𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐓𝐄𝐀 ✔︎ (ongoing)

|25| strange whispers

I wake up feeling groggy. I've been asleep for a whopping twelve hours.

As I get up, I notice everyone is downstairs. There is a burst of laughter and lots of clanking from cups and cutlery.

I groan while I walk to the bathroom and then I sway downstairs lazily.

"Good morning, night owl," Saleh chuckles.

He hands me a plate of bread, butter and honey and a cup of mint tea.

"Thanks," I say and then slump down on the sofa next to Sam.

"How come you've been asleep so long?" Sam asks with a full mouth.

"I guess I was tired." I sigh.

Saleh claps his hands, excitedly. "I'm going to take everyone out for a barbeque," he says.

One of his daughters wails something to him in Arabic and then Saleh nods sympathetically.

"Nora is staying home," Saleh explains.

We all get up and get ready to leave. Naima, Saleh's wife, covers Nora with a blanket on the sofa and places a cup of mint tea on the little table next to her. She kisses her forehead and then puts on her coat.

"Naima always takes time getting ready to go out," Saleh whispers.

Sara, Sam and Marina laugh.

Naima sprays some perfume on her wrists and clothes and then puts a layer of sun cream on her face. We stand by the door, waiting until she finishes applying kohl in front of the mirror.

Then she takes ages putting on her high-heeled boots until Saleh sighs and bends down to do her other foot.

We are finally ready and leave before Amina, the maid, locks the door after us.

Saleh grabs a grill from the shed and some skewers. We follow him down a path to a man selling raw meat.

Naima and Saleh greet the man like old friends and they bargain for some meat and bread. It seems as if the man selling the meat wants a small amount of money whilst Saleh argues to give him more money than needed.

In the end, Saleh wins the bargain and we walk up to a flowery hill. Saleh places the barbecue grill and starts cooking the meat and placing them in the bread.

"While I do this, you can all run around and do anything you want," says Saleh.

Marina, Sara and Saleh's other daughter wander toward a pair of baby goats whilst Naima and Saleh have a conversation.

Sam looks at me as if he wants to say something but is debating not to.

"What?" I grumble after a while.

"Why do you look so glum?" He flicks a strand of hair off my forehead.

I scoff. "Kind of can't wait to go back and look for the herb. Have you forgotten about that?"

"You should hear the motto, 'live the moment', it has inspired me to never worry about the past or future. Only worry about now. And there is nothing to worry about now."

"There is something to worry about," I reply darkly with squinted eyes. "Richard and his gang could be after us. They could appear any moment."

"Don't be silly." Sam squirms. "They're not that advanced."

I glare at him. "You're not taking this seriously. They're a group of ruthless criminals who will stop at nothing to get what they want. And we're just sitting here, enjoying a barbecue, while we could be victimised any second."