Different Skies: The Bird & The Star

The screaming silence?

The senior soldier was standing there with a particularly grim look on his face. Arwin wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, cry his eyes out for all the pain that the senior's obstinacy has caused him.

He just stood there apprehensive of what his actions might cost him. He always thought he was good with words but the last day had proved that to be a sour myth. His thoughts offered him a blissful refuge from the anxiety of life.

The senior stepped forward, placed his finger on the biometric identification system near the door of his cell and punched in some numbers and the cell unlocked with a clink.

Arwin found himself retreating towards the wall of the cell and felt his back touch the wall. This was so no good. Not good at all. His heart raced and he had to keep chanting he was OK in his head to keep himself from collapsing.

The senior soldier kept advancing towards him until he was only a few feet away. He seemed to be enjoying the effect he had on Arwin. Arwin was praying for Jason to suddenly break into his cell and rescue him from there.

He wouldn't even have to break in. He was a soldier; he could easily get access to his cell and take him away from this hell. Suddenly, the senior stopped and turned back towards the soldiers standing at the cell door.

"I would like to talk to this one alone. Go wait for me at the staircase door and don't let anyone in until I get out. You know the drill."

They all nodded and turned almost mechanically towards the way they came from and after the synchronized footsteps retreated, the silence engulfed them again and Arwin felt suffocated by it.

He wished someone would say something, he would have been grateful even to hear the annoying chatter of his classmates. The only sound that he could hear was his ragged breathing and his sturdy heart beating and he already felt desolate.

He realized the senior was staring at him and a shiver escaped him. With his passive expressions and cold calculating eyes, he started walking in front of him in a semicircle of sort.

Arwin's heart was beating so fast he could have sworn that he had just run a marathon. He felt as if the senior was doing this on purpose just to get him on edge and clearly he was successful.

He glanced towards the cell in front of him and found everyone was pretending that they were not looking towards them except the broad shouldered man who seemed to be genuinely interested at Arwin's predicament.

"I still don't understand is why your goody two shoes; father asked you to join them." Spoke the senior, his voice like a red knife on the waxy silence, still keeping his head down and pacing.

Arwin was too startled to speak and didn't know how to answer that. He figured it would be wiser just to keep quiet judging from his previous experience with the senior.

"He might preach non violence and peaceful coexistence in his books but he is fooling nobody. I know he is their sympathizer and if you ask me, anybody who is not with us is against us." He paused and glanced up at Arwin and started pacing again.

"I see you have been trained well. My boys caught you in the forest near this installation. I must give you credit for this. No civilian or even rebel has ever reached as far. I reckon they don't know where this place is yet but they are getting closer." He paused and murmured

"We must increase our patrols along the edges. You must be wondering why am I telling you all this." He said with a faint trace of smile on his face.

Arwin couldn't help but feel calmer listening to the senior talking; it reminded him of uncle Radin's stories of tribe lore. Uncle Radin was very fond of him and has been working at their place since his parents settled in Aranya. What he would have given to just be at his home near them. Suddenly, the senior spoke again in an eerily cheerful voice.

"I must congratulate you; you are the youngest to be at this facility. Let me assure you, you are not going out of here, anytime soon and you are going to love this place. So, it's OK, if you are not going to talk but I highly recommend you against it."

There was something in his eyes that screamed murder but his voice had an oddly reassuring effect on Arwin. It made him feel hopeful that he might still have a chance to prove his innocence.

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