‘The Convergence Point’ was only a place I had read about in Wastelandia: Where is Earth?, but I didn’t know it was that important—to be marked on a map in a classroom? I remembered, from the little that I could comprehend on a day I had tried learning some history, that it was a meeting place for the leaders of the two nations. Nonetheless, I had never really considered understanding what happened when they met. I saw, from the map, that it was built at the border of Coastova and Mushi, to the north of the Sao harvesters camp. Comparing the two as I looked on, I figured that the map I had seen in the book was only a fragment of the one that hung in the classroom.

I remembered how I had read the book as a sleeping aid—it was mostly history. I couldn’t help but question myself, why didn’t I just read the whole thing? I really had myself to blame. I kept looking at the map until I saw some small writings that looked like directions just below the point, but they were not clear enough from where I stood. I decided to get closer so I could see clearly. Only then…

“Haji, what are you doing?”

I redirected my focus on the map to Elder Zakai  who had now stood in front of me, blocking my view. Compared to how short I was, he was very tall—my neck almost gave out at the swift shift of my gaze to him. I looked to my right, my left and back—only to find that I was the only one remaining in the classroom, all the other kids had left. Dread befell me. I started thinking, I should have gone when I had the chance. Now this…

I still had to answer the question, but I couldn’t think of anything. I asked myself whether he was asking why I stood there staring at the map or why I was still in the classroom when everyone else had left. I decided to give an answer to the latter—even though I could see from his face that he wanted an answer to the former. I gathered up my courage and answered him in a single sentence, “I was admiring the classroom, sir.”

The response, though being a slip of the tongue attempting to answer the former thought, seemed to have convinced him.

“That’s good, boy. Now go to the juniors meeting place, I heard there is a feast,” he rubbed my hair gently as he dismissed me. As I looked at him, I wondered if he thought, What is this boy up to?

Without a second thought, and no further words but only a bow of respect, I ran to the meeting place as far as my legs could carry me. I was happy he had dismissed me, but also anxious about reaching the meeting place as soon as I can. All I could think of then was the feast.

 ‘The feast of the juniors’—as it was called—was meant to welcome new junior harvesters just after their first lesson. A dedicated group of five senior harvesters called ‘igniters’ were tasked with facilitating the event—or ‘igniting’ the juniors. The group comprised charismatic men and women who seemed to enjoy the company of children. They even treated repeating juniors as toddlers—an amusing sight, honestly.

One of them—a generously tall, majestic young man who had a prominent scar on his nose—stepped forward on the podium to deliver a speech as the other kids and I sat on wooden benches around him, “Welcome juniors! You have chosen a path of greatness,” he kept talking in a welcoming, gentle voice that sounded like a woman’s, “You are the future seniors…”

He continued for about ten minutes. Before long, I zoned out. The insignia on his garment caught my attention; it reminded me of The Convergence Point—as it also had a tiny red dot on the center. However, the two markings were not similar in form—the one on the map looked like an X while that on the insignia was shaped like a diamond. Since I just couldn’t get over the thought, I tasked myself with conducting a research immediately after the feast, A night in the library will do.

In his final remarks, the man pulled his uniform, from where the insignia was, toward us. At that point, my focus was drawn back to his words, “This badge is a testament to my duty as a senior harvester. You can also wear it one day if you believe.”—he stressed on the last word.

“The red diamond on this uniform has five corners, one for each igniter. The red is for the danger that we encounter in our missions.”

He spoke as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. That chunk of information would make my library research easier. I let out a weak laugh by myself and smiled from ear to ear, Thank you sir.

As part of an Igniter’s training, they were to tell their names only after ‘saying something meaningful’. They were taught that, ‘A name can only be respected when there is a reason to respect it.’ Likewise, the man concluded his speech, “My name is Zach Flame, thank you,” and opened the feast, “You are now invited to the table.”

I didn’t expect the speech to take that long—but it was less stressing than the classroom since there was food.

I immediately joined a queue to get my food. To my surprise, they were serving plain, unsalted rice with a glass of water. At first I could only see that it was plain rice, but after Anna got her plate, she whispered across the room, “There’s no salt?” Mr. Flame turned to her, “Yes sweetheart, it’s tradition.”—that was probably the most reasonable answer you could get from a senior, or maybe it was just easier to say. I noticed her frown for a second, she only nodded.

After I was served, I went and sat alone to eat. A group of four boys came where I sat. One of them said, “Why are you sitting alone?”

To which I remained silent, pretending to enjoy the food which I couldn’t say was delicious. Another, a slim one, said, “It was cool what you did in class today.”

Remembering that the only thing I had done that day was question Elder Zakai, I chewed a little slower, then smiled. Just as I was about to raise my head to his face, to thank him, they were leaving. What had transpired that day led me to realize that I truly needed friends. My heart felt as if it had tipped over a mountain top and fallen into an ocean—it was the worst feeling of discontent I had experienced as a child.

As I was trying to get over what had happened, I saw people leaving through the exit, where I sat. Everyone came out happy even with the bad food. I thought, It’s probably because they are older than I am. They must’ve known what they were getting themselves into. I let out a heavy sigh.

From how Mr. Flame had approached Anna, I thought of running to him as I saw him walk out the meeting place—to ask him about The Convergence Point. So I waited until he got out and asked, “Sir! What is The Convergence Point?”

His face became pale as a corpse, his pupils contracted, and he gasped in horror, “What are you talking about, child?” He whispered, “That’s a forbidden territory. You don’t need to know anything about it.”

I nodded in acknowledgement and saw him as he went on with his fellows, telling them about what I had asked—to which they reacted in a similar manner as him. I was now getting uneasy about it. I needed to know what it was all about, and why it was kept a secret but placed on public maps.

After the day had ended, I went and took a shower in the juniors dormitories. I then sprinted, with a notebook and a pen, to the library.