Code of Disjointed Letters: ( Doomsday Will Arise From the Past by JT Alblood Page B
Book: Code of Disjointed Letters: ( Doomsday Will Arise From the Past by JT Alblood
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Authors: JT Alblood
Tags: Quran, Kafka, code, mystery and psychic, shutter island, disjointed letters, mystery and paranormal, talk to death, after death
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field was full of corpses of your friends and a defeated army. You were in the middle of the battlefield with a broken sword, screaming at the sky, begging, and no one could hear you. Your enemies were busy sharing the spoils and digging graves. They didn’t care about you—even fighting and dying with honor was denied you.”
She let go of my hands and picked up her bag again. “Genghis Khan and his successors destroyed one third of the known population of the world and influenced the fate of all living things afterward; did you know that?” she asked.
The absurdity of what she’d said left a strange, knotted feeling in my throat. I wanted to say something. I wanted to remember. All I could do was turn and leave the room.
As I entered the hall, I heard a child’s voice behind me, “It’s just a snapshot, and, if you are still alive, then you will have another chance. Whether it’s an honorable death or a victory, who cares? Sometimes, taking that chance is, itself, the war that has to be won.” I turned and looked at Ender. He had heard everything.
* * *
All the excitement and glamour of the first week of competition was gone. Awards had been distributed and messages of support had been read. After Gizem left the studio, we gathered in the dimly lit room to watch the episode. No one had slept and no one cared to speak. We just stared at the television screen in the lounge, quietly watching the recording (Gizem’s seat remained empty).
The show began with some trailers and some touching music. Ender had been the first competitor, as drawn by lots. We watched as, on tape, he prepared to take his turn in the maze. In one corner of the screen, there was a stopwatch, and in the other corner there was a countdown from one thousand meters. In keeping with the rules of the competition, we were all dressed in special clothes. Ender had on a bright purple jumpsuit that glimmered in the light. He also wore an armband with a flashing sensor attached.
As he began his turn, he lingered at the entrance a little, touched the walls by bending and leaning against them, checked the connecting hallways, and then proceeded with cautious but quick steps. He stopped, looked back, and kept moving, all the while mumbling something. He was rapidly running out of time, but the light on his armband remained green. The action was easy to follow as the pilot camera showed the distance to the exit for the audience.
As the music increased in tempo and intensity, with only 124 meters left to the exit, Ender made a mistake. He suddenly walked in the opposite direction, and when he turned again to go the same way he had before, the light on his arm suddenly turned red. An alarm followed, and the score was registered: 124 meters, 8 minutes, 34 seconds to the exit.
Watching himself, Ender spoke with a weary voice, “I made assumptions in accordance with the paint layers on the walls, the brush strokes, and the wear on the most-used roads. I considered the fact that, during constructing, the entrance and exit of the labyrinth must have been built first with the other parts added later. However, that’s it.” He laughed slightly.
The second runner was Fatin. He was dressed in jet black except for thin bands of red on his arms and on his upturned collar. He approached the entrance with firm steps. After a little pause to adjust his eyes to the whiteness, he proceeded with steps that were hesitant, but quick. He did not even touch the walls. The meter counter declined rapidly as the time moved slowly. When he arrived at the exit, he paused for a moment, then crossed the finish line as a winner. The numbers on the screen were frozen at zero meters, three minutes, fourteen seconds. “Winner!” graphics now blinked on the screen.
“ Now I’ll tell you how I did it,” Fatin said. “My elves told me the strategy for the labyrinth well in advance. They simply held my hand and led me to the exit.”
At that, silence and tension
She let go of my hands and picked up her bag again. “Genghis Khan and his successors destroyed one third of the known population of the world and influenced the fate of all living things afterward; did you know that?” she asked.
The absurdity of what she’d said left a strange, knotted feeling in my throat. I wanted to say something. I wanted to remember. All I could do was turn and leave the room.
As I entered the hall, I heard a child’s voice behind me, “It’s just a snapshot, and, if you are still alive, then you will have another chance. Whether it’s an honorable death or a victory, who cares? Sometimes, taking that chance is, itself, the war that has to be won.” I turned and looked at Ender. He had heard everything.
* * *
All the excitement and glamour of the first week of competition was gone. Awards had been distributed and messages of support had been read. After Gizem left the studio, we gathered in the dimly lit room to watch the episode. No one had slept and no one cared to speak. We just stared at the television screen in the lounge, quietly watching the recording (Gizem’s seat remained empty).
The show began with some trailers and some touching music. Ender had been the first competitor, as drawn by lots. We watched as, on tape, he prepared to take his turn in the maze. In one corner of the screen, there was a stopwatch, and in the other corner there was a countdown from one thousand meters. In keeping with the rules of the competition, we were all dressed in special clothes. Ender had on a bright purple jumpsuit that glimmered in the light. He also wore an armband with a flashing sensor attached.
As he began his turn, he lingered at the entrance a little, touched the walls by bending and leaning against them, checked the connecting hallways, and then proceeded with cautious but quick steps. He stopped, looked back, and kept moving, all the while mumbling something. He was rapidly running out of time, but the light on his armband remained green. The action was easy to follow as the pilot camera showed the distance to the exit for the audience.
As the music increased in tempo and intensity, with only 124 meters left to the exit, Ender made a mistake. He suddenly walked in the opposite direction, and when he turned again to go the same way he had before, the light on his arm suddenly turned red. An alarm followed, and the score was registered: 124 meters, 8 minutes, 34 seconds to the exit.
Watching himself, Ender spoke with a weary voice, “I made assumptions in accordance with the paint layers on the walls, the brush strokes, and the wear on the most-used roads. I considered the fact that, during constructing, the entrance and exit of the labyrinth must have been built first with the other parts added later. However, that’s it.” He laughed slightly.
The second runner was Fatin. He was dressed in jet black except for thin bands of red on his arms and on his upturned collar. He approached the entrance with firm steps. After a little pause to adjust his eyes to the whiteness, he proceeded with steps that were hesitant, but quick. He did not even touch the walls. The meter counter declined rapidly as the time moved slowly. When he arrived at the exit, he paused for a moment, then crossed the finish line as a winner. The numbers on the screen were frozen at zero meters, three minutes, fourteen seconds. “Winner!” graphics now blinked on the screen.
“ Now I’ll tell you how I did it,” Fatin said. “My elves told me the strategy for the labyrinth well in advance. They simply held my hand and led me to the exit.”
At that, silence and tension
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