“OH Geeez.” I gulped. “Sorry if I said something impolite.”
“Don’t be. It’s just unusual that a student would create such a simple art. I was curious too.”
“I guess I’m not a very good artist, I don’t know how to make things fancy.” I lowered my head.
“Fancy doesn't mean good. I told you the best art always comes from your feelings and emotions. Just look at your pool, look how serene and beautiful it is. I bet no students in this school can make something like this.”
“But it’s just a pool! It’s very simple!” I stared at it as the water calmly rippled across the surface.
“Their idea of a pool will always be different from yours, because everyone’s version of what’s clam and peaceful is different. Now, let’s go find your student.”
I nodded again.
The President came over and kneed down.
“Come sit on my shoulder.”
“No, no… I can walk, really.” I declined because she didn’t look big enough to carry me.
“Trust me, it’s faster.” She held out her hands.
Surprisingly, as soon as I sat on her shoulder, she started to grow bigger. Her shoulder became wide and soft like a sofa, and she grew so tall that looking down at the ground made me nervous.
“Comfortable? Ready to go?” She smiled.
“Yes!” I grinned.
We left the room.
With me sitting on its shoulder, the President strolled through the hall at an easy pace, but its movements were so smooth that it felt like we were floating.
There were various fanatic paintings that hung on the walls that would produce strange sounds and even give off a scent. We stopped in front of one painting and it resembled what you would see looking through a kaleidoscope. The painting was dazzling and confusing; it kept changing colors and twisting into strange shapes.
“Close your eyes and touch it.” President moved forward so I could reach it.
A strong force instantly transported me into the painting. I wasn’t sure if it was the physical me in there or just my mind, but I saw myself floating in this shimmering, constantly changing world. Looking from the outside this painting might appear to be vivid and exciting but from the inside all I felt was loneliness. I suppose whoever created this was not in a good mood and was thinking about someone or somewhere it hadn’t seen in a long time. It seemed that despite its loneliness, its sprit was strong and it was quite hopeful.
I opened my eyes, and in the center of the painting I saw a small figure swimming towards us, but it was too small for me to see who it was.
“It’s your student.” President said.
“It IS?” Now I understood. The loneliness I felt was Da Vinci missing his friends and home. I was glad that he didn’t have to search any longer, because I was here to take him back.
President lifted up the painting and then brought it into another empty room. It first hung the painting on one of the walls and then shrunk back to its original size. I promptly jumped off from her shoulder.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Key Holder.” President said.
“Me too, you have a great school here. Thanks for helping me find our student.”
“You’re very welcome. I wish the rest of your journey in TUH goes well.”
“So far it has been pretty exciting!” I beamed.
“But be prepared, your biggest challenge lies ahead.”
“What do you mean!? What’s this challenge going to be?” I was shocked and frightened at the same time.
“Just believe and have confidence in yourself, okay?”
That was not what I expected to hear, I was hoping that it would give me more answers. It was then I thought about Blue Pearl, because that sounded like how she would respond one of my questions.
“How’s Blue Pearl?”
“You know her!!!??” My eyes widened.
“Yes, for a long time.”
“Oh, she’s doing… WELL I guess.”
“Still smokes on that pipe a lot?”
My jaw dropped, President apparently knew about things both inside and outside of TUH.
“Hahaha. Then I guess the answer is YES.” She laughed. “She always loved that thing. Try not to tell your Teacher about it. Hahahaha.”
So she knew D too? Of course she did, why wasn't I surprised anymore?
“All right, I’m going to send you back now.” President walked over to another painting hanging on the other side of the wall. “Are they your friends?”
I looked at the painting and standing in front of a white board were the outline of two people and a little flying creature.
“Yes, they are.” I nodded. “But what about him?” I pointed to Da Vinci’s painting.
“Don’t worry, he’ll follow you. “
“Great!”
President kneeled down again, put its hands together like a bowl and placed it in front of my feet. As soon as I stepped on, I started to shrink until I was the size of a doll. It stood up with me in its hands and placed me next to the painting with Nightingale, Einstein and Fairy.
“Goodbye Key Holder. Hope we’ll meet again in the future.” It softly blew air on me and I began floating backwards into the painting, further and further until it faded away completely.
The next thing I knew, I was standing behind Nightingale and Fairy watching Einstein paint on the white board. None of them had noticed that I was back so I made a smirk, ran forward, jumped on Einstein’s back and screamed into his ears.
“AAARRRGHH!!! What’s that !!!!??? GET OFF ME!”
He jumped up in terror and tried to throw me off.
“WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH YOU!? AND WHERE DID YOU COME FROM!?”
He gasped while glaring at me.
“Hahahaha.” I laughed. “Einstein… you… AAARRRRRGH!!”
Da Vinci suddenly appeared out of nowhere between me and Einstein. All of us screamed together with excitement.
“Close your eyes and touch it.”
20
Tuher
I was enrolled in a public school once. I remember in my class there was a strange little Asian boy with grey hair. He always sat in the back of the classroom either drawing these weird symbols on his sketchbook or just staring outside the window. He didn’t talk to anyone and no one ever talked to him. I came into this school in the middle of the year and there was only one seat left in the classroom, next to this Asian boy.
One day, just before the class was about to end, he turned to me and said “You’re not coming back tomorrow. They’re sending you back.”
I was absolutely shocked. How did he know I was adopted? How did he know that my foster parents were going to send me back?
“I can feel things.” He said.
“Can you see the future? Please tell me!” I grabbed his arm.
“The best thing I can tell you is to have hope, that way you’ll continue fight for a better future.”
“But I’m so tired! You don’t understand what I have been through all these years!” I exclaimed.
“Nothing is perfect in this world, the good as well as the bad exist for everyone. However, you’re a fool if you only focus on the bad.”
“What are you talking about? I just want to have a normal life, like a normal kid!”
“You may not believe me but I envy you. However, you’re missing out on all these great experiences by focusing on the wrong things.”
I shrugged.
“Goodbye, Beanie L. I have a feeling we’ll meet again in the future.”
“Da Vinci!”
Nightingale and Da Vinci were very excited to see each other and gave each other a huge hug.
“Where did you guys come from?” Einstein didn’t seem too happy.
“What are you guys doing on this board?” Da Vinci looked at Einstein and then looked at the drawing on the board. “Why does it look so messy?”
“First, there was no YOU GUYS, okay? There was only ME. Secon
d, what do you mean it looks messy!!?” Einstein raised his voice. “I was one that solved the problem or Beanie would have never gotten in and be able bring you back!!”
“Alright, I see… but why did you draw all these weird…” Da Vinci titled his head. “Is this a pineapple?”
“THAT’S A SPACESHIP!!! OH MY GOD, CAN SOMEONE PLEASE REMIND HIM THAT HE’S THE ONE GOES TO THE SCHOOL OF ART???” Einstein’s face turned red.
“Oh. A spaceship.” Da Vinci was so calm and collected that he just brushed off Einstein’s rudeness. “But why? I don’t understand you need a spaceship?”
“WHAT!!!? This is how you get into the school!!! I’m just better at designing cool stuff than any of YOU!” Einstein stomped his feet on the floor.
“Oh, okay.” Da Vinci chuckled. “I guess it works this way too. Good Job, Einstein.”
“Shu… SHUT UP!!!!!!!! ”Einstein threw his arms in the arm while screaming. “THEN YOU TELL ME, HOW DO YOU GET IN?”
“It’s actually… very simple.” Da Vinci shrugged. “But I guess only students who go to the School of Art would know. Haha.”
“Whatever.” Einstein muttered. “Art is stupid. Technology is way cooler. I can solve any problem in my own way. I’m a genius! Right, Girls?” He flashed an arrogant grin at us. We rolled our eyes and walked away. “WHAT KINDA ATTITUDE IS THAT!? “
I opened the map for Fairy again. He stared at it quietly for a while.
“I remember the School of Science is around here somewhere, maybe we can go get Achilles first.” Nightingale said.
“Are you sure he still goes to Science?” Da Vinci frowned.
“TOLD YOU!” Einstein shouted. “He goes to Physics!”
“I thought he got transferred to Sports or something.” Da Vinci scratched his head.
“Umm… It looks like… One of your student’s not in…” Fairy muttered.
“Not in where?” Einstein interrupted.
“And it’s changing color…”
“What color?” Einstein impatiently interrupted again.
“There is one possibility…”
“What possibility!?” Fairy’s vagueness only served to peak Einstein’s curiosity.
“All right. You kids stay here. The Key Holder and I have to go find one of your students.” Fairy said.
“Where are you guys going? Who’s that?”
Fairy continued to ignore Einstein’s questions.
“Can you please stop asking? You’re so annoying!” Nightingale shouted. Einstein narrowed his eyes and stopped talking.
Fairy flew behind me, pulled up my hood and then dragged it over my face to cover my entire head.
“WHERE DID THEY GO!?” Einstein yelled.
“Again!? Ummm…” Nightingale said while playing with her hair.
“Things changed so much in here. That must be some new tech I don’t know about.” Einstein murmured. “Popcorn never had that fancy map, never just disappeared and never had a flying peanut with her!”
“That’s not a peanut! That is Fairy!”
“I can’t see anything.” I muttered.
“I’m here.” Fairy touched my hand with its feather. “Look up.”
A giant oval shaped, luminescence opening was directly above me, but I couldn’t tell if it was inside my hood or outside of it.
“That’s the place we’re going to right now.” Fairy said.
“How do we get there?”
Fairy asked me to jump, and when I did I noticed that didn’t fall back to the ground. Instead I just kept rising, slowly at first and then accelerating to an incredible speed. Suddenly, I stopped and what came into sight was nothing short of astonishing. There were no more fantastical buildings or creatures anymore. Instead, I saw a landscape covered with an array of spectacular white sandstone formations. The sky changed from blue to pink to yellow and finally to purple in a gentle rhythm.
“I have to teach you how to fly.” Fairy said. “First, I want you to lean forward, slowly, yes, slowly… just pretend you are lying down with your stomach to the ground.”
“Good, now breath in, breath out…”
I exhaled forcefully, but it was a tad too strong and I began spinning wildly in a circle. I grabbed onto one of Fairy’s feathers to steady myself, but it was so tiny that we began spinning together. After practicing few more times, I felt myself getting the hang of this flying thing. All I needed to do was keep reminding myself to breath in a normal rhythm and stay calm. If I concentrated just a bit I could move forward smoothly without spinning in a circle like an idiot.
I followed Fairy closely. Underneath us was a majestic mountain range that seemed to stretch endlessly. It was pure, peaceful and breathtaking.
“Is this also a school?” I asked.
“No, we are not in TUH School anymore.”
“We’re not? Then where is this? What are we doing here?”
“This is Tuher’s Office. According to the map, one of your students is here.”
We dived down, flying swiftly like birds through the sandstone formations below. We slid into a cavern and it was like entering like another world. In front of us was a winding smoky blue river and along the banks were a variety of different plants and flowers. The white sandstones all around us framed this beautiful scenery so well that it was what I imagine heaven would look like. When we landed I noticed something very odd, it was very quiet in here, so quiet you might think this was all a dream.
“WHERE… where is our student?” I had to lower my voice in order not to sound like I was yelling.
“Somewhere in here.”
“How are we going to find our student?”
“We wait.”
“We wait?”
“Yeah, this is a place where no one wants to be bothered, a place to feel zero, a place to feel every place is the same place, every moment is the same moment.”
I frowned. What was it talking about? I just wanted to find my friend.
Fairy landed on a giant leaf, closed its eyes and proceeded to take a nap. I sat on the grass next to it, staring at it, for a second I could have swore that I saw Fairy melting into the leaf and vanishing completely. I slowly closed my eyes and smelled the sweet aroma in the air. It made me smile. I was actually enjoying this zero moment that the Fairy constantly talked about.
Who was in here?
Moon?
Achilles?
How come they were not in TUH School but here at the Tuher’s Office?
Was it because…
I opened my eyes and realized that I shouldn’t waste anymore time.
“HEY YOU!! COME OUT!!! I’M BEANIE, I’M HERE TO BRING YOU HOME!”
Fairy got up as well and stared at me in disbelief.
Thunder began roaring throughout the cavern. It was as if this place was angry at me for breaking the peaceful silence. I trembled and went to hide behind Fairy.
Suddenly, a giant flower bulb near us started to wriggle, the leaves were shaking and little by little the blub began to blossom. Fairy and I tilted our heads sideway and stared quietly at it.
“Ummm...” Something in the flower made a soft yawning sound.
As the blub opened up more and one long and skinny leg with green fur appeared. Fairy and I strained our necks to see what it was. This green creature had its back to us but we could see that its long curly and green hair covered most of its body. In one of its hand I noticed a crystal-like blue flower with its stem wrapped around the creature’s wrist.
“Is it your student?” Fairy whispered.
I shook my head. None of us had that green hair.
It slowly turned towards us, revealing a face that looked pale and small under its messy green hair. But what really caught my attention were its eyes, it was big, green and shined like a full moon.
I remembered that…
“Moon?... Is that you?”
“Hello, Beanie. Long time no see.”
Her voice was still as sweet as I remembered it.<
br />
“You should learn to speak like that.” Fairy murmured with a stupid smile on its face. “Your voice only makes thunder. “
I threw Fairy a scornful stare.
“You look different, Moon.” I said.
“I know. Do you like it?”
“You’re always pretty to begin with… unlike me…” I gulped. “But hey, I’m here to bring you back.”
“I’m not going back to Earth.”
I froze.
“What do you mean?” I never expected to hear a response like that.
“Don’t worry, Beanie. I’m allowed to stay in TUH. I’m a Tuher in training now. I choose to stay.” Moon said softy.
“You do know that if you decide to stay you can never go back, right?” I reminded her.
“I know.”
“You sure about this?”
“Yes, I know what I want.”
“But how can you be sure what you want? You’re just a kid, like me!”
“Beanie, let me tell you something about myself that no one knows, not even Nightingale or Da Vinci. “
“I was born to a royal family of a small country. I was the youngest of five siblings and as a princess I had everything I ever wanted. By the age of three I already knew who I was going to marry. He was my playmate since the day I was born and a very sweet boy. I thought my life was perfect.”
“Everything changed when I turned nine. That year, the people in my kingdom revolted against my parents, the king and queen. I was young and didn’t understand why our own people wanted to kill us and remove the royal family from rule. It was a very scary time for all of us. I saw many of my relatives murdered by the mob.”
“You’re probably wondering why I’m still here.”
“I was raised as a boy and my identity as the princess was hidden from the people of my country. My longtime playmate was presented as the prince. My parents did this to protect me against kidnappings.”
“When the mob reached the palace, my parents begged them to spare my life since they claimed that I wasn’t part of the royal family. I was released but had to watch them execute my entire family and that sweet boy. I couldn’t say or do anything, and worst part of all I had to hide my tears in fear of being discovered. All I could do was whisper a quiet pray for them in my heart. ”
“That sweet boy’s parents spent most of their fortune to send me abroad, so I’ll be safe. I was trusted to a friend of theirs but he soon abandoned me at an orphanage and took off with the money. That’s how I ended up… or I should say… started my new life in Laketuh House.”