"Moving On" by Necahual Atoupal

Hola, um, yes, hi there. I'm B'alam. I'm one of the last of the Mayans and I'm currently the youngest member of the ACES. That's why I'm not as confident as the other students, but I'll try to tell you what I can about how I got here.

I lived in Barrio El Centro, a town in a valley near the Maya ruins of Copán in western Honduras. In such close proximity you can imagine that some of us were ancestors of those who had lived at Copán, but I am afraid that is not the whole truth. Disease and famine had destroyed the city, which laid deserted from the year 822.

But not all died, as they were a determined people who could make good use of the things they had. Their warriors wore quilted cotton soaked in salt water as armour and it was a worthy match for the Conquistadors' steel. There were some who left Copán and found other cities in which to live.

One of those people was the son of Ukit Took, last Ajaw of Copán, the last king of a long lineage before him. He was forced to live the life of a wandering peasant, with the last vestiges of Copán meeting up over time with survivors from Los Higos, El Paraíso and Rio Amarillo. They were the last Maya of Honduras, and they are the ancestors of some of those who now live in Barrio El Centro. My family traces back to the son of Ukit Took and his forefathers, making us the last rulers of Copán.

No recognition comes with this title any more, all of us in the city know where we came from and we are all equal. All of us here are here because we are close to our past, to our ancestors, to the central point of Honduras' Mayan society.

I only tell you this as context behind my tale, to give you an idea of the things that came before. My power has such a focus on the future that once in a while it is nice to think about my past.

I first found out about what I could do when I was twelve years old, two years ago. I awoke one night, sweating and screaming. I had had the nosy vivid dream of my life, it felt like it was real.

What I saw was my town, being razed to the ground as the earth shook violently beneath it. Wild winds tore up trees, roots and all. I was stood at the highest point of the Copán ruins, watching everything, yelling, crying, unable to stop it.

My mother ran into my room to see what was the matter. I told her it was just a nightmare, that it didn't matter, but I could tell that she knew something was wrong. She always knew when something was wrong.

Some time went by, about a month or so, before I had another nightmare. It was exactly the same, I could actually feel the ground shaking under me, but this time there was more. I felt rain as well as wind, soaking me through, and the wind was much stronger, almost forcing me to the ground.

Then I woke up again, screaming and sweating just like last time. My mother didn't believe that it was nothing this time, she was getting suspicious. She asked what I had seen, and I told her everything, she had one of those faces that you couldn't lie to.

"And what did it feel like?" she asked me once I had finished.

"Real, more real than any dream I have ever had," I replied.

"Well my little Necaca, it is of no matter. You just try and get some sleep, and tell me if it happens again," she told me, but I could tell that there was something that remained unsaid.

My siblings seemed quite concerned for me, and there was a lot of them so I sometimes felt smothered. It was hard being the youngest of five, having nothing but their old clothes, but there was a lot of love. The eldest was my brother K'inich, then cane the three girls Amoxtli, Coszcatl and Tepin, and then me.

The dream came back every now and then, feeling more real each time. I got used to it, it became less frightening over time. It wasn't always the same though. There was a week once when I dreamt of just darkness, darkness so thick you could breath it in.

The following week I told my mother of the dream. I noticed later that day that she was trying to hide the news on our television from me, but when I got a chance I saw something I didn't expect. People were trying to get to Iceland to study a small volcano spewing out ash. The sky was black, and the people there were being warned to stay inside so they wouldn't breath it in.

It got harder for my mother to hide things from me. I dreamt of colours sometimes, white before a blizzard, red before a heatwave. I would feel myself shaking before tremors. I could see sandstorms, floods, twisters. But the dream that kept coming back was the first one.

If something was going to happen soon I would have more frequent dreams, mostly every night for a week beforehand, but the one at Copán was rare, so I thought I had nothing to worry about. Then, about a year ago, I had the dream two weeks in a row.

I was worried. Of course I was. I asked my brother, K'inich, for advice, I thought that he would have some ideas as he was nine years older than me. Then he told me that he had to come clean.

He told me that he was at Copán one day, before I had the dreams, looking at the stelae - the carved stones there. One of them seemed to show a plant, like a short cactus with three round, blue flowers growing on the top. K'inich was naturally inquisitive, so he searched around the ruins to find one.

He eventually found one at the back of the ruins. Apparently the stela seemed to show some kind of recipe involving the flowers and leaves so he took them and dried them out. Then he ground them up and added them into the rest of the ingredients for a baleada, a kind of tortilla.

The next time we had my mother's special mondongo soup he ate the baleada - a big risk, having no idea of the consequences. What happened was a dream, the same dream that I had, only he saw it from inside the house.

Then he told me that he thought it might be funny to give me some. But after the first time nothing happened. Whenever he could, K'inich would you and get it into my system, until the first night that I had the dream. Then he stopped, but I had had too much of the flower and the leaves and the dreams never stopped. Because of a joke I am cursed with this ability to see natural disasters that I can do nothing about. It has caused me many sleepless nights, either to prevent the dreams or because of the guilt I feel for not being able to help anybody.

Inside I was furious. I wanted to hate him for what he had done, but I couldn't. He was my brother, and I loved him no matter what. I just wish that he hadn't been so stupid, so reckless, such an idiota jodida!

But it is the past. What's done, no matter how stupid, is done. The dreams kept coming. The one of the ruins got more frequent, until earlier this year it came every night for two weeks. The next week I passed out during the day time, still having the dream. The week after that, the first tremor hit.

It wasn't that big. Well, not that big in proportion. Several roofs were damaged and we were all a bit shaken up, but it got worse. The next day it was bigger, a couple of walls collapsed, everyone was worried.

There was no tremor the day after that, but the wind and rain started, and it never stopped for a few days. Not that most people in the town knew that, as the earthquake hit the next day.

The next day I went to the ruins. I do not know why. The only thing I can think of was the dream. I said goodbye to my family as I left. Normally I would say "see you later", but this time I left it out.

The wind and rain felt like shards of rock ripping into my skin as I went. I could see the trees buckling under the power of the wind. Water gushed from the rooftops like a torrent.

Suddenly a tremor hit, much bigger than the ones before. Walls fell around me, and I tumbled to the ground. But I got up again, something inside me was forcing me onwards to Copán and I was going to get there.

I started running. The next few tremors shook me but I stayed upright. I managed to avoid slipping in any puddles and I vaulted a couple of fallen trees but I eventually got to the highest point of the ruins - where I stood in my dream.

I looked out over the town. Buildings were crumbling, trees falling, people running around, afraid. I had seen it so many times before in my dreams but I was not prepared for it. I still cried, I still screamed. Then I blacked out.

I woke up with a light drizzle pattering on my face, my hair being ruffled by a gentle breeze. Everything was over. Everything.

When I stood up and looked out over the town that was my home I saw nothing but rubble. My hometown was destroyed, nothing remained. I knew it was going to happen but I couldn't do anything about it, I couldn't even save my family.

I tried to stand up but it was difficult, at least there was someone there to help me up. Then I realised how strange it was that someone was there to help me up.

Grabbing my arm was a man in a suit, his brown hair slicked back and his muscular frame filling out his clothes. I have heard from my fellow students that this man visited them also to recruit them into The Academy. He is the PE teacher, but if you have learnt anything about any of my friends you will already know about Mr Helstrom.

Once he had helped me up he explained how I could predict natural disasters and he tried to soften the news about my entire family being dead, as well as all of the other townspeople. Then he said that the safest place for me was a school full of people like me, a place where I could build a new family. I had no family of my own left, now way to defend myself, no choice other than to go with this man, so that's exactly what I did.

So that is why I am here, surrounded by my surrogate family of brothers and sisters, people who love me and only want to help me, either in my life or in furthering my abilities. I have never forgotten what happen at Copán, it is a part of me now, but I believe I am a better person for it.

That is what Jonathan wanted. That is my explanation. I hope you are enlightened and that you also enjoyed what I have told you in as much of a way as you can enjoy such a painful tale.

Farewell, friend, and I call you such as I need as many as possible, and I hope you can call me the same.