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[Name: Cale Howza]
[Age:10]
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Cale's hand passed through these characters as he continued to grab the magical sheet that manifested in his vision. Changing his approach, he tried to pinch the sheet between his fingers, thinking that he would be able to feel it. But, he felt nothing, as if it only existed in his vision.
He was still standing at the front of the line, making weird hand motions in the air. Clearly, he was too captivated by his first record template. A light tap on his shoulder reminded Cale that he was delaying the Record Ceremony. Quickly apologizing, he walked away with his ears turning pink. Cale believed he was going to be a great person someday, so these small mistakes embarrassed him greatly.
As he went to find a seat, he saw how other kids gathered into their own groups. Unlike them, he wasn't part of any group. So he found a seat in the front row, which was usually empty. No one liked sitting here. Cale didn't understand this since there would be no one to block his vision.
Now that he was waiting for the others to receive their first record template, Cale started to fiddle with the magical sheet in his vision again. It reminded him of his dreams, where he imagines an item into his hand, but he could never feel it.
"Psst…"
Thinking about his dreams, he thought about his last dream. He remembered the feelings of confusion and dread. Similar to when he saw the others grow taller than him, similar to when he lost in a foot race. There was a strangely familiar stump in his dream and a deep red sky. Countless birds were flying everywhere and there were no paths nearby.
"Psst...Cale…"
When Cale tried to find a way home, he would always end up back near the strangely familiar stump. He was lost and there was no one there to help him. Cale just sat on the stump, watching the rising birds gather into a chaotic cloud in the sky. Feathers started to fall onto the ground around him. The world was growing increasingly unfamiliar which made Cale stick closer to the stump.
"Cale…Heeeey Caaaallleeee…"
Then, everything stopped moving. Birds were fixed in mid-flight, feathers were frozen in mid-fall. The stillness was chilling. There was an instinctual feeling of dread that was warning Cale about something, as if a monster had their gaze on him.
Slowly, he was scanning his surroundings, seeing the same red sky, the same dark forest, and the same messy ground. Now that the world stopped moving, he was starting to piece together where he was. This spot, it was where he played by himself, next to the tallest tree. The strangely familiar stump was the 'level million' tree...but, how was it cut down?
Before he could ponder more, Cale saw how the shadows connected with the silhouettes in the sky. The red sky became countless crimson eyes that were focused on Cale. A colossal monster…seemingly noticing Cale's growing fear, it showed a blood red smile.
And then…
"Psst…Shortcake…sshhhooorrtcaaake."
Cale jerked his head to see who called him 'shortcake'. It was one of the kids that had fun annoying him. Cale hated the nickname 'shortcake', so he gave a silent and cold glare.
"Calm down Cale. I just wanna know, what's your record like? I only got two lines but I heard that someone has three lines on their record."
"Two lines? Three lines?"
"Wait…did you not pay attention to the adult in purple?"
" Uhh…"
"Forget it, just tell me, what's your record like."
"Uhh…my name and my age."
"Ah! So you started with two lines like most of us." With his question answered, the kid got up and started to move to the next kid.
"Wait! Ollie!"
"Hm?"
"Uh…What is your record like Ollie?"
"Name and age too, well see ya…shortcake!" After saying that, Ollie quickly moved away from Cale, leaving him with a sour face.
"That jerk!"
Cale quietly grumbled for a minute, then he looked around the assembly hall. There was no one lining up and some of the other kids had already gone back to their parents. The robed people were talking to each other, paying no attention to the kids still in the assembly hall. Since the ceremony has ended, Cale realized that he did miss whatever the person in purple said. He felt upset by this realization because the 'lines' that Ollie said felt similar to the 'leaves' that showed the level of a tree.
He wanted to know what 'lines' are and the person wearing purple robes had the answers. Bringing forth his determination, he stood up and walked towards the group of adults wearing robes. Cale raised his voice to interrupt their conversation.
"Excuse me. Uh. Excuse me. What are the 'lines' of a record?"