Lunation by David Espeut

Author:David Espeut [Espeut, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781711916439
Published: 2020-01-16T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

December 2nd, 2167. Lewis was in Year 8; the first year with summative examinations. It was the day of his second ever exam – Data Management. The first had been for Language which was one of the simpler required subjects. There was no literary analysis, poetry or creative writing of any kind. It was mostly concerned with conventions such as grammar, syntax, punctuation and spelling. Year 8s always wrote their Language exams first as a way of easing them into the season.

Minutes in, Lewis realized that the exam was much more difficult than he had anticipated. He still got one of the highest grades in his class, but it was definitely a wake-up call to be more prepared.

However, the night before his Data Management exam was also the eve of his 8th birthday. He studied as best as he could but was constantly distracted with what his parents might get him. Furthermore, he was excited to see the birthday slideshow that was prepared each year by the school. It featured a compilation of the previous year’s highlights; mainly pictures of the student working on projects and on field trips. Although it reminded him of how there were nosy cameras everywhere, Lewis still appreciated the sense of festivity and recognition it brought once a year.

But on the morning of, Mrs. Carpenter went in to wake up her son without her usual sunny disposition. Running her fingers through his soft hazelnut hair, she quietly lamented that this year’s gift would have to wait, but that as soon as it was possible, she would get him something extra special. All Lewis ever asked for were more e-puzzles for his PDA. He could solve all the puzzles from previous years’ games with lightning speed.

On the way to school, he dragged his feet and hung his head just enough to be noticed by one of his classmates. She was smaller and giddier than most, but very cute, wearing her hair in two pigtails. When he arrived at the examination room, the little girl sat next to him, swinging her legs and grinning at him cartoonishly. Lewis had always been amused by her silliness but never knew how to respond. She was constantly being reminded to think before she spoke, but it was clear to him that she was just bored most of the time. Her work was always done before anyone else’s, and it was usually error free.

When the class finished writing the exam, Lewis respectfully asked the supervisor when she would be playing his birthday slideshow. With the sensitivity of a bacterial infection, she informed him that there were no more slideshows after year 7 and that he’d do well to get over trivial, valueless acknowledgements. Lewis was visibly crushed.

Returning home, he spent the rest of the day in misery. When his father returned from work, Lewis subconsciously hoped he would come and comfort him somehow. But true to form, Dale slammed the door and retired straight to his study without saying a word.

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