Darkness crept over the sky, burrowing its way through small gaps between the distant lights of the nearby cities as Azure sat, unmoving, in a small glade that twinkled slightly underneath the lights of the first stars. It had been an hour or so, and Azure had only just begun to notice the chill setting in in the soft breeze.
Another moment passed, and a slight disturbance in the grass nearby was the only indication that Azure was no longer alone.
“Azure! I thought I’d find you here. We’re all looking for you, you know?”
“53 points,” was all Azure responded, becoming suddenly very interested in a nearby leaf on the floor. “We were worried about you,” Cerulean continued, coming closer again to where Azure sat silently.
“53 points,” repeated Azure, not turning around. The air grew briefly tense and awkward, as a soft wind rippled through the trees.
“Well, yes. It’s not great. I know you’re disappointed. We all are. But you did your best, and that’s all we can ask of you. And you did pretty good in your third race. Don’t give up yet.”
“Give up!?” Azure spat bitterly, turning to face their friend and teammate suddenly. “What’s the use? I’m already out, I couldn’t give more even if I wanted to!” Cerulean didn’t respond, and just looked on in concern as a tear rolled down Azure’s face. Azure softened and shook their head. “I’m sorry. I know what you mean. You’re right. I’m disappointed. Beyond disappointed. But, I suppose, there’s always next time.” Azure smiled slightly and rolled forwards.
“I fancy something warm. Join me?”
In the distance, another marble sat in the silence of a dark room, staring solemnly into the darkness. Wospy had already spoken to their teammates, but was still struggling to come to terms with everything. They’d had their failures before, but the intensity of emotion that came with a DNF in the final race of the week was hitting them particularly hard. It had been stressful before the race, sitting in 28th position, but a DNF was the worst possible outcome and had resulted in elimination at the first stage.
“It’s not even like I had a particularly amazing finish all week, and now I can’t do anything to bring it back.”
The room said nothing in response. Wospy sighed and lay down on their bed, closing their eyes. The events of the week flashed through their mind, in some sort of bright blur. The excitement, the tragedies, the laughter and the tears. This competition that had only just begun, even if rather unexpectedly after Wispy was pulled out last minute from a training injury, had now also ended for Wospy. It seemed somewhere between an incredible experience that brought the teams closer together, but also highly isolating as it was a single marble event. Wospy had been chosen to stand in for Wispy. And Wospy let their team down.
They had all supported Wospy afterwards, patted them on the back and said their “It’s okay”s, and “You did what you could with no preparation,” but Wospy knew that they all felt gutted deep down, and were only hiding it for Wospy’s sake. Staring at the ceiling, Wospy reflected while listening to the distant hum of marbles celebrating and going about their lives. Did the team think that Wispy would have done it better? But Wospy knew it wasn’t Wispy’s fault, and at the very least, they knew they now had plenty of time to prepare for the team’s next competition. But that didn’t feel as much of a good thing as they wished it felt.
Eventually, as the moon peered in through the windows and the world went quiet, Wospy drifted off to sleep.
Credits
- Writer: Phoenix
- Artist: Toffeeshop
- Reference: Marble Survival 100 – Race 7 Elimination Round
- Release: 18/03/2024
Project Marblearth 