A gathering of giants, p.7
A Gathering of Giants, page 7
"Make this problem go away, doctor." Came back the official response, as everyone washed their hands of the legal headache.
"My pleasure." The good doctor bowed. "I am only here to serve."
Once abandoned by the system and surrendered by his fragile grandmother to an unknown future inside Briscoe, Coop spiraled into a deep depression, even as his legal problems faded.
It took several soul-shattering nights alone in quarantine to make peace with his worst nightmares before the comforting thoughts resurfaced. That's when he realized how deliberately his grandmother had instilled her sense of resolve and self-worth in him.
Your willpower is your super strength, sweetheart. Never forget that fact, no matter what comes flying your way. It will never let you down.
It wasn't long before Coop understood that this new corporate reality was a far healthier lifestyle choice for the next couple of years of incarceration compared to the harsh alternative of juvenile hall followed by prison.
I'll turn myself into a chameleon and just blend in here.
That was the plan, anyway.
If Dr. Briscoe hadn't rescued Coop, the endless lawsuits would have crippled the mini-celebrity for the rest of his life. But with everything settled, according to Dr. Briscoe and his legal team, Coop would walk away as a free man with a clean record in just thirty-six months. If he kept his nose clean, stayed intelligent, lucky, and followed the Doctor's directives without complaint.
This bacon burger tastes like heaven compared to the ground dog chow back in Juvey.
His tastebuds returned to life with the abundant choices overflowing on his tray.
So far, this place seems more like a spa for the Adams Family than an orphanage. They even have free juice and muffins in the hallways. Free video games. And there sure seem to be plenty of girls walking around.
Sitting alone with his thoughts, he caught sight of another of those flickers of celebrity recognition he got used to during the press coverage when Kate glanced over at him and did an awkward double-take.
He grinned and waved back, but she flipped her hair and scanned past him, barely acknowledging his existence. She was searching for bigger prey. Then, with her target firmly in sight, she shot straight for Josh Blunt, and Zack followed behind as an afterthought.
Kate cornered her dreamy date sitting at the crowded math table, and she tip-toed up behind him as his friends watched with growing amusement.
Beautiful Josh Blunt, sixteen years old, was a mathematical prodigy with the refined looks of a movie star from cinema's golden age.
Blessed with mile-long lashes shading a pair of blue suede eyes, this handsome teenager turned heads in every room he entered. But his constant state of bewildering self-reflection offset any positive advantages his foxy exterior afforded him.
His relentless mind refused to surrender to any form of relaxation. Whenever seated, both his knees continually bounced like dueling pistons. Even in deep slumber submerged in the Dreampool, Josh's overactive imagination cramped most nights, forcing him awake and back onto his feet.
Only one person could break through that surface tension to rescue Josh whenever he sank to new lows, and that was his best friend and perennial lifeguard, Emiliano Guzman.
They had come through the foster system together from birth. Then, unfortunately, or fortuitously, depending on how they regarded their continuing friendship, they found themselves represented by the same corrupt adoption lawyer. He arranged for their dual incarceration into the Briscoe system for no other reason than a handsome payday. Double the kids, double the bucks, double the fun.
Kate's shadow slithered over Josh's shoulder like a cobra before snatching the juice drink off his tray with a sudden strike. But Josh didn't startle or move, and she took a long sip while considering her next move before replacing it.
"Ah! Thank you, Josh. I had something stuck in the back of my throat." She faked a tortured cough. "You should have heard me in the hall. I was croaking like a bullfrog at a Miley Cyrus concert."
Josh hardly acknowledged her presence, let alone her joke, already running new algorithms in his head.
"Uh, do you need a doctor or a paramedic or something?"
"No, Josh, just a sip and, oh, one more thing." Kate leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.
"There. I'm all better," she whispered inches away, and Josh's eyes glowed before filling with dread. It seemed Kate had hit the clear button on his internal calculator.
"Joshy?" Kate turned on the juice. "Like we talked before... are you still considering going to the prom this year?"
She waited for a response that never came as Josh's eyes clouded over, and he kick-started his calculations.
"Maybe. It might be something to do, I guess." He considered the proposition before drifting off to another whirlwind.
"Well?"
Kate waited patiently for an invitation that was never coming unless she took charge of her destiny.
"Josh... how about you and me... how about we go to the prom together?"
His friends giggled at Josh's legendary ineptitude. Even half-drugged, the jealous nerds realized their good-looking friend was utterly clueless.
Emiliano threw out the first spitball.
"Listen, dork, when the prettiest girl in the entire school invites you on a date... you accept! Do you understand that equation, Prince of all night moves?"
Everyone snickered and jabbed elbows.
Emiliano's smile stretched as wide as his rubber bands would allow. His brand-new plastic braces gleamed with saliva bubbles whenever he spoke fast, building up quite a frothy lather in the corners when overexcited.
"Why, thank you, Emil. That's a mighty sweet compliment, mi amigo," Kate gushed and blew him a kiss. "That's kind of beautiful."
"No. You are."
Kate enjoyed receiving these small bouquets of charm these days, and she tousled Emil's hair before sharing a warm smile with the rest of the dorks. She noticed their faces––made up of all shapes, colors, and zits––blushing like crimson Chinese lanterns whenever she was around. And she cherished that warm glow of mutual appreciation and respect they showed her.
"The most beautiful girl in school," Josh sighed.
"Why, thank you, Josh."
"No. I meant... the most beautiful girl in school?"
He had somehow cycled the words into another equation to solve.
Josh pondered the mathematical ramifications of Emil's subjective description. Then he articulated it again as if posing the deepest of all philosophical questions as everyone leaned in.
"Are you really the prettiest girl in the entire school? What are those odds?"
Kate's last name came immediately to mind as lightning bolts flashed behind the storm clouds rising in her eyes.
"Are... you... serious?"
Frustrated, Kate grabbed the next boy walking by, which happened to be Coop. She seized him by the back of the neck, spun him over backward like in the movies, and kissed him without hesitation.
They both gasped for air after she finished making her point, and Coop fought to maintain his balance with his tray as she supported him in her arms.
Kate cocked an eyebrow Josh's way, expecting some reaction or signs of jealousy, but he was a dead battery.
The nerds cheered silently, their arms raised in mock triumph without using their voices so they wouldn't annoy the staff, and Coop felt like the winner in a mimed sweepstake he never entered.
"Lucky duck."
"Lucky dork, you mean."
"Can you even imagine?"
"Oh yeah."
In that moment, Kate realized she was wasting her time on gorgeous Josh when so many other slimy jellyfish were left in the sea.
"That figures. This is on me," she admitted out loud.
She had worshiped the handsome teen from afar without getting close enough to realize he was a solitary, damaged, over-thinker with a highly polished exterior. And there wasn't a lot of room left for anyone else inside.
I guess we all have our burdens to bear, pretty boy.
Without a glimmer of disappointment, she turned back to Coop, still arched over.
A bird in the hand, right?
"You? Good kisser." She spoke face to face for the first time.
"Thank you?"
"Do you want to go to the prom with me?"
"Sure. Why not?" Coop chirped, unwinding himself from her embrace and standing back up. "Otherwise, I was just headed for the trash
"What's your name, wise guy? Wait? Don't tell me. I know you."
"Call me, Coop," he answered. "What do they call you?"
"Try Kate."
She paused for a moment and refocused on his face.
"Oh yeah. Hey! Wait. You almost killed my friends and me!"
"I get that all the time. You'd be surprised."
Kate winced when she saw Coop still bore deep bruises on the left side of his neck and arm from the brutal impact.
"Sorry about that night. Something magical... ah... almost turned tragic."
"Yeah, I know that feeling. Well, stunt driver, you kiss cute and taste good to boot! So... you have booked a major date with me... officially, the prettiest girl at Briscoe. Just ask these fine gentlemen."
She reserved her last dart for Josh.
"See you on the other side of summertime, Joshy boy! You had your chance. Bye-bye, fellas!"
Kate wiggled her fingers as she danced away to the beat of her own drummer.
"And I'll see you prom night, Coop. If not before," she called back. "I'll even help you pick out a tux?"
"Uh, okay, I guess. Thanks, Kate?"
"Lucky you!" she fired a killer smile at him over her shoulder.
"You are one lucky felon, Coop McQueen," Emiliano grinned, absorbing his new friend into their tribe.
"Just call me Coop."
The uber dorks giggled and jabbed each other as they watched Kate disappear around the corner, leaving them captivated even in her absence––especially Coop.
Well, things are certainly looking up around here!
Forget the mime sweepstakes. Coop felt like he had just won the Indianapolis 500 when no one was looking.
-Chapter 10-
A Clear Lucid Pulse
Yuma was doing close-up chart research in the master den of his sprawling lodge late that night and still sporting the gizmo-goggles when Zack’s first intentional Lucid Pulse blew in and hit him full-on in the chest.
“Ahh!” the giant doubled over at the startling revelation as it blindsided him.
It was a brilliant mass of concealed energy unlike any he’d witnessed, cloaked inside hidden waves of amplified reality that brought the startled giant to his feet.
This emphatic reply to his plea for help made the hair stand on his neck as the radiating disc found him within the Bubble and enveloped him in compassion.
The sign! At last!
Yuma had waited for this unique signal for so long now that he’d given up hope––like waiting for an answer to a love letter that would never come.
Only a giant could produce such a bold, Lucid Pulse that is healthy and pure, he thought. And only a giant among giants could do that.
I have felt nothing like it before.
This Pulse is different––beyond description––almost frightening in its intensity.
Zip, Zash, and Zee body surfed away on the invisible wave as it splashed around the circular walls of the redwood lodge without penetrating the wood.
“Our reinforcements are moving, boys!” Yuma called out. “They’re on their way!”
The ancient Time Warrior felt as giddy as a child as he raced across the room to his curved, stream-fed aquarium, hoping for a better glimpse of the vanishing pulse.
How many lifetimes had he waited for such a clear yet mystical sign that announced itself boldly? A message of hope that verified that he and his fellow Time Warriors were never the last of their kind.
And now this perfect concentric signal has changed everything.
It was difficult for Yuma to believe that the intense mental signal was as strong as it appeared. Yet this first dramatic step into a new reality was a dream come true.
“A Pulse,” Yuma grinned. “A precise Lucid Pulse like no other.”
Inside his giant aquarium, strands of its psychic energy still rippled back and forth, trapped within, and dazzling fish in rainbow shards of spectral light.
With his brass goggles dialed into the correct spectrum, Yuma witnessed the lingering visual traces of the Lucid Pulse as it continued exploring the dense medium of water.
“What a powerful thing! Look at the variations in the color shifts!”
Yuma’s childish grin exploded into laughter as he flipped his goggles onto his forehead and closed his eyes.
Internally, he drew from his own quiver of supernatural powers. He released a long hissing breath, and with a determined flinch of his head, Yuma sent another Lucid Pulse hurling up into the orbit in response.
Zip, Zash, and Zee flipped out of the way just in time, but the close proximity to the overpowering psychic blast sent the fish inside the freshwater tank flying. The trout and salmon evacuated first and launched themselves out of the tank and onto the floor into immediate distress as they gasped for their lives.
“Oh, no. Not again! Harley! Help me!” Yuma yelled. “I must remind an idiot never to do this indoors again!”
An enormous Great Dane bounded confidently into the room, but the pony-sized hound slammed on the brakes as soon as his toes hit the chilly water.
“Please, boy. Help me get these floppers back inside the stream again, Harley!” Yuma begged in perfect dog-speak.
The confused hound voiced his complaints loudly at the desperate giant before picking up the nearest fish, standing on his massive rear haunches, and plopping it back into the aquarium unhurt.
“Did you feel it? They are coming, Harley. Help is on the way, boy!” Yuma gushed proudly to his best friend.
Yuma didn’t know if his Lucid Pulse was strong enough to reach any of those new giants in the upside world. His powerful signal that horrible night was fueled by such an explosion of rage and unbearable anguish that it frightened even him in its fury. Yet, he hadn’t achieved another pulse that monumental since.
It might not reach them for days, he thought. Not at these great distances yet. But soon. They are coming my way! He rewarded himself with the sweet taste of honey-colored hope.
Yuma prayed that the next Lucid Pulse would come from another giant standing face-to-face with him to see whose abilities were the strongest. He desperately missed his wife and comrades in arms and their wild conversations. The thought of other Time Warriors filling his ears with tales of their own exotic exploits was a thrilling luxury he could only fantasize about in the comforting waters of the Dreampool.
Yuma rechecked the star charts he was studying. Then, he cross-referenced that last pulse’s date and time with another inscription etched into a beautiful transparent green tablet.
That’s when he discovered a new glint on the crystal’s pristine surface he had never seen before today.
“The sacred numbers align. If I am correct, the third glorious change of humankind’s existence has begun.”
Yuma sat down stunned and stroked Harley’s brow, making the great battle dog seem puppylike compared to his hand.
“Our reinforcements are coming, boy. Help is headed our way. And maybe, if we are lucky, so much more.”
He smiled at the beast, and Harley licked his fingers.
“I know it has been sad and boring living with only me. Well, I hope you are ready for some rowdy companionship again, my good friend. Soon we will have a great gathering of giants again. And then, together, we will save this world once more. The way it was meant to be.”
-Chapter 11-
The Great Middlin Mall
The idling school bus cooked like a baked potato in the scorching sun.
Inside the sweatbox of the driver's metal security cage, Sgt. P.T. Crowley waited impatiently for his next round of passengers to board the reinforced security bus.
"Time to roll, people! Mush, mush! Let's move it!"
His starched uniform reeked of perspiration, coffee, cigars, and cheap drugstore cologne. Once those distinctive fragrances mingled with the stench of rancid mall food and stagnant diesel fumes, the noxious atmosphere inside the cabin would gag a pig.
The orphans nicknamed the cranky driver 'Petty' years ago. Yet even today, Sgt. Petty exceeded his notorious reputation by intentionally gunning the engine and blasting exhaust fumes into the children's faces to intimidate and speed up the security team outside.
"Knock it off, Sergeant, or I'm calling H.R.!" One wand-bearers coughed.
Ten excited orphans stood choking in line at the rear, waiting to pass through security for their first magical trip to the mall as Petty's uniform blossomed with new flowers.
"This freaking bus a/c works like you do, Norm. Sporadically."
He pounded and kicked the dash.
"Relax, Sergeant. Open a window." Norm replied without looking up from his phone.
Petty's shift partner, Norm Prescott, learned to adapt to Petty's nonstop whining after years of riding shotgun with the outspoken loudmouth. Instead of listening to his inane jabber, he won every shift by bringing his noise-canceling earbuds with him whenever assigned together.
"It's one of those little freaks of nature right out there who blew up the only bus we had with a working a/c, and everybody knows it? And now I've got to drive these weirdos all the way to the mall and back in this summer heat without a working a/c? For what? Reward them, but no overtime or hazard pay for me? Briscoe's lost his mind, just like these psychos! Not like the old days around here, boy, I promise you that, Norm. Back in the good days, we skull-thumped these morons back into shape."
Dr. Briscoe stood on the veranda of his private Victorian mansion and waved goodbye to the children from across the campus. Hungover after another investment party, Dr. Briscoe presided over the noisy loading process from afar, clutching a fresh Bloody Mary and wearing his robe.
