Chapter 08

"Mr. Wister!" Call from the professor.

I did not realize the time that I slept in oblivion in my chair, waiting.

I quickly raised my head, stood up and saw everyone looking at me, and they were all waiting for a response.

"Present, Ma'am! Err... Sir,"

Most of the students laughed in derision at my error. I immediately removed my hood, unplugged my earphones and confronted the professor with vigilance.

"How about you? If you were given a chance at a superpower, what would it be?"

What? I don't understand...

I scratched my head, suddenly disturbed by a question that was far more beyond reality.

I thought it was some sort of boring classroom lecture about history or something.

Wait, am I in Hogwarts or what?

Or is this just another dream?

Or perhaps I've lost my mind.

"Sir?"

The professor folded his arms, beat his shoe to the ground, and the expression of his face was apparently waiting for a response.

But some of the students volunteered, actively lifting their hands to answer, but the teacher shushed them, leaving their mouths motionless while waiting for me to answer.

I couldn't think of anything else, and the only thing that came off my mind was...

"Replicating the magic of someone else. Sir?" I doubtfully answered.

"And why is that? Don't you want to have your own particular ability?" asked the professor curiously.

It was getting strange that I was being asked a question like this, but as we got into this, I thought it would be interesting to participate.

"Well, it is a special ability, Sir. You can easily learn new abilities and replicate them instead of focusing on to one power."

The professor was satisfied with the answer I gave. Just by looking at his face, I could already see the answer in his face. After that, his expression shifted. He marched towards the desk and erased all of the writings on the board.

"Okay class, if you're getting confused, I would just likely want to remind you... We're not in some prestigious school of magic." Said the professor. There were a few titters coming from the students.

"Why I asked you this is because we are going to tackle Literature and Mythology. Well, isn't that interesting, eh?" The professor added.

I laughed at myself for thinking that maybe I was actually in some kind of sorcery class learning magic. It was a stupid idea that came out of my head that might have been because of my sleep deprivation.

Or maybe I guess I was just affected by what I saw last night. About Lincoln, who just jumped into the well. I still could not get it out of my mind.

***

Finally! I can go home.

The sky gradually darkened as the clouds came together. The trees were swaying back and forth as the wind increased in strength.

The feeble rain began to fall strongly. The sky began to roar, the thunder slowly extending through the vicinity, and the lightning flashed quickly before my eyes could even see it.

Unfortunately, I did not bring an umbrella and I was standing in the shed, waiting for the school bus to arrive to pick us up and take us home. Ricky was by my side. I picked him up from his class right after mine.

Soon we saw the light of the bus coming toward us. The shower became even more obvious because of its bulb that projects its luminous beam. The door opened and Sandra was standing on the doorstep.

"You shouldn't be waiting here. This is for preschoolers!" She giggled. Sandra then took us in the bus.

"I know. I went to pick up Ricky."

We went inside the bus and sat in our usual seats. I began plugging in my earphones, covering my head with the hood of my jacket, tucking my arms into the sleeve pockets, and looking out the window at the rain and the passing street lamps that shone their light on the road.

She took a headset out of one of my ears and asked me after we sat on the chair. "So, how did the first day of school go?"

"Fine, as usual." I responded clearly.

"You think I'll be convinced in the tone of your voice, eh?" She asked again with a tone of sarcasm.

He nudged me in the spleen. "Don't pretend." And grin, "I know you."

She then narrowed her eyes, casting a suspicious stare at me.

"Ouch! That hurts!" I flinched.

I fondled the bottom of my rib where she hit me. I looked at her in a scornful way and slapped her arm back and said, "Hey! What was that for?"

Sandra just snickered at the puzzled look on my face. I rolled my eyes and glanced back at the window. I took my earpiece back from her hand, reinserted them into my ears, and flipped back the hood of my jacket to cover my head.

But before I could finally pull the hood to its extent, I slowly removed it again.

In an abrupt turn and twist of fate, from the window glass of the bus that was full of raindrops, I happened to see and recognize Lincoln wearing a dark long robe covering almost his face with the hood, hiding behind a large tree trunk.

What? That's impossible! In a blink of an eye, I can't go wrong!

I'm certain he threw himself into the well of our garden!

Our eyes crossed while the bus drove by. I got up from my seat even though the bus we were riding in was still running and I wanted to get off the bus to chase Lincoln.

But Sandra caught and held my arm and then asked me, "What's the problem?"

"I saw Lincoln." I replied in an unrestful response.

"What? Maybe you were just seeing something else." As Sandra suggested.

"No, I'm sure it's him." I spoke with great belief.

I took my hands out of Sandra's grasp and quickly got off the bus to catch Lincoln.

"Carter, Wait...!"