The Adventurous Duo

T-5 Days to Incident

#En Route to School

Tom was walking even slower than the days when his body hurt badly. He was still unsure if he really wanted to go to school or not.

"But attendance is a matter! Three strikes and my parents will be called. Shit!"

His body was walking, but his mind was pulling in the opposite direction. He moped for some time before coming to a complete halt. Suddenly, he felt the urge to become a pious saint. The whole world became meaningless.

"I haven’t visited the cemetery for such a long time. Remembering the dead is a good way to value one’s life. I should increase my spirituality; it’s better than wasting my time getting beat by some hooligan."

High on the epiphany, Tom took an about-turn and briskly walked toward the bus stop. Bus 334 would take him to a stop called Mount Virgil; he would have to travel quite some distance toward the rural area.

The late King El Hakim had, by royal decree, nominated this town as the cemetery for the province of Ayodale. People from various religious denominations would come here to lay their deceased loved ones to their final rest. People called it Mathwah Al-Aakhir (the final resting place).

Among the many places where Tom loved to pass his lonely, anxious times was this cemetery town at the foot of Mount Virgil. A cemetery named Shishanoryouiki (the realm of the dead) always appealed to his soul for inner peace.

The idea behind the cemetery was to keep it as natural and rustic as possible. There were no definitive structures made from stone or concrete. Some tombstones, here and there—some were new, some worn out, and some broken and in ruins. Many graves didn’t even have any markings, but a few plants or tree branches marked their boundaries. There was nothing to renovate.

Once someone was laid to rest and a tombstone was in place, no more work on it was allowed.

"Just let nature take its own course," was the idea.

Many years passed, and a sea of catkins engulfed the vast area, along with hazel, yew, pine, cypress, and willow trees. However, these trees were native to this part of the land and grew in abundance without human care—perfect for supernatural and ghostly encounters!

The moldy, worn-out tombstones stood as testaments to the mortals who once pridefully roamed the earth. The town was at the foot of Mt. Virgil. If someone followed up the gradually elevated path leading to the mountain peak, they would see the sea of catkins thinned out and replaced by the bizarre willows that looked like an army of giant snipers camouflaged in crouching positions inside bushes, with their exceptionally elongated droopy branches hanging downward, almost touching the ground.

The eerie figures of the trees would give you chills even during the day. The melancholic gloom that hung in the atmosphere ensnared the lone visitors in a hypnotic daze. They would wander around inside the Shishanoryouiki like mindless zombies.

The yew trees were natural in the region. Standing tall and thick like some ancient sentinel, they kept a careful watch over the realm of the dead. The over-100-meter-tall cypress trees looked like pagodas leading dead to the land of Nirvana. The evergreen pine trees symbolized the immortality of the deceased souls. A mist often clouded the view due to the cemetery’s nearness to the mountain.

Today, too, it was misty. The bizarre blanket of fog couldn’t stop Tom. He loved it here. After disembarking from the bus, he walked toward the entrance of the Mathwah Al-Aakhir. There were hardly any visitors at this hour. A few morticians were stationed at the office near the entrance. Once he crossed the gates, it was like a spooky ghost town. Tom didn’t need any permission to enter. He slowly walked past the mortician’s office, discreetly.

"Who knows what would happen? I’m wearing my school uniform. I can't take any chances," he said. He was acting so wise while skipping school! Mind blowing!

As Tom entered the Shishanoryouiki, a gusty wind almost blew him away. Although it was enough for any boy of his age to shit his pants, it felt very welcoming, as if it came running forward to embrace an esteemed guest.

A sweet, refreshing, and pleasant smell rode the wings of the pleasing zephyr. As he walked to the depths of Shishanoryouiki, the mild smell of sweet honey, citrus, and mint seeped into the atmosphere and wafted to his nose. Closing his eyes, he inhaled and exhaled deeply and slowly a few times.

"Is it the willows?"

Tom tried to figure out which tree was this fragrant. As he walked past a few pine trees, he felt a musky scent. He tore through the fog blanket to identify the tree. "Ah! It’s pine."

The release of pinene from the pine needles was what caused the aroma.

As Tom walked past some cypress, he sensed the woody, refreshing aroma.

"Ah! I sooo love this aroma!"

He walked toward one of the trees and rubbed his body against it. He was having an otherworldly affinity for nature in here. He felt like melting into the surrounding environment, becoming one with the earth and the air.

"I want to smell like them—so refreshing. I wish I could be one of these trees!"

He hugged the tree as far as he could and kissed it. He wanted to blend into the tree and become one.

"My life would’ve been so nice if I were a tree in this graveyard!"

He walked for many hours. His feet were too tired as he climbed to the peak. He sat down by a willow tree. He had his trusted pillow, the school bag, with him. So he simply laid down and fell into a deep slumber.

Many hours passed. Tom slept like the seven young men in the cave and their dog. According to one of the ancient scriptures, these young men ran away from oppression, took refuge inside a cave, and slept for almost seven hundred years. Tom slept away from his troubling thoughts and the bullies; he slept the most beautiful sleep of his life. He didn’t want to wake up to the nasty and harsh reality. So slept Tom, like a log.

How long he slept was not known to him; suddenly, a call for help seemed to break his untimely but comfortable nap. He rubbed his eyes and tried to listen to the voice. A female voice. Where is it coming from?

He looked around, confused. He tried to listen again.

“Help…help! Somebody!” He felt he knew the voice. So, he stood up, took his school bag, and followed the voice. The call for help had turned into a mumbled sob.

"Holy heavens! What is this ghostly phenomenon?"

Tom moved cautiously through the jungle of whispering willows. Suddenly, the fog inside the Shishanoryouiki became unmercifully thick. The blanket of fog completely impaired his vision. He couldn’t see where he was going. Only the ghostly, ethereal sob drew him closer, step by step.

#Cacey at the bus stop

Two or three buses went by, but Cacey remained on the bench in the shed. People, as they boarded the bus, kept looking at her with eyes full of questions. Cacey couldn’t care less. A battle of conflicting thoughts ensued, as if her mind were traveling through the roaring forties.

Her troubled countenance, perched throat, and pearl-like drops of sweat on her temple were manifestations of her inner battle. Like a vessel rolling with the ocean waves, Cacey slowly walked to where the next bus was supposed to stop. Everything was a daze for her. She just stood there like a statue with her inner raging conflicts.

The bus to Ogologos halted at the stop with a faint screech. Cacey was half-determined about going to school today. She boarded the bus, rang her travel card at the door, and took a seat at the back. It was way past the morning rush hour.

"Classes must have already started," thought Cacey, and her reluctance got another reason to go up a few notches.

As the scenes on both sides of the road swished past her into a distant blur, she decided to just let the bus take her where its last stop was.

Cacey looked at the list of bus stops printed above the door frame. The name Armital was a glowing reminder of the last stoppage of the bus. It was a very small, neat, and clean town near Akunomori by the Sunsunhan. There were no tall buildings. The houses were single-story—some big and some small. They were very dispersedly built. The population wasn’t dense either. The town of Armital had a rustic vibe to it as it was closer to the rural countryside. It stood at the border of Ayodale province, but the real countryside wouldn’t begin until a few hundred kilometers away. This was quite a distance to visit alone.

"I wish that boy was with me today as well." She thought. "With his timid nature, I could have the same sensation as yesterday! What a bummer." She was enjoying the memory of their last venture together.

As the bus was passing by the bus stop in front of Ogologos High, she peered out the window on her side with an anxious hope to see the boy once again, but...

"Ah! He isn’t here today. Wait! What if he went to school already? Am I the only one playing hooky then?" She looked out the window toward an unseen distance and said, "He would be a cheater if he did! I won't like him then. He would be a traitor. Tsk! I wish I had his number so I could talk to him now."

She was half expecting the boy to be there. But there was definitely at least half a hope in her heart that she wanted to see the boy standing just like yesterday.

"What a coward boy he is! He had so many chances to talk to me, yet he took none! How sad I am! Anyway, forget it! I’ll just play all by myself." She puffed her cheeks with fake resentment.

She didn’t know Tom was also playing hooky but at a different place, very far away, in the opposite direction.