorbitant that simply being nearby could result in instant death!

The young man who saw this fiery hell, in reality, first-hand, paradoxically, breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally relieved: "It worked, it really worked…"

But, could you imagine that this brave boy, actually, not so long ago was going to enter the university, study and perhaps even become a famous scientist, how did everything turn out like this? How did he end up here? One day he... well, you know, actually, it's quite an exciting story, so I think you'd better look at it yourself...

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A dazzling light hit the eyes of a little boy standing in front of the parting red curtains. Human faces, cameras, and spotlights were visible behind the bright light. Seeing so many unfamiliar faces for the first time, the boy was frightened and forgot how to move. The terrible size of the cameras and the spotlights shining right in his face did not inspire much courage in his childish body.

He was about to burst into tears, but a large, strong hand touched his back, after which a harsh voice sounded.

-Don't be afraid, son. You came here as a winner, so behave like a winner.

His father's words reassured the little boy. He straightened his tiny back, suppressed fear, mustered up the courage, and finally managed to step forward.

There was a loud ovation in the studio, and the same boy, shrouded in spotlights, went with his family to the sofa, which was located near a wide table made of dark oak, at which a charismatic man in a suit sat and smiled at him and his family, after which he sat down in the middle of the sofa, his mother and his father sat on his right and left, respectively, as if unconsciously protecting him.

The man in the suit raised his hand, signaling the audience to end the applause. After a couple of seconds, all the ovations died down, and the cameras focused on a charming blond man in a dark blue suit, who smiled his signature smile again, this time for the cameras.

-Good evening, dear viewers! I'm delighted to welcome you to the David Coliver late-night show!

Announced a man named in the suit, the host of this television show.

-Tonight, we have a child visiting us, but not an ordinary child! At the age of 6, he won the International Physics Olympiad for preschool children, overtaking competitors from all over the world! He became the first among his competitors at the American Physics Olympiad for primary school students, although he himself had never even been to school! He is so young, but his achievements are already shining like a star in the sky! The future of our country, the future of our science, Damian! And also his parents, father Conor Witt and beautiful mother, Martha Witt! Let's give them a round of ovations!

Thunderous applause, louder than before, erupted throughout the hall, deafening Damian. His mother smiled happily and held his hand, while his father proudly crossed his arms over his chest and lifted his head, but even he had the corners of his lips slightly pulled up.

After a few seconds, the applause died down, and the host turned back to Damian's family.

-So Damian, tell us, how it feels to beat all the most intelligent kids around the world?

The presenter spoke in a fervent voice, after which a scene that happened just a couple of hours ago flashed in the memory of our genius boy.

-At the show, you will be asked different questions about the Olympiads, remember, son, always say that you had fun and you liked it because you made a lot of new friends, and also you should always give short answers. Do you understand?

The father's voice came from the memory.

-But, I didn't make friends with anyone ... and I didn't have fun.

Damian answered timidly.

-It doesn't matter. People want to see a genius boy who looks like their own children… Although you don't understand it now, but remember, give people what they want, and in return, you will get everything you want yourself.

Father said in a stern, even voice.

-Okay…

Remembering this conversation, the boy gathered his strength and said a memorized answer.

-It was…. fun. I made a lot of friends… I liked it

Damian said in a flat, sometimes choking voice as if he had read everything from a piece of paper.

-Oh, after listening to you, I even want to participate myself! Do you think I will be able to?

The audience giggled slightly at the host's answer, after which all eyes and cameras again focused on the young genius, but unlike the cheerful audience, he had a panic on his face along with stress. He was shaking and asking in his head: "What should I answer ???? What do they want to hear???"

He clenched his fists, which until then lay peacefully on his knees. Sweat appeared on his forehead. The pupils narrowed, trying to find at least some support, he looked at his father, but he gave him only a stern and angry look, in which the words could be read: "Say something already!"

Not finding support in his father's figure, the boy only panicked even more, completely lost in the maze of his own thoughts and fears, and, having come to nothing reasonable, blurted out what first came to his mind.

-No…

The whole hall immediately burst into loud laughter. The presenter made a strange, offended, but at the same time funny grimace and shifted his gaze from him to the audience, which caused even more joviality from the crowd, his father smiled normally for the first time in the entire program, and his mother giggled quietly into her fist, the boy was confused, he did not understand what he said so funny, but since everyone liked it, and even his father smiled, then everything was fine, probably...

The presenter, after waiting for the audience to finish laughing, asked the nervous boy.

-But why, Damian, do you think I'm stupid?

Faced with another question he didn't know how to answer, this time, he didn't panic as much, although his hands were shaking a bit.

Deciding that he needed to answer as quickly as possible, Damian looked down, moved his fingers a little, and said what seemed most logical to him at that moment.

-Well… adults aren't allowed in there, that's why…

The reaction of the audience was immediate, but this time instead of laughter, people made a sound incomprehensible to Damian, which sounded something like "Owwww"

As the young genius will find out later, this sound means that people saw something cute, and his reaction seemed extremely sweet to the audience.

-Oh, so that's the point! What a relief!

The host deliberately sighed, returned his face to the standard smiling look, and then continued.

-Now a question for the parents, tell me, what did you experience when you learned about the victory of your son?

Conor, Damian's father, turned his upturned head, forced a smile on it, and began to speak slowly.

-We were extremely delighted and proud of our son. We did not expect that he would be able to achieve such high results because initially, we thought it was just his little wish, and he wanted to try it himself, but he exceeded all our expectations, which was very pleasant. As well as…

Damian's father continued his speech about how unexpected it was and how proud and happy he was, while Damian was sitting a little discouraged at that moment. Because Damian did not "try himself" at this Olympiad, his father initially set a goal for him - first place and no other, and it was not "his" little wish, his father signed him up for the competition, and his father also forced him to prepare. Trying to understand why his father says all these strange things, he concluded that his father says what these people want to hear, probably. The only explanation that came to little Damian's head was what his father told him.

After a couple more questions from the host, a couple of jokes, and a discussion of what Damian likes to eat, during which the boy himself only occasionally nodded his head and didn't insert a single word, the interview ended. Under the last round of loud applause, the family returned to a backstage, from where they first came out.

Still a little nervous after the performance, the boy flinched as his father's hand landed on his shoulder again.

-You showed yourself well, son, both at the Olympiads and here. I am indeed very proud of you.

The even, stern voice of the father sounded with notes of pride in it. From what he heard, little Damian flinched. Without realizing it, a wide smile appeared on his small childish face, small tears began to accumulate in the corners of his eyes, and his body trembled slightly.

The feeling of praise, and recognition of your titanic efforts, especially from such an important and close person, was pleasant, extremely pleasant. Damian realized this for the first time today.