It was a time not close to any holiday in the year, but the children in the small rural town were more excited than ever. Gathered by the town hall that doubled as their classroom, the kids eagerly pushed desks and chairs outside with family members, leaving a large, brightly lit space indoors for only a pair of adults to occupy.
The two adults, dressed in matching dusty traveling clothes, were skillfully assembling a variety of odd equipment that attracted many glances from the outside. As all of the regular classroom furniture were cleared out, the pair had successfully set up a podium, a door-like stone slab with markings that resembled a giant ruler, and a watermelon-sized transparent orb that wobbled slightly upon its metallic stand.
As one of the adults moved in to adjust the orb stand, the other walked to the doorway of the town hall, and called out to the crowd: “Attention please, everybody!”
Everyone immediately quieted down, giving full attention to the somewhat tired looking traveler lady, even though she appeared to be younger than most of the grown members in each family.
“We’re just about ready to begin, but first, could all of the attendees for the ceremony line up right in front of me here? No shoving please!”
The children from every family ran out nearly in unison, and quickly formed a single line while squealing in anticipation. The traveler lady then gave instructions for them to move inside in an orderly manner, which were followed precisely, resulting in an array of noisy happy kids all facing the podium.
“Good job everybody!” The traveler lady complimented the children, then turned towards the remaining adults outside. “Parents and guardians, please remain calm for a moment, we will be calling you in when your child——”
“WAIT!”
A tanned man with gray hair sprinted down the road leading to the town hall’s doors, dragging a child along with each hand. The crowd parted in front of him, allowing this man to stop just in front of the traveler lady, gasp loudly, and say: “Sorry for bein’ late, I was tryna find these two.”
“No worries. And you are…?”
“The mayor.”
“Oh.” The traveler lady moved aside, then gestured for the man to enter: “Please come in, Mr. Mayor, we’ve been expecting you.”
The mayor nodded, then dragged the children he was holding into the town hall, his hands firmly grasping their wrists.
“Apologies. As I was saying, we will be calling out for family members when it’s your child’s turn for the ceremony. But first, we need to have the speech that hopefully all of you have had back in the day…”
While the traveler lady spoke to the families, her partner, a stocky man with a bushy beard, managed to fix the orb stand in the corner. He then faced the mayor, and reached for a handshake: “Good to see you again, Mr. Mayor.”
“Thanks for droppin’ by for another year, Nick.” The mayor pulled one child around his body, adjusting to grab two wrists on one side, then completed the handshake with his one free hand. “‘Tis gonna be one heck of a busy year for ya.”
“That’s why I called in backup.” Nick pointed his chin at the traveler lady. “New grad, came along for experience, already taking over half my job.”
The lady walked up to them just as Nick spoke his last sentence. “Please just call me Kaylen, Mr. Mayor.”
“Good to meet ya.” The mayor replied as he let go of the two children he brought along. “You mind if I let these two sit up front an’ go last in line?”
“Of course, but why?” Kaylen looked puzzled.
“Troublemakers, the two of them.” Nick chuckled. “Even I’ve heard of them.”
The mayor sat the kids down onto the floor right by his leg, then said to Kaylen: “I just got ‘em away from scissors n’ me best wool socks, ya know. Anyhoo, we startin’?”
“About time.” Nick looked around the room and noticed the children were getting impatient. He immediately approached the podium in quick strides and cleared his throat to quiet the hall again.
“Hello there everyone, my name’s Nick. I know you’re all very excited today, and that’s for a really good reason. Does anyone know why?”
“IT’S TALENTS AWAKENING DAY!” The children screamed together.
“And why is it important?”
The answers were less in unison, but they were all some variation of ‘once in a lifetime’.
“Very good! Now, can anyone raise their hand and tell me, why does a Talent matter so much?”
One kid raised his hand and said: “It shows the best thing you can do in life!”
Another replied: “It gives you superpowers!”
“You live longer the better you get at it!”
“You can slap your uncle if your Talent is better than——”
“Now, now, that’s all accurate answers,” Nick hurriedly cut off the last response. “But that’s not all there is to Talents. Kaylen over here is a really good expert on the subject, and I’ll let her explain everything. How’s that sound?”
Kaylen took her spot behind the podium amongst screeches of excitement.
“Now, I do see that all of you know a LOT about Talents already, and that is awesome!” Kaylen’s first sentence sounded a little shaky, but she quickly settled into a more steady tone of voice as she began to talk about her area of expertise. “However, even though everybody in the world has a Talent, it doesn’t mean that everyone will like what they have, and it doesn’t mean that they can be really really good at using their Talent like a superpower. People can be good at many things after all, and not being able to just focus on one isn’t an issue.”
“Besides all that, not every Talent is a skill, because people are different. Some people have objects as their Talent, some people have animals or even concepts as a Talent, and some Talents are things we’ve never ever seen before. Because there are so many different types of Talents, not all of them can make you live longer, but if you have one, better be sure to stay healthy, and eat your veggies.”
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
When the wave of groans and whines subsided, Kaylen continued on: “As a way to tell how good you are at using your Talent compared to other people, we also use what’s called a point system to make things clear. Do note that it’s not a competition and it doesn’t mean you’re the best, but we’re also going to test you on it today, so here’s a question: can everyone count to a hundred?”
“YES!”
“Great job! Now, if you look around here, you can see this big round orb. When you come up later, please put both hands on the orb, and it’s going to show you what your Talent is. After that, come put your hands on the big big block of rock here, and it’ll tell you a number, and that’s your starting Talent point. We won’t tell anyone else your score besides your family, and you can tell your friends later only if you want to, okay?”
“YES!”
“Okay, now I’ll start calling out names, and please come up if you hear your name, does that sound good?”
Kaylen then stepped back from the podium and looked nervously at Nick. “Was that talk good enough?”
“Not bad for your first full speech.” Nick patted her shoulder. “I would use even easier words for the kids though, but you covered enough technical information, so just remember to be more relaxed and friendly, alright?”
“Yes, thank you.” Kaylen sighed in relief, but just as she turned around to look at the name list for the group of children, the mayor reached it first and swiftly crossed out two names with a prepared pen.
“Sorry lass, but I need two of ‘em lil buggers to go last, it’s punishment.” The mayor explained.
“W-why? Was it the two that you brought along?” Kaylen stuttered. Nick took one meaningful look at the mayor, then took the name list for himself.
“Aye, gotta keep ‘em in sight as long as can do, the whole town’s gon’ appreciate it.”
“They can’t be that much trouble, right? They’re just kids.” Kaylen asked in a low voice, as Nick began to beckon the first child and their family members toward him.
“Stole every denture in town n’ threw ‘em in the pig pen, they did.” The mayor replied.
“Oh…”
“Also started growin’ weeds in my yard, said it’s for ‘experimentation’ n’ whatnot. Spent all fertilizer on their lil’ dirt patch, ended up havin’ a half dozen houses rebuilt n’ all…that ain’t even the worst parts.” The mayor grumbled, appearing to Kaylen as if he could start an hours-long rant right then and there. She muttered a brief apology and retreated towards Nick.
“...and now, keep looking at the orb like that, and take deep breaths, as slowly as you can.” Nick was directing the first child in line on what to do. “Now look at that, what’s the thing in your hand?”
The child, lifting both hands up from the surface of the orb, had somehow pulled an object out from within.
“It’s a…a piece of folded…tablecloth?”
Nick, who had been acting as the mature experienced figure throughout the day, looked visibly confused by this strange revelation. He cleared his throat several times, then blinked very rapidly, eventually accepting the reality that he had been presented with. “Very well then, it is still something that can be useful to you in daily life. Now come towards this slab, yes. Both hands on the surface…good! And here’s your Talent point score.”
He had taken the pen from the mayor a few moments earlier, and was now scribbling something on a blank strip of paper. He folded the paper into quarters, then handed it to the child’s family as he led them all out of the town hall.
“Next!” Kaylen took advantage of the temporary pause and called out to the next child. She had glimpsed at the name list and remembered a few names near the top.
This child had awakened the Talent to levitate their body exactly three centimeters off the ground, and instead of providing a tangible product, the orb simply reflected a vision of the child performing this skill. Again, their Talent point score was written on a piece of paper and given to the family on their way out of the town hall.
The third child received a singular carrot as their Talent, and had to be physically carried out by Nick as his clothes were smudged with tears and snot from the child’s hysterical crying.
The town hall became emptier as the children all completed their Talent awakening. Although it didn’t take long for an individual to go through the procedures, the entire group still took a significant amount of time altogether. By the time there were only two kids left, the sun had already begun to set over the horizon.
The two kids were the ones specifically left until the end by the mayor. Due to the fact that their names were crossed out on the name list, Kaylen hesitated while trying to think of a way to call them over without sounding impolite.
“Oi! Come’ere!” Luckily for Kaylen, the mayor did the calling before she continued to trouble over pronouns. “Get this done quick, then we gon’ have a LONG chat back home.”
The two kids cowered in guilt. Kaylen, sensing their emotions, decided to step in and distract: “there’s no need to be scared, the awakening ceremony doesn’t hurt at all!”
“I know, otherwise every single one of them that did it before us would’ve started crying.” One of the children, a boy that looked to be about seven years old, said loudly. He had a head of sandy brown hair that resembled a bird’s nest, and wore a pair of glasses that had no lenses. He was missing a front tooth, and made no effort to hide the gap when he spoke.
The mayor stomped towards them rather grumpily. “What’s holdin’ y’all up?!”
“He wanna cry!” The other child, a girl that looked no older than five, pointed a finger at the boy. She had her dark hair in a messy hairdo that appeared likely to be a former braid, and wore a pink dress that would have complimented her bright blue eyes, if it wasn’t covered in dust and mud stains.
“I didn’t!” The boy immediately shouted at her.
“Totally did!”
“Amara!” The mayor yelled at the girl. “Behave!”
“So your name is Amara?” Kaylen asked before any more yelling could take place.
“Yeah.” The boy answered. “And my name’s Pauley! Because my dad’s Paul and mom’s Ashley!”
The mayor sighed, then ran his fingers along the lines on his forehead.
“That’s…interesting!” Kaylen forced a smile onto her face. “And why were you with Mr. Mayor?”
“Amara’s from my house.” The mayor stepped in to explain. “Me n’ my wife’s known Pauley’s family for years now, and his parents asked me to look after him while they worked me yard. These two are just trouble together, ask anyone in town and you’d know.”
“Sorry.”
The pair of kids apologized in perfect sync. Both hung their heads low, the angles exact, almost as if they'd rehearsed and practiced this pose for a long time prior to this moment.
Kaylen has now learned the reason why the mayor had to keep a close eye on these children. She coughed awkwardly, then remembered what her original intention was. “Now, who wants to-”
“NO!” The mayor tried to stop Kaylen from finishing her sentence, but he was too late; the pair of children already charged towards the orb stand, while hitting each other simultaneously. Amara nearly ended up yanking Pauley’s shirt into a dress, and Pauley had one middle finger inside Amara’s ear. Fortunately for the adults, Nick’s instinctive expertise kicked in just on time, and he took hold of the orb milliseconds before the kids knocked the orb stand to the ground.
Pauley eventually used his age and relatively bigger physical size to his advantage, and smacked his hands on the orb first. The orb almost instantly deposited something tangible into his hands, but before anyone had the chance to take a good look, he tripped on Amara’s foot and fell, sending pieces of the object flying everywhere.
“ENOUGH!” The mayor was genuinely angry. “Sit down, right now, and don’t even try to say a word!”
The kids hung their heads low again, once more moving with perfect synchronization.
Nick picked up the orb stand, and returned to orb to it. He then bent down to pick up a few pieces of the object smashed by Pauley, but as soon as he did so, he uttered a startled noise out of a mix of surprise and confusion.
“Are these screws?!” Nick tried to speak again and managed to form words with his mouth.
“...I have a pair of pliers here? And a hammer head?” Kaylen looked at the nearest fragments by her feet.
“I got the box.” The mayor said. “…Wait, what does that mean?”
“Looks like a toolbox to me,” Nick replied. “Still gotta test the points though.”
“Pauley.” The mayor held an empty tool box with one hand, and used the other hand to yank Pauley upright by the back of his shirt collar. “You’re grounded til I say you ain’t, but be good now n’ test your Talent points, n’ your parents might get real happy.”
Pauley responded with a simple nod, obeying the mayor’s earlier command of silence. He walked quickly to the stone slab, and, with more caution this time, put his hands steadily on its surface.
The three adults immediately gasped together, as Nick dropped his handful of screws for his pen, but the mayor stopped him from writing anything down: “Just tell ‘em both, they ain’t gon’ keep secrets from one another.”
Nick then turned his body fully to see Pauley face to face. Unlike before, he had lost his air of calmness, and instead looked quite stern. Pauley, who obviously had little regard for adult authority, was turned into a attentive and serious person under this new interaction.
“Pauley…McCarthy,” Nick began to speak. “You have scored a perfect 10 in Talent points.”
“Huh?” Pauley wasn’t sure what the number meant, and didn’t know why Nick was being so serious all of a sudden.
“It means you have the highest possible starting Talent point.” Kaylen began to explain. “And what that means, is that you should be able to achieve anything you want in regards to your Talent, should you choose to explore its full potential. According to the latest research and guidelines for Talent classification guidelines, this means you could possibly create—”
“Whoa, whoa, slow down! ” Nick cut her off, “don’t forget the kids aren’t going to understand all that technical jargon.”
“My apologies.” Kaylen took a deep breath and backed down, leaving an utterly confused Pauley glancing back and forth at the three adults, while Amara walked towards him and took his hands off the stone slab.
“Mr. Mayor, you’d want to know this, but none of the kids from earlier scored higher than a five, like the last batch. Actually, like the last three batches from these parts. ” Nick said, clearly no longer addressing his words to the kids.
“So…” The mayor furrowed his brow, as if he’s already lost in thought.
“This kid’s got to be one in a thousand, no, more than that—”
“Roughly every one individual in every fifty thousand people scores a ten while awakening Talents, Mr. Nick. This would require—”
“Excuse me!” A shrill voice interrupted the uncoordinated conversation.
Amara stepped boldly out between the adults, and looked up at them confidently as she expressed her feelings. “I think that Pauley’s real special and he’s got y’all excited, but this is still about him, so can y’all tell us what’s going on here?”
Kaylen looked shocked by her actions. Nick froze for a brief moment, realized what he’d just done, and hurriedly adjusted his attitude: “Yes, sorry, you’re correct. So Pauley, what do you want to know about your Talent right now?”