The Prince of El Dorado

❂ Rujin (Prologue) ❂

Sympathy. What word can replace the weight this one carries for its respective emotion? Compassion? Kindness? Nah, nothing does fit like sympathy. And as for the feeling, it is getting expensive every second of human time. I say human time because I reckon there are others, who diversely view time. Sympathy, like the word, is being singled out in today's reality. We can see beggars being tossed around, limps being snatched of their support, the voiceless being robbed of their silence and the blind forced to dwell in the dark. Will anyone break the matrix? What people own the matrix? What people are inflicting this heavy viciousness upon our homeland? Is society incompetent to recognize them? Or are the stares snatched away as they have a glimpse?

Thoughts glided through like wind. I realized the length of time passed as I sat and did nothing. I had become a thinker lost in her thoughts through her way of thinking. Was I this creative in high school? Or is it something people obtain after fleeing the ups and downs of high school? Or was it because I failed the entrance test of two law schools simultaneously? Could be any one of them, the last one held the weight of probability. This habit couldn't be defeated even after I got into one.

I had been slumping at my house, staring at my father's disgruntled face for around six months. Nothing had been achieved after I graduated high school, just one failure after another. And in an Asian household, failure, especially academicals, is invariably the worst omen one can carry. And I had successfully got two of them. I didn't want to put together any excuse for my delinquency, I just failed.

But a silver lining was I got to apply for another law school that happens to be furnishing better excellence in recent times in the Commercial and Criminal careers hand in hand. That did not sound so bad, and the spunk of possibility lingered. Kravlin University Law School, highly admirable, high class, elite, and highly expensive. The school had everything, huge premises, people from good backgrounds, A grade education, a maximum job rate, and a future for a girl of modest background like myself. It admitted almost all the attendees of the entrance test, almost. The requirement was; the student must be able to afford the degree and a person of power must recommend the student to the university, the second one being a hidden requirement.

The university, where everything changed for everyone, and that transition was going to slam me in the gut harder than what a human mind could assimilate.

The perfect university. The reason why it did not come at me as my foundation choice was because I tamed a misconception about my father's wealth- he wouldn't be able to afford it. But as this option came through to my family, as came forward my father's hidden savings. It wasn't much but could buy myself those five years at the university with ease. And to my astonishment, my father was childhood buddies with the university chief. My chances of getting in were high.

There must be a catch, and there was. Upon joining the university, I had to move ninety-six miles away from my family and stay alone or with a friend in the district of Kravlin.

I had never stayed independently. This was indeed going to be a game changer, a life changer. Living alone can change the way you behave, the way you think, and every other stuff that you normally do. And of course, I was going to learn a lot.

Not being able to withhold my inquisitiveness, I had researched the university immediately, in more depth than the last time I looked it up. The town of Kravlin seized my interest after I finished my homework.

Peaceful. Hills and forests all around the small city which erected in the middle. Glittering mountains could be seen from anywhere and the wind, weightless. Hindus and Christians shared the land. The major source of income was rent (likely) and people were involved in all sorts of business. Tourism flourished, and great restaurants plus quality food at a cheaper price than in the capital. And the most attractive thing about that place was the cheap rent cost. You could find a single room with attached washrooms if you hunt hard.

I had planned everything, but only two days remained for the entrance and to my advantage, I didn't give an exam physically, in front of invigilators, panicking and sweating.

The questions were released, and the time to give my best, well, not my best but the best of everything I could find online about the presented topics. Two questions, not so nerve-racking, did all my research, and mailed the paper. And through email, I knew not many had attended the exam as the email was forwarded to only around eighty people.

Dream come true, everything was proceeding well. We conversed with the university's officials and my seat was sealed. Nepotism, crude, but if I can chase my dream and see myself happy, I could care less.

After a few days, a list of those who were accepted by the university was published, and my name undoubtedly smiling as I was. Lucky number 13, that's where my name was flashing, and as were my dreams, in front of my eyes and my father's eye. A long wait had come to fruition.

Surprise to me, my mother had known a house owner in Kravlin. We talked with him and had our deal done. Beautiful, big room with an attached washroom, good lighting, everything I had asked for. But only one disadvantage- I hadn't realized that one problem would make my stay uneasy. Sun-heat scarcely entered the room. The room wasn't dark dark. It had good lighting and nature's light also had its place. The problem was the heat. The room wasn't heated and stayed moist, resulting in a mold infestation. Cruel.

Wasn't going to stay there during the day, what could be the problem if sunlight didn't enter, right? Too naïve, should have thought about it earlier. Blind excitement of living alone and commencing a new chapter of life had rendered me imprudent.

My father didn't get emotional but my mother squinted her nose often. I packed my things and a small pickup truck hauled me and my stuff to my newly painted and freshly cleaned room. And it began- Life.