I've Found You

Chapter 4

Mala stared at the girl from across the room. She lay motionless in her make-shift bed. After a restless night, Blue had finally drifted into sleep in the early peak of dawn. Of course, Mala couldn't sleep. He sat in his chair jumping at any rustle or sound outside the hut. It was dangerous to sleep at night, as he would soon have to tell Blue. He didn't want to though; there was something about the girl that made Mala feel like he should protect the innocent child from the world. You have to be prepared to defend yourself at any time between sundown and sunrise. Mala usually slept during the day, but surely Blue would notice his drowsiness during the light hours. What happens, happens, he guessed.

He ventured closer to the sleeping girl, her porcelain skin and platinum blonde hair. Who did she remind him of? Something right in the back of his mind lit up, a memory from long ago, but what was it? Something about her green eyes, her thin and precise lips. Who was it? Blue started to wake. Mala hurriedly moved over to the other side of the room and gazed out the window as if in deep thought.

"Morning," Blue smiled at him from her bed, her eyes adjusting to the light. Mala turned to face her.

"You're awake," Mala tried to cover up the fact that he was hovering over her ten seconds ago in case she had suspected him.

"What's on the agenda for breakfast?" She felt comfortable enough to be open with Mala and share her opinion.

"Only what you can find," Mala raised his eyebrows.

"Do you mean we have to go out there! After all the horrible and terrifying stories last night!" Blue's voice was squeaky and unsure but it seemed to amuse Mala.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as you may think, although you will have to venture further one day. I mean, I'm not going to rescue you're colleagues for you." Blue gave him a quizzical look. "C'mon, I'll show you."

Blue followed Mala out the door rubbing her eyes and focusing on what had happened in the past 24 hours. She stretched her arms out wide and rested them back onto her sides. She felt the lump in her pocket. She would examine the pocket knife more carefully later in the serene privacy of the jungle.

Mala curved around the side of the house and out to the back. They walked for about ten minutes. Blue tried to step in Mala's footprints to occupy herself. He came to an abrupt halt and looked behind him at Blue's bare feet.

"What?" Blue frowned.

"You prefer to walk bare foot?"

"Yes, I like the feel of the cold earth under my toes. I've never really thought about it much. I guess I got it from my mum." Blue was still frowning at the odd question.

"You've got long toes, like mine. That of a monkey's."

Blue giggled at the thought of herself being a monkey-man like Mala. She looked up to see his concerning face. "Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you."

"No, no, it's perfectly fine," he chuckled himself, "I'm so shut off from the world I need a bit of humour in my life."

"Why are you?"

"Why am I what?"

"Why are you so shut off from the world? Why haven't you tried to venture further? Surely it's not impossible, you can talk and walk, and that's all you need to go places, right?"

"You are correct indeed. But you see, there is only one place I would ever like to be, but I am no longer welcome in that place." Blue and Mala were now walking side by side, and she could see tears welling behind his eyes, but Blue was a curious girl. She had to venture further.

"Where is that place, exactly? I can't imagine you would ever be unwanted. Were you a criminal?" Having said that, Blue suddenly realised how stupid she was being right now. She was in the middle of a jungle full of flesh eating animals, following a talking ape that is leading her probably to her death. Mala notice Blue shrinking.

"No! No, nothing like that. Don't be worried. It's just, I made a huge mistake long ago, before I lived here, before I turned into this creature, when I had a life, and a great one," Blue didn't want to interrupt, it seemed that Mala wasn't so much speaking to her, but bringing up memories that he had pushed away a long time ago. Mala was doing this for himself. He continued, "I had a wife. We lived in a beautiful house, in a friendly town. I had just been told the news a big and exciting event was coming and I had been offered to come. I rushed home to tell my wife all about what had happened. I found her in the bathroom crying,"

"What happened!?" Blue gasped.

"Exactly what I thought. And then I looked closer. They were happy tears. She beamed up at me through her glassy eyes. "I'm pregnant." I picked her off the ground and swung her into my arms. That's the last time either of us were truly happy."