A Greater Lesson

Chapter 3: The Telling

“They’re gone.”  I searched for a delicate, understanding way to put it.  I hadn’t interacted with humans in years and I thought I forgot sensitivity, but with a real person here, pressing for answers, a woman, I found that soft side I had buried in hatred so long ago.

She pressed her eyebrows together and I saw sincerity and hope in her eyes.  She was looking for something to connect to, I knew it.  I caved and decided to tell her everything, after all, if I wanted to hear what she had to say, I had to tell her my side.

“I was being a fool one day, about three years ago.  I had a petty argument with my father and refused to listen.  My actions were followed by a fateful attack involving some cougars that could’ve been prevented had I listened.” Anger welled up inside me and tears threatened.  Why had I decided to tell her this?  I could have easily lied, or overthrown her when she let her guard down to retrieve my weapons, but I decided to tell her.  Maybe it was the familiarity in her eyes, maybe she understood.  The theory was farfetched and I knew it.  I had let her open the scars, kindling my anger all over again.   I looked up at her and remembered the name she told me hers was: Rivka.  I had to admit it was a beautiful name.  She was delicately stroking Roux’s spine, pretending not to be intently absorbing my words.

“You couldn’t imagine the sickness within me, when I saw-”  My voice cracked and I caught my breath.  She looked up at me, but I dared not meet her gaze, not like this.

“It was the blood, wasn’t it?”

I looked up questioningly, and she clarified herself.

“The blood made you stomach sick, didn’t it?  The sadness was indescribable?”

I wondered how she knew so much about this.  I shook my head.  “I can deal with blood.  It’s just-”

“The knowledge of who it is?”  She stared into my soul with her black eyes.  She was reading my mind and I was curious of how she managed this.

“Yes…”  I stuttered for words.  “H-how do you, are you, I don’t-”

She stood and Roux dropped to his feet.  “Follow me.”

When I didn’t respond she continued.  “I want to show you something.”

I wondered why she kept doing that.  It was actually quite aggravating.  Couldn’t she just tell me what was going on and stop stretching our journey.  I sighed as I began to walk.  Women, I thought.

When we stepped through the beaded doorway to her little hide-out, I noticed things I hadn’t seen before.  The ties of her clothing were decorated with various ornaments.  One held feathers at the end, another held teeth from some creature, I assumed some kind of cat.   She also had bracelets and bands on her arms and ankles.  The most surprising of my findings though, was a curved scar along her jaw line.  How had I missed this before?

We came to a clearing, a little meadow perhaps, and she stopped in the center.   Her eyes fell to the ground where a section was dark-stained. 

“This was my home.”

As I stared aimlessly at the darkened ground, it dawned on me.  I understood now.  She had a similar experience.  The dark color came from ash and I could see a fading outline of a small house.  I looked around the clearing.  I could now plainly see where a tiny dirt path had been and a cornfield and everything a small home would have.  My heart jumped with empathy as I realized the tree was not a hide-out, but rather, her home.  I wanted to invite her to live with me, but right now, I couldn’t speak.

“We are very alike, you, I and Roux.  Not only have we lost something, but it wasn’t just lost… It was taken.”      

I stared at his expression; empathetic, lonely, sorrowful.  He looked at me and puffed out a gust of air.  He shook his head questioningly and put his hands on his hips.