Seed of a Pine

Chapter 26

I awoke next morning in a mild panic, at first forgetting where the hell I was. But then it all came back to me. I groaned, wishing that instead of laying on a mattress in house that was now my prison, I was waking up next to Voldov again at the beach. Had that vacation really even happened? Had we actually hooked up just two nights ago and committed to a relationship with each other? It felt like a dream. But so did where I was right now.

I looked for a way to tell time and found an old hand clock on the wall above the doorway. It read 9:00. So according to Ansrov's schedule, he was already gone to the university. I sat up, realizing I was still in yesterday's clothes. Feeling itchy from the wool blanket, I headed into the bathroom to shower and use the toilet. When I immerged, I felt a bit more alive, though no less sane. I dressed and went to peak out the door of the office into the hallway. True to his word, Ansrov had left a metal tray with a large lid covering it outside. I raised my eyebrows, carried it inside, and uncovered it. My jaw dropped. There was an incredible spread here, scrambled eggs, sausages, mikli, a Dulcovi type of sweetbread, toast, and...porridge. But it didn't look or smell like any porridge. It looked exactly like kama porridge, a type of starchy root that my people often prepared back home, but which I had never seen in Dulcov to date. I eyed it ravenously, my mouth watering. I hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous day.

I devoured the meal, starting with the kama porridge, which was prepared incredibly accurately to how my people usually prepared it. I wondered at this as I ate my way through the remaining foods. First the semal last night, now the kama. Why did Dean Ansrov have so much familiarity with my country's commodities. Perhaps gifts he had received from visiting professors that he thought I might appreciate? But how then had he known how to prepare kama, a notoriously finicky porridge to those who were unfamiliar. I pondered this for quite some time that morning as I set about grading the undergraduate midterms. It was a simply task, but one which I appreciated, because it kept me busy and kept my mind off what my friends and particularly Voldov were probably doing right about now. Ansrov was probably right. Trying to contact them would only put them into harm's way. But it was killing me not to at least send a quick email to Voldov, even just a couple of words.

I finished the grading around 14:00 and by then I was hungry again, so I explored a bit of the hallway, locating the food pantry and getting some snacks. By the time I heard Ansrov return, I was in a stupor, my brain exhausted from listening to radio broadcast after radio broadcast of bad news. The Dulcovi government had by now put out the story that Ansrov had predicted, about the four FREP students being terrorists. By and large, various reports across the country suggested that most of my fellow FREP students had been detained by the military, in the name of their own safety. The reports had been vague in the morning, but were starting to sharpen. Huge numbers of troops were being diverted and deployed to the border, in order to protect against additional attacks, perhaps from Turscov. The prime minister of Dulcov had called for a summit with Turscov's president and cabinet, to be performed online so that neither party found themselves over the border. The dead and wounded from the bombings had been tallied. All told, 17 were dead, and 42 injured. It was the worst casualty report since the beginning of the War eight years ago. Families and friends of those effected were orchestrating demonstrations and thousands of people were taking to the streets in nearly every city in Dulcov, calling for explanations, retributions, and retaliations.

Ansrov's footsteps on the stairs came to me after a few moments. He knocked on the office door and then entered, carrying a bag of takeaway. I stood up as he entered and bowed reflexively. He smiled at that. He look tired, exhausted really. He headed to his desk and deposited the food, then glanced at the stack of graded exams.

"Thank you for working on these. I've brought voko, if you're hungry."

I nodded and took the seat opposite from his as he carefully placed the papers in a drawer and then opened the bag. He handed me a box and I opened it and began to eat the noodles ravenously. He followed suit. For a time we just ate in silence. Finally, I asked, "how is it at the university?"