A Day in the Clouds (Chapter 13) - The Hours Between 1700 and 1800 (Part 2 of 2)
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As soon as I alighted from Coche, the sight of a large body of water that stretched to the horizon greeted me. The water was murky, and vegetation seemed to live both in the soil and in the water. Living high up in the mountains, seeing a sight like this was rare.
Dadier tapped my shoulder, then led me to a nearby training ground. I recognize it as a place that he took me to before. The vegetation that lived both in the water and the ground threw me off a bit. I had long suspected that these giants were bulking us up. It was either for us to join their ranks or to fight among ourselves in gladiatorial combat. If it were up to me, I'd choose the latter scenario every time. Perhaps my recent cooperation pleased him. So much so that he decided to reward me with time away from the prison.
State of the art equipment littered the training facility. It had monkey bars and a climbing wall for grip and core strength. Several see-saws were in place for leg strength. There were also swings for agility and a slide for stamina. Training sessions came few and far between. That's why I always make it a point to take advantage of every second I afforded to me.
The giant eyed me from a distance. He had his arms crossed, and looked like he was ready to give chase the second I looked like I was making a run for it. I teased him a few times to test his reaction time, and discovered that he was as nimble as ever. In my current state, there was no way that I was going to make a successful escape. I still needed to recuperate to full strength, if I ever hope to contend with my titanic captors.
From a distance, I could see the sun setting over the horizon. It's been years since I last saw the sun kiss the ground, and it's as magnificent as the first time I saw it. As night drew near, I knew I had to put in as much reps as I can before we're forced to leave. These giants seem to have an aversion to the night, or the lack of sun. If only I chanced upon at least one night during my last escapade, then maybe I would've avoided capture. Alas, years-long of sunlight became my constant companion throughout my whole journey.
There were other prisoners in the training facility. Their gigantic jailers each of them. The queue made it hard to speed through the training equipment. I needed to think of a way to get more training done.
"Hey, you," I called out to a prisoner who was spending quite a long time in the swing. "I say, you've been taking your sweet time there, mind if others had a chance to use it?"
My request fell on deaf ears. I tried to grab him, but he evaded capture. He retaliated by knocking me back upon his return. Dadier rushed to my aid and dusted me off. I thanked him for the assist, but I wiggled out of his grasp to continue my training.
"Have you ever tried escaping while on excursions like this?" I asked another prisoner, while I was waiting in the queue for the slide.
"Huh?" she replied, confused. The prisoner was sweaty and smelled rancid. She was gasping for air, while trying to maintain her balance.
"I said, have you ever tried to escape while away from your prison? I mean, we each only have one guard, and everyone else is too busy surveilling their own charge that—"
"W-What's wrong with you?" she stammered, while slowly backing away from me.
"Pardon?" I inquired. "I-I ... I'm not quite sure what you're—"
The other prisoner called for her guardian, asking for an immediate extraction. She looked at me with disdain as she was being hauled out. I'm not quite sure what I did or what I said to set her off like that.
Nighttime was almost upon us, and the queue felt like it was taking forever. There was a bottleneck caused by a dispute of who should slide next near the front of the line. Slowly growing impatient, I marched toward the argument. On my way, I pushed aside the other prisoners who stood idly by.
"Hey!" one prisoner shouted.
"No cutting!" another yelled out. I'm not sure who's cutting what, but I hope it's a giant's head.
I grew impatient of their squabble. Their petty disagreement wasted precious training time. Instead of resolving an argument between strangers, I decided that I should be the one to take the next turn.
Cloud Source
Upon reaching the end of the slide, I looked back only to discover that the quarrel had erupted into a commotion. This time it involved all the other prisoners in the queue. For some reason, their ire seemed to now have a new target: me. I'm not quite sure why that was the case, as I avoided any involvement. Could my non-participation be the reason why they redirected their anger on me?
Some other giants intervened, and Dadier came along to safeguard me. The giants congregated in hopes of quelling the aggression before things got out of hand.
"W-What's going on?" I asked Dadier, as I tugged on his cottony armor.
Dadier waved at me to stay, as he continued to talk to the other giants. They must be in panic mode, as the sun is all but gone from the sky.
Soon after, their meeting ended and Dadier led me back to where Coche was resting. It had been a long day, and I hope that Coche got enough rest for the journey back.
"Hello, old friend," I greeted, as I patted its snout. "Did you have a nice long rest?"
Coche replied with a soft grumble, as it illuminated its eyes in preparation for our voyage.
Dadier wiped my sweat, disrobed me and dressed me with a fresh-smelling pair. He strapped me down, then sat on his position.
The light breeze from Coche's breath grazed my skin, and the gentle beast crawled forward. I tilted my head back, and rested against it. Its soft insides provided a level of comfort that was reminiscent of a bed. Conversely, its tough exterior was harder than a rock. It gave a strong assurance that there would be no obstacles powerful enough to deter our travel.
The night was perilous because the darkness made it hard to see, but Coche's eyes lit up our passage. It somehow signaled all the other creatures to become brighter to help us navigate our way.
Dadier sat back and eased up his grip on the tender creature. Glowing metallic fireflies in a straight-line formation guided our way back. The giant breathed a sigh of relief, as he had one less cause for concern.
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"State of the art equipment littered the training facility. It had monkey bars and a climbing wall for grip and core strength. Several see-saws were in place for leg strength. There were also swings for agility and a slide for stamina. Training sessions came few and far between. That's why I always make it a point to take advantage of every second I afforded to me."
This section was simply a brilliant way of viewing the playground because essentially it does promote physical activities for a child's developmental growth but through the eyes of Ledd it was a training grounds for prisoners, this instantly pulled me into this entire chapter, well done bro
"I said, have you ever tried to escape while away from your prison? I mean, we each only have one guard, and everyone else is too busy surveilling their own charge that—"
The other prisoner called for her guardian, asking for an immediate extraction. She looked at me with disdain as she was being hauled out. I'm not quite sure what I did or what I said to set her off like that.
This section brought me down with pure sadness as it truly displays the misunderstanding of Ledd with other individuals who are not privy to his state of mind and condition. I couldn't help but empathise with him in this precious moment of confusion. My humble suggestion is to continue with these types of impacting passages throughout the remaining chapters because it infuses a hybrid of reality and fantasy while communicating the emptiness and disconnect Ledd can feel from others who lack a human compassion from both a prisoner's perspective and a real life viewpoint of Ledd's disability. Absolutely heart wrenching. Great job brother
I'm glad that you pointed those out, brother. Those were the tentpoles of this chapter. With regard to the playground description, I looked at the whole scene and thought "Huh.. How would this look like from a child's point of view?" I tried to think back to my childhood and I remembered this is how I looked at it haha! Thanks for the compliment regarding that, bro!
With regard to the sad interaction, I really want to tug on the heartstrings there, so I'm glad that it tugged on at least one person. Continuing on that is the plan, but it's mostly the subject of the arc we're currently on. I didn't want to over saturate the story with the political message, so I hope that what I've written is just enough :S
Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts, brother! I'm really glad you touch on the things that I wanted to depict :D
Yeah, even reflecting back on those moments now, the emotion still rings true and you definitely didn't oversaturate it. It was just the right amount of finesse! Playgrounds are indeed both a battleground and training area for prisoners held captive. I'm a constant overseer of my daughter in each new playground I take her too lol
Thanks for the recognition, brother! It's good that you keep a close eye. We wouldn't want little Harmony (or even Marcello when he grows older) to be the leader of the global revolution against us giants now, don't we?
Is follow me if you want to live new? I lol'd
Another masterful installment. You might find it difficult to top that depiction of a play park. I loved his rush to get in and do his training to strengthen himself because you are kids so the time just race in and go for it. Great stuff dude!!
I've had that since Chapter 9, I think haha! I snuck that change in, I didn't know if anyone would notice. And, for a time no one did. That is, until you came along haha!
Thanks, dude! I really had fun taking notes for this chapter. I'm sure the parents in the playgrounds I sat in were all mighty suspicious that a potential pedophile is stalking their children, but I'm glad this chapter turned out well.
Children always look so determined whenever they're in the playground. It couldn't be that they're just having fun, right? Everyone's running around on purpose. That's what inspired me to flesh out the deeper meaning. Some might read this as a documentary or a psychological study.
GAH! That was what I was afraid of :( Oh well, maybe this story has peaked around the middle. I wanted to tell the playground chapter a little later, but this is the last hour of sunlight afforded :(
Thanks for the continued support, dude! Your words are exponentially increasing in value day by day, it's now worth more that gold :D
Now that was a pretty awesome description of a playground from a child's point of view XD
I am kind of vaguely curious about how he sounds to the other kids...er...prisoners and whether they are actually looking disdainfully at him or whether it's his skewed perception contributing to that impression (I don't know if that's the word I wanted but I appear to be losing my vocabulary, sure sign I need more sleep XD).
Could also be my imagination but even though he now has a new plan in mind that involves looking before leaping, he seems to be getting less antagonistic towards the giants despite himself.
Woohoo! Thanks, buddy! I'm glad you thought so :D His speech age is that of a 1 year old, so much like how a 1 year old interacts. I tried to write the most unbiased depiction I could. From what I observed, most were confused why he acts the way he does, although some kids don't treat him any differently. Kids have no propensity for discrimination, that's what I love most about them.
Hmm.. I don't want to say too much but you're on to something there ;) One thing you have to know about my writing style is that I try to portray changes not only in the story but also in the structure of the story as well. I know you've observed that before with the pacing and such haha!
Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts, my friend! Always so entertaining and insightful :D
Yay!! I had no idea what to expect, and this was better than what I could have expected! It's so perfect that you portrayed it as him looking it at like a training center. Always his eyes on the prize! You let the reader figure things out sometimes, in such a masterful way that it astounds me. Such as him cutting in line for the slide and everyone being angry with him, while he is oblivious as to what cutting means or why they'd be mad. Along with my imagining dadier explaining to the other parents Jedd's...predisposition? I'm not sure what word I'm looking for there. But it's fantastic.
I'm going to be sad when this story ends...except that will mean I can read it all the way through. And that makes me say what I said at the beginning, Yay!!
This was that playground chapter I've talked to you about several months back haha! I can't believe it's been so long!! I discussed it briefly in the latest SILVER LINING
Thanks for noticing my improvement in letting the reader fill in the blanks, my friend! As I've mentioned in the past, I over-explain things too much, so I really try to get a handle on it and let the reader make their own assumptions in this story. Having an unreliable narrator certainly helps!
"Condition" is a more apt description, I think. But yeah, I imagine it's hard doing it all the time. This was just a minor incident that was snipped in the bud. Other times they may not be so lucky. Especially now that he's growing up and interacting with children who are more aggressive.
I've just finished re-editing the book, and I must say that a bittersweet feeling overcame me. As with all my stories, I find it hard leaving them behind, and this one is no exception. I really should learn how to detach myself from the characters or it'll be the death of me!
Thank you for your undying support, my friend! Your encouragement is the fuel that keeps me going on this platform :D