The Panacea

Chapter One

My cold palms dropped to my knees as I finished another lap. While the village was dead asleep, it’s people lost in the sweet promises of their dreams, I was wide awake, gasping for air, running round and round until I was tired enough to not think of the fact that today was the Affinity Test, the day I would have to leave this place and surely, there’s no turning back. I shook my head, untangling the hair that stick in my sweaty neck and ran for another round. When I reached the bridge, Kyle was there, arms propped on the metal railings, staring at the rising sun between two mountain’s snow-capped peaks. These past few days when I do my daily runs, I would always catch him staring at the morning sky, his gaze on something far, maybe reaching as far to Metropolis where his parents were staying, but I did not bother ask. Even though he is one of my best friends, I still find it hard to have a “heart-to-heart” talk with him without feeling awkward by the second. Maybe because he is a guy or I’m just not the type who has a lending ear, but with the two theories, I’m leaning towards the latter. It only took seconds before he sensed my arrival and he looked up to me, smiling weakly.

“Good morning” he greeted as I took a spot beside him.

“Good?” I scornfully asked “Thereisnothing good with this day”

“Whoa, what’s with the sour attitude?” he grinned, turning back to his staring.

“It’s just that it irritates me when people act lively when there’s no reason to be cheerful about” I traced the railings and it was freezing like a pole of ice.

In normal days, he would probably argue and assure me that everything would turn into a lighter note, the Mr. Brightside that he is, but I was slightly surprised when he answered “I know” and the longing returned to his sleepy, blue eyes. Even the most positive person I knew could feel the heaviness of today’s agenda.

“Maybe we don’t have to make it worse than it already is” he thought out loud.

“So, what do you have in mind?”

“Hmmm…maybe some apples, strawberries and a thermos of hot chocolate will do the trick?” he kneeled down, reaching for the bag at his side and one-by-one, he pulled out all of its contents: a red cloth, a metal-cylinder, Tupperware of frozen fruits.

“Where did you got all of this?” I immediately covered him and looked around to see if someone was near enough to see us. “You do know that this could give us a month in kitchen duty”

“Relax!” he chuckled, pulling me back to the ground “No one wakes at this hour except for you. I’ve been observing since last week”

A smile crawled into my lips “What have you done to my best friend? You were always this careful, image conscious person, and now you’re breaking all the rules?”

“Well, they won’t be able to punish me anymore, can they?”

“No, they can’t” I finally agreed. “Strawberry sounds good”

A minute later, we were sprawled on the pavement, the cloth shielding our butts from getting frost bites, two steaming drinks in our command, and apple left overs littered around us.

“What’s with the sudden feast?” I asked as I cupped both my rigid hands at my mug, holding on for its fuzzy warmth.

“For our last day of staying here”

“Yeah. It totally calls for a celebration when you’re going to leave the place that you grew up in” I felt my eyes roll.

He looked at me pointedly “No. We’re going to celebrate for all the memories we built here and swear that we’ll never forget”