PROMPT : DURATION
“For the duration of this event, you will be required to wear indoor shoes and a tracking monitor upon your person at all times,” the event attendant, Surei Malten explained.
The eager crowd of middle-schoolers nodded and cheered, their excitement barely contained. They were dressed in different colors, according to the teams they would be playing on.
The indoor scavenger hunt was the ninth of its kind for the school year and meant to showcase the more intuitive talents of the genius children. Here at the Malten Academy, children were divided by their natural talents and ability to utilize them.
Fostering the link between using and honing that talent, was the job of the teachers and various guest instructors. There were several art groups, like artistic and musically gifted sections, that had a list tailored to the talents of their groups. The groups dedicated to sports were given more athletically challenged items and so forth.
It was only the trio in the back—the magically gifted ones—that were the odd bunch out. Their sponsor, Professor Harris, was a thin, nervous, newly graduated teacher. Scrawny tanned hands and bushy blond hair made him appear more like a scarecrow than a sensible, reliable teacher.
The only catch was his immense magical power and the ease with which he wielded his unusual gift. He’d been kind to the children, teaching them how to call forth their gift and use it for daily chores and special situations.
Now, they gathered around him, faces serious and tightly clutching their item list for the hunt. Because of their magical gifts, it had been decided by the faculty as a whole—and approved by the vice principal—that they should have a slightly longer list, because their magic would make it easier for certain items to be acquired.
The president had disagreed—as had Professor Harris—but the majority won and now they were saddled with the pointless handicap. Pointless, because an upset Professor Harris had promised that his group would win.
Two little girls and a one-eyed little boy, who were fiercely protective of their awkward teacher and dedicated to making that wish come through.
(C) S. Harricharan