The Spiritguard

My eyes flash open and I find myself staring at my ceiling, but for a moment I wonder why I am there. Part of me feels as if I am somewhere else. I try to thrust my body forward, to jump out of bed and get a quick start out of my day, but it seems all but impossible. For whatever reason, I am locked in this position.

 I let my eyes close again and I let the stale air of my room fill my lungs. I don't worry. This has happened to me dozens of times. It is hard to say when exactly it started. Perhaps it has been going on for my whole life, but I can only really remember it affecting me for the past year or two. Lately, the days seem to be blending together. It's hard to believe that I'm fifteen already.

 I try to think back to my dream. Normally when I find myself unable to move upon waking up, it has something to do with my dreams. Try as I might, I can't remember anything, other than the dream was dark. Was it in some sort of forest? All I can remember is the sound of crunching leaves. Nothing else seems to have stuck in my head, because it was too dark in the dream to see anything.

 I push it out of my mind. If I don't remember it, odds are it wasn't too important. I find that I am able to move my body now, and I muster up the strength to crawl out of bed.

 As I stand up, I throw the sheets off of me into a big pile on the bed. I make a gesture like I am going to make my bed, and then chuckle at myself. Like I'd actually spend time doing that.

 I glance at the clock from the corner of my eye and I see that it is just a little bit past eleven. I wanted to wake up at eleven, so I consider this to be exceptional timing. I decide to push myself into full gear, because I know the signups for Commencement Day are at noon. That meant I had to be there soon.

 I walk like a zombie over to the mirror and glance at my groggy self. My hair is in a mess, but then again…when isn't it? Long, wavy black hair is matted around the top of my head. It looks as if I'd just walked through a windstorm. My nightwear clings to my body, wrinkled and worn. I look pretty comfortable, if I do say so myself.

 I bend in close to the mirror and wipe the sleep out of my eyes. I look terrible. I try to be conscientious of how I look, take a little pride in myself, you know? But today, it's a disaster. My deep blue eyes are bloodshot from a lack of sleep and a surplus of tiredness. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to sleep at around five in the morning. Oh well. I was doing important things.

 Very important things.

 I grab my towel and some clothes for the day as I try to remember why exactly I stayed up so late. Honestly, I can't remember. I must have just been having another bout of insomnia, because there's not a thing I accomplished yesterday.

 If I don't remember it, odds are it wasn't too important. Words to live by.

 I 'jump' into the shower to cool off, because it's way too hot around here. When I woke up, I noticed I was covered in sweat. I let warm water rinse me off for about three minutes, and then I quickly get out and dry myself off. At the same time, I force myself into my clothes for the day. My epic outfit for Commencement Day? My comfy shorts and my favorite black t-shirt - the one emblazoned with a silvery bird in flight. It's nothing too fancy, but all I have to do is sign a piece of paper at noon that says I am joining the Spiritguard Training Program. The good ol' STP.

 I lay down on my bed and nearly fall asleep again when there is a knocking on my door. Before I can say 'come in', the door swings open and my eyes dart over to the intruder.

 "It's too hot today to wear that outfit, go change," I yawn as I sit upright to face him.

 My friend looks down at his outfit. He's wearing suit pants and a lime green dress shirt. "Please tell me you're not wearing that, Sigmund!"

 I give a light shrug and he speaks again. "Today we're supposed to sign up for the Spiritguard and meet our Instructor. You're not going to give off a very good impression if you're dressed like that!"

 I hear his words, but I don't pay much attention to them. It is far too early in the morning to have to deal with him fretting over such little things.

 He starts talking more, but I'm barely listening. It's something about being presentable. His name is Kael, and we've been best friends since the day we were born, basically. Every day, me and him, for as long as I can remember.

 It looks like he's taken his time to get ready today, if not from his getup, then from his hair. He normally doesn't do anything special with his hair, but I notice today his short brown hair (almost blond, really) is spiked up and his soft eyes are full of anxiety and uncertainty. It looks like he really wants to make a good impression, but he's a little stiff and bothered compared to how I normally see him.

He's making this out to be a huge deal. I mean, I'm probably not making enough of a deal out of it, but he's taking this overboard. We'll balance each other out, I'm sure. If not, I'll just look like his deadbeat friend. Nothing new. 

I bite my lip to hold back a laugh as I push the silly thoughts aside. As I do, I catch his gold-speckled eyes peering straight into my soul. There's something endearing to the way he looks at me. Endearing, and also a little judgmental. Wait.

 "You're not even listening to me," Kael groans.

 "Nuh-uh, I heard that," I fight back. He is right, though, I wasn't actually listening to him (oops). Now that I think about it, Kael is always right about everything. Not annoyingly so! I actually appreciate it, more than he knows. Kael is the smartest person I know. Smarter than his parents, than my mother, than anyone, really. He always has the best advice and he always knows what to do. When he weighs in on something, I know it isn't smart to doubt him, but I usually do. Every time he warns me not to do something and I do it, it always ends up in disaster. It's no stretch to say I trust him more than myself, at times.

 "Come on, Kael, we need to get movin'," I say. Kael opens up his mouth to object, but he knows I'll just ignore him again. He fights back with his cutest passive-aggressive smile. Awww!!! I stand up and push him out of the room and lock it behind me. I always lock my door when I'm away because I'm sort of a nervous person and I don't want my mother to look through my things. Of course, she never does, and even if she wanted to, she's never home when I'm not. My mother works as a receptionist at Vitarine Inc. Vye-tah-reen. She loves it there, and she swears by it. I guess they're okay.

 About thirty…no, maybe forty years ago, Vitarine Inc. was a nothing-company, and yet they came out of nowhere and developed a miracle elixir that completely cures a person of their fatigue and weariness. It's revolutionized the way the world works. Gone are the days when after a long day of work you're too tired to go on and you just fall asleep. Vitarine elixirs can keep you going all night, if need be. The only issue with them is if you drink too much, you can get seriously addicted to them. As such, I try not to have them unless absolutely necessary.

Okay, maybe I'm a little addicted. I can control it though. Some people need one or two a day just to get by. When they don't have one, they are irritable, anxious, impulsive…aggressive, sometimes. It's a sad reality that I've been teetering on the edge of for two years, now. I won't let myself get to that point. I know I won't.

 I push aside those thoughts. When it comes to my relationship with Vitarine elixir, today is one of those days I'm better off indulging myself. When I'm dead tired, I'll occasionally have one in the morning, and that's it. Like a shot of coffee, only these elixirs will wake you up quicker than fifty cups of coffee shot directly into your bloodstream. Eh…that much coffee'd probably kill you, though. 

 I continue to lead Kael out of my room and on the way we stop by the kitchen. I see my mom left a note on the counter for me. Kael notices it first, because he is ahead of me, and he finds the time to make a quick joke. "I thought your mom knew you couldn't read," he teases. I shove him out of the way spitefully and pick up the note.

 "Sigmund, I know you didn't get much sleep last night, but I didn't either and I drank the last Vitarine." I stop reading for a minute and sigh. "I left some money in the drawer so you could go buy one for your Commencement Day. Good luck honey! I'm picking up mushrooms tonight and making your favorite! X o x o – Love mom."

 Sigmund puts the note back down and raids the drawer for five dollars. "God, these things are expensive," I say. They really are. Five dollars, that's what they cost everywhere, always. It's like the "Vitarine Promise" or some marketing BS. That's $5 WITH taxes, mind you! Of course, most of the taxes go directly back to Vitarine, so I guess that doesn't really make much of a difference - that company changed the world. It's no exaggeration to say they're more influential than our government.

 Kael smiles because I read the letter out loud. "That was nice of her," he states.

 "Yeah, yeah," I say, and we walk out of the house.

 It's the middle of June, and it's blaring outside when I open up the door. The sun is so hot I consider walking back inside and giving up on Commencement Day, but I know I can't. I've been waiting for this day for my whole life.

 I look back to Kael. He looks uncomfortable from the heat, but he's the one who chose to wear that long stuffy shirt and BLACK pants. Seriously, it's gotta be nearing the hundred-degree mark already. 

 "I couldn't get to sleep until midnight last night," Kael starts. "I was so anxious I couldn't sleep. I almost had another anxiety attack over this. I'm…well, honestly I'm really scared, Sigmund. What if they don't take me? What if I'm too short, or too weak?"

 Kael has some valid concerns. Ever since I've known him, he's always been smaller than all of the other guys around. Kael is about six months younger than me, still fourteen, but he is only about 5 feet four inches tall. I'm a good two-three inches taller than him, and I'm not particularly tall myself.

Not only is he short, but Kael's kind of shrimpy. His arms and legs are all noodly and his athletic skills are, well…nonexistent. Not like me! I'm the king of everything physical…well, not really. I'm like an Olympian by Arcona Village standards, but in a town this size that just means I can do a few pull-ups. 

 Still, my lanky friend has nothing to worry about. He's not so weak that he can't pick up a sword and shield, after all, or whatever they're going to have us do. He's self-conscious about his height and his strength, though, so I don't pry there. He'd much rather go read a book than work out. And me? I'd rather sleep.

 We begin our journey down the road. It isn't a paved road, like the ones in the cities, but rather just a dusty dirt road. We don't have much traffic here, so that explains it. We don't even have a railroad station in this town! The closest one is in Greenwald Village, which is about a day of walking away. I guess you could take a carriage and get there quicker, but those tend to be expensive and don't come through often. To get to a real city, it'd be a multi-day endeavor.

 "What did your mom say when you left this morning?" I ask. I know his mom was less than enthusiastic about him joining the STP.

 Kael mumbles something and then stops himself. He looks over to me and tells me what happened. "I left the house at seven fifty exactly," he says, "Right when she wakes up. So I don't know. I don't want to know."

 There was some drama in the Weston house over Kael's decision to join the Spiritguard, and for the most part I agree. Initially, Kael only asked his father if he could join. His father thought it would be good for Kael, so that he could bulk up and become 'a real man' (his words, not mine), but when his mother found out she threw a fit and brought his father to her side. She thinks that Kael is too good and too smart to do something like join the Spiritguard, and she even had the audacity to blame me for Kael's decision. I'm a bad influence, sure, but that was a low blow, Mrs. Weston.

 While it's true that Kael and I have been best friends since we were little, I'm certainly not forcing him to join the Spiritguard. He's doing that on his own free will, and I'm actually proud of him. He's doing this to better himself. Plus, his mind is way too strong for me to even attempt to manipulate him into doing something he doesn't want to.

 In fact, if I had to give one reason why Kael wants to join the Spiritguard, it's because of one event that happened three years ago. Before that, he wasn't really interested in joining, but that day…