A lot of time passed since the dream with the prism. I couldn't get it out of my head.
Also, Dad lied.
He still didn't want me to go to kindergarten, even though Mom was okay with it. I asked him every single day, eventually even Mom started 'asking'.
He gave up on October 3rd.
My first day of kindergarten.
[Sunshine Sprouts Kindergarten, Havok, Monday, 8:00 AM, October 3rd, 2015]
Once I met the head-teacher there, I was sort of left to my own devices in the playroom, where a bunch of the kids were. It was break-time after all.
Feeling shy and awkward, I spun on a swivel chair quietly until a hand tapped my shoulder.
It was a kid my age, with black eyes, long black hair tied in three distinct ponytails, each hair tie holding his hair together was different, from left to right it was red, green and blue. He had a dark leather jacket on and a simple black t-shirt underneath it and some dark jeans.
"Hey! Come play with us! You look lonely over here."
I looked at him with a raised eyebrow and hopped off the chair.
"Uh... Hi. Why do you have ponytails? I thought they were for girls—"
The moment I asked that question, I felt someone running up behind me, and I ducked on instinct.
A girl tried to tackle me but ended up bumping into this kid. She stood back up and looked at me as if I had personally offended her. She also looked my age, she had purple eyes, black hair tied up into one big ponytail held up by a purple hair tie. She was wearing a purple sundress with blue sunflower patterns on it.
"How dare you!? Ponytails aren't just for girls! Don't be mean about his hair, dummy! Moron! Hmph." She scoffed and turned away, arms crossed, and the boy from earlier just laughed and shook his head.
"Don't worry about her, she's like that with everyone... I'm Jack Daniels! Nice to meet you!" He extended a hand in greeting, and I promptly shook it.
"I'm James Karawei, why do you have three ponytails though?"
"Oh, it's just… I don't like cutting my hair… My big sis taught me how to tie it and stuff. No biggie. It took foreeeever to grow out though."
The girl from earlier suddenly pushed Jack out of the way and came to shake my hand, then crossed her arms again.
"I'm Cathy Ariston, and I helped him tie his ponytails this morning! I also made this grumpy cat drawing! Not that you care... Weirdos!" She pointed to a piece of paper glued to the wall, it did have a grumpy looking cat on it.
"Ariston... As in Ariston Industries? You must be rich then!"
She put both hands on my cheeks and grunted, shaking my head from side to side.
"How dare you?! Where did you hear that from?! You little—"
Jack suddenly pulled me away by the sleeve of my shirt, and Cathy trailed behind, still looking grumpy and irritated, mumbling under her breath.
"Come this way! I've got someone to introduce you to! Oh and don't mind Cathy. You might not want to talk about her family though, she doesn't like that!"
"Why is that?"
"I dunno, I wouldn't if I were you. The first time I tried to talk to her about it, she almost ripped out my big tooth! Yikes…"
I decided not to pry further.
We reached the corner of the playroom and saw a girl playing with a train set. She had yellow eyes and long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. Apparently that was the style here. She wore a yellow t-shirt with a bee on it and black pants.
"James, meet Jasmine, Jasmine meet James! We're gonna play Cops and Robbers together, and we need a good cop! I'll be a robber, of course." He grinned and pointed at himself smugly.
"Heya! You look confused? Scared? Hungry? Worried?! Ah, you're fine… Don't worry, I don't bite! I'm Jasmine Olson! You can call me Jazzie, Jamie~" She said, extending a hand to me, which I shook.
She pulled herself off the floor as I did. She looked at me for a second longer, winking, before running off to the other side of the room.
"Oh and just so you know, you're part of our little gang now… The Cardinals! Y'know? I'm West, obviously. Cathy's North, Jasmine's South and you're East!"
Jack then turned and ran after Jasmine without elaborating further. Only Cathy stayed behind to glare at me.
"Cardinals…? Oh, uh, sorry about before… Are we friends now? I've never had friends or talked to people other than my family for this long, so…"
Cathy's eyes softened slightly at my words, and her hands dropped to her sides. She got closer to me and still tried to fake a pout while extending her arms out as if she was offering a hug.
"W-well... Don't be stupid! We're friends now... Let's talk about it! My dad kind of sucks too!"
And that's how I met them, my three good friends.
We called ourselves The Cardinals. Jack came up with the idea. We spent a lot of time together from that moment onwards, playing, talking, getting into trouble with the grownups.
I found out where each of them lived.
Jasmine lived in Darrilyn, her father is from Taured and her mother is Ryomanian so this is more of a secondary house for them. She lived somewhere on the other side of town at the other edge of the Redwoods.
Cathy lived in Havok in a house somewhere in the suburban district. I took Jack's advice and didn't talk with her too much about her personal life unless she decided to share. All I understood is it was an apartment and it was near a pizzeria.
Jack also lived in Havok, in the rich district with all the mansions. I soon found out his family is outrageously rich, they owned a large corporation and various other smaller companies. He never really went into detail about it.
And I lived in Darrilyn, which is where we all met up and hung out. Jack was sent to this kindergarten by his family so he could experience the countryside, Cathy was sent here due to family issues and Jasmine lived here just like me.
They taught me so much about enjoying life and I grew up around them.
I still remember the winter Cathy got stuck in a tree on a dare from Jack and refused to let any of us help her down. Three hours. When she finally climbed down at dark, she looked at all of us very seriously and said: "That never happened." We never brought it up again.
Or that time Jack managed to balance three footballs on top of his head while walking backwards in the middle of the road. He wanted to show off his great motor skills and balance, and he knew that no cars would come. Darrilyn was always quiet.
And there was also that time Jasmine got sick from eating too many banana pies at the Darrilyn Autumn Festival that was held in the deeper parts of town, where the budget increased and people got stricter.
And of course, I remember when I accidentally got caught working out by Jasmine, while I was fully shirtless, in the middle of the night. I had completely forgotten about movie night, which was every other Friday, where we got together and binged crappy movies, filled up on popcorn and laughed our butts off at Jack's shenanigans. She never told anyone, but she did tease me mercilessly with the memory of it.
That was just how it was with us.
We called ourselves The Cardinals because we were all different, yet stuck together, like the points of a compass. Pointing towards different goals but having the same roots.
We ran every day around town, stole apples, and swore we'd never grow up.
But time had other plans.
[Outskirts of Havok, Thursday, 6:47 PM, May 7th, 2020]
A whole five years had passed since I met them, and we've been through a lot together. Getting into all sorts of trouble.
They were the ones who helped me get out of the house more and break down my parents' rules, and my own rules. They even helped me gain enough confidence to explore the whole town, Darrilyn, and sometimes near the outskirts of the city.
Which is where we were headed at this time.
I was walking alongside them as we were approaching the city of Havok. My parents were already waiting by the car up ahead on the road, like usual, there was no traffic.
It was my last day here before leaving the country.
My parents have been planning this trip for the past 2 years, and we were headed for the country of Taured, where my Aunt Lara was living. My Aunt and Uncle moved there when both of my parents were younger for the same financial problems we have now.
There were better business opportunities there; being a mortician in Ryomania wasn't paying well since the population kept rising. More born than dead. Which was good overall, just not for my parents.
And obviously, them also being farmers didn't help much, so the plan was to move to Taured for a while... maybe five years and then return rich, in theory.
Reno was also working overseas and sending us money, but she didn't get the position she thought she'd have and she couldn't necessarily send us more than two thousand Dracos a month. Or she wasn't allowed to. But it's not like she told us much.
I kept my head down as I kept walking alongside my friends, and the sun was already faded over the horizon. I was just deep in thought, and loved staring at it.
Jasmine poked my shoulder as she was on my right side, she was always the social butterfly.
"Jamie... You're so quiet, something on your mind, handsome?~"
I snapped out of it and glanced around, suddenly stopping in my tracks. A sudden wave of nostalgia hit me and I felt tears prick the corners of my eyes. I looked behind me to notice the golden wheat fields in the distance where my house could faintly be seen.
"Home… Huh?! Oh! Sorry, I was just… thinking. It's nothin—"
Cathy suddenly threw a rock at me and went over to lean against the fence by the side of the road. They were put in place to stop small animals getting into the fields, we didn't have drunk drivers thankfully. Darrilyn was a quiet town.
"What's wrong, dumbass? Stop acting all nostalgic and keep walking! You have a ride to catch, remember?"
I rubbed my head and looked towards the wheat fields again.
"Sorry! Ow... Um… Like I said, I was just thinking about when I met all of you. How much we've been through. My head feels kind of weird. Oh, but not from the rock. Like Deja Vú but weirder? It's hard to explain…" I trailed off in thought as my legs started moving on their own, already walking ahead.
Cathy quickly hopped off the fence and followed behind, sighing.
Jack reached over from the left to put a hand on my shoulder.
"Look, it's not your fault we broke Old Lady Dana's windows... I told Jasmine not to kick the ball at me, and well... you know her. Plus, Cathy wasn't being a good goalie. Hear that? You're slow, Donlon!" He shot Cathy a glance while smirking.
She threw another rock at him, but he ducked just in time, laughing.
"Don't make fun of my country, you ass! I swear one of these days I'll make a damn hat out of you."
I glanced between the two of them and put my hands in my pockets.
"No... It's the fact that I'm leaving for Taured, I guess. It feels so sudden... I don't think I'm ready to leave you guys."
Jasmine squeaked and threw her arms around me in a hug, Cathy shuffled closer, her arms dropping to her sides.
"Aww, well, aren't you sweet? We'll miss you too, Jamie... But don't feel too bad, you'll get to see my homeland before I do! That must be a bonus, huh?~"
The second Jasmine let go of the hug Cathy snuck up behind me and grabbed both of my shoulders as we kept walking.
"My dad sent me a postcard from Taured once. The only thing on it was the price tag," she said while kicking a rock away onto the other side of the road.
Cathy snorted and let go of my shoulders, she moved past and elbowed Jack, suddenly walking ahead of us and turning around, looking at me as she began walking backwards.
"Don't worry, dude, I'm sure we'll see you again one day! Plus, it's not like you won't be able to call or anything... And you'll only be there until your parents have enough money! That's like... what, 5 to 8 years?" Jack said.
"5 years is long enough. But what is Taured even known for anyway?" I asked, matching their strides.
"It's a city on water, dude, what more do you want to know?" He also slowed down, the four of us walking side-by-side.
"Hey, wasn't your sister getting a job or something? Why even move at all?" Jasmine asked, nudging my shoulder.
"It's a… 'good' job, and it's better if his parents are working too. Ariston Industries controls Havok's economy after all, making Reno's job a big deal," Cathy spat the words out, tasting bitter on her tongue.
We eventually reached the car, and Jack suddenly took the bags from me and threw them at my parents. My dad luckily caught both.
"Woah! What a strong boy you've become, Jack! Thanks for helping out, I'll make sure to remind James to call all of you rascals." He opened the door for me.
I looked back at my friends, my right hand already on the car door.
"I'll miss you guys, thanks for... being cool and for everything, I guess! I promise to return in five years." I smiled genuinely and turned to them.
Jack came up to me, shook my hand, and nodded. No words needed.
Jasmine hugged me, however briefly, and smiled.
Cathy... stood there, arms crossed. Looking away into the Redwoods on the other side of the road. Her hands started shaking, and there was a tremble in her voice.
"Goodbye, dumbass, don't cry too much when you think of us… We're The Cardinals, we always stick… together…"
She slowly turned her head to meet my gaze and then suddenly turned away towards the Red Woods, her hands balled into fists.
"Ugh! Whatever! Stupid James, stupid trip... Stupid car... "
She didn't look back. She muttered to herself and started walking past the car and further up the road. Jack followed after her.
"Cathy, what kind of goodbye is that?!—" His voice cut off as he ran after her.
Jasmine chuckled as she leaned against the car, watching the two of them argue in the distance.
"I'll keep an eye on them Jamie, we'll all miss you very much. I'll also take care of the house as promised!" She nodded confidently and smirked, walking towards Jack and Cathy.
My mom tapped my shoulder to get my attention.
"Don't mind Cathy, sweetie, I've known that girl since she was just a little bean sprout; doesn't mean she doesn't care." My mom then pulled me into a hug, suddenly letting go and pushing me into the back of the car.
"Agh! Mom! Stop being uncool..."
She laughed and hopped into the passenger seat. Dad got in front. I rolled down my window to look at Jasmine one more time.
"Hey Jazzie? I trust you... Okay? You know where the key is. Don't go snooping around in my room..."
"Yeah, yeah, while I'm at it, I can steal your crops too!" She chuckled and came up to the window, booping my nose. "I know. Don't worry. And make sure to have a safe trip!—"
"Safe trip."
The last words I heard from her as Dad started driving away. The engine was rumbling; it was an old sedan, and it was loud.
The three of them started going home in different directions.
I looked back and saw Cathy heading North into the Red Woods after arguing with Jack. Arms still crossed and still not looking my way — or at least the car's way. My guess is she knew I'd look at them one last time.
Jack then stopped and turned to wave towards the car, after that he started walking South into the wheat fields. He always knew where the best shortcuts were. I'm pretty sure he knew the entire layout of the city, the town, and the nearby farms outside of Darrilyn further up South. He always liked taking long walks and he had the freedom to do it too, he was brave. He took a shortcut to get into the suburbs of the city, right near the subway station.
Jasmine just turned back West, heading towards my farm.
As for me and my family, we went East. The Land Of Water, Taured.