(no subject)
"Uncllleeeee. I'm tired, and it's HOT. And there's sand in my shoes!"
"The more you bitch, the longer it'll take to get out of the desert, Oona."
"That's a lie!"
"Is not, it's a fact."
They trudged on in silence, Oona occasionally taking a guzzle from the water skin that Eli had provided. Her aquatic nature made this terrain very dangerous for her, but Eli knew better than to leave her dehydrated and uncovered. She wore his long green scarf around her head, shading her delicate skin from the beating rays of the sun, and the rest of her was covered by a light muslin dress that covered her arms and any skin that might be exposed to the elements. The trek from the main city to his home village was merely a day's walk, so they had struck out very early in the morning to beat the sun, and it was reaching midday.
"Tell me a story, Uncle. About growing up here!"
"Hrm... What kind?"
She jogged to reach his side and grasped his hand. Even though there was a road it was weatherworn, the sand and winds had eroded it to mainly a stone and sand mess, and her stubby eight year old legs couldn't quite keep up with his, which were used to it. "A happy one!"
"Mm... Well, when I was a little boy, I used to go to the market for my mother, to pick up little things. Thread, Sandfruit, bread, sometimes a new pot or kettle. She'd give me some extra money when we had it, a few pieces of coin and I'd get myself some hard candy. One day, she sent me into town and after I'd gotten a spool of thread- I remember it was purple- I bought a bag of candy and sat near the well to eat it...."
A little girl appeared from nowhere beside him at the well, dressed lightly, despite the beating sun, and smiling lightly.
"Ho!" smiling at him. "Iatchko, evkie?"
"E iatchko! Swetke van. It vu?"
"Se!"
Sitting together under the baking sun, she splashed water on her neck and at him, and they shared the candy in companionable silence.
"Whatever happened to her?"
"Oh, I don't know. She disappeared after that, and I never saw her again."
"Aww, that's not happy, Uncle, that's sad!"
He had the gall to mock indignation. "Is not! It's a very happy memory! Just because she was gone, didn't mean I didn't enjoy her company. I consider her a friend, and should we ever meet again, it would be as if she never disappeared."
"Hmph..." she clutched his fingers a little tighter. "What was her name?"
"I..." he thought. "I don't remember."
She hurrumphed. "Well what did she look like? Was she pretty? Could I get some candy when we get there? Can we visit the well?"
"So many questions! You'll be the death of me... I don't remember what she looked like, I was very young, your age then. Maybe we can get some, and of course. The well is in the center of the market square, it'll be the first thing you see when we cross over this dune."
"This dune- what do you mean, Uncle, I don't even see the town- OH!"
They had reached the crest of the sanddune, and down at the bottom of a small canyon, half in shadow and half in light was the little town of Kestek, Eli's birthplace and childhood home. The town was made up of a variety of brightly colored cloth huts and tents, little shacks and huts with cloth roofs and brightly painted poles to support them. People bustled around the market square in equally brightly colored clothes and scarves, laughing, talking, selling, haggling. Children played in the shade and mothers beat the sand from rugs with large clubs. On the eastern side of the town lay a small orchard of Sandfruit bushes, their branches laden with the vivid orange fruit.
In the center of the market was a sandstone circle, a foot and a half high off the ground and two yards all the way around. Above it was a wooden arch where a bucket hung on a length of rope. Occasionally, someone came to fill their pots, or to pull up a bucket and dump it oer their heads to enjoy the crystalline water.
"Uncle can I-"
"Go for it, just don't be stupid or hurt yourself. Or die. No dying."
Enthralled, Oona sprinted down the uneven rode and made a beeline straight for the well.
Eli heaved a great breath. He looked down and watched Oona. Had it really been eight years already? The day of N'nena's death still burned fairly vividly in his mind, along with the image of Oona, naked and newborn, crying in a puddle. He sometimes wondered what would have happened had he settled down when N'nena asked him to do so. Foreheads pressed together, mumbling to trust her. Had it been the last time he'd seen her? He thought it was.
Shaking these things from his mind, Eli stepped down the path towards town.
And above him, the sun beat down.
Doodling in iScribble and decided to write down this.
Bit of a scene from an original story which I chronicled a bit in an earlier post I am too lazy to find and link. ANYWAY. The characters are mine, the world they exist in is mine, and this moment in their lives belongs to me. Eli was in love, he lost his love, in her place he found a baby girl who he took in. Nothing is entirely certain, but fate and life tends to point to Oona being his daughter, but he raises her to call him Uncle because fatherhood panics him. He's kind of a shitty parental figure 'cause he's a criminal and a doof. Soooo here they are, going to visit Eli's sister in Kestek, and Oona whines for Eli to tell her a story.
The strange little girl in the fountain seemed so familiar.
*HINTHINTWINKWINK*
This would beeee abouuuutt.... Five years before Oona requests they try and bring back her mother, who was a water nymph.
going to class now kkbye.