I walk in the boiling hot sun through the melting pot of the island, moving quickly over the crowded bridge to escape the scalding summer sun sitting high in the sky. As I rushed to the huge concrete building up ahead covered in thick green vines my ears and eyes are tugged in every direction. Vendors loudly and enthusiastically shout to passersby from their respective pockets on each side of the bridge about their products and the people answered almost as loudly haggling about the prices, the colorful tarpaulins the only thing protecting them from the sun. I slowed down just scanning and being tempted by the different products but not getting too close for fear that I may be pulled into buying things I don't need.
"Can't make your belly rule you" I heard my mother's calm voice loud and clear in my ear, I should send her a letter when I settle. I can send it with Haraka, my mind wonders to the donkey I left eating grass on the outskirts of the city. Good thing I left him too, it's hard enough navigating through the crowd myself much less with a donkey.
I began looking around filtering the different people, their race, their tribe, and their place in the market and it seems to be just like the books in the grand library state; the socioeconomics of the country is greatly influenced by the Ethiks who bring their differing cultures in one place causing a burst of excitement, known as the Novacell Market the melting pot of the land.
Everyone comes to Novacell to buy goods, trade or deal with business in the square. I see the Akan women walking around with their baskets on their heads, swinging their hips with the dark, shimmering skin unique to our race and the Hakka should be mostly the ones selling in the huge wholesale buildings further in the centre of the city but the Cepez people dominate the bridges and roadsides, their strong accents and even stronger personalities get them returning customers. If you're really lucky you might see the pale face of the gin dragging themselves drunkenly through the crowd, none today though. I hear the jangling jewels and sing-songy voice of the Trin people, they stay on the bridges and roads like the Cepez but it doesn't matter, their jewels are so precious and face paint so colorful that people would travel miles through the Dunali Desert to get them-
I tense and bawl my fists when my arm is tugged towards the road. I set my feet in place and straighten my back whipping my head around and I'm met with a sweaty taxi man.
'You ready?' he breathed out with droopy eyes.
I shook my head, pulling my arm back as he released me and turned to someone else.
I feel my eyebrows furrow as I watched him move, dragging his feet with his arms swinging lifelessly at his sides.
"Wapm to him?" I whisper, turning my eyes to the road.
I listen to the heavy thudding of the bare feet of the other taximen as they run around with passengers through the market madness. They move quickly yet their eyes seem blank as they go about their business.
'Choo! Choo!'
A heavy rhythmic rumble blankets the market sounds. The bridge shook violently and I was sure that it would collapse but everyone just shouted over the noise.
'Ol timer' I whispered, weaving through the crowd to stand between two vendors at the side of the bridge. I peaked over watching the ancient machine creeping slowly along its tracks but with so much power that wouldn't diminish anytime soon. The long body of the ancient rusty being slowly disappeared under the bridge and I watched until all that was left behind were the equally rusty tracks that it will be returning to in the next four hours if I remember correctly.
My eyes trail along the tracks until they land upon a tunnel. My eyes draw along the vines twisting possessively around the bridges like huge green snakes. I'm sure if you were to chop through them with a machete the whole city would crumble. I look up to find what I could only imagine was an exact reflection of the market scene of the bridge on which I stand. I stare in fascination watching the chaos take place. My head twists to see the many bridges that connect to the buildings in the square of the city.
How can one place hold this much noise? I'm afraid the city might explode from the sheer volume.
In "The Risen", you can surely hear a pin drop from a hill over. It was comforting though; hearing the rustling leaves, the rivers rushing and the cicadas singing for their mates and if you listen closely enough you could hear the bees asking the flowers for a bit of nectar.
But sometimes the silence was maddening.
Enough to drive you crazy and it was especially so in the library and I was sure that our librarian, Niru had already succumbed to the madness that comes with the perpetual silence of the underground library. I often walk in on him having full conversations with dead air, the only way to stay sane is to fill your thoughts with books.
'Grater cake fifty dolla'
A loud familiar voice breaks my train of thought bringing me right back between the vendors looking at train tracks in Novacell.
'Coconut cake fifty dolla'
That voice again.
My body turns fully in the direction of the voice and there in front of me was a very tall and slender girl with short, thick dirty blond hair and tanned freckled skin. I could only see her side profile as she lifted her hand as she traded a coconut cake for money. Her name is on the tip of my tongue...
'Mina'
Her head turned in my direction sharply and her even sharper yellow eyes landed on mine. Her face is serious, calculating for a second then her face softens and her eyes brighten with recognition and a smile.
'Imara' she projects and moves swiftly towards me as I smile moving towards her, Feeling a bit more comfortable in the madness of the market.
