First Contact

Detina (Awakening)

DAVID WOKE WITH A START. He realized it was morning, and though the bedroom window the light of day was admitted, draping him in a golden coat. Then came the memory of the dream. He could still literally see imprints of its vivid climactic visions in his mind's eye, in higher dimensional light, flashing behind his regular vision. He turned on to his side and tried to seek meaning in the queer yet magical inner revelation, but found none. He then closed his eyes and attempted to re-enter the dream, but his mother, appearing at the doorway, interrupted his quest for sleep, and summoned him to the breakfast table.

Discussion was light over the morning meal. As it was a school day, David and his younger brother Greg were attired in their uniforms; his youngest brother Mick, meanwhile, was still asleep. The family could be best described as ordinary (a word which David hated, as he believed in the merits of originality and being the exception to the rule - his parents, on the other hand, disdained standing out from the crowds and strove for normalcy wherever possible) inhabiting an ordinary house, and following ordinary pursuits like sport, church or acceptable social gatherings. <<So David, did you sleep okay?>> his mother, by all accounts an ordinary woman of 35 years, asked as he slurped his porridge.

<<Yeah>> he replied vaguely, mind still absorbed by his dream, the crystalline settlement and the rocket which he had glimpsed, the strange runic characters engraved on its silvery hull. <<Mum>> he began, but then broke off, embarrassed.

<<What is it?>> she quizzed, her brows furrowing.

<<Oh, nothing>> the boy retreated. He decided to change the subject. <<Anyway, we're going out to the scrub again this afternoon. We've got a new cubby.>>

Her eyes lit up. <<That's great news! Be careful though.>> Having consumed her repast, she rose and carried her empty plate to the kitchen. David scooped up the rest of his porridge and got ready for school.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

HE SAT NEXT TO Rich again that morning. While he had been dying to acquaint himself with the newcomer since his sudden arrival, he had not had the opportunity to introduce himself properly. Just before classes began, he plucked up the courage to start a conversation.

<<So, did you come from Forbes?>> he inquired.

<<Yeah>> the stranger replied, fiddling with his pencil case. His mood seemed to be one of despondence, even dejection. Forbes was a large agricultural town on the highway from Parkes to West Wyalong a few hundred kilometers distant, dating back to the Gold Rush. Dave had visited the local park with JC and his family just a few months previously, and inspected the grave of notorious bushranger Ben Hall, who was killed there. It was not exactly a metropolis, but at least an order of magnitude livelier than Trundle. Perhaps Richard was unhappy about being moved here?

Detecting a lull in the exchange, David asked: <<Are you here for good, then?>>

<<Yep, for good>> was the boy's gloomy response, as if he'd just been handed a life sentence. Abruptly, his melancholy lifted, and he said: <<Are you friends with Nathan Taylor?>>

<<Yes, I am>> David replied, semi-surprised. <<Do you know him?>>

<<He came over to my house yesterday>> the new kid said.

<<Oh did he?>> David mused. He remembered then Nathan's broken promise of visiting the scrub to work on the cubby, which he had not yet explained. While David was pondering this revelation, Mrs Hetherington, who had hitherto been detained on some business, returned to the classroom, and quietened the multitude of small talks which were being conducted.