"You ask for Tretone, as if this your first time asking for it", the handler commented, "I ought to commence these trials with both the Eye and the Ear"
"Ansi, any objections on your end?"
"No objection of mine would be valid", the advocate replied.
"Very well then", handler permitted, "let the floors of this court, give rise to Tretone, Ear of Thoughts"
"Thank you, your honour"
"Chase", Panteku had said, "please get back on your feet – your testimony has just begun"
19/11/1985. Day Five Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Eight.
Chase is running up the hallways of their school, with a report card in hand.
"Greg", he yells, almost out of breath.
"Marks are out"
"Ya, I know", the young mortal replied.
"Can't miss a clown when we are all part of the circus", he said and brought out his report card from beneath his armpit.
They each kept their cards faced down, crouched and remained across one another as if a battle was about to commence.
"Remember our bet?", Chase reminded him.
"Yeah", was Gregor's reply, "how could I forget my payday"
"We will see"
"On the count of three, we showcase our red ink"
"One", they counted, "two…and…three!"
In sync with each other they flipped their papers to its top, revealing their marks.
Subject by subject, line by line the two friends compared themselves.
Language. Chase had him beat. Math. Chase had him beat. The Natural Sciences. Gregor had it. The Social and Economic Science. Chase, again had him beat.
"Yes!", his best friend celebrated, "I've done it! I finally beat you"
While Chase celebrated, Gregor took an additional moment to double check, ensuring that his eyes were not fooling him, once the lose had sunk he withdrew his report card back to his armpit.
"Congratulations", he said smiling and reached for a handshake, "you earned it"
"Ya, ya", Chase replied, "but I think it's time for you to pay up", and shook his hand.
"Yeah…about that, I didn't actually think I'd lose", Gregor admitted, "So I didn't bring the money"
"But tomorrow you will certainly have it"
The two got back to feet, "either way", said Chase, "we did better than last year, so that does call for celebrations"
"Competing surely makes us better"
"True"
The laugh was shared.
Thereafter the two departed ways, Cretone's pupil, of course, only follows Gregor's path. The recording of him walking back home remained as clear as the preceding clips, and when the audio of the mouth decreased, the sound of thoughts increased.
"How in the world did I get lower marks than him?", His thoughts spoke out loud over the shown part of his life, as if he was narrating himself, "I played around a lot this year, but so did he, I think even more often than me"
"I worked harder, But seriously, I still got lower marks, how is that even possible?"
"How can I lose such a bet? I really do suck"
Gregor would go on to spend the next four consecutive days in disbelief. Having similar thoughts throughout, as Tretone had shown.
01/09/1987. Day Six Thousand Two Hundred and Twenty Nine.
"Next year, we are going to be seniors", Gregor says while lacing his shoes, "know what that means?"
"Yeah", sighed Chase painfully, "this is the last time we get to participate in sports so freely"
"Feels like life is coming at us real fast", he said, hesitating to put on his socks, and was instead intent on scoping out his competitors.
"Ya. The responsibilities really are chasing you", Gregor jokes, "if you were named differently maybe everything would not be coming at us so fast"
Once he finished lacing up, Gregor joined him in observing the field as participants warm up and prep for the race. They sat there in a long moment of silence, until Chase spoke up again.
"Ey. But it makes no sense though"
"I'm quite sure my name was supposed to mean someone who chases or runs after that which he loves", he spoke while Gregor kept his eyes on the field, "you know, like Chase, or Chaser, something along those lines is the meaning my parents gave to this simple name of mine"
"But lately, it feels like everything is running away from me"
"If that's how names are supposed to go", intervened Gregor, "then your parents should have named you Reach", and turned away from the crowd towards his friend.
"Reaching the things you love is better than chasing them"
They stared at one another with great consideration.
"If things do work out today", Chase said, "I'll be changing my name to Reach"
"Speaking of which", Chase said, looking past his friend, "here comes someone who knows a thing or two about reaching what they've been chasing", he smiled playfully at him causing Gregor to look behind him, and in little time found his face buried in Vary's embrace.
The two remained in that position for some time, during which Gregor's words of disapproval were muffled in the cushions of her embrace. Chase smiling from ear to ear returned to fitting into his track shoes.
A short while later, the teachers gathered their athletes, rallying them up once more for the competition. "Goodluck", they fist bumped one last time, before heading to their respective games; Chase the track field and Gregor the long jump pit.
Cretone swiftly blinked past the sport event.
"Gregor! Gregor!", Chase called while running to him, "you can call me Reach!"
"You can call me Reach!", he celebrated before him, revealing the gold medal, "I did it! I actually won the race!"
"I don't have to be Chase no more, I can be Reach", he celebrated, laughing joyously, "well, not yet"
"I still have plenty more competitions to win, before I can nickname myself that"
"Well…it's a start", Gregor encouraged.
"Since everything is a step at a time, you'll still be chasing for something, so keep your name as is, but with your success rate, from here on out your nickname can be Reach – congrats man"
"Thank you"
"How did you fair?", he asked after noticing how dejected he was.
"I jumped long", replied Gregor, "just not long enough to reach the podium"
"Sorry to hear that man", said Chase, "hmm…I have to check in with the others, see you later"
"Sure bro", Gregor had replied.
Once Chase vacated his vicinity, he tucked his head between his arms, warding off the light, embracing the shade at his chest, and beneath his shoulders, the neck had lowered, protecting his surface from erosion.
"I came up with that nickname, never in a million years would he have thought of it, There was an award ceremony, he didn't see me on the podium, so why ask again? He wanted to show off, that's right he wanted to show me how much better he is, Why did I even come up with that name? Now I will never hear the end of it, I have to call him that too"
"No, no, no"
"I shouldn't be thinking like this, I should be happy for him…he's a good friend"
"..."
"But it is so damn, frickin hard, to be happy for someone when nothing good ever comes my way"
"Reach…that's what I wanted to call myself, but I just went and gave it to someone else", "I should…perhaps…"
Anxiety's slippery slope to damnation had come to a sudden stop, when Vary's gently smacked him on the back, causing him to look up at her, interrupting his thoughts, but his demeanour had not changed.
"I've been looking all over for you", she said, "congratulations on the long jump"
Gregor stared at her with much intent, as if failing to understand the words pouring out of her mouth.
"I know it's not the result you wanted", she continued, "but you tried, and that's what counts"
"I'm sure", the mortal had lowly replied, "I'm sure when I get home I can put my feet in the air, pat my shoulder, and say I tried"
"I'm sure now that I failed I can still get a scholarship, I'll simply tell them that I tried, and they will smile and applaud my unfruitful efforts with a fruitful reward"
"And when I get home, I'll show my parents, that it is not the brown of gold, nor the brown of silver or bronze, but the brown of dusty shorts in the absence of shine, is all that I have obtained"
"Mother, will clap, yes she will, but come laundry day, her hands will rub, and her back will ache and when her posture bends how will I know if she still stands by her applauds"
"But hey…I tried…didn't I?"
"Come on man", Vary's replied, "don't be like that"
"I'm only trying to cheer you up"
"See?"
"You are trying to cheer me up"
"Yet you failed, now you truly understand how it feels", he said, stood up and walked away before she could reply.
13/08/1988. Day Six Thousand Five Hundred and Seventy Six.
"Greggy", mother called, "your friend is at the door", she informed, while making her way to it.
"No, no, wait, ma!", he came rushing through the corridor in the nick of time, pausing her hand on the handle, "is there a problem?", she asked, "do you not want me to let him in?"
"That's not it", Gregor replied walking up to her, "I was on my way out either way", he said, "thank you though", and slowly removed her hand from the handle.
"Hey, what brings you here this hour?", he greeted on the way out.
"Really man?", said an amused Chase, "you can't be asking me that question", he said lending out his hand, "happy birthday, bro"
They shook hands, and Chase pulled him in for a shoulder hug.
"Thanks man", Gregor said, "I appreciate it"
They sat on the porch a few steps away from the door.
"So, what are your plans for the day?", asked Chase.
"Same as yesterday, same as tomorrow, same as last year", he replied, "as you know, the pockets clip my wings"
"So my plans for the day are...grounded"
"But it won't always be the same", Chase motivated, "at some point we will live different lives"
"For sure, for sure"
"One day is one day, I guess"
"Anyways", Gregor said, "we don't have to speak about all of that, it's just a normal day", he said looking back at his door, as if checking for any eavesdropping from his mother.
"Well", he said in almost a whisper, "how did it go with Tatiana?"
Just then Chase smiled wildly, he too suspiciously looked back at the door, "well, I cannot say much, but so far so good"
"What happened?", he asked him, "don't worry, it's safe, she's busy in the kitchen, she won't hear us. To this day she doesn't even know about Vary's and I", he revealed.
"Yeah, but you will have to eventually tell her you know, the dance ain't too far from now"
"You'll have to introduce them"
"Stop trying to change the subject, just tell me what happened with Tatiana?"
"Hmm", Chase paused, "I…really am Reach", he confidently declared with a smirk.
"I confessed everything. I told her I've had a crush on her since tenth study"
"A lie, of course"
"I was not about to tell her you dared me to do it, but a good part of me has been wanting to do it for a sometime now"
"So, it was a half-truth, if such a thing exists", he said.
"But the surprising thing is, Greg, she met me halfway, she admitted to having an eye on me since tenth study too"
"So, you guys are dating?", Gregor asked enthusiastically.
"Nope. Not yet"
"We shook hands on going to the dance together, and if things go well come November, then we will take it from there"
"Her words, not mine", said Chase, "So, technically I haven't fully reached, but I do have a foot in the door"
"And that counts, a great deal", Gregor said, nodding, "you have to be on your best behaviour until November, she'll be watching you"
"Clearly she's enjoying what she's seeing"
"Hahaha", they both laughed, with Gregor tapping his shoulder against his friend.
"Can't screw it up", he advised, "she's the prettiest girl in class, I would argue the prettiest in school"
"Only blind men do not have the eye for her, and…"
"There are no blind men in school", Chase finished, "exactly", added Gregor.
"Do not worry, I'll be on my best behaviour", Chase said shrugging the shoulder of his friend, "I don't wanna be third wheeling you and your girl forever"
"If Tatiana is to be my first girlfriend, then I aspire to have the relationship you have with Vary's", he admitted.
In this particular clip, the teenage mortal had no criminalising thoughts. Yet the prosecutor had found it necessary to play it before the court and its witnesses.
"Mark it in your heads", Panteku highlighted, "August thirteenth nineteen eighty eight"
"Now then, Cretone, do continue with this story"