Passing the Baton

Dawn had passed the baton to me for Marla’s Pass the Baton Story Challenge for June https://marladragon.wordpress.com/2023/06/01/10032/and since I am always up for a writing challenge…. I accepted.

For those unfamiliar with this, every author here has written another portion of the story. Rules and such can be found here:

PASSING-THE-BATON STORY WRITING CHALLENGE: OVERVIEW

This is how it started, (my contribution is at the end):

Marla began:
He woke up slowly, stretching out his fatigued muscles as if he hadn’t just spent all day yesterday using them. He laid in the bed staring at the unique shape of the ceiling. He had always loved this house – the architecture made him feel at home and at peace.
He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and tried to stand up, but his calf immediately cramped. It wasn’t a bad cramp, but it was enough for him to flash-back to the competition yesterday between his brother and him. Once a year they met up at this place, the last place they had seen their grandmother, and they created a competition that their entire family would participate in.
Because it was in memory of their beloved grandmother, Tutu Lulu, they had decided that it had to take place on the ocean, as that was her favorite place on the planet since she was a young girl. She had taught them Aloha ʻĀina, or to love and appreciate nature, especially the crashing waves. Therefore, this competition involved the ocean.
They would compete against each other in various “events” such as surfing, speed-snorkeling (which was something they had created as children), and shallow-water scuba diving. The whole family truly enjoyed it, and everyone turned up. Yesterday had been so much fun, except when…

Susan of Sillyfrog’s Blog
Yesterday had been so much fun, except when Kai, his older brother, and he nearly came to blows in front of the whole family. Kai accused him of cheating in their speed snorkeling event. He’d won it for the first time ever and wasn’t going to back down to Kai’s arrogance. The claim was made that he had grabbed onto big brother’s ankle which was ridiculous. But Kai produced evidence in the form of red and purple finger marks above his foot.
A shouting match turned into a shoving match and if his brawny uncles hadn’t intervened, who knows what would have happened. It was decided to break for their picnic lunch before entering the water for a more relaxed shallow scuba diving experience.
The two avoided each other until day’s end.
Stars twinkled and the moon looked larger than ever on the horizon when Kai approached his little brother beside the bonfire on the beach.
Looking at his hands as one finger traced the rim of his sweating beer, Kai whispered to him, “I heard her, Noa. She spoke to me clear as day.”
Kai had taken Tutu Lulu’s disappearance the hardest. She had named him after the sea and had been her sidekick longer than he. He hadn’t really recovered from their loss.
“I’m sorry. But when you, someone, grabbed me Tutu Lulu spoke to me.”
“What did she say?”…

Di, from Pensitivity101
‘She told me that difficult times were ahead and you and I would have to put aside our differences and work together.’
‘Do you think it was Tutu Lulu who grabbed your ankle to attract your attention then?’ Kai ran his damp fingers through his hair.
‘I don’t know, but it makes sense. The finger marks are beginning to fade but looking more closely, they couldn’t be yours as they’re too small.’
The two brothers sat side by side on the sand. There was three years between them, but Noa was the bigger of the two though in the shadows cast by the fire, it was hard to tell one from the other. ‘She always seemed to prefer you. She’s never come to me, not even in my dreams. Did she say anything else?’
‘I doubt it as we started to fight and the uncles intervened. I wonder what she meant?’
Now it was the following morning and yesterday’s events were still preying on Kai’s mind. The competition was over and everyone would be returning to their own homes after the traditional family meal in the huge kitchen. As always, it was a joyous affair, but suddenly their laughter and banter was shattered by the sound of rockets…

Fandango , from This, That, and the Other
“What the hell is that?” Kai said. He and Noa ran outside, followed by the rest of the family.
One of the uncles looked at the rockets streaking across the sky. “Oh Jesus,” he said in disbelief, “those are anti-ballistic missiles and they’re coming from the direction of Pearl Harbor. Someone go into the house and turn on the television.
Everyone gathered in the living room and silently watched the shocking news that satellites had detected a half dozen missiles launched from North Korea headed toward the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea had escalated over the past few months, but no one anticipated that North Korea would actually go so far as to launch potentially nuclear armed missiles at Hawaii.
The solemn newscaster tried to reassure viewers. “Military leaders are confident that our anti-ballistic missiles will intercept and destroy the incoming North Korean missiles well before they get close to Hawaii,” he said.
“And if not,” Noa said, “bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.”
“Shut up, Noa,” Kai said. “This is serious.”

Nancy, The Sicilian Storyteller at The Elephant’s Trunk
The adolescent and teen years for Noa and Kai were not easy ones. Being half Hawaiian and half Korean, they were constantly teased by the other kids in school. It was their large, loving family that kept them grounded and focused.
The ocean is what saved them and stories at the feet of their beloved Tutu Lulu. Among those special times, Noa and Kai will never forget the days their grandfathers and other elder members of their family recounted the day Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.
The brothers would often play “war” down on the beach; they spent so much time in the water, their mother teased them about eventually growing fins. As the boys became older, their attention was drawn to exciting careers that would allow them to continue their relationship with the water … that was their calling to become Navy SEALs.
Now, with the television droning on in the background about North Korea possibly launching anti-ballistic missiles at Oahu, Noa and Kai knew exactly what they had to do.

Mister Bump
“Come on, buddy”, cried Kai excitedly. “If we’re gonna get nuked, the last thing we can do is to watch the academy going up! I can’t wait for Seargent Briggs to feel a Korean rocket up his ass! Come on dude, wat are we waiting for?”, and the two men quickly clambered towards the roof.
A full fifteen minutes later, Noa finally spoke. “Man, that tv’s all full o’ horseshit. Ain’t nuthin’ gonna’ drop on us today.”
Though he, too, had given up hope, Kai stalled. “Let’s give this ten more minutes, shall we? Besides, if we’re still here to enjoy it, there’s a fresh six-pack chillin’ down in the refrigerator.”
Meanwhile. In Pyong-Yang, at a hastily-arranged meeting of his war cabinet, Kim Jong Un berated his Defence Secretary.
“What’s this shit, Cho-Yin? You promise me Dante’s Inferno and your pissy little rockets go put-put and drop into the fucking sea?”
“I… I… I’m sorry, Supreme Leader”, stammered the now-shaking octogenarian. An apologetic expression appeared on his face. “It’s those fucking Iranians, Supreme Leader. A kilo of enriched uranium, they promised. And what they delivered would not even light my fart.”
“QUIET! IMBECILE.” Shrieked Un, the veins in his neck beginning to bulge. “First, you recommend that fucking hairdresser, and I’m still trying to recover from what that bastard did. And now, with the whole fucking world watching, you make a fool of me with your piece-of-shit missiles!”. Out of control now, Cho-Yin quaked as Un fumbled at the holster dangling from his belt. “THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY TO END THIS!”…

Sanjeet at Science is our Home
“I see no freakin missiles out here, mannn. How long before you accept its all bullshit,” an agitated Noa argued.
“You are so boring and full of yourself,” Kai spoke with no air to it.
“Get out of my way.” Noa was steadily making his way out the terrace edge just when Kai spoke loudly.
“HERE, LOOK AT THAT BEAUTY. I TOLD YOU IT WAS COMINGG. HELL YEAHHH BABYYYYY!”
Noa abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned to look at the bright beam of light against a contrasting gray sky. “Woah.”
“FUCK YEAH, COME ON SWEETHEART, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!”
“Wait a minute, is it….why is it….COMING STRAIGHT UPON US,” Noa cried his heart out as he ran to grab Kai by the wrist to descend to safety.
Just when Noa steadied himself to close the terrace door behind him, the light overwhelmed his eyes and all his senses.
He woke up slowly, stretching out his fatigued muscles as if he hadn’t just spent all day yesterday using them. He lay in the bed staring at the unique shape of the ceiling. He had always loved this house – the architecture made him feel at home and at peace.

Jim from A Unique Title For Me
The ceiling has polystyrene tiles with random zigs and zags, lines at obtuse angles, that many people would view as a meaningless mélange of shapes. Yet within them, Noa was able to stare deeply for hours at a time, seeing many strange things leaving his brain with scattered thoughts. Trying to create coherence out of chaos Noa wondered if he was having a déjà vu Groundhog Day moment. Didn’t this same thing just happen? He realized that he was experiencing hypnopompia, the transitional state that occurs before he woke up and this was not a cause for concern, but the ceiling causing hallucinations might be troublesome. Spontaneous patterns were forming as the rotating fan blades were pulsating to cool down his room, making him see, hear, and feel strange things that weren’t actually there. Noa wondered if maybe he had drunk one to many of those Scorpion Bowl concoctions at the bar last night. Who would think that a mixed drink made with a combination of fruit juices, different types of rum, grenadine, gin, and vodka could make him feel so disoriented, but maybe that Mowie Wowie sativa is to blame? Noa’s head started clearing and he remembered that he had to meet his older brother Kai at the beach for the competition in remembrance of his grandmother Tutu Lulu, who he recently lost. Tutu Lulu died after she was bitten by a venomous red lionfish while she was snorkeling out in the Kaneohe Bay coral reef on Oahu and Noa was going to exact his revenge on that dreadful, rotten fish if he could get his hands on it.

Ange from Let’s Write……
Noa, leaned over to double check the date on his mobile, yes, it was definitely today that the family were due to meet, what a night, he vowed never to mix his drinks again, the vivid nightmares produced were just not worth it. He needed to look after his body, after all, he wasn’t getting any younger. He headed to the shower, it would be a cold one this morning to shake him back to life.
When he emerged his head felt clearer, he sat on his bed, looked up at the ceiling and stretched to pick up his phone.
‘Kai…yes it’s me…no worries I’ll be there, I just wanted to say, I love you brother and no matter what happens today or in the future, I always will…yeah, yeah that’s enough of that stuff…see you later’.
Noa smiled, ‘Let the games begin’.

Rhymes, Dreams, Fantasy, and Thoughts:
Kai erupted from the water. “Cheater! You know the rules and you grabbed me!” He shoved at his brother and waved at the dark finger marks circling his ankle. Noa dropped to the sand as his legs collapsed beneath him with shock. Not a nightmare, he realized as his Uncles pulled Kai back a few paces.
“Kai, listen!” Noa bellowed. Everyone froze, staring open-mouthed since Noa rarely raised his voice. “We need to go.”
Kai scoffed. “I’m not going anywhere with a cheating, back-stabbing…”
“You heard Tutu” Noa interrupted and Kai’s mouth dropped open as he continued. “You heard Tutu and she told you difficult times were ahead.”
“How did you…?” he whispered as Noa faced his uncles.
“Gather everyone, we need to get out of here.”
It had been years since his last vision, but as he shared his dream, the family remembered that Noa’s ability was never wrong. Aunt Lana called a friend who worked for the town chairman to spread the word. Shaking her head in frustration, she ended the call and tossed her phone aside. “The Chairman laughed her out of the office. They said there’s no way they are creating panic over someone’s dream.”
“Uncle Rangi, you came in your yacht, right?” Noa smiled when he nodded. “Ok, let’s go.” He raised his voice to reach everyone. “Gather everything you can carry and head for the harbor. If we leave now, we can get far enough out to sea before the missiles hit.”

And now for my contribution to this wonderful story:

The family spread out, gathering whatever belongings they could as fast as they could.  Word spread and a few friends and neighbors who had boats and believed the visions also began to pack.

Soon, a small flotilla of yachts, fishing boats and other vessels took to the sea, packed with people, belongings and animals.

To say the mood was tense was an understatement.  Everyone was stressed as they put miles between them and their beloved islands, hoping to get far enough away that the difficult times were destined to strike Hawai’I would blow over them.

Many hoped that somehow, something would cause the visions to alter.  Though Noa was correct in the past, perhaps this…. Perhaps this would be different.

If only….

Christine over at Stine Writing – Staying Positive and Moving Forward has been nominated to keep the baton going, so I am passing it on!

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