When working on his assigned tasks, Tyler usually doesn't think. He does what needs to be done, and proceeds to the next thing on his list. But today... today feels a little weird. Different. Tyler has spent the whole day kind of looking at everyone else, weirdly aware of the silence covering his Region, running further than the border between Four and Five, and the one between Five and Six, stopping at nothing, except maybe the Wall, or the Surround. Who knows where silence ends?
Tyler frowns. He usually doesn't notice such things, and quiet doesn't usually bug him that much. But today, it does. Inhaling deeply, the scent of earth capturing his senses, the boy tries to calm down, tries to push away these unnecessary thoughts. He closes his eyes, joining his hands on his knees, and he's almost there, he's almost free, when the alarm rings. Just once.
Immediately, his neighbors all finish their jobs, throwing the lasts carrots and tomatoes in their baskets before jumping to their feet as one, lining up to go back to the barracks. Tyler follows, extracting one last lone potato from the ground before standing up. He rubs his hurting knees and cleans his hands on his pants before grabbing his own basket and following the other members of the community with one last look at the garden patch behind him. The earth is so dry it almost crackles like gravel underneath the thin soles of his shoes, and Tyler quickly wonders how vegetables can grow in such hostile habitat. Then, he shakes his head and the thought is gone, just as it should be.
When he reaches the Centre to drop today's harvest, Tyler sees the other lines of people – the ones coming from the Barracks that they have cleaned up, the ones exiting the laundry rooms with baskets of fresh grey linen and clothes, the ones dropping their soiled aprons outside the kitchen doors. They're all silent. There is nothing surprising in that, but somehow Tyler stops in his track and watches them all. The pale skins. The rough hands. The feet tapping the ground in rhythm to his heart beat. So many faces... yet so few names come to Tyler's mind. There's Jake and Blake, the twins, walking side by side like identical emotionless robots. There's Tara, folding a last piece of clothing, making sure the fabric lays nice and soft in the basket. And there's Riko over there, munching on a piece of carrot he must have took from his harvest, which is not allowed. But when does Riko abide by the rules, Tyler wonders, and immediately the thought irritates him. Riko shouldn't do that. Riko should know better.
Tyler is about to walk over to him, but the second alarm makes him jump, and the irritation grows inside of him. Why is he so easily startled today? He is used to this. Nothing should come as a surprise. So why does he feel so alert? Why does he feel like something out of the ordinary is about to happen?
Avoiding is first urge, Tyler walks a little bit faster to the Centre and kneels on the first cushion he reaches, bowing his head and joining his hands in Prayer. For the next thirty minutes, Tyler should pray. He doesn't. Instead, he thinks. He thinks about everything. He sees bright orange carrots being pulled from a ground that smells like death. He sees grey ants walking in silence, heads down, minds shut, asleep. He sees red-hooded men on white horses, and ropes that slide around half-conscious bodies. He sees a metal box with moving images inside it. And he hears. He hears something otherworldly, something so beautiful it feels like his heart is flying above an infinite ocean of blues and greens and
"Tyler?"
The boy jumps. Again.
"Tyler, it's bath time."
Tyler looks all around him. People have already scattered, walking to the bathrooms in complete silence. Some of them glance at him furtively, and Tyler is now aware that he looks like the weird one. This should not happen. Quickly, he rises to his feet and, ignoring Riko's next words, hurries to the bathroom.
The bathrooms in Dema have felt weird to Tyler since the beginning. The boy has blurry memories of tiny spaces where one would bathe on their own, their reflection in the mirror the only additional presence. Here, in Dema, bathrooms are huge grey-tiled places divided by a long range of sinks and faucets. Usually, Tyler takes a spot at the very end. First arrived, first gone. But he's late today, and there's only a couple spots left in the middle. Avoiding the naked butts and other body parts he does not want to see, Tyler walks to the closest sink and starts stripping, leaving his dirty clothes on the floor, where the night workers will pick them up.
If there's one thing Tyler really dislikes here in Dema, it's bath time. Other members don't seem to care, and it's completely normal – what's a naked body anyway? But Tyler doesn't like it. He doesn't like to show his body. He doesn't know why. He just doesn't like it. So he washes himself very quickly, using the soap bar on the side of his sink and the cold water dripping from the faucet. The hardest part of the whole ordeal, though, is to walk across the room fully naked and face the person in charge of giving out new outfits. Tyler always feels embarrassed, especially when it's a nice girl in front of him. But today, it's not, as Tyler guesses by his quick glance.
Clancy – is that his name? – is looking down at his naked body, unashamedly stopping at crucial points. Tyler holds out his hands, but nothing comes, and he is forced to look up at his comrade. Their eyes meet, and for a brief second, Tyler thinks he sees Clancy wink and grin. A second later, a pile of fresh clothes is in his hands and, his cheeks on fire, the boy walks to a corner of the room to get dressed. On the way to the dining room, and all through dinner, and when walking to his bedroom, Tyler has one question gnawing at his insides, gripping the sides of his head and making his mind a home.
Who the frick is Clancy?
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Author's Note: I've been gone for quite some time now, and I'm sorry. I'm still working through stuff, but I'm here, and I never stop thinking about these stories that I want to show you. I hope you're still here too.
