“Ooh, you're awake, huh. I brought you some food.”
An old man come by with a bowl of food and a glass of tea, Kandita try to lift herself to a sitting position despite the difficulty caused by her wound.
“Oh, oh ,oh! Hold it there, I'll help you.”
The old man put down the food and tea on the table and helping Kandita up.
“It still hurts, doesn't it? Want me to feed you?”
“N-No, I'm fine.”
“Ahah, I see, yes. Here, be careful. Eat slowly, okay?”
The old man handing her the food, it looks like a sago soup but with a clear color. This is the first time Kandita have seen this kind of food, and she's hesitant to eat it because she have no idea what it was made of.
The old man noticed Kandita's hesitation, he smiled playfully before telling her.
“Hehe, do you know what this food is?”
“… No.”
“Swallow's nest, from a small cave near the shore. This is what we fishermen eat when the catch is low and the weather is bad. Try it, taste sweet~”
Kandita scooping up some of the soup and sip it, it's tasteless and slightly salty. Then she take a bite of the bird's nest, which is soft and chewy, sweet and blended well with the salty broth.
It's the first time Kandita have tasted food like this, like the chewiness of ongol-ongol cake but softer and unique, comfortable to chew because it's not fibrous.
Seeing Kandita eating her food happily, the old man smiled before leaving the room.
“Just put it on the table when you're done. I'll get my boat ready, you just rest more.”
“Okay, thank you very much.”
“I don't know what happened to you, but I think your condition will improve within a day, since the wound is not very deep.”
Kandita confused by the old man's words as he left the room, for she sure have been stabbed through her left abdomen, it certainly could not have been a less deep kind of wound.
Kandita pause her food for a moment, unwrap her shawl, seeing the stab wound on her abdomen has shrunk, feel the penetrated wound on the back of her abdomen but it has closed and dry.
It start a question, how long had Kandita been unconscious.
After the meal.
While sipping the tea, Kandita inadvertently feel the old man's emotions. Kandita witness some of the old man's memories, of his son who have married and get to the capital for trading, they also have a teenage son who make him the grandson of the old man, lived with the grandfather and is currently taking care of the chickens at home.
Kandita paused at the dregs of her tea, also realizing that her ability to hear other people's mind is now either uncontrollable or developing.
Also, Kandita realized that she's currently in the old man's fishing hut, not his house.
“Eh? Who? Ah-!”
*Crash!*
Suddenly hearing the old man's voice and a loud crash against the wall startled and worried Kandita.
Kandita feel she must go to check what have happened to the old man, she get out of bed carefully and walking while holding on to the wall.
Coming out of her room, Kandita see the shaft of a javelin through the wall, and the javelin is covered in blood. Kandita panicked and walking faster, until she get outside and find the old man beside the hut, his chest stabbed by what probably the same javelin that have stabbed Kandita.
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
Nyai Rara Kidul
Historical Fictionᮑᮤ ᮛᮛ ᮊᮤᮓᮥᮜ᮪ Penulis: JoeTIC Ilustrator: JoeTIC ⚠️English available⚠️ Kandita, seorang gadis dengan kulit cerah mempesona, putri tunggal dari Raja Munding Wangi, pemimpin Kerajaan Galuh. Walaupun kecantikannya melimpah, Kandita tidak mewarisi takhta...
