Rev's Odyssey by R. R. Kaufman (the reading list .txt) 📕

She started it as Cyna crawled in with their belongings. Rev floored it just as a heavy weight thumped down on the roof bars. It was the man from the first buggy. He rammed his hand through the top openings and grabbed Rev’s hair pulling her upwards.

 

Rev

Mom, get the flexion in my pocket!

 

Rev felt like her scalp was being ripped off her head as her mother extended the flexion and jabbed it into the man’s chin. He released his grip just as Rev slammed on the brakes and sent him sailing through the air bouncing on the ground in front of them. Rev veered around him and floored it.

Still pouring so hard it felt like they could drown in the torrent of rain, they reached the small trail and raced downhill towards the river. Cyna spotted the barren tree as distant explosives shook the ground.

 

Cyna

So that’s what I saw in the tree when I looked through the scope. It was full of crows.

 

Rev nodded. She was still too choked to speak. They had escaped Razor’s men. She realized this wasn’t the first time Mother Nature had come to her rescue. She was very grateful.

They reached the river and cruised along the shore’s path. The river was high and raging from the downpour. Within a few minutes they came to the wooden bridge. They put on their backpacks and left the buggy. Walking halfway across, a rushing cracking sound caught their attention. They looked upstream.

A mountain of mud barreled down on them.

 

Chapter 64

 

 

It came out of nowhere. At that precise moment the only thought that flashed through Rev’s mind was that she was about to die. This was the end of her journey. She never imagined that her life would end on a strange planet.

Like a slow motion wreck, the mud and water ripped the bridge loose, and tossed it like a twig, carrying it high on the crest of the huge muddy wave.

Rocks and trees were swept downstream, moving at the same speed and direction as if it all was some giant ship growing in size and destroying everything in its path.

Rev’s heart was pounding out of her chest as she clung to the small wood scrap that used to be the bridge.

In a split second it flipped over and Rev fell head first into the roaring muddy water below.

She barely had a chance to take a breath before she plunged into the dark, dirty water. Her breather wouldn’t work in this dense sludge. All her muscles ached as she struggled to the surface but the force of the water and the thickness of the mud exhausted all her efforts. She felt a fiery pain in her lungs.

She refused to let any negative thoughts infiltrate her psyche. She pushed them aside.

No, Rev, you are not going to panic. You are not going to give up.

She brushed against something underwater. She couldn’t see what it was. She grabbed hold of it. Relieved, she realized that it was a tree branch. She reached further and felt its thick trunk. She climbed it to the surface and gasped for air.

Where was her mother? Rev desperately looked around. No sight of her. She spit and coughed out some murky water as she yelled as loud as she could.

 

Rev

Mom! Mom!

 

She crawled up the floating tree and stood up to get a better view. She stared in disbelief at all the destruction. Huge trees that had been uprooted floated by her. In a manner of minutes the whole landscape had changed.

Her mother had vanished.

She continued to drift downstream as she examined everything along her way. That sense of doom tried to creep its way inside her. Rev refused to let it get hold of her. She would never give up hope.

 

Chapter 65

 

 

The river moved slower as Rev came to the intersecting rivers. The river flowing downstream from Gianthead Landing was crystal clear as it merged into the muddy river from Crows Nest Crossing. Rev waded ashore and climbed a big overhanging rock ledge that overlooked the union of the rivers. She looked up and down the muddy river for several minutes.

And then, something caught her eye resting on the shore. It was her mother’s backpack. Excited, Rev shouted in every direction.

 

Rev

Mom! Mom!

 

No reply. She kept calling her name. Then listened. A faint voice responded.

Rev splashed through the mud in the direction of the voice. Her mother was trapped under a large branch.

 

Cyna

I’m okay. Just a little shaken.

 

Rev shoveled the mud out from under Cyna and eased her mother gently from under the large branch. She grabbed hold of her mother and lifted her to her feet. They made their way over to the rock ledge and rested. The rain stopped and the sun came out. They hugged each other as they sat on the ledge for a long time to rest.

The river from Crows Nest Crossing had calmed down and the mud was thinning out as Rev and Cyna stood up. They could hear the pleasant sound of a waterfall behind them. They walked up the rugged terrain of the Gianthead River and to their surprise and delight a waterfall flowed down a cliff cascading in a large pool in the clean river.

They both stared at each other’s muddy appearance and broke out in laughter.

 

Cyna

Do I look as dirty as you?

 

Rev

Worse.

 

With that they raced one another to the fresh water and dove in under the waterfall. Laughing and splashing like children playing they forgot all their troubles.

They washed their spare clothes from Cyna’s backpack. After drying them on a tree branch, they switched them from the clothes they swam in and dried those as well.

 

Cyna

We might as well make camp here tonight. This is such a beautiful spot and I’m still feeling achy.

 

Rev

No problem, mom. You know how sympathetic I am to old people.

 

Cyna laughed while Rev kept her sheepish grin.

 

Cyna

Wait to you have children and we’ll see what kind of shape you’re in then, young lady.

 

Rev

Sure, sure, mom. Hey, look up there.

 

Rev pointed to a large opening in the cliff beside the waterfall.

 

Cyna

It could be a cave. Let’s take a look.

 

They climbed up to the opening. The sun provided enough light for them to check it out.

 

Rev

There’s plenty of room for us to sleep and make a campfire. I noticed some fish when we were swimming. I’ll catch a few. Can you muster up some firewood and start a fire or are you too old and achy? Ha ha.

 

Cyna

We’ll see who’s achy after I give you a good spanking.

 

Rev howled with laughter all the way down to the river.

She quietly submerged her hands in the water and waited patiently. It wasn’t long before she had two fish on shore. She quickly cleaned them with her pocketknife. She put a stick through them and brought them up to her mother who had a fire burning.

After they ate, they quietly relaxed around the fire watching the sun go down and the moon come up. Rev broke the silence.

 

Rev

Please tell me what happened between father and his brother Mars.

 

Cyna bent her head down, raised it, glanced at her daughter, and looked away.

 

Cyna

I think we need to discuss this with your father, as a family.

 

Rev

No. That’s what father said when he wiggled his way out of answering the same question. I’m fifteen. I can take it.

 

Cyna

Nice play, Rev. I guess I can’t run away from this one here. I’m not sure how to begin. I knew Kosni and Mars since school days. They were always competing. Both brothers were very smart and everyone liked them. I liked them both.

 

Rev

Just say it mom. You had a crush on both of them.

 

Cyna

Thanks for that clarification, Rev. So, over the years the three of us hung out a lot. I couldn’t help it. I fell in love with both of them.

 

Rev

What? You mean … that you … how should I put it …

 

Cyna

We remained friends. Is that what you want to know?

 

Rev

Okay, just checking. Go on.

 

Cyna

Thanks. But I realized, as we got older I needed to commit to one of them. By that time we were all in university and our friendships were getting awkward. I needed to make a decision and fairly soon. The outcome would make one of them happy and the other feeling rejected and disappointed.

 

Rev

So, both brothers were in love with you too?

 

Cyna

I believe so. It felt like it.

 

Rev

So, how did you choose?

 

Cyna

I’m getting to that, Rev. Everyone in Brix knew about how the three of us, and how we felt about each other. It became the town gossip. Even the town was divided about whom I was going to choose to spend the rest of my life with.

 

Cyna hesitated as she took a drink of water. Her eyes became misty. She stared out the cave entrance at the distant stars. Perhaps one of those far away glowing lights was their planet, Radium. She just wanted everything to be right and back to normal. She missed Kosni and Mars and knew they were worrying about Rev and her. And now this flashback in time to when she was young and in love and foolish. More pain, but it was time Rev knew.

 

Cyna

An opportunity arose that I thought might lift this heavy weight from my shoulders. You see, there was a contest at the university. It was a science and engineering competition. Whoever invented the most ingenious invention would win a prize of money. Since Kosni and Mars were exceptional engineers, I decided that if one of them won, well, they could have my hand in marriage.

 

Rev

Wow! That’s unbelievable.

 

Cyna

Stupid is the word. I don’t know what I was thinking. I felt so important and special. The whole town showed up. Everybody had a say in judging the winner. I became the grand prize and not the money.

 

Rev

What were their inventions?

 

Cyna

Mars was a selfbotic. He could make his machine do anything without touching it. He could send an electronic signal to it and it danced around.

 

Rev

That sounds exactly like Razor’s drokes. What was father’s invention?

 

Cyna

He invented a small steam engine.

 

Rev

So how did father win?

 

Cyna

Your father went first and everyone applauded. When Mars demonstrated his invention everyone was amazed and before he could finish they were standing on their feet cheering. He was a sure winner but then his selfbotic caught fire and fell over. He was disqualified. Mars was devastated and humiliated. He went into isolation for years. He never perfected his invention. He abandoned it. It might have revolutionized Brix.

 

Rev

What about father’s invention? Wasn’t it practical?

 

Cyna

Your father felt guilty. He loved his brother. Not only did Mars lose my hand but he also lost faith in himself. Your father couldn’t look at his winning invention ever again.

 

Rev

How did we end up in Genus?

 

Cyna

Some of the town’s people started to believe in a lie that