Foamstone

Shih

Written by CraigCooper9

The soft sounds of dripping water filled the pitch-black void. The droplets' final shrieks echoed through space, toppling over each other until the hum of silence drowned them out.

Until a week ago, not a soul had ever entered this cavern.

At the base of the void, the water surface broke with a gasp, and a black-maned girl emerged from beneath. She clambered blindly in the void until she found the rough rock at the edge of the lake. She hoisted herself out of the water, trembling in agony at the cold, stagnant air sucking the warmth from her bare skin.

She unfastened the leather bag slung over her shoulder and procured an oil lamp. A match fizzled and transferred its light to the lamp, which the girl held above her head. Her hazel eyes narrowed as she locked onto a seam in the wall. White shimmering specks radiated along the eroded wall, as if someone had painted the night sky onto the rock just for her to admire.

Sharp stones smattered the ground, making the girl glad she'd left her shoes on. She hopped over a rickety stalagmite and reached the seam. The foamy rock crumbled under the blows of her pickaxe, and she gave a satisfied hum at the weight of the dislodged pebble in her hand. She shoved the sample and pickaxe back into her bag, raced back to the water's edge, snuffed and stowed her lamp, and dove back into the water.

I am so glad that I know this tunnel blindfolded, she mused at the darkness carpeting her eyes.

She didn't have to work from memory for long, before blurry light reached her eyes. She ascended above the water line and breathed deeply. She waded along the river's path toward a tree from which a blue rob hung. Desperate to put her shivers to rest, she threw the robe over herself and scurried through the bush. The sunlight beamed brightly through the canopy and quickly dried her robe. The warmth only exemplified her smile at the haul in her leather bag.

The girl hopped over earth-breaking roots and ducked under low branches on her way over the hill. At the foot of the hill she could smell the smoke from the village, and it made her run even faster. She hit the path leading northward and clambered upwards to the clutch of huts amid the greenery. On her way to the mill, she ignored the frowns and shrieks of the girls leaving for the southern rice fields.

The girl burst through the doors of the mill and hollered, "Father, I have it!"

A weather-beaten face looked up from the workbench with a wide smile. "Ah! Yue! Show me!"

The girl named Yue slammed the door shut and scrambled over to the workbench. She ripped open her bag and dropped the pebble on the table. Father's eyes flashed with joy.

"Yue, you were right," he exclaimed. He brushed his various geode samples aside and put the pebble right under his magnifying glass. Those bushy eyebrows shot up the length of his forehead at the shimmering ore. "I have never seen rock like this," he marvelled.

The pair fawned over the sample with bright eyes until the clack of a batten against weft broke through the silence. The woman working the loom nearby straightened out the hem of her green robe and mumbled, "If only he spent as much time choosing suitors as he did choosing rocks."

Yue swivelled and sighed, "Mother, I thought you supported his interests."

"I did," grunted Mother as she slid the shuttle through the warp. With a snide glare she added, "When he was picking for the millstone."

Father didn't even look up from his bench as he bellowed, "And that millstone hasn't needed replacing since! So, there!"

Mother clapped her hands and snapped, "Yue's finished with your errands, now she has to do mine. Come on now! To work!"