Deprived

Chapter 10

Standing before the opened door, Maize gasped, her mouth and eyes opened wide, hypnotized by the beauty before her. It was pure beauty, foreign to her, but coveted. She could already feel her heart healing.

The starkness of the desert wasteland had kept her soul barren. Now she was tasting the beauty of nature at its best, and she knew she would be changed forever. This was the beauty her eyes were created to see. Her soul and body had been strung together to abide in this paradise.

There were trees, many as tall as the building she was in—and taller.

She stepped onto the green grass, scared that she would ruin it. When she looked back at her footsteps, she saw the grass quickly reclaiming its original form.

A chorus of birds singing, sweetened the air and sweetened her heart with gladness.

A tiny yellow bird with two legs hopped on a tree. A little brown animal with a fluffy tail scaled the trunk of another.

She inhaled the fresh, clean air into her lungs, let it stay there for a while then exhaled slowly.

Up ahead, she heard another sound she couldn't quite detect. It wasn't the leaves dancing against each other in the wind. It sounded like water—flowing.

Following the sound, she walked up a grassy hill, put off rolling on the grass for today and touched a tree trunk as she made her way around it, letting the roughness massage the insides of her hand.

The most beautiful array of flowers was sprawled out before her, tiny ones, some in clusters, others as big as the palm of her hand. They were pink and blue and green and red and white. Some held two colors, others three.

A metal rectangle with the word "Wisteria" inscribed on it was stuck below a row of purple flowers.

She felt safe in nature's oasis, wholly protected by the trees and natural vegetation surrounding her. The only other place she ever felt that much safety was in her father's arms. As a little girl, when her father held her, she knew that nothing, not even the mean village guards, could hurt her because Daddy would protect her.

But he didn't. Not long after Zeke left, he abandoned them. Maize was six, Liam, a baby. Maize knew she could never forgive him.

She walked around a collection of pink flowers and came upon a cluster of huge rocks. Between some trees, just on the other side of the rocks, she saw the river flowing effortlessly.

A river in the desert?

There was a severe water shortage in the village, yet here water flowed in abundance.

Between the trees, the vegetation, and all the other beauty she had seen so far, there was no doubt Wisteria had kept the best of the old world for themselves.

She weaved through the trees, touching their branches as she passed by. The water in the river was clear, smooth brown, and black rocks were seen undisturbed beneath the water.

Stepping closer to the river, she bent over, and touched the water, waving her hand in it. It was cold.

She rubbed her fingers against her lips and tasted it. It was sweet.

Leaning against a huge rock, she watched the sunlight as it streamed through the trees.

A cool sensation rested on her face. It wasn't water from the river. She touched her face. It was her own tears.