Identical
twins young adult sisters, were foraging through the forest for wild
fruit and other foods. They did this regularly ever since the war
began three years ago. Because of the war, there was a shortage of
everything, especially this far away from the front lines. Their
small baskets were far from full. They spoke in near-whispers, a
first instinctive choice of everybody because of the war.
Strange.
What?
We
have come here more than once. So why does everything seem new to me.
To you?
I
do not know what you are talking about. It is the war. This constant
fear in me is causing me to see just about everything differently
every time.
It
doesn't look as if this place has ever been a battlefield. There are
more berries than I remember. We will not be hungry for days. But let
us not stay long.
Where
are all the animals? We have not seen even a rodent.
No
birds is a bad sign.
Could
those enemy soldiers be killing them for food?
No
animals is not all bad. The last animal we saw was that wild cat in
the trees. And it looked like it was stalking us to eat us.
Yeah,
I remember. So sad. I thought it looked cute. Sometimes.
We
should stop foraging this far. Now that our Prince has been ambushed
and killed by civilians, enemy soldiers will dare to venture far and
wide to dance in joy to murder civilians like us.
The
death of our Prince has nothing to do with it. The enemy soldiers,
fighting thousands of miles away from home, must be hungrier than we
are, most of the time. Let's rest a little.
Curious.
What?
The
vegetation. I've not seen this kind around here.
What
kind? Isn't all vegetation supposed to be green? It’s all been
here forever.
Shhhhh!
Creep closer.
Who
are they? So many.
Moving
so silently, and quickly.
Are
they ours?
They
must be. This far inside our country. You see uniforms? I don’t.
No.
Stay
still until they have gone.
I
hate it that we forgot to bring our swords.
We
do not have to wait. They are going the other way. Let’s go
now.
Hear
that?
Singing?
Our
national anthem?
Which
one? We have more than one.
Sounds
like the one that’s more of a hymn.
Coming
this way.
Should
we kneel?
Why?
It's
the anthem.
Anthems
are for standing tall; kneeling reduces us to less than what we
should aim to be. Anyway, whichever one it is, we are safe.
Only
one person singing it.
Who
is she?
Should
we show ourselves?
No.
She
is so sad.
We
cannot afford to get involved. We have nothing to share. Let us go.
Which
way? She is in our way.
We
wait.
A
long wait. She is sitting.
Perhaps
we should follow that group. We will find a way around her.
She
is praying.
She
is not our problem. We have to go.
You
go. I will be along.
I
cannot go without you. Dad and Mom said we should never separate.
Dad
and Mom would have tried to help her.
Dad
and Mom would still be alive had they not been so willing to help
strangers.
Okay.
Okay. We will help by waiting here. We go to her if she needs help,
which she does not need right now. Hear that?
Yes.
Voices.
People are coming.
Fast.
From behind her. Down. Get down.
Sounds
as if they know her.
Sounds
as if they are happy they found her. Can you make out if they are
ours?
They
have to be. She was singing our anthem. We should show ourselves.
No.
Let’s follow them for awhile. They are going our way. They’re
civilians.
Okay.
Come on.
If
they are on our way, why haven’t we seen them in all these war
years?
Perhaps
they have fled this far away from the war from somewhere very far
away.
We
are in serious trouble if they have already found that shack of ours.
What
trouble? We found it by accident. There’s nothing of value of
ours there. If they have found it, we’ll just leave it to them
and move on.
With
our swords in it?
I
forgot.
To
come this way, they must have passed the shack.
Not
necessarily. You are forgetting that we did not come here directly
from the shack.
What
do you mean?
That
dried-up river bed. Remember?
Of
course I remember. We walked along it in search for water.
Did
we get there straight from the shack?
Oh.
Okay. I remember.
If
they, like us, came here by walking along that dried-up river bed,
then it will be a frightening coincidance if they turn to walk a
little way up that mountain and go to the other side where the shack
is.
So,
we have to stay behind them to find out.
No
other choice.
And
if they make that turn where we came down off the mountain?
We
just keep walking along the bed.
I
half-wish they make that turn.
You
don’t want to return to the shack?
Not
really, but I have grown so attached to it.
Weird.
We are identical, and yet to me that shack is just another one of
those pointless wartime take-it-or-leave-it choices.
Hold
it; I think they are stopping.
Retreat
slowly. We don’t have weapons.
You
go. I will stay to see if they are coming back.
What
happened?
They
rested, and then turned left, and went away.
Could
you tell why they turned? When we came this way, there was no better
turning anywhere along the way.
I
could not tell.
Could
they have seen something better?
Or
something worse coming this way?
I
think we should make a silent dash for the river bed. When I was back
there beyond the trees, I saw rain clouds coming.
Let’s
go.
Rain
might bring back water to the river. We might not be able to cross
over back to the shack.
Epecially
since we will be walking up river to get to that mountain.
Why
can I not remember just where in the shack we left our swords?
Hear
that? Something big is coming here.
Turn
left.
Contact
Ezra (Unless
you
type
the
author's name in
the subject
line
of the message we
won't know where to send it.)
