Matchstick

Erua ran across the hallways of the old school, speeding up as he passed through the entrance hall and reached the back of the building with only one goal in mind, reaching Tante before he changed his mind about the bet. Erua really needed those 40 kronens that his school-mate promised if he wanted to make amends with his mother, as he had ruined a family vase doing something that he was forbidden from showing anyone.

And there he was, Tante. The Easily spotted blonde hair would stand out in any crowd, but not more than what he wore, it wasn’t the attire itself that was remarkable, but it’s spotlessness, why would the son of a businessman wear anything but the best in town? You can always buy new shoes when the maid can’t clean the old ones. He had an air of superiority not even the mayor’s son could look pass, rich folk aren’t hard to spot in a small town.

For Erua it didn’t make a difference as almost everyone in town treated him like an outsider for the way he looked. It wasn’t the shape of his face or the way his lanky body moved but the Color of his eyes. His mother used to say God wanted to show the color of his soul to everyone, a light blue for his kindness and a slight Brown for his love of the Land but he couldn’t pick a color, so he had both.

“You look exhausted” Tante said mockingly.

"Do you have the money?" Erua muttered between breaths, attempting to pretend the run had not taken its toll on him. "My mother said your family is known for keeping their Word, that's the only reason I agreed to this."

 “Yeah yeah, I know, you’ll get your kronens after you show it” he told Erua

“And…?”

“And I’m not telling anyone, that’s a family promise” he whispered.

And so they went into the woods and a salient walk entailed, they had a few conversations but never outside of school as their lives back home were as similar as water and oil. But it wasn’t their unfamiliarity with each other what stopped them from engaging in a conversation, it was Tante’s uncertainty and Erua’s excitement to show someone new his trick that kept them silent. Before they knew it, they found an opening.

“Is this spacious enough?” Tante said as the wind started to pick up on the open space.

“More than enough, I’ve never done this outside of my house” Erua said as he started raising his had…

“Wait! Am I far enough? You said you practiced but you are still a Moron and I don’t want to end up like your mother’s vase” Tante asked while taking a few steps back.

“I don’t want to talk about Salna now” Erua groaned “That’s a good distance, now shut up. I need silence”

Erua raised his right hand forward and stood still; the wind was blowing forcefully as Tante's heartbeats quickened, and before he realized it, he was staring at something worth far more than 40 kronens, which he had no idea how he felt about. He considered running, but his gaze remained fixed on the three light blue grape sized spheres, they were hovering above Erua's palm, looking as though they were an extension of his fingers.

Tante fell on his butt as he walked slowly backwards. Erua laughed and exclaimed “Are you scared, I can do tricks also, but that’s going to cost you a bit more”.

“How?” Tante yelled as he had forgotten how to form full sentences and a thousand reasons lingered on his head trying to find some logic to what he was seeing. He wondered if Erua was a god or was touched by one, but the biggest question on his mind was “why aren’t you making money out of this?”

“Salna forbid me from showing anyone, I asked her if I could show it to Lanette but she slapped me for even asking” Erua said “You are lucky your family relies on their reputation, the son the biggest businessman in town can’t have a family of liars”.

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“What tricks can you do? Can you fly? How about mind-reading?” Tante said with a mix of sarcasm but incertitude as well.

“I wish, but it’s nothing more, this is hard enough!” Erua exclaimed as a few drops of sweat fell down his face. You could see the toll it was taking on his body as the floating spheres had a weight of their own. “I can flick them”.

“Flick them? Like buggers?” Tante asked

“Yes! Pick a tree, a dead one please.”

“That one! How’s your aim?” Tante said while trying to guess the distance to the tree, it wouldn’t be more than 15 meters.

Erua flicked one of the spheres forward and it went straight to the tree. At this point Tante expected the tree to be torn from the ground or an explosion big enough to push them back so he threw his body to the floor, but nothing like that happened. It was as if the tree wasn’t there, the sphere went right through it and vanished, not without leaving a burning hole small enough to stick a finger.

Smoke was still coming out of the hole when Erua said “Mom was scared I’d burn the house down, but doing this in the yard wasn’t an option”. His hand relaxed as he dropped it down, the spheres disappeared and so did the strong winds that were now just a light breeze fitting for the weather that day.

“Can you teach me?” Tante begged already on his knees “I can get a lot of kronens, a lot lot.” As he stood up and started walking towards his now intriguing new friend, he was stopped by a slight smirk on Erua’s face.

 “I’m sorry, only morons can do it” Erua said, as his smirk had turned into a belly laugh. “You rich folk always try to fix things with money, how about another bet?”

“C’mon, I’ll do anything, just tell me what to do”

“I’ll give you the secret for 300 kronens, if you can pull it off, I’ll give it back” Erua then approached Tante and copped his hands near his ear and almost whispering told him “I want you to picture the town bell… Do you remember the yellow flowers next to it? Those are Daffodils…”

“Yeah... But I don’t know what this has to do with…”

“Shut up and listen, I want you try to remember their smell” Erua said in a tone so sincere Tante had no option but to take him seriously. Tante raised his hand as Erua took a few steps back, even he was unsure of how likely it was to happen.

The sweat started dropping from Tante’s face as nothing he was doing was working, he jumped, he ran,  he dropped to the ground and rolled around, not even sure if he was trying anymore or if he was just having a tantrum. Nothing could change the fact that those three blue spheres wouldn’t appear for him, no matter how hard he pushed himself.

“you’ll ruin your clothes if you keep doing that, I told you, this thing is something special, now… where’s my money?” Erua said as he extended his hand towards Tante that was still on the ground. Tante looked at the hands of that simple towner with disgust, he was embarrassed, not by his own behavior but by the wonder of what he had just witnessed- and it came from none other than a simple tower, what a shame.

Even though he was out of breath, he stood up on his own. Out of shame or pride, unsure witch one felt heavier on his heart. Once again He could fill his lungs to the fullest at least once or twice and before he could say anything…

The town bell, rang. It rang a few times erratically, something the town’s collider wasn’t known to do.

Amenor Elequien was the town’s collider, a man designated by the king himself- or so he says. He’s tasked with the safety of the town in the name of the king, his pointy nose and big ears seemed fitting for the job, as no secret would travel far before reaching him, some were pardoned and others never seen again. As far as Erua knew, he was the last person his secrets should reach, advice from his mother Salna that he had taken to heart.

The boys ran dodging trees and jumping twigs. “I’m giving the kronens to Salna, this will make our year, and you know that, right?” Erua said while wondering how long it would take them to reach the town center.

“So you trust my family…”

“No, I trust you” Erua exclaimed. Tante smiled.

It was only a few minutes' walk, but each bell ring felt like a noose tightening, as this wasn’t a simple town gathering; had someone died? No one, not even the mayor, would get a reaction like this. As each theory in their minds developed into something darker and darker, they stumbled upon Salna and some of Erua’s neighbors.

"There you are! You were meant to return home right away”. Salsa practically shouted, attracting the attention of several people who walked towards the bell. "Why are you coming out of the woods? What did I tell you?" she asked in a hushed tone, sensing the attention brought to her.

Salna was a tall woman, she stood half a head above her husband, and also most of the town, her broad shoulders only contrasted with her kind nature and soft spoken attitude. As weird as it sounded, it was uncommon for such a tall-standing woman to raise her voice, something Erua had finally picked up on.

“What’s the collider doing? Who died?” Erua asked expecting a quick answer that Salna promptly gave him "Amenor spotted the king's guard coming this way, he claimed it’s protocol to gather the whole town as the king might decide to make a statement”

“The king leaving the Tark Palace is news on its own, why would he come here?” Erua asked while pointing to the old Inn that not even travelers dared to set a foot in. “He’s got no business coming over here”

“I don’t know, but they'll be here at noon."