The Waiting Game {H.S AU}

ii

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I lazily fluttered my eyelids open and I was welcomed from consciousness by a hazy, blurred, warm light passing through the small square window beside my bed. Dusts are serenely floating and swirling in mid-air where the sunlight passes until it hits the dirty wooden flooring. The idea of being crippled caused me to move, and a jolting pain struck me as I tried to lift my head from the rock-hard pillow beneath my head. I flopped back down the pillow with a small thud and let out a string of curses under my breathe before forcefully sitting myself on the bed.

The bed creaked as it usually does when I managed to sit upright. The barracks is completely empty aside from me. All the beds are neatly made, and the bright sunlight is fully streaming through the windows, indicating that I have woken up way past the normal wake up time, which is five-thirty in the morning even before the sun comes up or the crack of dawn. On top of the small side table, a glass of water and two pills of medicines are placed with a note saying,

     Take the pills, come to training as early as you can.
                                                                  - J

I knew instantly that it was Jason before I even saw the name, his slight slovenly handwriting is a dead giveaway, making it his signature style. I quickly took the medicines in my palm, drank the two of them at the same time and followed by the refreshing glass of water. I barely realized that my throat is dry and scratchy until I drained all the water in one gulp. I waited for a few minutes to let the medicine's job kick in before stumbling out of the tangled sheets.

I went straight to the small bathroom, one per barracks, to do my usual morning routine. The bathroom is first come first served basis, you have to wake up early to be the first in line, or wait 'till everybody is already done. Being here for almost three years had made me accustomed to moving around other people even opposite genders in my towel or underwear. You don't have much of a choice anyway. Either you stink — which is possible because we stay under the sun for most of the day surrounded by dirt — or you face it that everyone will see you in little or no clothing at all.

Due to the limited electricity, causing the camp officials to be strict, we are not allowed to use any lights during the day. The only source of light in this crammed space of a bathroom is the sunlight streaming from the window near the ceiling. I turned to the grimed and broken mirror on the wall above the sink and stared at my faded reflection. I have a small blotch on the side of my eye in light purplish color. I lifted my shirt in front of the mirror and saw a large bruise in my ribs. I poked it with my index finger and regretted it at once when a sharp pain, like a knife being pushed deeper into my skin, made me wince.

The contusion on my ribs is the most painful and probably the only part of my body that had the most damage. My breathing faltered whenever I tried to inhale deeply, I was rather forced to take short and fast breaths.

I opened the rusted faucet in the sink and waited for several seconds before the cold water hit my hands. I splashed my face slowly with water three times and dried my face with the old, ragged towel that was given to each one of us. Now that the cold water was slightly awaken my senses, I quickly locked the door behind me before removing my clothes.

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The sound of distant shouting and loud chatter can be heard from the front of the barracks. The blazing sun hits my face as I crossed the grounds toward the place where the commotion is happening. As the view came into my line of vision, I noticed the other trainees lined up in three lines, and feet away from them is an archery target with multiple arrows struck on it. Some has their arrows on the edge of the board while the lucky ones are able to struck their arrows directly into the red circle.