Through The Storm

Rowida finally went out of her room on the fourth day of arrival at Beimini, and she first went to eat, then she started walking around the city purposefully. In another hour, she happened upon Ethan, who stood with a group of four other children around him.

Rowida listened for a moment and realized that they were playing hide and seek.

She patiently waited till each child chose a hiding spot, followed Ethan and said, “Hello, Ethan.” She gave him a warm smile, which she barely felt. “I missed you.”

“Rowida.” Ethan jumped to hug her. “I missed you too, you have been gone for ages.”

“I only saw you two days ago.” She smiled, this time a genuine smile. “But I am here now.”

“Can you help me hide?” He looked at her with mischief in his eyes. “If I hide the rest of the day, till lunchtime, I will be the spymaster.”

Ethan jumped around her while he talked, then he stopped suddenly and kneeled. “Quick, kneel down, Marcus might see us.”

She went down as he advised and asked him, “Only for the rest of the day?”

“Well, yes, I have to eat by then,” he said excitedly. “And we have rabbit stew today, which is my favorite.”

“I also love rabbit stew.” Rowida nodded. “I think it is the best, especially served with mashed carrots.”

“You too?” Ethan almost squealed. “I love mashed carrots, so much.”

“Okay, Ethan, I can’t help you hide today.” She held him at arm’s length. “But in two days, I will prepare food for both of us to hide two full days, if you wanted it.”

“That would be amazing,” Ethan jumped up, shouting.

A boy shouted from across the square, “I saw Ethan at the corner of Heaven and Bakers.”

“Oh, I have been spotted,” a crestfallen Ethan said. “I can’t stay here, now I have to find the others with Marcus.” He left Rowida and ran to join the other boy.

Rowida followed him with her eyes as he raced across the square, a memory of warmth lingered for another few seconds.

“He is special,” Violet said directly into Rowida’s ear. “So, full of life and potential.”

“I feel alive around him, warm as I have never felt.” Rowida was cold again, the fleeting warmth that the boy’s presence supplied, was gone. “Are you sure nobody in the city can see you?” Rowida turned to face the ethereal woman.

“Only who I chose to see me will.” Violet laughed a long, rich laugh, and said, “Now, even more so, because of our ‘Deal’.’”

“Good, so we can go ahead with our plan then.”

“Yes, today, we start.”

Ethan played with his mates until lunchtime, and no one was chosen as the spymaster, a fact which sparked much debate.

“I hid the longest,” a small girl with big brown eyes said.

“No, you didn’,t Farah, I did,” Marcus, the boy who spotted Ethan earlier said.

“None of you hid as much as I did,” a tall skinny boy declared.

“That’s because you went to the classroom and stood there the whole day, David.” Ethan smiled as he pictured having to stay in a classroom the whole day, he liked reading, but he hated having to stay the entire day reading, it was not natural.

“Well, I guess nobody is the spymaster then,” a girl with green eyes and long braid announced to the group. “We should stop fighting and go to lunch.”

“Nobody is fighting, Laura, and we are already on our way to lunch.”

After that, the children walked silently until they reached the common dining hall, which could house hundreds at any time, and was almost three-quarters full now.

Ethan took a plate from the ones already placed near the entrance, balanced it with a tall glass of milk, and headed to their table.

Most children in the hall had mothers with them, except for Ethan’s and a few groups of orphaned children, who joined Miss Mariah at the biggest table in the hall.

Today, to Ethan’s delight, Rowida was sitting next to Mariah, and they were nodding and talking while eating.

As he placed his plate and took his seat, Ethan said, “Hello Miss Mariah, hello, Rowida.” He waved to both of them from his end of the table.

Rowida waved back. “Hello, Ethan,” she said and smiled.

Ethan was about to respond, but he noticed the firm look on Miss Mariah’s face, and he postponed his words until he finished his food.

Minutes after Ethan finished his food, he ran with the mostly empty plate to the table for collecting them at the end of the dining hall, then he rushed back to Rowida.

“I didn’t get to be the spymaster, but I was almost there,” Ethan said to Rowida.

Mariah gave Rowida a warning look, but Rowida said, “You just need to keep going at it.” She touched his head and played with his hair a bit then added, “Practice what you want to perfect, and it will eventually be that, perfect.”

Ethan didn’t understand much of what she said, so he giggled. “I like to play.” He laughed a bit and added, “So, should I play all the time to get good at it?”

Then as he laughed, he looked to check if Miss Mariah approved his words, and as he noticed she was smiling, he was at ease.

“Well, playing for play’s sake is not a good example.” Rowida smiled at him as she talked. “You have to pick something that you would like to do for the rest of your life, and this is what you need to practice to perfection.”

Ethan looked at her with big eyes. “I think like the trips to the forest,” he said with awe in his voice. “Can I be perfect at that?”

“You mean trekking?” Rowida asked than answered her question, “Yes, you can be an excellent trekker, there are people who do this as part of a job like hunters or as a guiding job in itself.”

Ethan leaned towards Rowida and said, “I like you.” He had a glow to his eyes. “You understand children more than other adults.”

Then he put his hand on his mouth as he realized that he said this in front of Miss. Mariah, and ran away from both women.

Within minutes, he joined his group of almost the same age children and headed to the classroom for more lessons.

“The boy is getting attached to you,” Mariah said in firm tones. “I urge you to stop doing this to him.”

“How can you ask me such a selfish thing?” Anger bubbled to the surface of the void filling Rowida. “I just acted human around him, nothing less.”

“Yes, but you leave in two days.” Mariah gave Rowida a cold stare. “And you will not be here to witness his pain over your loss.”

“Are you trying to tell me that kindness would kill the boy?” Rowida was getting louder, animated and she stared back at Mariah.

“He receives kindness here, with the rest of the orphaned children.” Mariah stood. “You are bonding with him, and that’s a different story.”

Then she started to walk away, but she turned one last time to look at Rowida. She said, “Don’t think that sending you to the surface is a punishment, there are still more to be exacted of you if you don’t keep away from him.”

Rowida watched Mariah’s retreating form as she walked out of the now-empty dining hall, and even after Mariah left, she kept staring at the opened door.

“Good, you did it perfectly,” Violet said.

“Don’t you think I overdid it?”

“No, you managed it very well.” Violet floated in front of Rowida and said, “Now she will do what we want her to do, thinking she is protecting the boy.”

“I hope this doesn’t turn against us and ruin our plans.” Rowida still stared at the door.

“Trust me, it will be just as I predicted it.” Violet laughed. “You will get what you deserve, my dear, all in due time.”

“I hope this goes without complications.” Rowida sighed. “What you suggested is too much to swallow.”

“But it is just the right amount to swallow, fear not.”

Violet glowed for a moment, then vanished, leaving Rowida alone. She eventually shuffled towards the exit door.

Rowida walked out of her room on her fifth day in Beimini and headed directly to where she saw Ethan play before. As expected, the boy was again drawing in the sand of the side curb.

“Hello, Ethan,” Rowida said softly as she touched Ethan’s shoulder.

“Hey, Rowida.” Ethan jumped up. “Where were you? It has been ages since I last saw you.”

Rowida laughed, a glittering genuine laugh she didn’t feel the like of except in Ethan’s presence. “You have a tendency to exaggerate, but I like it.”

“What does ‘exaggerate’ mean?” Ethan cocked his head and opened his mouth slightly.

“It means making things far bigger than they really are,” Rowida answered him with a smile.

As he was about to speak, she put a finger to his mouth and said, “Listen, Miss Mariah doesn’t want me to spend time with you, I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”

“Why?” Ethan protested. “I like you, Rowida, so much.”

Rowida put a hand to her chin and nodded. “So do I, but we have to hide the fact that we spend time together, or they will kick me out of the city.”

“What? NO.” Ethan stomped the ground hard. “Please don’t go.”

“Okay, I will come as often as I can to play with you, even hide you where none of your friends can find you to become the spymaster.”

She kneeled to his ears level, and said, “But we have to hide our meetings, make this a secret, good enough for a spymaster.”

Ethan had a worried look on his face. “Even from Miss Mariah?”

“Especially from Miss Mariah.” Rowida shook her head fast. “Plus, you wanted to learn trekking? I happen to be a master trekker, walked for a year and a half all across Agartha.”

“A year and a half? That’s a lot of time.” Ethan’s eyes grew wide, then he started to giggle. “You are trying to trick me because I am small, but I got it.”

“No, honestly, I really walked a full year and a half.” Rowida nodded, sincerely. “And I will tell you all about when it is time for us to hide.”

“Can’t wait to hear it all.” Ethan jumped around Rowida in excitement.

“Now, I have to go.” Rowida stood. “See you tomorrow Ethan.”

She turned once to see the boy still looking at her forlornly.

“I see greatness in your future, Rowida.” Violet again materialized out of thin air beside Rowida.

“Let’s hope your plan works.” Rowida shook her head gently. “I wouldn’t like to experience any worse punishment than stripping my soul out.”

“It will all be fine.” Violet smiled, and the smile seemed to stay as a dark spot in the morning air, even after she disappeared.