Apple

Chapter 13

The Glasses

.  .  .

"Thirty five!"

"This isn't working!" I shouted, but to myself since I was the only one here. Another hour has passed and I managed to shoot ten more than previously mentioned.

I don't know for sure if I'm going in a slow rate or not, but by the way my hands are bleeding, I will probably not make it out alive.

I was bleeding frantically. My palms were blue in color by now. No way in hell am I continuing Apple like that. It's not like I can, either way.

I'm now on my third tube, but instead of being on it, I'm sitting in front of the glass lens tube, cross legged on the floor, searching in the dust racks in my brain for any other strategy I could use better than the cut-my-lip one because clearly, it's not working.

Or it's not the right way. There's got to be some way, some path.

I tried shooting from afar but it didn't work out, the bow got stuck and didn't even pass past the glass. Once again, I was wasting time and arrows.

I decided to enter any of the lens tubes again and see if the results are as bad as the first one. So going towards the fourth tube, I went towards the opening and dug my head inside, but the rest of my body remained outside of the tube.

Needless to say it was appalling, it almost got my eyes to flip around the other side, or fly out of their designated place. But still, not as bad as the first one. Which got my mind to race around the fact if the more you got upfront, the weaker the lens prescription is?

There was only one way to test my theory.

With no second thoughts, I ran up front passing by tubes and tubes. The more I walked ahead the thinner the tubes were. But the clock at the end of the arena-as big as the big bang so that no matter how far you go you still see it- was ticking, and I had no time to spare.

My father was wrong in one point; this is like the natural selection, meaning I have to use my fitness. I've wasted couple hours on a total of thirty-five Apples? No.

I ran ahead them all, passing by the four colors. Between every tube and tube was a one meter gap. And there were a total of twenty five tubes; the dorms downstairs stood nothing in space compared to the Arena. Or maybe it was illusions.

Eye illusions.

My mind was working hard but my legs were working harder, the adrenaline pumping inside me, makes me run out faster than I could per usual. I was soaking wet and drenched in my own sweat, and the fact that my father didn't air condition the place was not helping at most.

I lost track of counting them, the tubes, I was probably running in the 'teens' part.

Deciding to check for myself, I chose a thinner tube and climbed into it. Only later realizing that it was stupid of me to enter the tube at once, I should've done like I did before, the head in only method worked just fine.

But I was already inside when my thoughts hit me, and sometimes with a lot going inside your brain, some points die inside from over population.

Or you're just stupid.

And right now I'm the latter. Aside from mentally scolding myself, I tried opening my eyes that shut unaccordingly.

Nope, not the tube. I thought to myself. While trying to get out, I kept touching the glass trying to find the edge so I can try to get out. But like I said before, the tubes seemed endless. It takes you less time to get in but more time to get out the lane where you just walked in from!