Shiku's father yanked the straps away from Kim's limp body. He could hear his daughter' s cries of sheer shock and sadness. Damn it, he thought, it wasn't supposed to go like this. He lifted the boy and placed him slowly on the floor looking up. He put two fingers on Kim's neck, there was a pulse. A weak one but it was there. He breathed out heavily in relief, at least he was still alive.
Shiku rushed to Kim's side and looked at him. This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to go on like always. Make a new tech gadget, invite Kim, test gadget, have fun, then have lunch. That's it. The way it was supposed to happen, not this. She began to cry as thoughts of never seeing him again crossed her mind. What would she do if he never woke up. She cried more earnestly and loudly. Her mother, who had just come in to invite them to eat, took one look at the scene and froze. She had always warned them about the dangers of their experiments... now this.
Wordlessly, she crossed the room and headed for Kim. She touched his neck, felt the pulse, then opened one of his eyes. Thank goodness he was only unconscious. "Take him up into the spare bedroom upstairs," she said looking at Shiku's father hard. He looked down, nodded and lifted the boy up and proceeded to take him upstairs. Shiku blew her nose. She was still crying when her mother went close to her and hugged her," Its okay sweetie, he's just asleep", he mother told her making her cry afresh. Her mother held her tightly and smiled, her daughter loved Kim and didn't realize it yet. She smiled again, it's so good to be so young.
*
*
*
Mwas waited inside his private train. He was irritated. He hated the festival. It never made sense to him why people would throw everything away for a few days of fun. For him it was a nuisance, a waste of time. He sat and waited. They're taking too long, he thought, his irritation gradually increasing. Suddenly, the train began to move. Finally, he thought as the train slowly pulled of the station. The train was the latest model and boasted a completely new engine and the fact that it was one of the rarest in the whole village made him happy and want to show off in arrogance. It was divided into four cabins, the engine room plus where the driver slept, his own private cabin where nobody else could enter. The third cabin was for the guests or people he considered to take along with him while the last cabin was considered for cargo use.
As the train zipped by the village, he struggled to hide his disgust as he watched from the window people taking part in the festival. They looked happy and were enjoying themselves. It annoyed him greatly. He pulled in the curtains and turned up the volume. To him, their relaxed moments of fun and celebration were the source of annoyance and great pain. I wonder what he's doing now, he thought.
" We're here Mwas," Maish said over the intercom waking him up. He rubbed his face. He couldn't remember when he had fallen asleep. However, right now he felt refreshed and in a good mood. He drank soda and then stepped out. It was time to fix his new chair.
The warriors he had brought with him began to unload the cargo onto wheeled carts and directed them out of the small station. Mwas walked ahead of them but Maish was in front of him leading the way like a gallant knight.
They were between two sections of the main city. This place was considered a secret and for Mwas, if he had never met Maish, he probably wouldn't have known about this place. A narrow clean street was a stark contrast to the shops and dins found here. It was a place that acted as a bridge, sort of. A bridge between the main village and its dark sometimes profound underbelly. It was a place that one could find anything literally, anything that wasn't found in the sunny side of the village.