New Birds

Samantha Part 2

Samantha stepped back until her heels touched the edge of the frayed red mat. Focusing on the far corner, she breathed in, held it, brought her arms up over her head, slowly dropped them to her sides, breathed out, and ran five steps before breaking into a long tumbling line, ending with a triple-twist. As her feet stuck the mat with a final thud, the yellow mark sitting squarely between them, she felt a fleeting moment of singular pride. She wondered if it was because Kelly was less interested in gymnastics now.

"Again. This time more height from your second handspring." Ms Nayak sat in a metal chair in front of the empty stands and pointed upward as if a visual incentive was also required. "And for God sakes smile when you hold your pose at the end. If you don't at least play the part, it drags the whole routine down."

Samantha nodded obediently, jogged back to her starting point, and waited for her coach's trademark one-two clap to resonate again throughout the empty gym.

This time as she repeated her line, and urged more push from her handspring, she heard a distinct crack, followed by a burst of white-hot pain through her wrist. Although, still finishing, she landed far short of her mark. As for her coach's final request, she obliged by forcing a wide smile.

"What the hell was that? Once more," Ms Nayak said.

Samantha, dropping her pretence, cradled her arm against her chest and bounced ever so slightly on the balls of her feet to distract herself from the discomfort. "I can't. I broke it."

"Not again." Ms Nayak extracted her tall, lean body from the chair and traipsed across the mat to inspect the situation. She wore a loose dress of a light, creamy fabric that lifted and scattered around her. It so contrasted her skull tight cap, pressed red lips, rod-straight posture, and precision steps, it gave the impression of trying to escape. When she arrived at Samantha's side, Samantha held out her wrist. Ms Nayak poked at the swelling flesh with a polished nail.

"I would have preferred more height, but it's still an exemplary floor routine. Kelly will be pleased with her progress."

This mention of Kelly was certainly a gaffe from her coach, but hoping to leverage it, Samantha asked. "Is she returning soon?"

Ms Nayak raised an eyebrow. "I'm not to discuss her with you."

"Please, Ms Nayak. I need to know. I hate not knowing." Samantha held her wrist as still as possible and tried to ignore the throbbing.

"If this is about a few weeks of confinement, my advice is to embrace it. Alone time is one of life's pleasures. Something to relish, not shun."

This, Samantha couldn't agree with more, but if Ms Nayak thought confinement was the same as alone time, she was sadly mistaken. A distinction Samantha had become thoroughly familiar with in recent months after discovering Jason Anson and his immediate family overrode most locks in the facility by using voice recognition and a ten-word pass phrase. This now allowed her to leave her room whenever she wanted, even when Kelly was here. It also gave her access to many excellent hiding spaces throughout the facility, including the old learning lab with its astonishing paper library. A find that had turned her promptly into an insatiable reader. And although Kelly had a habit of changing her pass phrase, the new ones came to Samantha as easily as the first had. Thankfully, confinement was a thing of the past. She came and went at all hours of the day or night, entering and leaving all manner of locked places, careful never to get caught. Although, this too was now marred by other aspects of Kelly's homecoming.

"What is it, Samantha?" Ms Nayak asked. "You have been out of sorts this entire week."

"I expected her back by now. I'm expecting a headache. I don't like not knowing when they'll come." She finally confessed on an outtake of breath.