Shadowed Scales

Chapter 5: Twisted Tongues and Troubled Times

_CHAPTER FIVE_

Twisted Tongues and Troubled Times

Sameer meant what he said back at the cafeteria. Despite the gnawing feeling in his gut, he knew that what he rambled to Tek was something he had been bottling up ever since he came back from his break.

Then again, he was never close with any of his classmates. Not even Hazrul.

Most of the time, he wanted to spend his time walking around the history museum or browse at his favourite bookstore for the latest Mr Twilight book after school.

Mr Twilight was a popular horror series for kids where the book consists of two short stories that can keep one awake at night out of fear or curiosity. Sameer loved the stories and the type of horrors the characters faced.

Some of his classmates were into video games, trading cards and outdoor games. He didn't mind playing just to please them, but it wasn't his kind of fun. After all, reptiles in general weren't as sociable compared to birds and mammals.

Next class was marine language where all students were taught how to speak, read and write in the linguistics of their marine friends. For the marine animals in Gryphon Cross, they too learnt with additional lessons to land animal language.

The marine language consisted of gurgling, bubbling and blubbering. Certain pronunciations were important, and the spelling was crucial! During the quiz, each student had to read a certain text out loud to their teacher and the marks included pronunciation.

"Now," their marine language teacher cleared his throat, whiskers bristling. He was a pacific walrus with tusks that reached his potbelly. "Today we are learning about the verbs and adjectives. Can anyone tell me what a verb is?"

The class fell silent while a single hand was raised.

Of course, it was none other than Sameer himself! Marine language had been common amongst his relatives and some of their friends. Some species of cobras could swim as well as aquatic snakes. In a sense, they certainly have knowledge in marine language.

After Sameer answered the question, their teacher asked each animal to read a sentence starting from the top left until the right bottom of where they sat. When it came to Arthur's turn, everyone in the class turned their heads to see how can he read if he is blind?

Not bad how he pronounced the words, Sameer thought to himself, secretly impressed by how the bat carried on with a smile. He hoped that Arthur didn't hear what he bursted out at Tek during lunch.

When Arthur was finished, Sameer caught a quick glance at the book the Chiroptera was holding. Instead of written words, Sameer was baffled to see various dots on the page. How could he read what the whole class was reading through those dots?

Sameer would be lying if he told himself that he wasn't curious.

He decided to push all those thoughts aside and pay attention in class.

...

At home, the family are having dinner that consisted of biryani rice with egg, dhal chutney, grilled eggplants and some egg curry. Eating meat was considered a sin amongst carnivores.

"So, how was school?" asked their mother, while pouring water into her glass. Talia was chewing her biryani slowly as if she was analysing every single grain. Their father, being the judge, was eating as if he was judging the quality of their mother's cooking. Sameer on the other hand, ate his quickly only because he wants to go into his room.

"School's the same for me," Talia answered, helping herself to the chutney. "Revisions, exams and homework."

Sameer was grateful that his sister answered since he pretty much felt the same way. Besides eavesdropping the bribes Tek had been receiving in class, the young Egyptian cobra was thinking about the strange dots in Arthur's book.

"Baba, do you know anything about dots in books?"

Both of his parents exchanged glances at each other while his sister continued eating. His father smiled for a bit. "Ah, you saw the little bat reading braille? It's to help him read just like us."

Sameer tilted his head in confusion. "Braille?"

"Those dots you saw," his mother told him gently. "They are actually letters of the alphabets for blind animals. Just like in your history books where animals in ancient times used symbols and old languages to talk to each other."

Now this really made Sameer lift his head up with interest. History had always had some mysteries that were not solved despite having archeologists. He made a mental note to find out about braille on the family's computer.

Once dinner was done, Sameer positioned his body onto the office chair to switch on the computer. Before this, he only used the computer to play his favourite computer games or to read ancient history that was never taught in school. Most of the time, his sister would be the one to use the computer. Mostly to talk to her friends that were living overseas.

From what he had found out, braille was an invention during the war by a ruler to help his soldiers read in the dark. Some years later, the system was discovered by a young bat named Louis, who became blind from an accident. According to the page, young Louis perfected braille because he wanted to read since he loved stories and wanted to write. It saddened Sameer that he passed away in his sleep in peace since the picture he was looking at was a long-eared bat hanging upside down with a peaceful smile on his face.

He never knew how some animals were unlucky, yet they always put on a smile.

"Like Arthur," said Sameer out loud. He thought back about his outburst at the cafeteria, realising Arthur might have heard it since bats have sharp hearing. But before he could search for more information about braille, he was shoved off the seat by his sister.

"You're hogging the computer," Talia told him irritably. Sameer glared at his older sister, wondering why she didn't just slither up and tell him upfront. "I need to use it for my homework and then talk to my friends."

"Couldn't you just ask me first?"

"We both know that you'll be on for a while. Besides researching on history, you're just going to play games."

He opened and then closed his mouth. As much as he wanted to argue, his sister was right. Besides, he was taught to respect his elders if he wanted good karma.

Sameer decided to retreat to his room, where he played with Dante for a little bit before hitting the bed for the night.