Lumen and the Thistle

by EJ Wozniak

  Alec gently pushed Lumen and waved goodbye. Lumen stepped through the window with Wrigley close behind.

  They were back in his bedroom. Lumen looked at the clock on his desk, it read 12:08 am. He didn’t care that it was so late; the past day had been the most incredible he had ever experienced. He laid on his bed and peered up at the ceiling. He held his hand out in front of him again to look at the ring.

  “My own luxem. I didn’t even know what that was a few hours ago.” He sat up and looked for Wrigley. He was asleep already at the foot of the bed.

  “Guess you don’t care.”

  Lumen rubbed his fingers over the four symbols. He recognized the Eauge symbol and concluded the other three must be the other castes.

  The second symbol was a circle with three jagged lines, sort of like a mountain range. The third symbol was another circle with three straight lines. The last was another circle with three wavy lines, sort of like the Eauge symbol, but vertical.

  Lumen put his hand down and figured he should get to sleep. He laid back down.

  “Nope.”

  Lumen couldn’t stand not brushing his teeth. He got up and went to his bathroom to brush and clean up.

  “Some things will never change.”

  * * *

  Lumen awoke the next morning, as he always did, at 6:40 am. He had a pounding headache as he wasn’t used to not getting a full eight hours. He took Wrigley out to go to the bathroom, fed him, went back to the bathroom to clean up, got dressed, brushed his teeth, and ate a bowl of cereal.

  On his way out, he cracked open his mom’s bedroom door. She was sound asleep. He decided not to wake her; school was only a ten-minute walk. Lumen grabbed his things and headed out.

  It was a typical day at school, although classes were less stimulating and more boring than ever for Lumen. He found it easier to pay attention to his teachers now that the lights weren’t everywhere he looked, which made classes even more dreary.

  The first four periods passed at a snail’s pace until lunch. Lumen thought he should find Sofia to talk about dinner tomorrow—or maybe he shouldn’t. She had already told him to meet her at the crosswalk tomorrow after school. He wasn’t sure if approaching her again would seem too eager, but he wanted her to know he was looking forward to dinner. Or was that weird? Lumen couldn’t decide and thought he should talk to Alec. At that moment, he noticed he hadn’t seen Alec yet and wasn’t sure where he was.

  As soon as he realized Alec’s strange absence, Lumen noticed lights dotting the room around him.

  Heart racing, Lumen sped off for the bathroom and went into a stall. He put his backpack on the toilet and put his hands together, just like he had seen Alec do. More lights appeared, and he moved them around in an attempt to create a window. After a few moments of moving the pieces around the lights beamed. He wasn’t sure where this would lead to but decided to jump through anyway.

  Lumen landed in Allister’s cabin. The fire crackled with a tea kettle whistling above it. Allister walked over and grabbed the pot and poured it into a giant copper mug.

  “Hey Allister . . .”

  Allister turned around, startled, as if he didn’t expect anyone to be there.

  “Ah Lumen, my boy, good to see you back so soon. What can I do ya for?”

  “I’m, uh, looking for Alec. Is he here?”

  “As a matter of fact he is, he should be right out. I see you are getting the hang of the lights.”

  Allister smiled at Lumen.

  “Uh, yeah, I think I’m getting it. How do you guys create the windows so fast? I see you just wave your hand and a window opens up.”

  Allister kept smiling at Lumen as he answered.

  “Practice, my boy, practice.”

  Alec came through a door on the other side of the cabin.

  “Still asking questions, huh? Your mind never rests, does it Lumen?”

  Lumen wasn’t sure how to answer. Luckily Allister spoke before he could.

  “Curiosity never hurt anyone, Alec; he can ask whatever questions he likes.”

  “I heard curiosity killed the cat. . . Anyway, what are you doing here? School is in session.”

  Lumen looked at Allister nervously; he didn’t want Allister to hear his dilemma with Sofia because he was embarrassed.

  “I’ll let you boys talk; I need to get more firewood anyway.” Allister winked at Lumen, waved his hand, and walked through a window. Lumen felt more comfortable speaking now.

  “Do you think I should talk to Sofia about tomorrow? We already planned where to meet, but I don’t want her to forget . . .”

  Alec chuckled.

  “Dude, relax. She isn’t going to forget. If you ask me, she is just as interested in you as you are in her. Play it cool. You’ll see her tomorrow. Don’t go looking for her. If you see her before, you can talk.”

  Lumen scratched his head.

  “Um okay. I’m not sure that helped. Talk to her if I see her but don’t go looking for her? Are you sure?”

  “Yes, Lumen. You hungry?”

  Lumen realized he hadn’t grabbed lunch money from his mom before leaving. She usually handed it to him when she dropped him off at school.

  “Um, yeah, I am actually.”

  Alec walked over to the kitchen area of the cabin and grabbed some pockets. They looked freshly cooked.

  “These things are so good. They might be my new favorite.”

  Lumen grabbed a couple of them from Alec and started eating.

  “Alright man, you should get back before someone finds your stuff in the stall.”

  “Yeah, wait . . . Why aren’t you in school?”

  “Oh, I’m thinking I might not go back. Now that you’re aware of what’s going on, you don’t need me.”

  “No, you can’t do that. It’s good to be there so you can live a normal life if it doesn’t work out here. What about your family? Won’t they be mad?”

  “Don’t worry about that stuff dude; I haven’t decided for sure yet. I am at least taking a couple of days off. I’m tired. It’s been a long school year.”

  Lumen didn’t like that his only friend may not be back at school.

  “I think you should stay . . .”

  “I’ll think about it. Get going now.”

  Alec waved his hand, and a window opened.

  “Wait a minute, how’d you know my stuff was in the st—”

  Before Lumen could finish, Alec pushed him through the window. Lumen landed on the floor.

  “He’s good at that.”

  Lumen stood up and walked out of the stall. He saw Blake on his way out of the bathroom.

  “What’re you doing in there weirdo? That where you eat your lunch now?”

  Lumen ignored him and walked out as fast as he could. The bell rang right as he walked out, just in time. He finished his pockets on the way to class.

  The rest of the school day went by just like the first half. He passed Sofia on the way to his last class, and she waved at him. Lumen remembered his conversation with Alec but was having difficulty saying anything at all.

  Before Lumen could manage to utter a word, Sofia said, “Hi, Lumen.”

  Lumen awkwardly waved back and walked by without saying a word. That definitely was not cool, he decided.

  School finished, and he walked home with thoughts of his first date.

  When he walked onto Inventa Way, Lumen noticed that the street was blocked off by an ambulance and a firetruck. He immediately forgot about his date plans and became worried about his mother. He rushed up his street when he caught a glimpse of his mom standing in their driveway with her arms crossed. He hurried up the street and called for her. He walked up to her and gave her a hug, feeling nervous about the news he was about to hear.

  “What happened?”

  “I think the old man that lived in the house across the street had a heart attack. . . So sad. . . Let’s go inside. We don’t need to see this,” Alice said as though she was trying not to cry.

&nbs
p; “Well, it’s nice to see you. How was your day?” she asked Lumen.

  He thought about his day. He traveled to Allister’s cabin in Bonumalus, through the lights he had seen all his life, to speak with Alec, who also can travel through these lights, about Sofia, who he asked to come over for dinner tomorrow.

  “School was good.”

  “That is good to hear! How is the thing?”

  Alice didn’t like to address Lumen’s “hallucinations” directly sometimes. She thought it would make it worse.

  “It’s been really good the last couple of days. Haven’t bothered me at all.”

  Alice smiled at Lumen.

  “Good. Well I got you a couple more puzzles. They are on the dining room table.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  “Well, what should we have for dinner? Should we order in? I have the next two nights off so we can eat together!”

  Alice seemed really happy. Lumen hadn’t brought up Sofia yet. He thought maybe he should just take her to the diner tomorrow night. He didn’t want to overwhelm Sofia on their first date with his mom’s eagerness to know everything about his life.

  “About tomorrow night, Mom. . . I think I’m going to not eat dinner here. I have plans.”

  “Plans? Are you and Alec going somewhere?”

  “Um no, I have a . . . uh . . . date.”

  Alice screamed, “OH MY GOSH!”

  Lumen covered his ears quickly. He firmly decided this was why he couldn’t bring Sofia here right away.

  “My Lulu has a date? I cannot believe it! You’re growing up so fast. We need to get you a new outfit and a haircut. I’ll grab my things!”

  Alice hurried off to grab her purse, and they both scurried out the door.

  Alice asked Lumen at least a hundred questions on the way to the store.

  “Is this the same girl from the dance?”

  “Is she your girlfriend?”

  “Sofia is such a beautiful name! How did you ask her?”

  “Where is she from?”

  “What does she look like?”

  Lumen could hardly answer any of the questions.

  They got to the local clothing store called Seamstrip. It was a small business ran by a neighbor, Otto. Lumen said hello to Otto.

  Alice said, “Hi there, my boy has a date tomorrow. Where should we look for clothes?”

  Lumen blushed and whispered, “Mom, stop it . . . please”.

  The man smiled and pointed toward the end of the store, and they headed that way. It was all polo and button-up shirts. Alice began grabbing some and holding them up in front of Lumen.

  “This might work; it’s a little big, but green is your color.”

  Lumen didn’t want to dress fancy. He wanted to be himself.

  “How about just a new shirt and maybe some new shoes . . .”

  Alice smiled at Lumen.

  “Keeping it casual for the first date. Good idea, hun. Over here, c’mon.”

  They walked to the other end of the store and found a nice black and green long sleeve shirt and some new black sneakers. They checked out and headed to the barber. Lumen did need a haircut; it had been a while. They walked into the only barber shop in town.

  “The usual?”

  “Yeah, please.”

  Alice waited in a chair, reading a magazine that was dated from two years back. Regardless, she still loved reading about all of the celebrities.

  Lumen’s haircut only took about ten minutes to complete. Alice paid and left a couple dollars for tip, and they left.

  “What should we eat?”

  Lumen thought about the diner but remembered he was going there tomorrow night. He didn’t want to overdo it.

  “How about some Italian?”

  Alice’s thick black eyebrows rose, surprised as she too expected Lumen to say La Dernier Piece.

  “That sounds wonderful, honey. I haven’t had Italian in a while.”

  They drove a couple minutes down the road to the local Italian restaurant, Classico Italiano.

  Lumen always thought they could have come up with a better name.

  They went in, found an open booth, and began perusing the menu. The table had a fake plastic candle in the middle. It was a rounded booth with plush Brunswick green seats. They both decided and put in their order with the waiter as he set down some waters. Lumen ordered a plate of spaghetti with meat sauce and requested some lemon for his water. The two sat and talked about Lumen’s date, how school was going, how Alec was doing, and so on. Lumen batted off the first few questions about Sofia and steered the conversation to something else.

  “Is she pretty?”

  “Uh. . . yeah, I think so. Anyway, did you hear what had happened to the old guy across the street?”

  “I heard he had a heart attack. He might make it, which is great news. His wife must be so worried right now. Speaking of wives, do you think Sofia is the one?”

  Lumen rolled his eyes each time this happened but eventually gave in and told Alice everything. After getting over the embarrassment, he started to really enjoy his time out with his mom.

  Lumen always loved hanging out with his mom when she wasn’t nagging him about his medicine. He appreciated how hard she worked and how much she cared about him. He wished he could hang out with her more often. He almost felt bad about going on a date with Sofia on a night she was off. But he knew she would want Lumen to go out. Is this what growing up feels like? Lumen thought.

  They both ate slowly as they talked some more and ordered a chocolate cake dessert that they split. Once they were finished, Alice paid the bill.

  “Thanks, Mom. For everything. The shoes, dinner . . . Thank you.”

  Lumen felt himself choke up a little bit. He didn’t think too often about how much she did on her own for him.

  “Oh no problem, hun; you’re a good date. You can take me out anytime!”

  They laughed as they walked out with arms around one another.

  They drove onto Inventa Way, and all of the firetrucks and ambulances were gone. Lumen couldn’t imagine if anything happened to his mother. He didn’t want to think about it.

  They went inside, and Lumen followed his typical routine. Cartoons for some time, and then he walked Wrigley. He hadn’t been running lately and considered going for a second, but he knew his mother wouldn’t let him go this late. He went to her room to say goodnight, and she was fast asleep. Lumen figured he could just go for a run around the block and slip back inside without his mom noticing.

  He threw on some shorts and running shoes and crept out the front door as quietly as he could. He put his finger to his lips, telling Wrigley to keep quiet, and did some quick stretches on the driveway before taking off.

  It was freezing. Winter was right around the corner. Lumen should have dressed a bit warmer, but the cold just made him run harder. He passed by Blake’s house. It looked like the family was already asleep as the house was completely dark.

  He kept running, and he reached the hill. He ran to the top where there weren’t any houses and stopped to gaze at the sky. It was a clear night. Clear nights were usually colder. Lumen could see his breath as he huffed and puffed, trying to catch his breath. There were more stars than usual, and a crescent moon hung in the sky. Without the lights distracting him, he was able to appreciate this a bit more.

  A few lights started to pop up. Lumen almost missed having them around all of the time. He looked down at his ring and thought about where his safe place should be. Maybe the house is the best place, I’ll set it up to take me to my room. He looked back up, and there were a lot of lights now, bringing his attention back to getting home quickly. He ran down the other side of the hill. When he arrived Wrigley tackled him, attacking his face with his hot, slobbery tongue.

  “Alright, alright, I was gone for 20 minutes! Relax, relax!” Lumen aggressively whispered.

  He pushed Wrigley to the side.

  “Sheesh, man! I love you and all, but that was a little ridiculous.”r />
  Wrigley turned his head to try and understand, as he normally did when Lumen spoke to him. Lumen headed for the bathroom to brush his teeth and take a shower. Wrigley insisted on being in the bathroom with Lumen, and simply stood looking at the shower curtain.

  “You want to get in here with me? Weirdo.”

  Wrigley wagged his tail and stepped toward the shower.

  “I’m joking, I’m joking. Get back. Give me a few minutes of privacy. It’s hard to come by these days.”

  Lumen finished up, got dressed, and decided to go to bed. He had a big day planned for tomorrow.

  He turned off his lights, crawled into bed, and plopped his head down on a pillow.

  He noticed Wrigley at the foot of the bed with his ears perked up, alert.

  “Go to sleep, you weirdo. What’s wrong with you?” Lumen asked as he pushed him with his foot. Wrigley didn’t budge. Lumen sighed and plopped his head down on the pillow. His eyelids quickly got heavier and heavier. Suddenly, there was a flash of white light in the middle of his room, springing his eyelids wide-open.

  “In bed already? Get up. You shouldn’t have gone on a date with your mother if you were going to sleep so early. I told you needed to go over some stuff.”

  Lumen rubbed his eyes.

  “Alec?”

  “No, it’s your fairy godmother. Get up. We’ll just do a quick session.”

  Alec turned on the lights, and Lumen could see he was already sweating.

  “What are we doing?” Lumen yawned.

  “Well, I want you to be a step ahead of the other new Eauges. We are going to practice some things.”

  Alec left the room and returned a minute later with a glass. He snapped his fingers, and the glass filled with water.

  “You want me to do that?” Lumen asked.

  “No, no, but you’ll be able to do that in due time. Allister just taught me that one. Cool, huh? Anyway, all I want you to do is to get the water to move. Here, sit.”

  Alec placed the glass down on the desk and pulled the chair out for Lumen to sit in.

  “Okay, now what?”

  “Focus on the water. You really have to dig within yourself to control it. Focus everything in your being to move that water. Imagine where you want it and how you want it to look, where you want it to go. Just focus on everything about this water. Here in this glass.”