Shell Park was designed to glimmer under the moonlight that fell onto the park at the end of the avenue sandwiched between two rows of skyscrapers housing business and homes. The park was at the end of the avenue that stopped abruptly, creating a clear delineation between the concrete of Two Rivers and the sandy beach. There was a path of stone arranged to extend the road into the sand that led to the barrier of green foliage enclosing the entirety of the park facing the city, but it tapered off on the other side to allow access to the ocean.
Every full moon, the moon of Bludon aligned with the planet in such a way that its light shone clear down the avenue, bathing the foliage of Shell Park in moonlight that activated sensors carefully wired into the leaves and trunks of trees. The sensors released plates of glass that reflected the moonlight, making the foliage of Shell Park glimmer like a gem.
Ined loved to be in Shell Park for the full moon. There were always phase night performances on the amphitheater stage, and even though she had heard the stories many times, she always sat for at least one performance while she was there with her father. Ined was the youngest of her father’s children, the oldest three were already adults and living their lives in the city. Ined and her father would visit them before going to Shell Park for the full moon, and she always associated her love of the shimmering park under the full moon with the warmth and love of her family.
On the twelfth anniversary of her birth, her family, including her mother and the half siblings that she’d raised on her own like her father had raised her, gathered at Shell Park to celebrate the milestone. Ined had a good relationship with her mother, the two saw each other at least once a year, but she lived on an island in the northern Chain Islands that was more than a day’s travel over water. Her parents, like most blues on Bludon, both wanted to be parents, though neither was interested in raising their children with someone else, so they made an agreement to have multiple children together; Ined’s father raised the even numbered children and her mother raised the odd numbers. Her parents were both independent blues who had met each other as children and were friends, but found careers on different islands and wanted different things from their daily lives.
When a blu reaches the age of twelve, they are considered young adults, no longer children entirely dependent on their parents, able to travel alone, and to work simple jobs to earn their own money or to support their parents. Ined was excited about her birthday, and it felt like a good portend that it coincided with the full moon, a symbol of happiness and completion. The large gathering of her family enjoyed food together on blankets in the sand, underneath the shade of the foliage while they waited for sunset when the park would glimmer around them.
After enjoying their meal, some members of the family went to enjoy the water, others went shopping in nearby stores, but most relaxed on their blankets to retain their spot near the foliage.
Ined wandered the length of the foliage that bounded the park that was busy with others out on blankets, and children and adults swarming the playground equipment that doubled as exercise equipment for older blues interested in a public workout. There were also many kites in the air, and Ined wandered over to a section of the park where blues were battling their kites that had sharp designs and were operated by two strings that the blues controlled with precision. Kite battles were common on any beach on Bludon and Ined would have brought her own to join in, but she hadn’t finished repairs from the last battle.
The kite battling crowd in Shell Park that day was aggressive and she found a spot in the sand to watch from a distance. She recognized one group, they all flew kites painted primarily orange with wings that mimicked birds. Some members of the orange kites were local celebrities in the kiting community because of formal competitions that were organized in Two Rivers and broadcast to the islands. Ined loved their kite design, but the group they battled in Shell Park had intricately crafted black kites that rivaled the design of the orange kites; they seemed perfectly crafted to destroy an opponent’s kite completely.
An angry one-on-one match between an orange and a black kite was intense to watch. Ined reacted like she was watching her own kite in battle when the orange kite went flying wildly into the ocean after the black kite cut the orange kite’s strings with a retractable knife that the black kite flier deployed with his grip on the kite handle. Cutting strings was forbidden in kite battles and Ined stood in the sand in her outrage. The fliers of both groups began to argue loudly, but before a fight broke out, an older blue named Titan stood between them. Titan had a large brown shell and his skin sagged with age; he was a fixture of Shell Park. He was the official custodian of the park and had been for years.
Ined had approached the simmering conflict and stood close enough to hear Titan try to restore peace. She also saw that the black kite fliers looked strange. Some blues are known to wear makeup in Bludonian society, it isn’t uncommon to see rebellious blues with dark eyeshadow to darken the space around their eyes, but the black kite fliers’ faces were disturbing to see up close. The space around their eyes were darkened, but it seemed that black veins ran from their eye sockets and out to their forehead and temples, down to the tops of their cheeks. Many had dark teeth and their saliva was black and thick like oil.
“I’ve told you all before,” Titan was saying to the black kite fliers, “if you make trouble you will be banned from the park. And I’m sorry to say it, but in order to maintain peace for everyone, you all are no longer permitted here!”
Every onlooker, including Ined, sided with Titan against the black kite fliers and the group was intimidated out of the park. Ined was relieved when the last of them left and the mood returned to normal.
“It’s crazy we can’t even enjoy a peaceful day in the park anymore,” Ined heard a voice next to her say. She was about to return to her family on their blankets, but turned to face the blu who had spoken to her. “There’s more fights like that everyday it seems like.”
“It’s a shame,” Ined said, and she wanted to have an adult conversation with the stranger befitting her new maturity. “When I was young, things like that never happened. This was the most peaceful place on Bludon.”
“Gone are the days when a blu could be free thinking and innovative,” the stranger continued. He was masculine and older than Ined, but not by much, and Ined thought he looked a little ill. He must be trying to recover from a cold in the peace of the park and was met with that mess, Ined thought.
“I wonder why everyone is so offended bythe black kite fliers?” the stranger said. “Maybe they just don’t like real competition.”
“There are rules for a reason,” Ined said, not wanting to be disagreeable, but also adamant about properly placing blame for the disturbance that had transpired. “There can’t be a competition if there are no rules.”
“Maybe you’re right,” the stranger said and extended a hand. “I’m Toyak, it was nice to meet you. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Toyak smiled and he looked handsome even if he seemed slightly pale. Ined grabbed his hand as he returned his smile and she felt a sharp pain in her hand that seemed to shoot through her body and into her head in an instant. She was woozy for a second and if she had not been holding Toyak’s hand, she would have fallen.
“Are you alright?” Toyak smiled and she noticed the darkness of his teeth, the thin lines extending from his eye sockets.
“Yes,” Ined said despite herself and she waved absently as Toyak slinked away. When she was back with her family, she sat heavily on the blankets and lay back, looking up at the darkening sky.
“It was a mess out there, eh Ined? Those black kites were causing trouble?” one of her relatives asked her, she wasn’t sure which.
“I don’t know,” Ined said, still looking up at the sky above her. “Seems like they were treated unfairly for being smarter than their competition.”
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