The Collage of Taben’Rael

 

Collage of Taben'Rael 

 Friday Morning: The Call of Refinement

5:00 a.m., the heights of Taben’Rael were still cloaked in silence. Malaki and James lie deep in their dreams, their bodies bruised from purification, their minds stirring in the echo of vows whispered the night before.

Then—{Bang. Bang. Bang.}

Malaki jolts upright, breath short, heart already halfway down the candlelit corridor. He casts a glance toward James—still asleep, tangled in the white sheets like a boy half-forgiven.

Quietly, Malaki steps over and gently presses a finger to James’s lips.

"Get your butt up," he whispers, steady but stern.

"Five swats after breakfast. You know why."

James blinks awake, eyes wide.

"Oh shit! Did I miss the call?"

But there’s no time to answer. Both boys move instinctively to posture—standing firm at attention in their tight white briefs and tank tops, the uniform of repentance.

The door creeps open. Isaac stands in the frame, candlelight casting long shadows behind him. He steps inside like silence made flesh.

Isaac: "Good morning, lads. I trust your sleep refined you as well as it healed. You are to be washed and dressed—gray shorts above the knee, white shirt buttoned to the collar, gray tie, gray shoes. Dressed not just in uniform, but in expectation. You have one hour to reach the dining hall.

Be late... and your cleansing will be public.

Is that understood?"

The boys reply in unison, crisp and reverent:

"Yes, Sir. Guide Isaac."

Isaac saunters between them, inspecting the silence where bruises still burn. Then, with ceremonial swiftness, he smacks each of them on the backside—a gesture not of punishment, but of renewal.

He exits without a word, leaving the door wide open. The two watch as his figure recedes into the candlelit hall, swallowed gradually by the shallow darkness.

Friday Morning: The Call of Refinement

(continued)

The two young men remain at attention long after Isaac’s footsteps fade into the corridor. Only when the last echo dies do their shoulders ease a fraction.

Malaki turns first. His voice is low, almost a growl.

“You heard him. One hour. And five after breakfast for whatever you did last night that I slept through.”

James rubs the back of his neck, the white tank top still damp with sleep-sweat.

“I whispered the vow wrong. Said ‘I submit my will’ instead of ‘I surrender my will.’ He heard it from the corridor.”

Malaki’s mouth twitches — half-sympathy, half-discipline.

“Then you’ll take the five properly. No dancing. No noise. Understood?”

“Yes, brother.”

They move as one. The candle on the side table is snuffed. In the dim gray light of dawn, they strip the white tank tops and briefs with practiced speed — the garments of night-repentance folded into the laundry basket by the door. 

Fresh gray shorts (exactly three inches above the knee, as the Rule requires) are drawn up. White shirts buttoned to the very last collar button. Gray ties knotted with military precision. Gray socks. Gray shoes polished the night before.

Malaki inspects James the way Isaac inspects them: circling once, tugging the tie, smoothing the shirt tails, then delivering a single, sharp open-hand swat to the seat of the gray shorts — not punishment, simply sealing the morning.

James does the same to Malaki.

They kneel together at the foot of the bed for the thirty-second silent prayer of readiness. When they rise, their faces are calm.

In the corridor, the other postulants are already moving — soft gray shapes gliding toward the dining hall under the same low candlelight. Malaki and James fall into step, shoulders touching once for courage, then straightening into perfect formation.

They arrive with four minutes to spare.

Isaac stands at the head of the long oak table, hands folded. He notes their arrival with the barest nod. No public cleansing today.

Breakfast is taken in silence: black bread, thin porridge, cold water.

When the meal ends Isaac rises.

“James. Five.”

James stands at once, walks to the open space between the tables, unbuckles his gray shorts, and lowers them to mid-thigh. 

He bends over the arm of the heavy chair that serves as the dining-hall punishment horse. Malaki watches from his place, fists tight under the table, remembering his own five the week before.

Isaac’s hand is firm, measured, unhurried. Five crisp, resonant swats land on the bare seat — each one counted aloud by James in a clear, steady voice. When the last is delivered, James stands, replaces his shorts, and returns to his seat with wet eyes but a quiet “Thank you, Guide Isaac.”

Isaac’s gaze softens only a fraction.

“Refinement continues. Today you both serve in the scriptorium. White gloves. No talking. The Rule is mercy.”

He turns and leaves them.

Malaki reaches under the table and briefly squeezes James’s hand.

James squeezes back.

Outside the high windows, the first true light of Friday morning finally touches the stone heights of Taben’Rael.