Shards

Chapter 5 - Polystyrene Foam

Jurian’s friend had made the gun prototypes. I’ve only seen them this morning and so did Jurian. They only work with soft polystyrene foam balls, but the guns do shoot quite efficiently. I saw Jurian shoot one at one of his friends. He seemed to be in pain. He had tried to get back at Jurian but his aim wasn’t as good. Jurian already demonstrated his aim to me with his snowball. I had taken note of the big bruise on my shoulder.

  We’re at the park. The boys are shooting out with the silver guns, each one of them taking everything too seriously for it to appear like a game. They hide behind trees, gravestones, and when the chance comes they try to shoot at each other, however failing most of the times. Jurian has a good eye. He doesn’t hesitate to shoot the Styrofoam balls at the other guys. He has become some form of a coach to the other boys. There are five in the group, including Jurian. The other four include Ansel, Melecio, Aaru and Felix. I know them but I don’t really talk to them. We only began talking just about today. I let Jurian borrow them some of the books. Aaru was the one who made the gun prototypes. From what I see he’s the best at shooting after Jurian.

  “Want to join?” Felix is facing me. His eyes are of two different colours; one of them is blue and the other seemingly black. His hair is blonde, brushed messily slightly to the side across his forehead.

  “I’d like to but I can already guess I’ll be bad at it.”

  “Practice makes perfect,” Felix says, winking at me. “Plus, I’m not good at shooting myself. I need practice. But those things are amazing. I wonder why they were forgotten.”

  “Who knows?” I say.

  I know. The note is hidden in my new navy friend. I didn’t start on reading it yet. I only found it yesterday plus I’ll be busy with helping Jurian out.

  “Ow!” Felix jumps. Ansel had taken the chance to shoot Felix when he was talking to me in the open.

  “Hey, if you’re careless you’re going to drop before anything even begins!”

  Ansel’s hair is red mixed with hazel. He has this autumn feel around him that I cannot pick up. His skin is quite pale. He seems like a fun guy but I hardly know him.

  “Well, gotta get back at him,” Felix says and runs off after Ansel.

  As soon as Ansel leaves, Jurian’s at my side.

  “See? That’s why I practiced aiming,” he whispers into my ear and he too runs off.

  I’m having fun watching them but after some time I begin walking around. I’m now less scared of getting hit with the soft polystyrene balls. Nothing could be more painful than getting hit with one of Jurian’s snowballs anyway.

  The snow’s crunching under my feet. I make a loose snowball with my hands and continue strolling around. Jurian’s in front of me, his back facing me. He’s hiding behind a tree. I move toward him slowly, making as little noise as possible. I’m at half an arm’s length. I ready my snowball and crush it against his hair. He turns around rapidly, holding out the gun, his eyes dilated. He’s still for a while, his body tense. He relaxes only a while after.

  “Don’t scare me like that,” he says.

  “You’re not so good yourself, huh? Watch your back.” Aaru is behind me. He sets his hand on my shoulder (the bruised one) but I stop myself from squirming. He doesn’t shoot his gun, however. He doesn’t shoot much. He seems to prefer to stay and observe and then shoot.

  Aaru’s skin is dark, his eyes the kindest shade of hazel I know. His hair is short and his shoulders wide and strong. He’s a tall guy, good at making things. The evidence is all in the guns that are near perfect.