Ruth: Reimagined

Overcome

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Overcome
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One night, Ruth stayed up after Naomi retired to bed and sat by the table, where a candle was lit. She stared at the flame for a long time in a deep silence. The kind that pulled from the wells of her heart. It eventually burnt low, the wax pooled, flame flickering, then darkness. In a million split seconds, Ruth found that her life drifted onward, a slow unraveling of time that one barely noticed until, at last, only echoes remained.

Before dawn, Ruth was up, preparing for the day, fixing breakfast for Naomi, counting the amount of money that they had made, and all that they still lacked. Trying to distribute the little food they had, accordingly, throughout the days, so they wouldn't go hungry. After washing by the river, when she'd step back into the house, Naomi would be up, and to her surprise, everyday that it happened, the woman would meet her in a short, warm embrace.

Leaving for the barley field, Naomi would wish her well, and she'd worry over leaving her alone, fear and pain still pricking her heart. Eventually, she'd force herself to leave.

The journey to the field was quite long on foot. When she arrived, a few maidens and quite a number of harvesters would be there- greetings, embraces, and then she was working, gleaning the fields for Barley. At times, she noticed the harvesters that worked in front of her, pulling tall stalks of barley, and instead of carrying it with them, and adding it to their pile, they'd lay it on the floor gently. This happened a couple of times. And each time, when Ruth reached the purposely broken off barley, she'd wonder why.

Boaz didn't come every day. He was a wealthy man, she was told by Rivka, one of the maidens. He had different fields to tend to, dealings to make, at the gate of Bethlehem, as he sat among the judges and elders. But he came on most days, and on those days, the atmosphere in the field would shift. Gratitude and love would be poured out on one man, and Ruth witnessed the power of influence he had.

Ruth held him in high regard. Her eyes, no matter how much she'd force it not to, would always drift to Boaz. He stood tall among other men. There was a certain warmth in his rich green eyes, and when he smiled, it drew the second longer. As he talked with Abel, he'd stroke his beard, a hardened look on his face, but the conversations would always end in laughter.

His eyes would always drift towards her, too. And he would hold his gaze on her, a thoughtful look on his face, and something else she couldn't place. She was always the first to break eye contact.

It was nerve-wracking and different-for lack of better words. As the days drew on, she grew fond of his stare, with no answers as to why-only the evidence of the smile that would grace her face, the moment it happened, and the smile that would grace his face, the moment he caught it.

One of the other things she grew fond of were the maidens, especially Dalia, Tamar, and Rivka. They were the loveliest of people and the sweetest of friends. On a certain day, as they playfully argued and debated over, the weirdest of things- Ruth's cheeks had hurt from how much she was smiling, how much she was living.

In communicating with them, it felt like the sun was within her, and its rays would break forth within her, in moments when they talked, laughed, and at times even disagreed heavily on a lot of things.

She mouthed the words friend a couple of times, as she traveled back home, and even as she slept next to Naomi. At one time, Naomi, who was still awake, caught the whisper.

"What'd you say?"

Ruth flushed, turning and wrapping her arms around Naomi. "I said 'friend'. I think," a thoughtful pause," after a long time- years even. I have a friend. I've got friends."