WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

Chapter 6

It took a bit of convincing and pantomiming to get her onto the horse, but once she realized where we were going she was more then happy to comply. I took an empty bag with me so she could put some of her things in it to bring with her. When we reached the stream, she jumped off the horse and ran ahead. When I told her to slow down and wait for me she made a sound that resembled a laugh. I dismounted and followed her over to her tree.

"Come here you." I said as she got ready to climb it. She looked at me with raised eyebrows. I pointed to the ground in front of me. She came over but stands a bit away. "We can't stay long." I pointed to the sun and tap my wrist. She looked at me for a moment then turned away.

I shook my head and sat down near the water. Once comfortable I took out a book. I looked up occasionally and saw her looking through her stuff quite spiritedly. Suddenly, she was sitting in front of me with something in her hands. When I asked her what it was she pushed the bundle toward me. Keeping an eye on her, I unwrapped it and find a book at the center. I look at her and she averted her eyes.

"Is this your book?" She nodded. I dusted off the cover and saw a name.

"This Book Belongs To Akinomy (A-KEY-NO-ME)."

"Is that your name?" I asked her. "Akinomy?" I pronounced it slowly. She nodded in response. "Did you write this?" She shook her head.

I look through the pages and see simple words written in about three different styles. A scraggly one that I took to be Akinomy's, a fairly feminine one and an obviously masculine one. I looked at her and she was picking at the end of her braid. Someone was teaching her how to speak and read.

I looked at the book and saw that her vocabulary would have been extensive if it had continued. I come to the last written entry and see that it ends in the middle of a sentence.

"Why is there no more writing?" I pantomimed as I spoke.

Akinomy got up and made big gestures in an effort to describe whatever it was. From the looks of it, it was a Titan. I close the book and put it in her bag. "We will take this with us. Is there anything else you want to take?"

She bounds into the tree and brings down a handmade basket full of feathers and stones. I put it into the bag and she smiles understanding what was happening. She comes down with more objects ranging from knives to bowls covered in dry paint. After a few more trips she stayed up in the tree. "Akinomy?" I called after a few minutes. "Is everything ok?"

When I got no response, I climbed up into the tree and found her sitting and looking at a picture that was carved into the trunk of the tree. She turned when she heard me approach. .It's almost time to go."

Her eyes looked sad as she turned back to the carving. I looked at it too. It looked to be sunset over a large body of water. "Did you do this?" I asked admiring the piece. Akinomy nodded. I asked her where she saw the scene and she pointed to her head. It was a memory.

There was silence for awhile as we both looked at the art piece. It reminded me of my secret book of the outside. I noticed the level of the sun and took her hand. I pointed to how low the sun was and she understood that it was time to go.

She stood and dusted herself off. When I finally got her out of the tree, she grabbed her spear. I smiled and helped her onto the horse. "I had a feeling you would want that.

I looked at where we were and saw that we would get back in time for dinner. As we rode away from the grove, Akinomy turned around in the saddle and screamed(?). Out of pure shock, I pull the horse to a stop and turn around. It looked as though every bird in that grove took fight and was going in every direction. The sight was, for lack of a better word, beautiful. I looked back at Akinomy who was smiling, obviously pleased with what she had done.

We rode in silence until we reached the base compound. As we arrived, the Commander and Squad Leader were waiting for us.

"Thank goodness you both are ok?" Hanji exclaimed reaching us first.

"Why?. I was confused. "Did something happen?"

"You didn't hear anything while you were out there?" Commander asked helping Akinomy down.

I let out a sigh of relief and told them that it was Akinomy. "As we left the grove," I explained. "The girl decided it would be appropriate to scream and startle all the birds in the grove."

We all look back at Akinomy and see her coddling the horse.

"Did you find anything useful on the trip?" The commander asked.

"Yes sir. I found out her name." Both adults look at me with intrest. "She has had contact with people before. Someone gave her the name Akinomy. It's written on a notebook she showed me. They were teaching her how to speak. Unfortunately titans attacked and she lost contact with them."

There was silence as the three of us stood staring at her. "Well, dinner is being served." Hanji said breaking the silence. "You two go eat."