Chasing Nadiya

Dream 3: Of Memories

“A memory can be brought to life within a dream.”

-          N

We were climbing again. We had been climbing for the past three days frankly and aside from short naps, there was no rest. I was so tired. Blisters covered my poor aching feet, covered in the new hiking boots Mr. Nguyen had suggested for me. Exercise is seriously way too much effort. Far ahead of me, Ngũ was trudging her way easily through the rugged terrain.

“Why can’t we use the road again?” I asked through weary breaths.

“This is shorter.” Ngũ was all business. Once we had left the home camp at the base of the mountain, she had taken charge. Not only had she organized the route, the food and the rest stations, she had also acquired some slightly over-priced hiking gear for me. Though, clearly she had failed to take into account my lack of physical ability and motivation. “Talking sometimes help.”

Was she trying to be nice? “Um, okay...” I crawled next to her as she calmly handed me a water bottle. “What would you like to know about?”

“Foreigner has family? Why alone?”

“Oh, that’s easy. My family doesn’t want me to go on this trip.” I panted. I had finally come to terms with the fact that she refused to call me anything other than ‘foreigner’. “They want me to stay shut in my room for the next two months and enrol in a local university.” I didn’t feel comfortable sharing everything about my life with a virtual stranger. I mean, I was probably already entrusting her with my life, but there were still some things that I considered private.

“You have sister? Brother?”

“Yes.” This was precisely the problem with random conversation. Seemingly harmless comments and questions could be incredibly insensitive without you knowing. How was I supposed to tell a stranger that I had a brother, his name was Richard and he was a figment of my mother’s imagination? How was I supposed to bring up the fact that my sister Nisha took heavy medication just to maintain a semblance of sanity? Who am I supposed to tell that the only reason we put up with Leila’s weirdness is because we were terrified of what it meant? That she might have it too. The past three years have been hell on earth as my family tried and failed again and again to pick itself up. I stood up, signalling I was done with this conversation.

After travelling a couple more miles in silence, she broke it with another question: “Why so much sleeping?”

This information was harmless enough. Besides, she should probably know this if she was going to be leading me places. I had actually intended to bring this up, but...I forgot? Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I responded carefully. “I have a condition called narcolepsy. Basically, it means I need a lot more sleep than a normal person would. But I sometimes wake up at weird times too...I know it’s a little weird. I usually have a bunch of pills I have to take to stay awake but I left them at home.” As Ngũ seemed ready to comment on my carelessness, I quickly added, “Can I ask you a question now?”

“Okay.” Her face was inscrutable.

I hadn’t actually thought this through and decided to opt for the one she’d asked me. “What about your family?”

“I have only father. He do business. Danger business.”

I considered asking her what that meant, but decided against it. Escorting people into the wilderness seemed dangerous enough for me. Besides hadn’t Mr. Nguyen just come back from some sort of trip? In a weak attempt to keep the conversation going, I changed the subject. “Well, your English is pretty good. Where are you from then?”