Misplaced sobriquet

Mr. Samuel: What year was the Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedicated in Washington, D.C.? Option A: 1980, Option B: 19....

Daniel: 1982

Mr. Samuel: That is correct. 

The audience had lost the vivacity, with the applause becoming dimmer. 

Mr. Samuel: Next question. Who wrote Almagest? The options are....

Daniel: Ptolemy. 

"That is correct," Mr. Samuel said with a voice lacking enthusiasm. He was no longer excited, he seemed irritated at being denied the chance to finish his questions. "Next question. Which is the heaviest naturally occurring element?"

Both Daniel and Rodrick looked at me. I did not need options but I sensed Mr. Samuel's vexation and allowed him to finish the question. We all were missing the adrenaline rush. The state-level quiz competition was like a one-sided rugby match. It lacked the nail-biting competitive thrill as we outperformed others.  The other teams, who stood dejected and pale, had long given up and badly wanted the evening to end. 

We represented Jefferson County and we won the competition by a huge margin. We were easily the best team in Jefferson. Now, we proved to be the triumvirate of quiz in the Centennial State of Colorado. We delegated the major areas of the quiz as per our expertise and interests. Daniel the nerd concentrated on Literature, History, and Geography. I, Natalia, was a woman in science. As I was fascinated with science, I chose the science-related section in quizzes (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, and Technology) and Rodrick took Films, Music, and Sports. 

Daniel and Rodrick were brothers. Daniel was elder by eleven months only. Their father and mine were childhood friends in Jefferson. Then for job purposes, my dad relocated to different states with his family. Finally, he got transferred back to the state of his birth.  When moved here from Pennsylvania three years ago, my father reconnected with his childhood buddy and that is how I met them. The facial structure of both the brothers was the same which again was a carbon copy of their mother's from a certain angle. Daniel had ten-fifteen more pounds of flesh and had much shorter hair than Rodrick. Daniel was so studious. He was known as "the night owl" in his school and locality because he was always engrossed in books especially at night. The bookworm that he was, he talked usually less but when he did he talked plenty. His brother on the other hand was aloof and carried swag around him. He was on the baseball team of his school. He also played for the local baseball team from which he made a lot of money. He was also a glutton. He did not touch vegetables but ate non-veg and fast food thrice as much as his brother. My mother learned this the hard way when the family was invited to our house for dinner on a weekend. Surprisingly he was slim. Having spent all my life outside this state, I did not know anyone in Colorado. We frequented their house and I kind of became close to Daniel. My dad had insinuated that he would be happy if Daniel and I became a couple. He did not approve of Rodrick's attitude towards life or attitude in general. 

The prize of the competition was a paid vacation to foreign countries in South America. I was thoroughly enjoying the first trip to South America. Daniel was always jotting down something in his journal. He was trying to validate the things he read about South America with reality. Two years back he went on a Europe tour. He was making comparisons between Europe and South America in an organized fashion. Rodrick seemed to enjoy the trip but there was no way of knowing what exactly went in his mind. I and Daniel, though, managed to make the Richie rich Rodrick sponsor a few meals in five-star Latin American restaurants. I was tomboyish and preferred to lead. I was the defacto caption of the quiz team. I was super active; sprightly. On the trip, I went on several hiking trips, many times alone as the two brothers were too lazy to give me company. On the eleventh day of the trip, I went out on a hiking tour alone. Daniel said the trip was too long and that he would take a shorter hiking trip later and Rodrick kept himself engaged by playing video games in the hotel game room. I was having a pleasant time in the salubrious environment. The weather was sunny and genial. Out of the blue ominous dark clouds gathered - I got kidnapped by a gang and taken to someplace, handcuffed and blindfolded. 

The abductors did not know English and I had no idea as to what their intention was. I have taken a couple of self-defense courses, but fighting an armed gang of four was out of the scope of the training curriculum. My mother's words in the days before the trip seemed to reverberate "Be careful. Do not go out alone. It is a foreign land." To which my reply was "Mom, I am not a child anymore." Gosh! I am so stupid. It scared the bejesus out of me. I tried to bring back my senses and strived to understand the environment through my auditory, olfactory, proprioceptive, tactile, vestibular, et al senses. I discerned that there were few more hostages. They were awfully quiet, maybe because of lethargy. The floor was somewhat wet and slightly cold and there was a smell of petroleum. The place seemed like a godown near a mountain. I spent the next thirty minutes thinking of futile ways to escape and worrying about the possible consequence in the hands of the kidnappers. Then I resumed gathering more information from the surroundings." Sir, Please sir, leave me, sir." my investigation was disrupted by a familiar voice. What are the odds of me and Daniel getting kidnapped by the same gang in different locations? Daniel was out shopping in the market and he was ensnared by other members of the gang. When he got to know that I was there too, he felt so relieved. He stopped worrying all of a sudden. He was like "You will definitely find a way out." I on the other hand had no clue about what was going to happen to us and what should we do next.

It was difficult to apprehend time. We were hungry. The abductors provided little food. So nice of them! (Sarcasm.) We did not understand their language but we could make out that they were human trafficking and organ harvesting gang. From the moment of this realization, Daniel would not stop crying. He did not provide me with any helpful information and he was acting like a child. I was so pissed at him. I had not seen such an abhorrent chicken-hearted fellow as Daniel. "You are so useless, Daniel," I thought, "'night owl' you should be called 'day and night howl'. Only bookish knowledge, no practical sense," I kept on swearing him in my mind.

Seemed like days passed. They were making arrangements to smuggle us to a different country. I had given up. My parents must be having sleepless nights not being able to contact me. I kept myself busy reminiscing my childhood days, pleasant time spent with family and friends. The thought of escaping from there had ceased to come long back. We gathered from the other hostages that one woman who tried to escape was amputated to set an example before the rest of the captives as the fate of defiance. I spoke very less to Daniel who most of the time prayed, shivered, and cried simultaneously. We were supplied with scarce food and water. The science student in me was baffled at how his body was producing gallons of saltwater gushing out from his eyes. But occasionally I too cried. The Joan of Arc which in me was dead. As the things that I cherished the most and things that I would miss projected on my eyes incessantly, tears rolled. Both the memories and the tears were unyielding. Suddenly there was a piercing noise of shutter opening and people falling to the ground followed by moaning. "Everything is fine. It's me.," a husky voice on my ear dumbfounded me considerably but not enough to prevent me from comprehending whose voice it was. Rodrick untied me, and I removed the blindfolds. It was totally dark. I was not sure if it was my imagination. As I grappled to get up, he pulled me up. "Wait," Rodrick said and then he punched somebody and kicked some other guy to the ground. "How can you see?" I said. I was so confused. I thought that I turned blind. "I cannot see either. I follow their breathing," Rodrick said as he extended one more punch." Too many painful noises came out from the mouths of the people on the floor. "I think it is safe now," Rodrick said after a long pause. 

We came out of the warehouse. I saw the sunlight, I did not know after how many days. The light was waning making way for the night. Outside the warehouse door, I saw three men with bruises, hands, and legs tied. What caught my eye next was a blood-smeared baseball bat in the tight grip of Rodrick. There was a small truck outside. As signaled by Rodrick, I got on the truck along with the rest of the hostages. They were ten in total including Daniel who was still in shock. Rodrick started driving without any ado. He expected a chase from behind and kept on looking in the rear mirror. I had so many questions. The first being was that really true? Then of course how did he find us? And there were so many more. Rodrick did not have the gift of the gab. His answers were precise lacking narrative. Not once did he brag about the chivalrous act. The day we were kidnapped, Rodrick came back from the games room late. He did not find me or Daniel. So, he went to dinner alone after which he went to bed. He woke up in the middle of the night, he could not find us and as our cellphones were smashed, he could not contact us. He started looking for us. The police did not seem to cooperate and the language was also a barrier. He could sense that there was something wrong and the police were not reliable. He did not call the parents so as not to make them unnecessarily worried. He himself started the search operation. Daniel had not informed Rodrick as to where he was going that evening. Rodrick made some predictions based on the trips of the last few days and the future plans. Based on this he was able to reach the market from where Daniel was kidnapped. There he noticed some activities which were suspicious. He followed a few people on whom he had doubts and this led him to the warehouse. There were clear signs of some shady activities. He talked to the police again who seemed to be aware of the illegal activities near the warehouse and seemed to have a hand in glove with the miscreants. No one appeared trustworthy. He returned again to the vicinity of the warehouse. In the pile of trash, a few feet from the entrance of the warehouse, he saw one bracelet which resembled mine. The next two days he spent monitoring the area from a nearby hill. His auditory nerves were marvelous. He was never really sure if we were there. But he heard the guards speak about human trafficking. He came to know that the warehouse was expecting a delivery truck in the evening. So when, on the fourth day, he dressed up as a delivery guy brought a truck at the warehouse door, suspicion was not raised. He was mentally and physically prepared. He made an ambush at the first opportune moment which took the captivators by surprise. Many more dots were still unconnected. The question that bothered me at the point was "How did you find me in the dark?" Rodrick gave a loud laugh. "I knew how you would sound when you would cry" he could not stop laughing. "What??" it was annoying but funny and adorable. We were not out of danger yet. Rodrick was fully aware of that, as he frequently looked at the rear mirror and drove cautiously at high speed. I planned not to bother him with questions anymore during the ride so as not to impair his concentration. I, ignoring any possible dangers ahead breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed on the front passenger seat. I was mesmerized by the heroics of Rodrick. Who would not be? I remember reading something in Daniel's journal. It was an essay on barn owls. The owl symbolism was linked to death, ruin, and destruction in the Middle East, Egyptian, and Native American cultures. However, in ancient Greece and China, owls were associated with wisdom. They were more commonly associated with their air of mystery and beauty in the night. In Indian culture, an owl was associated with the goddess of wealth. Barn Owl did not make noise while flying due to soft fringe-edged feathers that muffled noise as they flew. This allowed them to silently sneak up on their prey.  A night owl ate more than its own weight of mice and rats in one evening. The night owl had superb vision and hearing for capturing prey at night. They are very fast and flexible as their enormous wings (in proportion to their body) provided a greater lift. I was so surprised to notice how the characteristics and symbolisms matched with Rodrick- intelligent, mysterious, wealthy, good looks, silent but effective, fast, flexible, strong, foodie with exemplary sense organs. I pondered people nicknamed Daniel "night owl" when the real "night owl" is Rodrick. There was a buzz in Rodrick's phone. David_US_embassy calling. "Hello sir, my hunch was correct. I found them. They are safe. I understand sir you do not have jurisdiction over here. It is all fine now..........