“Take some time to digest everything we said, because it is only the tip of the iceberg,” said Zokou before standing up and directing himself to his room.

  “Wait, Paa,” Kazeem stopped him.

  “Hm?”

  “What is an iceberg?”

  “Hmmm... Ask your mother,” he said while closing the door.

  Sigh.

  Well, even if he didn’t know what it was, he could more or less understand the meaning behind this expression. His parents were right; any normal teenager would’ve been flabbergasted after hearing those groundbreaking facts. Also, Yasséna seemed to have omitted some details. Was it to tickle his curiosity? Or was there a deeper meaning behind it? For example, they said that the mystic language could kill the caster, but why was he alive? Was it because he only said one word? Was it because he was special? The idea of him being special always made him cringe , enough that he never said it out loud. However, he knew that he wasn’t normal.

  OK, now focus!

  It was almost noon, and he needed to not only plan how to get out of the loop tomorrow, but he also needed to think about all the information that got poured on him.

  He recently noticed that something was wrong with him, something that he could never have guessed. He had a terrible memory!

  Was it because the déjà vu feeling made him never feel the need to memorize anything? After all, the passing events seemed to have always been in his mind, as if he had dreamt about them before. The scenes would appear in his mind right before the curtain rose; he wasn’t the author of the piece, but a mere spectator condemned to watch it two times before leaving the theater. However, since the beginning of the loops he transitioned from spectator to third-rate actor. He was obliged to repeat the scenes again and again, unable to escape them unless he changed them, an almost impossible task for a background character, expected to act according to the author, until his death. Now he wasn’t dreaming about the days; he was living them multiple times. The déjà vu feeling disappeared, making him obliged to listen carefully and put effort into memorizing things.

  It was already noon by the time he digested everything. He went to bed early, excited to discover more mystery about this world. Over the next four loops, he found his rhythm. Now that he knew his place in the cast, he was able to maneuver more easily. He spent one day examining the major events of the loop, one day to determine the boundaries that he shouldn’t cross, and two days to attack the scenes. He failed the first time and received the same punishment as last time, headaches, mystic words appearing in his mind making him dizzy, and time disruption in some areas of the village. However, his resistance improved a lot, and those symptoms seemed less harmful than last time. He went to his room to understand what he did wrong, and his plan was set. The last day passed smoothly, despite the feeling of hunger that started to torment his soul. After feeling the usual strange sense of fullness, he gave a long sigh and went back to his room. He wrote in his journal and went to sleep.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Tomorrow will be fun... I hope.

  The same dream appeared again, although Yasséna’s yell and the piercing feeling in his back seemed more vivid, making him wake up drenched in sweat once again.

  Yeah, this time I am sure that my back got pierced all the way to my chest, he thought while touching his chest. Feeling his heart beating extremely quickly, some thoughts flashed into his mind.

  Déjà vu, loop, the mystic world, all of it is related to time. This dream is too vivid for me to not take it seriously. This clearly didn’t happen in the past, so this might be something that will happen. So, will the village be attacked? And I... died? Then how am I here? I thought it was because of that weird spirit. Wait, is it one of the Sunsums? Sigh, everything is so complicated. Anyway, if the dream is true, my objective will be not to die.

  “Son!”

  “YES.” Hearing his dad calling him made him escape his thoughts.

  When Zokou saw Kazeem, he spent some time staring at him. Being deep in his thoughts, he didn't have time to change himself or wipe the sweat on his face. After an awkward silence, Zokou took his bag and passed the main door.

  “Maa will tell you about what you need to know. Tomorrow you will be training with me.”

  “Alright,” said Kazeem, still lost in his thoughts. “Wait, training? What do you...?” He quickly looked at the door, but Zokou was nowhere to be seen. Kazeem hated training; in fact, this is one of the reasons why he goes to hide on top of the tower at the scavenger camp. After some time trying to force him, Zokou also gave up. It’s been three years since they talked about it, so hearing his father announce this to him and disappear right after made him unable to escape.

  “Sigh... MAA!”

  “YES.”

  “What are we eating today?”

  “Did you brush your teeth?”

  “...No.”

  “Did you wash yourself?”

  “...”

  “I WILL COUNT TO THREE. IF I DON’T HEAR THE SOUND OF WATER IN THE BATHROOM, IT’S YOUR BONES THAT WE WILL EAT TODAY,” yelled Yasséna.

  “Ahh maa” mumbled Kazeem.

  “WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

  “Yes, Maa, I’m going!”

  “Tchrrr, not even 10 a.m. and he talkin’ ‘bout some ‘what are we eating’, we are eating your armpit,” she scoffed.

  Feeling defeated, he carried his sweating body and his grumbling stomach to the bathroom. The clay tiles were cool under his feet; the first splash from the basin shocked his scalp, and the soap smelled faintly of ash and lemon.

  Sigh, the question will have to wait.

  Closing thought: If tomorrow was a script, he’d stop being a background line.