Firebird - Chapter 3

As promised, here is the 3rd chapter of 'Firebird'. This one took me a little while. I hope you like it.

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Chapter 3 - In The (Bad) Mood


'Hello?'


All was dark. Jason walked around in what seemed to be a large expanse of darkness, of nothingness. How he got there, he did not know. All he knew was that he wanted to get out of there.


'Uh, is there anyone...or anything...here?' Jason called out again into the darkness, his voice echoing long into the distance. Jason waited. There was no response. He turned around and began walking in an entirely different direction.


And that's when he heard it.


A faint whooshing sound came to his ears. He turned and saw, in the distance, an reddish-orange glow. It grew closer and closer, the whooshing sound growing louder. The darkness was no longer dark, for a great mass of fire was racing towards Jason. Jason turned to run, but it was pointless. The fire was upon him.


The fire circled around Jason, cutting off any escape. The fire grew close to him, curious.

'Oi, you stay where you are!' shouted Jason. The fire stopped for a second and regarded him. Then, it pounced, knocking him down on the ground. Jason tried to get away, but the fire pinned his arms and legs in place. It crept along his clothing, covering him. It approached his face. Jason opened his mouth and tried to scream. But, nothing came out. Instead, the fire jumped in.


Jason awoke with a start, breathing heavily and sweating profusely. He turned to look out the window. It was early in the morning, at that time when it appears to be a sort of morning twilight, being no longer night but yet not quite dawn. That terrible dream had forced him awake. He didn't feel like trying to go back to sleep. The dream might resurface again if he went to sleep too soon.


Jason got out of bed quietly, trying not to disturb Kalani. He walked slowly across the floor, his socked feet nearly silent. All was going well until he got near the bedroom door; that's when the floorboard squeaked. Jason muttered under his breath. Kalani stirred in her bed.


"Jason, are you alright?" asked Kalani, who yawned and opened her eyes. "It's rather early."


"Ah, you know, the early bird catches the worm, as the saying goes."


"True, very true. What an interesting thing for a human to say. But, I can sense you are not in the greatest of moods." replied Kalani, who walked over to him. She looked into his eyes. "Something is bothering you."


With a sigh, Jason just nodded slowly. "Come on, let's go sit out back. The cool air might help." Jason led Kalani down the stairs and outside the house. He sat down on the grass, motioning for Kalani to sit down next to him. He looked up at the stars in the sky, which were gradually fading as dawn approached. "And yes, there is something bothering me. For one thing, I had a bad dream just a few minutes ago."


"Oh? What happened?"


"I was in a dark, empty place. It was dark and quiet for awhile, but then a wave of fire came and swallowed me up. It was rather terrifying, I must say." Jason looked at Kalani. She didn't respond right away, obviously deep in thought. Jason had no idea what she was thinking. Kalani didn't have any of the facial cues that a human would, which made it all the more difficult. A minute or so passed before Kalani responded.


"Hmm...I think it might be a sign."


"A sign of what?"


"I can't tell you yet, unfortunately." she said mysteriously. "I do not want to say anything lest I am wrong about my suspicions."


"Uh...alright." Jason said uncomfortably. Kalani knew what it meant, but she wouldn't tell him. That was obviously more than just a bad dream...it's as she said. It has some serious significance...but what?


"But there is yet something else that troubles you." Kalani said, breaking Jason from his confused thoughts. "Is it anything that I can help you with?"


"Oh, no. I was just worried about employment. I got fired from my job two days ago. Now I need to go find another one...which I'll probably fail at as well."


"Such harsh words, Jason. You are too hard on yourself." Kalani put her wing around him.
"You do not seem like one who fails."


"Yeah, well I am. I'm not good at anything." Jason said tersely.


"Well, you know, I once felt as you do now."


"What? I don't believe that. You're perfect. How can you fail?" he asked, incredulous. Kalani gave a short chirp that sounded rather like a laugh. She shook her head.


"Although I'm quite flattered that you view me that way, Jason, I'm far from perfect. And what I say is true. For a long while, I felt like a failure. Shall I explain?"


"Yeah...go ahead. Don't know if it will make me feel any better, though." he replied.


"Okay, I shall begin..."


The realm of the firebirds. which is called Skryvia, is a very large place, much larger than Earth. There are colonies upon colonies of firebirds there, and each firebird performs a certain task within his or her colony. But, they are not assigned a task at random...no, for if that were the case, the task would likely be in the hands of one who did not have the aptitude for it. Instead, each firebird tries tasks until they find one that both suits their preferences and natural skills.


Kalani had awaited with eagerness her 20th year, which is the age where young firebirds are allowed to start searching for the task that suits them best...the task in which they will personally contribute the most to the colony. She had long admired the weavers...their abilities with fabric being quite phenomenal. So, as soon as she could, Kalani went to the weaver house and expressed a desire to try the task.


Well, she expected some difficulty, of course, seeing as it was completely new to her. It was tricky, and the loom looked very confusing. One of the weavers showed her how to use the loom, but she did not pay close enough attention, for as soon as she tried to do it, the loom jammed. Not wanting to lose her dignity, Kalani decided to see if she could fix it by herself. And that was her first mistake. In the course of trying to clear the jam, the loom broke. The resulting snapping noise got the attention of the weavers. They were very upset of course, but like most firebirds, they did not yell nor deal harshly with her. Apologizing profusely, Kalani went back home.


As Kalani ate the evening meal with her parents, her mother suggested that she try something else the following day. And so she did.


The next thing that Kalani tried was cooking. She had learned some basic cooking skills from her mother. But she wanted to try and cook like the experts. So she went to the culinary school and asked to try her wing at that. The first little while was uneventful, and they had her practising simple food preparation. That was alright. But when it came to actually make the dish, however, everything seemed to go wrong. She wasn't completely careful with her fire and she managed to overcook the dish. Upon trying to clean up the mess, she accidentally knocked over a bunch of plates and utensils. Again, Kalani apologized and went her way.


And so, she tried several tasks, one after the other. Each time Kalani messed up, she became more and more disheartened. One day, after another failed attempt, she decided to go to the Serenity Garden. Each colony has a lush garden in their city. The purpose of a Serenity Garden is pretty obvious from the name: it's a place for one to escape their troubles and to find peace and serenity. However, Kalani was quite upset, and her troubles did not flee from her. Instead, they weighed heavily on her, and she began to cry. Now, any other time she had been there, Kalani had been completely alone. This day, she was not.


"Young Kalani, what troubles you?" asked a soft voice from behind. She turned, surprised. It was the colony elder, Yuran.


"Oh, Elder Yuran. It's...oh, I'm just not good at anything."


"Well, young one, that is simply not true, despite how strongly you may feel about it." He smiled warmly. "Everyone is good at something."


"But, I've tried so many different tasks...and failed miserably. There's hardly anything left, and even if I tried anything else, I'd probably fail at that too."


"Now, now. What do you really like to do, more than anything else?"

"Well, I really love to read and write." she said, trying to compose herself.


"Why don't you go to the Eloi-Shandraiyan Library in Ranouia? It's a large library, and they could always use some help there. Besides, new things are being written all the time. Who knows? You might even write something yourself, and have it become available in the library for all to read and enjoy."


"That...that actually sounds like a good idea. Maybe I should try that, then." said Kalani, her tears stopped. The thought that there was still something out there that she would be able to do gave her some much needed confidence. "Thanks, Elder Yuran!"


"No problem, young Kalani. Have a joyous evening. Good flight to you." replied Yuran.

Kalani returned home and spoke with her parents about what Elder Yuran had said. Deciding that it indeed was a good idea, they encouraged her to travel to Ranouia. A day or two later, after some preparations, her parents saw her off. Kalani, determined and imbued with fresh confidence, applied at the Great Eloi-Shandraiyan Library. Kalani excelled at working in the library, and, after a short trial period, she was fully accepted as one of the staff...


"And thus, I found my place, my true calling," Kalani spoke softly as she watched the sunrise, "and I no longer feel like a failure. Because of Elder Yuran's sage advice, I realize that the best thing to do is to find something that you really like to do. Those other tasks were a bit of a novelty to me, and I thought that they would be the best thing for me. But even if I hadn't had failed at them, I still might not have been as happy as I could be."


"So...you believe in me?" asked Jason.


"Of course, I do." replied Kalani. "True, we may have been in each other's company for a short time, but yes, I think you'll do fine in whatever you choose to do. But, the key is to choose what you want, not accept what you want. Accepting is pretty much like giving up automatically. Choosing is another matter. If you choose it, no doubt you'll fight and endure and do your best."


"Thank you, Kalani. Your words are much appreciated. You certainly have some good advice to give, I have to say."


"Well, I am a learned firebird, and I've had the past 90 or so years to learn a thing or two." Kalani said lightly.


"90 years? What...but...huh?"


"Oh, I guess you don't know. My current age is 110. But, a firebird who is 110 would be equivalent to a 22 year old human, in respect to lifespan. So, I'm actually, in a sense, close to your age....maybe a year or two younger."


"That's...interesting..." said Jason, who was rendered nearly speechless. As the sun peeked over the horizon, Jason yawned. "Perhaps we could try getting a bit more sleep? I could use a few nightmare-free hours."


"That sounds like a good idea, Jason." replied Kalani. Returning to the bedroom, they each returned to their respective beds, falling asleep almost instantly.


This time, there was no fire.

Another very interesting segment to the story is this. I like how deep you've made these characters to be. I think Kalani should have narrated that account about her life in first person instead of it being in third person. I feel it would make the account more personal, since I'm sure you'll pick up from there later in the story. You've done well to keep my interest alive yet again. Well done and keep writing,



Abbas

You know, I originally had her account in first person, but then I decided at the last minute to change it to third person. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea. >_>