Abandoned Infant, Luna Maguvark

Two cloaked figures lurked around the deserted streets under the starry night sky. They were Professor Selena Maguvark and Sir Skandar Maguvark. Professor Maguvark was a wise and learned woman with a slender figure, pale alabaster skin, sleek midnight blue hair and mysterious brown eyes. She was the headmistress of a special school called Maguvark Academy, founded by one of her ancestors. Sir Skandar was tall, well-built, chivalrous and valiant. He had dark brown hair, a tall and strong build, broad shoulders and serious green eyes; he was sometimes nicknamed a Knight. Professor Maguvark was dressed in a long purple cloak whereas Sir Skandar’s cloak was navy blue.

 

They tried their best to attract as little attention as possible and to make absolutely no noise at all; which was hard, considering the fact that their cloaks swept the ground with every step they took. They had just recently received a call from their friends who told the former two that the latter were all in the Capital City of Cambodia: Phnom Penh. This is where our story begins.

 

Those were the days not long after the country’s civil war, the dark times. Crime and murder was rife. Clashes occurred exceedingly often. The two Maguvarks could not understand why they had been advised to leave Luna Maguvark, their country’s heir, here. (‘It’s the perfect hiding place for her. No one would ever expect the country’s heir and future savoir to live in a land that had once been through the Khmer Rouge. Why, they’d think she’d been killed! Thankfully, you can be safe if you’re careful; not to mention if you don’t wander around deserted areas after seven o’ clock in the evening or in the dead of night,’ Mrs Krest had told them.)

 

Somewhere in the distance, they heard a loud ‘BANG!’ followed by two cries: one was of pain and another was of horror and despair. It could have been that someone had been shot dead and their loved one had witnessed the killing before their very eyes. Sir Skandar winced.

‘Don’t you think we should leave her somewhere else? We’re not even sure whether she really is destined to save our country… to stop our world and theirs from being destroyed!’ he whispered.

 

‘I know what you mean, but it was Ironhoove who told us. He’s the wisest of his kind and his kind is always wise,’ she replied.

‘Are you talking about centaurs? I don’t think any half-human creatures can match their wild behaviour.’

 

‘I know; I was referring to the Centaurs descended from Chiron, not centaurs in general. Now don’t change the subject! You’re slowing us down, we’ll have to do it whether we like it or not.’

‘All right, I know that there’s no point in changing your mind once you’ve got it set on something. I wonder whether she’s going to inherit that from you.’

 

‘I just hope to find her a nice home, and a rich family, perhaps. She’s our land’s heir after all. She can’t live with a poor family, it’s unthinkable!’

‘Better a poor family that treats her well than a rich family that loathes her.’

 

‘Okay, I get your point. But sometimes the rich are really generous. Let’s just try to find a nice place to leave her " ah! This house might do!’

They both came to a halt at the front of a large three-storey house. It had white walls and beautifully painted glass windows. In the house’s yard were a pink bicycle and a brand new car. The walls were made of grey stone bricks and it rose up to about two metres high. Sir Skandar looked at it appraisingly for about ten minutes, taking in every detail of it, before he spoke again.

 

‘All right, we’ll leave her here. But do you know how long we’ll have to wait to see her again?’ he asked, sounding doubtful.

‘Only time will tell, Skandar. I’ve written a letter to the people whom we’ve chosen to take her in, asking them to take care of her and treat her well.’

 

‘You mean you’ve told them everything?’

‘Obviously I haven’t! I wouldn’t be so irrational. I simply said that we’re too poor to raise her and that we would be grateful if they took her in. I’ve also requested for them to give her a new name, just for extra measures. And I requested they treat her like their own flesh and blood. Now let’s go, we’ve got to meet up with the others in fifteen minutes.’

 

They approached the house and climbed over the stone wall and into the yard. They both stopped at the doorstep in silence, looking dismal, melancholy. A tear streaked down one side Professor Maguvark’s cheek and Sir Skandar patted her on her shoulder. She took out a handkerchief, dabbed at her eyes and tried to remove the tear-stain from her cheek.

Professor Maguvark flung back her cloak to free her arms and there, sure enough, was an infant girl with a round face, sharp chin, fair skin and straight dark brown hair. She was fast asleep and was wrapped in several sheets. Professor Maguvark had been cradling the child in her arms during the entire walk.

 

She handed Luna to Sir Skandar, who held the child in his arms gingerly, careful not to wake her up. Professor Maguvark reached inside her cloak and took out, from one of the inner pockets, an envelope and tucked it into one of Luna’s sheets. They left her on the doorstep of the house and walked towards the house’s gates in silence, without looking back, before disappearing into the darkness. The strangest part was that they did not even climb over the wall this time; they had vanished within the blink of an eye!

 

*

The two Maguvarks arrived at a large old house with rather rusted iron gates and weathered walls. There were climbing plants on some of the walls. There was a light on the ground floor of the building. They rung the bell near the gate and, almost instantly, one of the gates swung open. The person who had opened the gate for them was a man in his early thirties. He was rather tall, had rather tanned skin and his black hair was neat and wavy. He smiled invitingly at them and escorted them to the living room.

 

The living room was lit by several light bulbs. The floor was carpeted with a thick and soft rug. There were several armchairs and couches arranged around a beautifully carved wooden table. There were already several people seated in the living room, apparently waiting for them.

‘You two were a little bit behind schedule,’ chuckled the man who had opened the gate for them. ‘I suppose it was hard to bid your Luna farewell?’

 

‘It really was,’ replied Professor Maguvark.

‘Where did you leave her?’ a short, slightly plump woman with fair skin, rosy cheeks, cheerful brown eyes and curly black hair - also in her early thirties - piped up.

 

‘We left her in front of a large house a few streets away. It looked like really important people lived there,’ answered Sir Skandar.

‘They’d better treat her well and follow the written requests or else I will kill them!’ said Professor Maguvark, mostly to herself.

 

‘How old is Luna anyway?’ asked Mrs Conner curiously.

‘One year,’ was Professor Maguvark’s reply.

 

‘I suppose the first of the ten children to find out about Luneria would be Jeremy?’ asked Mr Symphony.

‘Two years later would be Conan and Michelle,’ said Sir Skandar, after nodding in his friend’s direction.

 

‘That’s right. They’ll know about it a year before Ellen and Alexandria,’ added Mrs Symphony.

‘After them would be Clarissa and Luna herself " a few years later. Devon, Colin and Jennifer would be the last three to find out,’ added Dr Zoisite.

 

‘But we’re not certain,’ said Professor Maguvark. ‘That’s only according to their ages. Alexandria and Jennifer might find out when Alyssa starts Maguvark. It’s the same for Colin when Ellen attends it.’

‘So is it Clarissa or Jeremy who’s part of the prophecy?’ asked Mr Mantrason.

 

‘We don’t know. Ironhoove said either of them could be part of the prophecy, but we don’t know which one it’ll be. It’s because Jeremy isn’t a Lunerian,’ replied Sir Skandar.

‘I’m half-hoping it’s Clarissa and half-hoping it’s not. It’ll be something to be proud of, but it’s also dangerous,’ said Mrs Mantrason.

 

‘It will be Jeremy, I’d bet my life on it!’ said Mrs Conner proudly.

‘He isn’t even Lunerian!’ scoffed Mrs Mantrason. ‘Our country’s going to be saved by a Lunerian!’

 

‘We faced a lot of prejudice from most of you Lunerians simply because we’re...’

‘...foreigners.’

 

‘We’re still from your world!’

‘The only reason Ironhoove’s predictions said both children were potentially part of the prophecy was because one of them isn’t Lunerian.’

 

‘It doesn’t matter which country a child is from as long as they’re from our world!’

Mrs Conner’s hand reached for inside her cloak and Mrs Mantrason was about to do the same but Mr Krest came between them.

 

‘Stop it, you two. You’ve been at this for ages. We don’t know who the child of the prophecy will be. We’ve got other matters to deal with right now,’ he said sternly.

Professor Maguvark sank into a soft armchair, heaved a great sigh and took out a piece of yellow parchment and a fountain pen. She began to write on it in a neat and even hand. Finally, she drew several horizontal lines across the parchment and signed her name on one of the lines. The others also signed their names on the parchment and handed it over to Professor Maguvark. The moment was extremely formal, as if they were signing a treaty.

 

After she had read through the parchment, Professor Maguvark rolled it up carefully and tied a crimson ribbon around it, before keeping it back inside an inner pocket of her cloak. She also kept the fountain pen that they all had used inside another pocket of her cloak. With a silent farewell, she and Sir Skandar left the room and were engulfed by the shadows. A strong blast of wind forced Mr Krest to shut the house door immediately without an opportunity to say one last good-bye.

 

*

 

Luna was grudgingly taken in by the family who lived in the house. Her adopted parents disregarded the requests in Professor Maguvark’s letter. They lied to their adopted daughter that her adopted mother was her step-mother and that her adopted father, however, was her biological father. The story she had been told was this: Luna’s real mother had desperately wanted a son but she ended up having a daughter. Disappointed, she divorced her husband and left the family whereas her adopted father remarried. What Luna did not understand was the fact that her mother had divorced the former’s father only when Luna was born instead of when her elder sister was born. She was treated like a maid and an unwanted daughter by her new family.

 

Luna grew up to be a sad and insecure child. However, this side of her rarely surfaced when she was at school. Unlike most children, she loved school and dreaded the holidays. At school, she was bubbly, enthusiastic, and outgoing. Despite the fact that she disliked her family, no matter how hard she tried to force herself not to, she was very thankful to her parents for enrolling her into the school she attended " Starburg British School " a private international school in Phnom Penh itself. Of course, it was no longer dangerous to go out after dark as crime rates had fallen. It was also well after the civil war. Nevertheless, traces of the political dispute were still left behind " such as the hidden mines and the beggars around the streets with missing limbs. It was a tragic sight. Thankfully, those traces could not be permanent, for the country’s economy was growing slowly, yet steadily, over time.

Reviews

[Jamal]

well well, what an interesting start this is. I love the vivid descriptions and I can see alot of hard work and imagination went into creating this incredible world of yours. keep up the good work and keep me updated. also if you'd like to please feel free to check out my novel it's called Children of the Comet. So far there's only one chapter