A Dream by Noon.

Chapter 21

Time is different here. It passes. There is movement, of wind, of trees, and of people, but time feels different in a way that is hard to describe. I wonder what is happening at home, but not as much as I did initially. More with a curiosity than the panic I had felt in the beginning. The longer I am here, the more home feels cloudy, dreamlike, compared to the vividness of the Mit'Awi.

I think I'm beginning to feel at peace. The work I have been doing with Ama has made that possible. That, and the separation from my other life. 'We all have more than one space that we occupy throughout our existence. Many many spaces actually.' She told me. This was one of mine. Soon I would return to the other, healed. Initially, when she told me that, I still thought I was dreaming. Then, I didn't believe her. I just wanted out. Now, I know what she says to be true. I feel it inside of me.

During the day, I pick fruit in the sun, in the field. And I read the instruction manual. The others roam around as well, children playing. They don't pay attention to me anymore. I'm no longer new. We don't talk though. No one talks to each other here. It's not forbidden. The children laugh and giggle as they play. It just doesn't help in our treatment and it's understood, so no one talks. I like it. I love it actually. The peacefulness of it all.

More days pass and I think less and less about home. I'm told that when I return it will be as if I never left, and so I don't worry about time passing, I just focus on the moment. The smell of the flowers, the water that runs slowly in the woods.

Today I can tell something has changed. The children chatter and hide the way I remember they did when I first arrived. The older guests continue to read and garden, but they look up more frequently. I do the same, wondering if something is about to happen.

It's late in the day and I'm sitting in the garden bed, plucking cherry tomatoes and eating them, when I see him. The children run and hide behind a stone wall and peak out from behind it. Others who are walking glance over and walk in the opposite direction to avoid him. I see his dark hair, tall figure, and I can't understand. My heart thumps loudly, almost painfully in my chest. The children now look at me and I'm sure they've heard it beating. Ama, who walks beside him, turns and looks in my direction briefly with a curious expression, and then puts her hand on his back and guides him in the other direction, into the building. Ryan, I scream in my head and this time they both pause for a moment, but only that before walking inside.