The Grounds Keeper

Chapter 2 The Scholarship Of A Lifetime

A sharp pain in the top of his head woke him from his sleep.

"It's about time you woke up, bub."

Eathon wiped the sleep from his eyes in the hopes that he wasn't seeing what he thought he did. It appeared to be a large black cockatoo in a fine suit smoking a cigar it was holding with its clawed feet and casually puffing out a cloud of smoke, its raspy deep voice reminded him of the Old men who would drink coffee noisily outside the timber yard at 6am with his father. The bird leaned in and, in one swift movement, plucked a hair off of his head

"Ouch!"

"A shuddap," squawked the bird, nibbling on his hair a few moments, then spitting it out. its eyes widened, and it dropped its cigar

"What the hell is this for real? Deal with this, I need to let the Boss know. " There was a hard thud on the back of Eathon's head as he fell again into unconsciousness.

Light seemed to seep into his vision from the corners of his squinting eyes growing into a brightly lit room, he stared up at a white washed timber roof in a daze before sitting up, he appeared to be in some type of hospital, the beds lined both sides of the room. Light was being let in from large cathedral style arched windows from both walls, the stain glass mosaics let in a warm inviting light which bathed the lacquered wood floor. The air smelled of the sharp scent of eucalyptus and starched sheets.

He rubbed the back of his head gently expecting to find a large bump where he was struck but to his surprise found that there was nothing, no pain to the touch, no lump, not even a bruise, the only real evidence he was struck at all was the headache he seemed to feel radiating from his skull. Just where the hell am I, he thought to himself before footsteps seemed to bring him back to reality.

"Mr Lorenzo, you've certainly found yourself in a rather troublesome predicament."

Eathon's eyes widened at the sight of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair shimmered in long brunette waves which framed an almond shaped face, her eyes like emeralds emphasized by dainty half-moon optics, a white button up shirt was tucked into a long grey skirt tightened with a large decorative belt high up on her waist to emphasize her trim figure and show the curves of her body, black stockings led down slim shapely legs to blood red high heels, each step closer would reveal more and more stunning detail, her lips full and tainted red from her crimson lipstick, her skin tanned to an appealing bronze. As she walked, her wonderful hair would bounce, almost demanding to be admired. She came to a stop in front of him looking unimpressed

"I am Michelle Santos, vice dean of the academy, I have been informed by miss Tendo of your rather unique circumstance, this leaves me in a bit of an unusual position, somehow you have eluded our radar for years Mr Lorenzo, usually we can sense an unschooled talent from birth and yet you are in your mid 20s and we have had no clue of your ability till the last 24hours by what appears to be complete chance."

"To make matters worse, you have no readily available finance to reserve you a place in this collage. I have no means to send you home, dear boy. The dean has gone away indefinitely on private business and with him your opportunity to leave and have your mind wiped of the knowledge you have gained. No other professor of the academy has the skill required to match such a task. As a result, I have only two options available to me."

"Either I incarcerate you for a full 365 days in solitary. You will not be permitted to converse with any other student, you will be served food thrice daily and let out to walk and exercise for 2 hours in complete isolation, it is the most humane method of having you stay about, other professors say we should simply freeze you into granite and decompress you after the year is through, but such things are no longer done in civilized society."