I was in my room until nighttime, trying to sleep, but it didn't work. I kept tossing and turning, getting up and pacing the room, as if I sensed something wrong. I had time to rethink all my thoughts, visualize my future and remember the past, looking at myself in the mirror in the darkness. I looked so mysterious and beautiful as if I was meant for the dark time of day. Unable to bear it, I finally left the room and went down to the street. It was chilly here, but all the women's robes that were so favored, and more importantly warm in our village, protected me. I was already wishing I had stayed at Drake's. He and I would have had fun, despite my insomnia.
"Where are you going?", The guard at the entrance called out to me.
I turned around, but didn't say anything. Just shrugged my shoulders and then continued on my way.
"I'm talking to you, woman! Women are forbidden to leave the settlement at night.", he followed me. What a nuisance.
"And the men?", I asked. "I'm a man. I'm just wearing a skirt. It's comfortable. I sleep like this. You didn't know? Try it, you'll like it."
He shut up for a minute while he was taking his time to process what I just said. "What? Don't make a fool of me! Come back or I'll have to take you back by force!", he started to catch up to me. I turned around, showed my middle finger, and then accelerated to a run. A third shadow ran after us, but I didn't look back. Another guard, probably.
"Liv!", someone shouted. I turned at the familiar voice, and the guard threw me to the ground, pinning me down. The weight of him knocked all the air out of my lungs.
"Hey! Get off me, asshole!", I screamed.
"I said no women allowed!", repeated the guard.
"Yeah, we get it. Now get away from her.", said the third silhouette. I strained my eyes and saw Drake's face clearly. I was surprised as well as pleased. His emotions told me he was very worried, and angry. Not at me, but at the guard.
"What are you doing here, boy? Go home and get some sleep.", growled the guard.
"We're going with this girl to water the moon potatoes.", he blurted out. I wanted to laugh, but I held back. It was the stupidest thing he could have said. The guard glared at him, blinking several times. Apparently he wasn't very smart. I stood up slowly as he got off me and started dusting off my clothes.
"What moon potatoes?", he asked after a minute. "It's a full moon, see? Time to water the moon potatoes, you dummy! Liv, let's get out of here. He doesn't understand anything.", Drake pretended to say as I laughed, and then he led me in the other direction, away from the distant guard. He never realized how much of a joke we'd played on him.
The moon was really full, casting light on the flat beds of fields and trees, making everything mysterious. It didn't frighten me in the slightest. My skin glistened and shone under the moon, as if the moon were my patroness. There were many stars that twinkled, surrounding the moon.
"So what are you doing here?", Drake asked when we'd gotten far enough away. "I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd go for a walk.", I shrugged. "When did you get here? How did the operation go?"
YOU ARE READING
Let There Be Darkness
Fantasy"No. I don't want to," I answered. Our conversation didn't go well, because I wanted to be silent, and he wanted to talk. It seemed to me that it had become even lighter around, although the night was only deepening. It couldn't be dawn already, cou...
