10:40 By Kelvin P. Bik
10:40 Synopsis: Learned and self-controlled, a teen awakens to find himself inexplicably lost in a barren land. He is alone, or so he thinks. Many things are planned for him: by enemies he does not know and by friends he cannot recognise. How then is he to find a way home without knowing who he is or where he must go?
Text copyright © Kelvin Bik, 2014. All rights reserved. Cover design copyright © Kelvin Bik, 2014. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture references are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV) Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Quotations designated (NIV 1984) are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc®. All rights reserved worldwide.
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
2
For my Father in heaven Hallowed be Your name forever.
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
3
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,� even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Psalm 139:11-12
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
4
23 The water was too murky, Joshua observed as he sat on the lake bank. The grass was scratchy. The fallen white flowers on the ground were too muddied. Josh smiled wanly. Criticising again, he thought. It was true that the lake he was at was not as splendid as he hoped it would be. It was not like the lakes and catchment areas he would pass by while on the MRT or the bus. Those had an allure, a picturesque perfection, but only from afar. In reality, thought Josh as he stared at the rippling waters that stretched about thrice the length of the running track at school, he did prefer the neat splendour of nature captured in portraits, in Facebook photos and in Instagram snapshots. He wrapped his skinny arms around his raised knees. He did prefer things to be organised and precise, able to be documented and filed so that they could be enjoyed at his leisure and pre-determined safe distance. Wincing as he stretched his tense neck muscles, he bowed his head and watched the details of the grass blades all around him. What a jolly mess of contradictions he was, Josh considered. Then again, life was messy, he reasoned. Things happened out of the blue. For all he tried – and he did try his darnest – he could not change an iota of what might happen. The only thing he could do was to walk on, hoping that things would somehow settle, so that he might be permitted to rest, to be happy even. Josh coughed a little. He felt rather feverish. It must have been the recent trek with Eve, he thought. He turned his head to check on the young woman. Eve was still sleeping. He couldn’t be sure when she would wake. After they had reached the lake, Josh had placed her and his backpack gently on one side and quickly refreshed himself with the water. Then using his bottle and his filthy tee shirt which he stripped off, he had first helped Eve to drink and then washed her face as well as her exposed extremities with the lake water. He was careful not to touch more than he should, though he wanted to laugh. What a silly prude he was. They had survived hell together; he had even piggybacked her for what seemed ages, and now, he was fearful of normal physical contact. Still, he kept it within confines. Unbidden, Joel’s face floated in front of him. What was it Joel had said? “I know myself.” It wasn’t as if Joshua was attracted to Eve. She was too small and slight. But she was a woman, or at least she was growing to be one. Josh knew he was often attracted to women. They fascinated him, though he always tried not to show much interest, or to indulge in what felt like inappropriate fantasies. Yes, perhaps he was a prude, like the guys said. Perhaps he wasn’t normal.
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
5
When they had talked about porn in school, and exchanged salacious details about their exploits, Josh often left the room. It wasn’t as though he wasn’t interested. It was because he was too interested. But grounded in him was a belief that sex was sacred, that women were human beings who deserved to be regarded as precious. For which parents would gladly see that their daughter got used and thrown away like refuse all in the name of “love”, he thought. Picking up an as yet unsullied white flower, Josh twirled it carefully with his fingers. Such design, he thought vaguely. All these details on what lived for only a season. Surely, some divine hand had crafted that flower. Surely if a flower were so exquisite, then men and women who far surpassed its design should be regarded as precious. Josh shook his head softly. Such silly things in my head, he thought. He looked again at Eve. She was still resting. He was glad for some unclear reason. If she rested, perhaps she would be well, or at least better. Perhaps she would start remembering what was most important to her, or maybe who was most important. Josh winced a little. He laid the flower aside and rubbed his forehead and temples carefully. “If I could rest,” he thought. “But who then would be left to guard Eve?” Josh heard a flutter of wings. He looked up expectantly, but it wasn’t the Koel. It was another bird. That was the curious thing that Josh had found when he reached the lake. He was no longer alone. Birds were in that land, birds of every kind. True, they were not as numerous as those in his neighbourhood, cackling and fighting for any food. But here and there, mynahs, pigeons and sparrows dodged in and out of the trees and shrubs, chirping and playing. Josh smiled. He liked birds, or at least he liked observing their wobbling walk and their sudden flights. They had a certain grace, as Josh himself did. Being tiny wasn’t always bad, he thought. Still, Josh wished the Koel would appear. It – he, Josh corrected – meant more to him than all these other creatures combined. (“Even more than Eve?” he thought vaguely.) Josh suddenly found himself wishing he could show the Koel the lake, for the waters reminded him of a psalm he had partially memorised. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. / He makes me lie down in green pastures. / He leads me beside still waters. / He restores my soul. / He leads me in paths of righteousness / for his name's sake,” recited Josh slowly. Psalm 23, thought Joshua. Joel had tricked him into remembering it, pretending that it was for church and Joel was struggling with its memorisation. “You?” Joshua had queried. “You can remember all the details about a Koel, and you can’t memorise scripture?” He stared at Joel, who tried to dodge his sight, but surrendered at last.
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
6
“Sorry!” exclaimed Joel. The tall chap had scratched the back of his head, looking rather embarrassed. “I just wanted you to remember it.” “What for?” Joshua had thought. But he was glad that Joel tried. The psalm was something Joshua had once read to his father. Pa liked it especially and even said that the man who wrote it was, like Pa, named David. A man after God’s own heart, Pa had added. Was that what Pa wanted to be too? “It doesn’t hurt as much now to think of Pa, not like during the initial part of this journey in the wilderness,” he thought. Perhaps he was becoming normal again. In a distance, out of his sight, Josh could hear cicadas singing in the bushes. More life, thought Josh. Smiling as he scratched his legs absently, he joked, “There had better not be any ants.”
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
7
24 Eve looked half-dead. True, she looked cleaner since she had a wash by the lake. She had taken the fruits that Joshua had gathered, nearly choking as she did while Josh soothed her by saying that they had enough and she could have everything, even his share. Still, as Josh observed her porcelain face, she looked as if something had struck a mortal blow in her, and inwardly, out of any man’s sight, she was bleeding and dying. Josh pushed the thought away. He and his imagination! He looked up, startled by the sudden absence of sound from Eve. She was gazing at him, a markedly softer look than before, as if she was recalling some fond memory. They sat there, gazing at each other. “You have his eyes,” said Eve unexpectedly. It took Josh a while before he caught the significant word. “His?” he asked. Eve didn’t answer. She just looked into Josh’s eyes. Then she grimaced and cradled her head in her doll-like hands. “If only,” she began. “If only I could remember.” Josh didn’t interrupt her. He wished he knew how to help her. O Lord, he wished he could. Eve shook her head dejectedly. Looking up again, she smiled. “If only you were better looking,” she said with what sounded like a brief laugh. Josh pointed at himself with exaggerated amusement. “Me?” he cried. “Why, I’m the perfect male specimen!” Eve smiled even more. Then she blinked very slowly and repeatedly, her smile fading again. “That’s him too,” she said. Josh wanted to ask about the man Eve was referring to, but didn’t want to agitate her. So he waited. “He was funny too,” said Eve so softly that Josh had to strain to catch her thoughts. “That was why I liked him,” continued Eve as though she was alone. “That and how tall he was. How sure he was about what he believed in.” Josh felt the strangest impression that Eve was speaking of someone he knew too.
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
8
“They laughed at us. ‘He’s 10 years older than you are!’ But I didn’t care. He was good to me.” Then Eve shook her head again, firmer that time. “No, he was just good, not just to me, to everyone,” said Eve. She made a sound as if she were mocking herself. Rubbing her left eyebrow and temple, Eve said faintly, “If only I could remember his name. If only I could see him again.”
10:40 (By Kelvin Bik)
9