But I used to dream of having a
friend, someone I could trust and talk to. I pinned my hopes on the academy,
there I would be normal. Others would understand, I would have lots of friends.
Mind you, I was not lonely, not
in the physical sense, because although the children did not like me I still
got lots of invitations to people’s house and parties and sleep overs. Inevitably
I ended up with the adults asking me to find something for them, ‘as you are
here.’ I started to walk out when this happened and find my way home, which was
considered rude and unthoughtful and the children thought it was a bit weird. They
would have been scared to walk through the streets at night. But I am a finder,
I could find a safe way home. But they didn’t know. Nor did my parents. I upset
them, they were happy when I was a popular girl. So I stayed at the other
children’s homes and found lost objects, and my parents were happy. The
children would pretend to play with me so that their parents were happy.
We did a lot of that, as
children, keeping our parents happy. Should have been the other way round to my
mind.
I think the whole town sighed with relief when
my tenth birthday arrived and my academy days were about to begin. The adults
could tell people that they knew me, a finder, and that I had stayed in their
home and helped them find something to say than you as they had been kind to me.
The children could say that they were friends with a finder, it would give them
some rubbed off status in life, as long as I was not there to prove them wrong.
It is the only birthday party I
remember having. And what a party it was. The music was loud enough to be heard
all over town. The entertainer was funny, I don’t remember what he did but he
must have been funny because people around me were laughing, I think he
entertained the adults more than the children.
There were balloons fixed all
over the roof of the house, just in case someone passing by wanted to wish me
luck. There was so much food piled onto the tables, cakes of all shapes and
colours to gorge on, and a huge pile of presents. I didn’t eat anything and I
don’t remember what the present were. Probably clothes for the academy.
Everyone I knew in the neighbourhood,
and many I didn’t, came to wish me a good experience at the academy. I had so
many good luck hand slaps that I could not bend my fingers they were so swollen
and red. No-one noticed. They were all so happy for me.
To make sure that I would
remember them, when I was a qualified finder, business cards and telephone
numbers were pressed furtively into my raw, sticky hands. I don’t remember what
I did with them, they were probably thrown in the burner with the rest of the
party debris.
I remember feeling very lonely in
this sea of well-wishers. I could not wait to leave.
Please understand, I loved my
home, and I would miss the familiarity. My parents had inherited it or I guess
we would have been living in a down under apartment as we never had much money.
We had a double sloped roof on the surface, one side was made from windows and
light gatherers, and the other side was covered in solar tiles. They were such
fun to slide down, as long as you didn’t get caught! The space around our roof
and others in the street was filled with plants, trees – although not close
enough to create shade on the roofs – grass and flowers. It was cared for by
the town and everyone treated it with care and respect. If you damaged the land
you would be in big trouble and you could lose your home. But as people were
always so busy it was mostly the children who used the space. Sometimes in the
summer there would be parties and once we even had people sitting on our roof
and singing to the stars. You should have seen my parents, they did not know
what to do, in the end they did nothing, there was no harm done. At school we
had learnt that in the past people had their own private piece of land that they
had to take care of, I believe they did not do this very well. How could anyone
have thought they owned land? This concept was beyond me. There was a special solar gathering roofed area at
the end of the street for hover cars. They were recharged overnight, we did not
own one, as they were too expensive for factory workers.
We
had two levels in our home, the top one was a kitchen, a small table to eat at,
and a comfy sofa for watching the screen wall and playing games – if you could
pay. This space had natural light and I loved it. The next level had two
bedrooms, a washroom, a toilet, and store room. Each room had solar tubes that
brought in light from the sun in the daytime and stored light when it was dark.
My room was very small, there was space for my high up bed, under which was a
cupboard for my clothes, that was it. The store room did not have much in it
and was also my punishment room, my parents knew how much I loved being outside
and in the natural light. I knew the storage room and all the creatures that
dwelt it its damp and dingy confines quite well. That was one part of my home I
would not miss. I said goodbye to each room in turn, I was not sure when I
would be back to stay.
It
was going to be strange and incredibly wonderful to live somewhere with natural
light in every room.
My parents could not afford to
send me to the academy on the air-train so they left me and my small case at
the town travel-share office, said goodbye and hurried to their work. It was
quite some time before someone said they were going in the direction of the
city and had space for me. They did not go all the way, but dropped me at
anther town’s travel share. It was a long, tiring and at times scary three day
journey. I was a little dishevelled by the time I got to the city as I had
slept in my clothes on travel-share office benches in strange towns. I was also
very hungry, I had eaten most of the packed food on the first day. I did not
know it would take so long to get to the city. The air-train had been so fast.
I no longer had any fat reserves
on my body so I was feeling a little lightheaded and slightly disorientated as I
walked slowly up the hill towards the academy. I thought I was prepared for the
sight of the old building, but it stopped me moving, it was awe inspiring, set
high up in the city, with its huge rooms and spacious balconies overlooking the
ordinary people. I always felt that the building was a little smug with its
placing and chosen occupants. It was terribly grand and slightly overpowering for
a mere ten year old. I had to force my feet to move and concentrate on taking
one step at a time.
This tall, blue stone, tower
adorned, gargoyle infested building was going to be my home for the next six years.
I never believed how quickly it would become normal to look out of a window, to
walk through the elaborately carved arched gateways and wander through around
inner courtyards littered with fantastic sculptures.
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