ÆSH
I had fifteen minutes to reach my dorm. Light was waning fast. I took a short cut through narrow pathways with sharp turns. The evening was thick with fog, visibility was down to zero.
Suddenly a vision popped out.
"HIIISSSSSS!"
I reeled back with a fright, my heart taking off like a dart.
It was the old bent woman, she stood with her rosary held high, as though warding off an evil spirit. It swayed wildly in front of her face as she screamed, "Asura! Asura! Asura!" Then disappeared into the folds of the opaque white mist.
With a jolt I broke into a run, without breaking stride I made it back to the dorm.
As soon as I entered my room, Varun said, "Syrah was asking about you," he said in a tease.
Ignoring him, I sat on my bed and removed my shoes. "What does 'asura' mean?" I asked Varun.
"Not sure ... let me see." Varun took out his device and read aloud. "In some parts of the world, asuras are anti-gods and in other parts, they are gods. Asuras were originally conscientious deities but their nature gradually changed and they became corrupt and evil. Some say, asuras were powerful protectors that were hunted down by supernatural daemons ... some say they were the anti-gods and were the daemons themselves."
"Are they gods or anti-gods?"
"Depends on where you're from," said Varun putting his device away. "Why are you looking so ... agitated?"
"It's nothing ..." I said, laying down in bed. "I thought I was going to miss the evening curfew."
That night, a tight pressure-valve fizzed open, sounding like a cat's HISSSS. The word 'asura' twisted and tumbled into a parasite and burrowed into my pulsating brain.
YOU ARE READING
BECOMING SUPRA
RomansaWhen Raë (ambitious and driven) and Æsh (mysterious new kid) sign up for an after-school course, they chance upon Bose, a quantum physicist, who teaches them how to become SUPRA: beings that are above and beyond; beings that can manifest at the spee...
