Chapter 2: Cornstalks
March 24, 2044- Thursday
At seven a.m. sharp, Rise awakes to prepare for the next school day on a Thursday. He can hear his mother downstairs in the kitchen stirring food in the skillet. Low noises of hunger emerge from deep in his belly like a bear in a cave. The selection of school clothes is a quick choice because Rise prefers to wear blue jeans and graphic or simple colored t-shirts. In addition, he grabs a set of workout clothes for track practice in the afternoon.
Without a second thought, Rise rushes down the stairs in a hurry.
“Slow down Rise,” says Ma.
“Okay,” says Rise.
He drops his track clothes inside his black and white duffle bag alongside his training shoes. Ma pops her head in the laundry room.
“Hurry up and eat breakfast,” says Ma.
“Coming Ma,” says Rise.
Rise carries the duffle bag to the dinner table and sets it on the floor next to his school backpack. Mother must have set it here early in the morning. A full plate of scrambled eggs and sausages is devoured in under five minutes.
Before heading out the door, Rise checks his school bag. Everything is in place: books, homework, and a school laptop.
7:25 AM. The digital clock blinks in the living room.
“See you after practice Ma!” shouts Rise.
“Be good,” says Ma.
Down the driveway to the country road, Rise walks by his Pa who is working on his truck in front of the house.
"Morning Pa," says Rise.
"How's it going Rise?" asks his Pa looking up from the hood of the red truck.
Rise nods and waves to his father walking to the bus stop. He stands with the other high schoolers from around his neighborhood. The bus comes to a halt two minutes later. Rise climbs onto the yellow school bus behind his two neighbors. The bus doors close behind him with a creak as Rise gets to the top step. He finds his preferred seat in the second to last seat on the driver’s side. Usually, nobody else sits with him, allowing him to get the window seat. Inside the bus, there is enough space for two or one student per seat. The dark leather seats are spacious with only one person in it.
Rise sets his backpack and duffle bag beside him on the seat. There is noise from the other students conversing and the local radio station through the bus’s speakers. The segment on the morning national news about the past Deathathon Race… Today we will be talking to one competitor from the Deathathon. How was the running experience? It helped my running form… Goosebumps form on Rise’s arm. Of course, the competitors were only going to say positive attributes about the race on national news. The whole school seemed to want to give assignments on the Deathathon. Some of the more rebellious teachers questioned the idea of having the event but not outright more in a passive way of teaching about it. Anyone questioning the validity of the event would be in trouble with the government.
The bus ride is direct from Rise’s stop to Bakersfield High School; the bus pulls up the smooth road to the white brick building. After coming to a complete stop the students inside the bus file out and onto the campus. There are ten minutes before the start of the first period at 8:00 a.m.
Rise blinks fast as the sun shines brightly off the high school building like a mirage making Rise think of the dryness in his throat. Once inside the school he fills his water bottle and takes a fresh sip of water. A coolness passes through his throat. Rise has only a couple of minutes to prepare for his first period. First, he heads to the lockers of his class near the math classrooms to leave his duffle bag. Not too many people make use of the black lockers so it's easy to reach. 23-8-17. He swivels the lock until it pops open. Depositing the bag inside he closes it. The warning bell rings only five minutes left till class starts. He walks to the second-floor hallway above the hall for the first period.
Finding his seat behind a computer screen facing the projector the graphic design class begins. Rise enjoys the creativity of designing digitally. Rise thinks of working in graphic design after high school or at least it interests him at the moment. Miss. Lenny briefs them on the elements of design to incorporate and lets them work on their project for the end of the semester. The project is to prepare a web page, pamphlet, and ads for the cause of your choice. Rise chose to set up a project for the fundraising of items for homeless people. It is all made up but that is a cause that Rise believes is a good one to work on. He also has to write a two-page essay about his design element and his cause. The grade depends on the design and the presentation to the whole class. Even though Rise competes in front of spectators, he is not the most confident in presentations. Rise would rather run a race than face a class of students; the heat on his checks is a different type.
Rise opens his documents folder to his pamphlet. From a notebook, he copies down the text he decides to write. Designing the elements of the brochure is the most interesting part of the segments from choosing the colors and fonts to images. The bell rings signifying the end of class. Rise saves his work online and heads to his next class. By mid-day, it's time for lunch. It's a time when Rise gets to see Kevin, his friend. They find each other at the end of the lunch line.
“Hey man, ready for history class next period?” asks Kevin.
“Oh yeah. Today is lecture day right?” asks Rise.
They grab their meals and sit down with other boys from their grades. Lunch goes by quickly. Above Rise the bell rings to end the lunch break.
Kevin and Rise enter History Class in a hurry. With lunch before the class, they are always rushing to enter on time. Finding their assigned seats they separate from one another. Kevin gives Rise an eye roll as their teacher Mr. Benz comes into the room. Kevin finds Mr. Benz's way of teaching to be boring, Rise throws an almost unseen shrug back at Kevin. Class begins as they are asked to copy down notes in addition to lecture notes. Mr. Benz's voice is dull as some students have a hard time staying awake. It also doesn’t help that they just had lunch. Warm sunlight lands on Rise’s arm from the history class’s window. For a moment he thinks of being outside later today for Track & Field practice out in the warmth of the sun. To felt the rush of wind through his hair and his feet hit the ground.
“Mr. Prongs… Mr. Prongs, would you collect the assignments from yesterday?” asks Mr. Benz.
Some of his classmates look at Rise who looks away from the window.
“Oh- Yes!” says Prongs springing to his feet.
At the front of the classroom, he stands at each end of the row to collect the papers from yesterday.
Once everything is collected the classroom takes lecture notes. For the last fifteen minutes, they work on group projects. Luckily, thinks Rise the classroom is allowed to pick their group of three. In his group are Ben, Kevin, and himself. Students move the desks into groups. The scraping of the metal on the tiles causes Rise’s hairs on his neck to stand. For a second Rise, a shiver passes like a rush of cold water.
Rise agrees they should meet at Ben’s house to finish the rest of the project since it's due Monday morning. Friday will be a test. The bell rings and the students hurry to put the desks back into place. Ben, Kevin, and Rise walk together until they part for their class.
“See ya at practice,” says Kevin.
“See ya,” says Rise.
Rise heads to science class.
The final class is math class. Most of the other students have already arrived and are answering the question of the day. They are asking one another to compare the answers. Taking out his notebook and mechanical pencil, Rise works out the problem, finishing after the bell rings. The classroom compares the answers on the board. From there they turn in their homework. Soon the math teacher goes over today's lesson which takes over most of the class time. There are only five minutes left to save the homework assignment if needed. His locker is in the same hallway as in the math department. Rise has asked Mr. Lever if he can grab his track & field bag after he has saved his assignment every day. Me. Lever agreed with him at the start of the season.
Out in the hallway, the sound of the other math classes floats in from the doorways around him. Rise locates a black locker with the number 287 on a silver plaque. By sliding his locker key card and password Rise opens. Inside is minimal decoration. There is a magnetic mirror- which his mother insisted on buying for him. Grabbing the bag he places it on his shoulder. His reflection blurs as he closes the locker up. A thin nose and wide brown eyes.
In math class, his classmates are already lined up for the end of the day. There are only two more minutes to the bell. Rise grabs his backpack and waits by his desk.
“Hey Rise, do you have notes for the history class?” asks a classmate.
“Yeah, for lecture, right?” asks Rise.
They exchange emails to send notes. The bell rings.
As he walks out of the classroom, opens the yellow notes application on his phone. He jots down a memo to send the lecture notes when he arrives home later that evening.
The rush of students in the hallways is like an ocean. The students like fish rush into various streams and rows going into various locations one after another. Rise exits into the gymnasium door where he meets up with his ride to the stadium. The car is full of boys going to track practice. It is a short ride. Inside they blast the music on the way there. The beat of the music echoes around them as they chatter. Kevin sits next to Rise in the backseat of the older senior boy who drives them to practice. Finding a parking space in the lot the boys gather their items and head into the locker room of the stadium. The boys are joking around changing into their workout attire.
The rise puts on his dark blue shorts and a breathable long-sleeve shirt. The fabric of the shirt is light. As today is a long run, he won’t get too hot. Plus, he has a change of shirt just in case the workout changes.
Meeting for their daily updates the team gathers together around Coach Light. There are announcements to be made and general conversation. Rise pays attention. He prepares his mind to focus on his run for only this time of the day. To put the worries behind him. Run. And run only. The team is dismissed to the track for warm-ups.
Under the sunlight and wind, Rise feels a sense of freedom. Finally, being able to stretch his legs into a jog he goes beside Kevin and warms up. Afterward, they all stretch together as a team. The team splits off into different subcategories. Kevin and Rise report to their long-distance team members to Coach Duke.
“Today’s workout is a 50-minute long run. Run anywhere near the school premises you know the rules,” says Coach Duke.
Smaller groups break off from the long-distance team.
“Let me grab my watch. Catch you by the tall tree,” says Kevin.
Rise waits for Kevin at a very old tall pine tree near the parking lot entrance. Rise shuffles through his music playlist on his phone. Kevin comes a minute later.
“Let’s head toward the road by the cornfield,” says Kevin.
“Sounds good,” says Rise.
They chat occasionally while they run. By the edge of the school, grounds runs a road privately owned for corn. Rise imagines cornstalks growing into the sky as he runs past. Rise feels the warmth of the sun on his back as the wind presses against him. The ground where the corn grows is lumps of dirt at the moment. The flat dirt is a brown lot beside the road which stretches into a wooded area. They reach the road in ten minutes and run the length of the road. Looping around the back of the high school they go toward the other nearby schools. The time is almost up. They reach the track on time. They stop in with Coach Duke. He gives them cool-down exercises to complete before leaving. The grass prickles Rise as he does some final stretching on the ground of the infield. The ground feels solid to the touch.
“See you tomorrow,” says Kevin getting up from beside him.
“See you, Kevin,” says Rise.
Rise stays on the ground until his phone lights up. It is his mother who is here to pick him up.
He grabs his bags from within the locker room and in a short time is out into the pickup truck.
“Ready?” asks Ma.
“Yeah,” says Rise.
They pulled up to their home at the regular time as traffic was not too bad for a Thursday. Rise places his belongings in his room. He opens his laptop and sends the history lecture notes to his classmates. He is preoccupied with sending the notes his stomach reminds him of his hunger. Closing his laptop, Rise rushes downstairs to check the kitchen. A pot of spaghetti is on the stove. Rise serves himself a plate and eats. His parents must have eaten as there are spaghetti-covered dishes in the sink. Rise finishes his meal and gathers his plate. He rinses the plates. He puts the already clean dishes away into the cupboards. The television in the living room turns on. Rise enters the living room to see his father in his rocking chair.
“Dad, did you come from the farm?” asks Rise.
“Yes, the animals are very cheerful today,” says his Pa.
Rise looks over to the program on the television a documentary on the wildlife in Africa. The animals roam in the wilderness on the screen. The fight for the fittest in the animal kingdom moves through the screen as Rise turns around. Heading to the back of the house, Rise grabs fresh clothes from the laundry room. Cool water falls on him as he showers the dirt and sweat of the day. The water droplets roll off his body in a smooth trickle. After his shower Rise works on his homework assignments for school. He puts on entertainment videos in the background to listen to in the background. A knock on the door by 8:30 p.m. as he is solving a math problem.
“I thought you might need some water,” says his mother, holding out a water bottle.
“Yes thanks, I guess I am out,” says Rise.
“Okay hun, sleep well,” says his mother.
The water bottle is in his blue water bottle. He drinks two large gulps and returns to finish his schoolwork. After school work, he brushes his teeth.
Crossing the bedroom, Rise opens the window to let the night breeze. Underneath the covers, Rise imagines the corn rows by the school growing soon. They soon turn into large stalks as if they were from Jack and the Beanstalk. He imagines climbing up the green prickly leaves as he drifts to sleep.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone