Part Two
Part Three
Avondale, Sylestone
”Oh, you stupid, stupid boy”, said Brett’s father, cradling his son in his arms. Despite the occasional squirm from the young boy, though, he was relatively peaceful, with tears running down his face.
“I just want to go to Kirkham”, was the response. “Can we pwease go to Kirkham?”
“I really do not know. I’ll have to see and it probably won’t happen for a while. But one day, I promise you, we will go.”
Brett sighed and his father knew it was better than a flat-out no.
But it was enough to not get him to run away from home again. That night, lying on his bed, he decided. The traumatising experience of living out on the streets, with no food and little water, was not something Brett wanted to replicate. He would push, push and push ever harder to get to go, but in the end, that was all he would do.
Yet, it still did not stop the boy from getting teased and bullied about it at school. The very next day, the school bullies, Bob Kiccem, Jack Hoffman and Bummity Pupe, decided the seven-year-old would be a prime target.
The three big, broad-shouldered boys wandered purposefully up to Brett, sitting quietly on a plastic bench eating a peanut butter sandwich, simply minding his own business. Bob and Jack sat on either side of him to sandwich Brett in, while Bummity did most of the talking.
“So I heard you ran away from home to get to that shitty city of Sentients the other day”, said Bummity, shoving Brett in the shoulder in a bid to get him to turn around and look at the older boy.
Brett didn’t respond, looking blandly up at Bummity in defeat.
Bummity forged on, to the chortling of his comrades. “I really don’t get how anyone could be that stupid. No one wants to go to Kirkham. No one even cares about the Sentients. Yet you ran away from home to get there. Loser.”
Brett had had enough. Curling his hands into fists he stood up, Bummity, Bob and Jack goaded him on as Brett tore into the former. With no teachers present, there was nothing to stop Brett, hitting his torturer in the stomach over and over again, with a sort of attitude that was hardly ever present in Sylestonean schools, with the nation quite well-renowned for having surprisingly compliant youth. Then again, people like Jack, Bob and Bummity don’t exist in your everyday public school.
When Brett finished up, he was amazed to find Bummity still standing, looking down at him with a menacing gleam in his eye to the laughter of his cronies. When the young boy realised that he hadn’t done anything to harm the bully, he slunk back and sat back on the plastic seat with a bang, while Bummity advanced towards him.
“You’re an idiot, you know that? Just like those Sentient Objects you wanted to go see.”
And those were Bummity’s last words.
A whistle was heard from above as Bummity looked up and could only jump out of the way just in time, as a Washing Machine crashed into the asphalt right where he had been. If people hadn’t already noticed the ongoing commotion, now they did, with the crash splitting eardrums all over the school as people rushed to the scene. Bummity paled, grabbed his friends and ran out of school.
He would never be seen again amongst the grounds.
The Washing Machine looked around at the curious young faces and gave each of them a stern warning in a thick, Washing Machine-like accent.
“Don’t any of you ever insult the Sentient Objects of Kirkham. You now know what shall happen.”
And with that, it bobbled out of the school grounds and down the road.
The entire school was lost for words. What they had just witnessed was the first of its kind and something that would find itself etched into history books in years to come. It simply did not make any sense. How does a Sentient Object fall out of the sky and land right next to someone talking shit about them. Are they birds?
***
Once again, Brett’s father was playing around with spreadsheets in his office when he heard a knock on the door. Wondering what it may be, he opened the door and was surprised to see his boss there, looking surprisingly official.
“I have a favour to ask of you”, the boss said in a grovelling voice.
Brett’s father was surprised. “What do you want of me?”
“Well, it was a bit of a coincidence, really. Roughly the same time I read that your boy had run away from home to go to Kirkham, I got a phone call from the owner of this company itself, a single Solar Panel itself. It said that it wanted one of my employees down in Kirkham for Renewables Week next week to help advertise the brand. I figured that as you fitted all requirements, your son so desperately wanting to go to Kirkham and with school holidays in a couple of days time, you were the prime candidate. So what do you say?”
Brett’s father thought about it for a fair while, but the answer was an obvious one. There was only one way to make his son truly happy, and this was the perfect opportunity.
Taking a deep breath, he looked up at his boss and answered in the affirmative. Yes, he would go to Kirkham. Yes, he would meet the owner of SolarSylestone. Yes, Brett would be happy.
And that was the most important thing.
Sylestone vs Eura @ Chamberley Institute of Sport, Chamberley
Sylestone (4-1-3-1-1): Brick Wall; Ironing Board (▮ 13’) - Toilet - Washing Machine (Sofa 67’) - Drawer; Air Conditioner; Kitchen Sink (Stove 71’) - Bar Stool (▮ 63’) - Fridge; Mixer (▮ 41’) ; Tumble Dryer (AC Vent 78’)
Eura (5-3-2): Belgrave; Wheeler (Coffey 60’) - Coles (▮ 28’) - Wellington - Menard - Almwood (Woodman 60’); Matthews - Mullins - Vincent (▮ 81’); Walker - Atkinson (Tomlinson 66’)
SYLESTONE - 1
Stove 83’
EURA - 0
-no scorers-
Lathamford vs Sylestone @ Thousandforks National Arena
Lathamford (3-4-3): Greenash; Wolfsong - Skelmersdale (Decker 77’) - Haymoore (▮ 50’); Wymondham - du Graypelt (Ashleigh 73’) - Wyvernchaser - Colfield; Clawbrand (Falconderry 86’) - Kingsley - Farrowsteam
Sylestone (4-1-3-1-1 → 4-1-2-1-2): Table; Nokia - Toilet (Wok 65’) - Sofa - Dishwasher (▮ 29’); Television (Air Conditioner 49’); Stove - Knife (Heater 75’) - Fridge; Mixer; AC Vent
LATHAMFORD - 1
Wymondham 11’
SYLESTONE - 0
-no scorers-
Starting Lineup vs Srednjaci @ Sunlife Stadium, Halpenley
Brick Wall; Ironing Board - Sofa - Wok - Drawer; Television; Kitchen Sink - Bar Stool - Spiderwebs; Mixer; Tumble Dryer
Starting Lineup vs Agresos @ Unknown
Saucepan; Nokia - Washing Machine - Sofa - Dishwasher; Air Conditioner; Stove - Knife - Fridge; Heater; Tumble Dryer
Schedule:
MD1: Sylestone 1-0 Talamia @ Carson Stadium, Cleorough
MD2: Sylestone 1-0 Eura @ Chamberley Institute of Sport, Chamberley
MD3: Lathamford 1-0 Sylestone @ Thousandforks National Arena, Lathamford
MD4: Sylestone - Srednjaci @ Sunlife Stadium, Halpenley
MD5: Agresos - Sylestone @ Unknown
MD6: Sylestone - Melbergia @ The Bay Reserve, Betham
MD7: Chromatika - Sylestone @ Islander Dome, Myana
MD8: Sylestone - Darmen @ Avondale International Sports Stadium, Avondale
MD9: Schima Bas - Sylestone @ Unknown
MD10: Talamia - Sylestone @ Ebdemar Au'tokra Stadium, Clinepalas
MD11: Eura - Sylestone @ Bastion National Arena, Bastion
MD12: Sylestone - Lathamford @ Sentient Oval, Kirkham
MD13: Srednjaci - Sylestone @ Blue Volcano Stadium, Melarit
MD14: Sylestone - Agresos @ Ground of Dunkirk, Dunkirk
MD15: Melbergia - Sylestone @ Unknown
MD16: Sylestone - Chromatika @ The Trees, Pesfield
MD17: Darmen - Sylestone @ Unknown
MD18: Sylestone - Schima Bas @ Fiery Stadium, Dodle