The story of the brotherhood CHAPTER 2

"I SAID... MAKE SURE YOUR CHEST IS NEAR THE FLOOR!!!" the man with the big frown shouted

"YOU THERE!!! DON'T PRETEND TO BE DYING... GET YOUR @%^#% BODY OFF THE FLOOR" shouted another, with a bigger frown

"ALL OF YOU!!! I WANT TO SEE 100% EFFORT" shouted one, with a scowl.

It was the first day of NPCC, the day i got cultural shock. ECA in primary school was so enjoyable, we used to cut millipedes into halves and burn the ants with magnifying glasses. I did not expect to be the one being tortured.

"I TOLD YOU GUYS!!! I WANT TO SEE YOUR ELBOWS BENDING MORE. I WANT YOUR CHEST TO BE NEAR THE FLOOR"

That was the first time that I, the Great, was made to do pushups. I could hardly bend my elbow more than 10 degrees. My skinny arms were shaking violently.

Weiguang, the garang one, was better than the lot. He did the pushups effortlessly, with his elbows 90 degrees and his chest near the earth's surface.

Piglard, of course, had no problem too. His tummy was already touching the floor even with his arms straightened, there was no reason to go lower.

"RECOVER!!!" Said the guy with the frown. We found out later that he belonged to a class called the NCOs. The NCOs, as we found out later, is a group of sadistic people who delight in cruelty.

"YES SIR" we shouted with relief. It was finally over

"NOW, GO TOUCH THAT TREE AND RUN BACK"

We swamped past the parade square like water flooding and lined up to touch the tree, not knowing what we were doing. The crows on the tree watched with amusement.

"TOO SLOW, NOW RUN BACK AND KISS THE OTHER TREE"

The crows made funny noises to accommodate such activity.

At the end of it, we were all drained. Even weiguang, the garang one, was beginning to sweat. At that very moment, the NCOs posed a very important question.

"ANY WEAKLING WANTS TO QUIT NOW? RAISE YOUR HAND NOW AND I"LL STRIKE YOUR NAME OFF THE LIST!"

The weaker ones were the ones who stayed instead. We were not able to raise our hand.