The Scream of Tribulation

Chapter 25

-Day 22
(Yasu Takumara)      

    Heaving and coughing, Bella collapses to her knees, feebly attempting to catch her breath.  "How are you two not exhausted?" She asks with grand curiosity.
    "It's just a hill young lady," my uncle replies shortly.
    "A hill that has been elevating for ten minutes!"
    "What is- elohvay teen," Rinji asks, brutally butchering the word.
    "She means we have been climbing for a while, uncle," I explain briskly to him. He nods his head, now understanding what she means.
    "No worry, we are almost at the top, I can feel it!"
    Bella groans as she struggles to bring herself back o her feet. "I don't see how you two can endure so much without a drop of sweat!"
    The both of us ignoring her comment, Rinji and I set eyes on the same thing at the same time. We both scurry towards what we see on the ground to find exactly what we needed: fresh, green, moist moss. Bumps and layers of the luscious grass become more dense as we search our surroundings, and the higher we climb the green hill, the more we find. In pure ecstasy, I lay down gently on the bed of vibrant throne of rootless fauna, soaking in the great comfort it brings me. "Perfect," I whisper in my native language.
    "It's just moss mate," Bella says, looking down at me with her eyebrows stern.
    Rinji gives a deep poke on the chest of Bella with a walking stick. " Wrong. More than just moss. Moss means water nearby. I think we have found our set spot. Highly elevated, so the mosquitos and bugs go away, we have the higher grounds of predators, and-- there is water nearby!"
"Ah, but water won't be a problem for a while girls," Rinji leaves more confusion into the conversation. "I have very bad neck pains, and they worsen when a storm is coming! You two will be well hydrated."
"Why wouldn't you uncle?"
His ebony eyes stare with warmth in them.  A faint smile crawls behind his thin, white beard. In our native language, he speaks. "There is a task for me at stake. I'll only be away for a week at most."
"Task at hand?" I respond in Japanese. "You must give me more detail."
"It's nothing I cannot handle. I'll be observing the camps on the islands for a few days. I will see which of the two is safer for the girl."
"You don't mean-"
"You are a people person, I understand this, but outsiders of our blood is nothing but a weakness.  An anchor. Bait for those revolting bug giants!"
I was offered no chance to argue as he silences me with his quarter staff kissing my lips. A hint of dirt could be tasted.  "My decisions have never failed us before tans they won't now. And remember:"
In unison, we both recite " Don't let the wind take control; you are the current." With a kiss on my modem he spins around and recedes deeper into the woods.
" Where is he going?" Bella asks in a panic.
"He will be back. He's just going on another hike to find himself... again." Reluctant to tell her the true reason of his leave, I keep quiet.

After my uncle's disappearance, I set up simple shelters for Bella and me while she gathers wood for a small fire. The two of us also picked small berries from. Nearby bush. I confirmed the berries were safe to eat after inspecting the leaves and vines of the shrub.  We reside in a spacious crater-like area that lies on the other side of the hill we previously scaled. Nothing but hills surround this field. Only a dispersed few trees rest here, fruitful amounts of shrubs bask in the crater, and a translucent pond of fresh water lies in the center of the crater filled with ivy and grass blades. A selfish act upon my uncle's part not to consider bringing people to this safe land, other than driving them away, I think to myself bitterly.
"Yasu," Bella calls from a distance. "I need your help with this fire if you don't mind."
I stroll towards Bella to see bundles of rotten branches with leaves of multiple shades of green masking the wet branches. Disappointed with the poorly constructed fire, I destroy the pile with one quick sweep of my foot. Bella, crouched by the pile of ruined sticks, purses her lips tight and widens her eyes. Her face radiates a scarlet hue. "Wet things do not burn." I pursue to help her build a fire correctly, gathering dryer twigs nearby.
Bella diverts her eyes away from me as I do most of the work. "Sorry I'm not much of a help. Never learned any survival tactics growing up. I was a city child."
I scrounge for a response, oblivious of what to say after. "Where do you live?" I ask, not truly concerned of where she lived.
"Birmingham i England. Lived in flats my whole life. Chain food markets were always around and handed to me. Never had to survive like this. What about you? How did you learn to do all of this stuff?"
I become the person to avoid eye contact. "My uncle. My uncle taught me. " I mutter lowly.
"Your uncle, eh? Where are a parents at?"
My eyes shoot in her direction for a split second and they fall to the ground again. "Never seen them. Uncle says they didn't want me."
"Harsh. I'm sorry Ya-"
"Fine!" I exclaim louder than I meant to. "It-it's fine. Beer knew them anyway. Doesn't matter." I corrects my tone and continued gathering dead leaves and dried moss without saying a word.

The rest of the night was silent for the most part. Only a whisper of leaves and a swarm of birds that frolic among the few trees in the crater. As dusk sets in, I finish setting my last snare trap and poked the flames before retreating to my private shelter opposing Bella's shelter I assisted in creating. I pick at a pile of berries that lies next to my hut upon a sheet of flat green leaves. I pop a berry in my mouth as I ponder upon what my parents look like. Is it my mother who gifted me with my perfectly shaped almond eyes, or was it my father? Am I short because they are short? Or are they tall and I am short? Did they see me as a weak child? Did they give me away because I am weak? My head floods with these thoughts, brewing for a restless evening and a brawl with myself to sleep. As the bright moon rises, my eyes shut, and I dream of hugging my parents goodbye before leaving, but I'm not sure where I am going. The rest was nothing but a blur.