Hiraeth Games

“And coming round the final bend, it’s ‘She’s a Miracle’ out in front! She’s taking a commanding lead on the rest of the pack Brett.”

“That’s right Dave, you can see the fire burning in her eyes. I’ll say this much - if you’re not falling in love with her story, you’ve got a heart made of stone.”

“THERE SHE GOES! She’s pushing ahead, the finish in sight. What a story Brett, this is why we watch, this is why we’re here. For all you folks at home who’ve backed 'She’s a Miracle', congratulations and as always, bet safely. Brought to you from Betting Waves the official sponsor of the Hiraeth Games.”

~~~

Jessabelle motions Jackson over from the opposite side of the stall, “where’s ma?”. He shrugs and continues to play with his shoelace. He’s young, but so are most out here. You weren’t expected to live long, the land dwellers liked them young, it made for a better story, a prettier face to plaster on signs and screens.

Jessabelle stares at the screen hanging from the clouds, it’s ‘Tommy Boy’ taking out the gold in a fight for the ages. She knows him. Well, she didn’t know him in the biblical sense, nor the ‘having actually spoken to him’ sense, but she’d seen him. He’d stroll past her stall from time to time and lean up against the barrier. For a ship at sea, there was surprisingly little that suggested it. You would hardly even know unless you squeezed your head through the holes in the barrier around the ship. She always heard the commentators talk about how seasick we all must be but that wasn’t true. Those born at sea tend not to notice the waves beneath their feet.

Her mother screamed when they called them Oceanic People, but Jessabelle didn’t mind, it was better than ‘refugee’ which her parents tried to force upon them. She was born on the ocean, and this was her country. The thought of land was confusing, an uncomfortable reality a million miles away.

~~~

“We’re back ladies and gentlemen and what a day it’s been. The annual qualifications for the 121st Hiraeth cup. A proud tradition and chance for us to give back.”

“That’s right Brett, and I couldn’t love it more. The finest and strongest Oceanic people battle it out in a grueling competition that tests the very limits of human capability. They swim, run, fight and navigate their way to glory and in return, they are given the Hiraeth locket.”

“The heart of freedom I always called it Dave. A chance for the winner and their family to leave the ocean and move to the great United States, the only pocket of land left above water and we are in for a cracker of a year. Who’ve you got your money on?”

“Lucky Bill looks as good a shot as any but as always, bet safely. Brought to you from Betting Waves the official sponsor of the Hiraeth Games.”

~~

Jessabelle isn’t strong but she is remarkably fast and disarmingly resilient for someone her age. She’s got a ‘fuck this and fuck you’ mentality which helps her thrive. She spends her day working in her mother’s stall selling oats and grains which are dropped in by helicopter.

Keeping the Oceanic people alive was a huge expense but seeing as the games raked in over a billion dollars annually, it seemed worth the price. Jessabelle hands a small tanned boy his oats and he passes on his freshly caught mackerel. Jackson makes his way below deck to the family, “I’ll see you down there soon. I’m going for a walk”.

She moves slowly around the barrier with her finger stretched out, dragging beside her, playing in and around the cracks. Her nails are cracked and coarse and they leave the lightest of scratches upon the concrete. The sun tucks itself into the ocean and darkness makes its way onto the scene. She dips and ducks under tape and signs to reach the most northern end of the ship, where the seafood was caught. She readies her lungs and takes in a deep breath of salty fish air, she loves it. It was powerful and natural and it sticks in her throat.

She spots a figure darting around the corner of a large cargo container. “Whose there?” She’s not scared, she knew almost everyone from her sector. They are like a family, each sector considered a state in the larger Oceanic country. “Who is it?”. She slips up to the container and is met with the powerful force of an unabated fist. The wind moves from her stomach to the sea as she falls wide-eyed onto her back. Staring down is a man she has never seen before. He has a black greasy beard and the face that usually goes along with it; pock-marked skin, small black eyes, and bushy eyebrows. He dashes down a level and sprints through a field of containers, poles, and stalls. She doesn’t hesitate. Jessabelle pushes herself up onto the container and jumps for the next one. Racing above and behind her attacker. A drone flies behind the both of them streaming the chase onto the screen in the clouds. She doesn’t notice. She slides along the top of a container, grabs ahold of a large beam, and flips forward landing parallel to the greasy man. In one slick action, her foot stretches across, trips the man onto his back and his throat lands conveniently in the palm of her hand. The sweat from her forehead drips down and adds to the growing pool already amassing on his own. “Who the fuck are you?”

“DEAR GOD, YOU CAN TAKE ME NOW I HAVE SEEN IT ALL”

“Brett, what in the world! What are we seeing here? Lucky Bill has been excellent, he looked set to avoid our operatives as he crossed between sector #6 to sector #11.”

“Out of nowhere he is stopped in his tracks and not by one of our own but by an Oceanic girl. Did you see the speed on her?”

“Sign this girl up, I don’t care what it takes, the officials need to get down there and get her into the games. How she managed that, I couldn’t tell you. She’s a miracle.”

The drone circles above Jessabelle’s head and she swipes at it with her cracked and bleeding hands. She misses and sees her own face looking down at her from above. She hears cheering and laughter echoing from the skies. Lucky Bill wrestles her arm away and runs, trying to force the continuation of his race. Zap. The drone sends a surge of electricity into his neck. Zap. Jessabelle is hit and she falls onto Lucky Bill's chest, rolls over, and smothers the ground.

“Where am I?” Jessabelle stands up, lengthens her body, and flexes her muscles, it helps when she’s dizzy. She was standing in the middle of a silver platform surrounded by multicolored neon lights hanging from an invisible ceiling. The room was large and she was small. A panel to her left lights up and dissipates and a stocky man with a stocky moustache walks in. He is proud and moves like a cannonball, not making any excuses for his bewildering shape. He’s wearing a charcoal suit, no tie, and his head is so shiny Jessabelle thinks it’s fake. “That was very impressive” he states. There’s no fluctuation in his tone, it isn’t a question nor a compliment, just fact. “You weren’t supposed to be there, there’s a reason we close off that area of the ship.” “It’s not your ship” she spits at him. He doesn’t waver nor care. “The public loved you, Lucky Bill was a favorite. Follow me, you’ll be competing in the Hiraeth Cup.”

They move off the platform and through the open panel. The light is powerful, Jessabelle looks up, she’s never seen the sky without screens. An assembly of other Oceanic citizens are waiting in a pack, guards surround them from a distance.

“And here she comes, 'She’s a Miracle' joins the fray. She will be the first-ever contestant to compete without qualifying Dave.”

“That’s right Brett, and I wonder how that will go down amongst her competitors?”

The stocky man pulls out a tablet and begins to read. “Congratulations all, by participating in this event you are agreeing to take charge of your own well-being. Betting Waves is not liable for injury nor death and if you wish to leave, you are welcome to do so.” A few of the guards chuckle. No one walks away. “You are competing for the Hiraeth locket.” He pulls out a small gold locket from his pocket and holds it above his head. It’s delicately put together and engraved with vines along the chain leading to a diamond- encrusted heart. “You all know what this means, best of luck. Please take your place behind your allocated number”.

“They’re taking their places, just waiting on 'She’s a Miracle' and 'The Waterman' to get into the gates. Oh, getting a bit of backlash from 'The Waterman' as he’s helped to his spot. We’ll take an ad break and get back to you soon.”

The rules are simple: fifty competitors, one finish line, navigation, running and swimming. You can interact with the other contestants in any way you wish, meaning you can ignore them or take out what you can’t beat. Most of the fighting happens at the start and a select few usually take an early lead.

“Unfortunately, 'The Waterman' has had to pull out of the competition, I hope to see him here again soon Dave. Moving onto the start. Red light showing.”

“And it’s green, they’re off”.

Jessabelle freezes, to her left an ape-like man beats a rat-looking boy. He tosses him like a bag of shit and he collapses in a heap. A sleek and beautiful woman sprints out to the front, a collection of people nip at her ankles as they follow closely behind. A tooth hits Jessabelle in the face, the ape-like man is fighting another similar-looking fellow and they’re going blow for blow. She runs, around the fighting and off to the side. “You think you’re so special!? You didn’t even work to be here.” A feisty blond no older than fifteen shouts out at her. She sprints across and grabs a hold of Jessabelle’s hair, yanking her to the ground. No time wasted, she’s on top and smashing her head into the ground, screaming. Jessabelle knees her in the crotch, swipes at her head, and clips her eye. The teen yells out in pain and rolls off of her. Jessabelle is up and racing. She doesn’t even want this fucking locket, she was fine where she was. She doesn’t want to die, but she doesn’t want to kill anyone. She runs and she’s quick. She’s almost caught up to the pack as they begin to dive into the ocean.

~~

“And coming round the final bend, it’s ‘She’s a Miracle’ out in front! She’s taking a commanding lead on the rest of the pack Brett.”

“That’s right Dave, you can see the fire burning in her eyes. I’ll say this much - if you’re not falling in love with her story, you’ve got a heart made of stone.”

“THERE SHE GOES! She’s pushing ahead, the finish in sight. What a story Brett, this is why we watch, this is why we’re here. For all you folks at home who’ve backed She’s a Miracle, congratulations and as always, bet safely. Brought to you from Betting Waves the official sponsor of the Hiraeth Games.”