Legends of Garaaga (Children of Garaaga) by Paul E Cooley

Author:Paul E Cooley [Cooley, Paul E]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadowpublications.com
Published: 2014-11-20T22:00:00+00:00

The gymnasium smelled of sweat, oil and pain. The room was sparsely filled with Greek men stretching, lifting bags of sand, or practicing their tumbling.

Titus, the Chief Librarian of Astronomy, shadow boxed near a stark, stone wall. A simple loincloth covered his privates as his fists moved and his body bounced. The man nodded at Herodot and continued his workout. Herodot yawned as he headed through a door and into the swimming pool.

The pool was open at one end to the ocean. The wide rectangle was made of stone sides that gradually sloped into the water. A green fish leaped in the early morning light.

An Egyptian boy ran up to him. "Robe?" the boy said in Greek. It was one of the few words the child knew.

Herodot turned and allowed the servant to undress him. The boy pulled the cotton from his body and neatly folded it. "Thank you," he said in Egyptian.

"Welcome," the boy returned in Greek.

The morning ritual performed, Herodot stepped carefully across the wet stone and lowered himself into the water.

He shivered at the change in temperature--the water was cold that early in the morning.

With the ocean breeze and the temperate Alexandria weather, the ocean could bite into the flesh. Even after so many years of swimming in the pool, the first dip always caught him by surprise.

Herodot ducked his head beneath the water. Eyes closed, he allowed himself to drift. Words of Greek, Aramaic, Herratic, and Akkadian filled his mind. He focused on one of the words. It slowly drifted backwards and into its place on a papyrus scroll.

He smiled as he lifted his head. Akakios had said his memory was unique.

You will make a great scribe, this patron had said. The boy who breathes languages and remembers every word he sees. It is a gift, young one.

Herodot opened his eyes and began a lazy crawl through the water. Gentle waves brushed against him as he moved down the pool's length. The cold was leaving him, replaced by the warmth of waking muscles. The fuzziness of a long night was finally departing.

When he'd first come to the Library, Akakios insisted he learn to swim.

You will never grow strong if you sit in front of a scroll your entire day. Besides, he'd said with a smile, it will give your eyes a chance to rest and let your mind wander.

Akakios taught him how to swim by throwing him in the pool. His patron had laughed and twisted his gray and black beard as Herodot struggled to float. The Librarian showed him how to move his body while on dry land, and Herodot quickly memorized the movements. But once in the water, he'd had a moment of panic and nearly drowned.

Sputtering and spitting water from his lungs, the boy managed not only to float, but swim. More like flailing across the water's surface, but it had been enough.

At dawn every day, Akakios woke him and took him to the pool. Akakios himself never entered the water, but taught and corrected him from the water's edge.

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