Talking to the Moon ✔

-Chapter: Forty- Seven-

The luscious greenery of the oasis surprised me. I had never seen something so mesmerizing in my seventeen years. The way the date palm trees swayed gently with the breeze was hypnotic. I could watch them for hours without blinking. But what surprised me most was the water, so rich and blue, reflecting the sun's rays brilliantly.  The beauty was too much to take in, a bit too surreal.

What was extremely extraordinary of the oasis that if right at the centre of nowhere. If  one walked from the oasis and stared at the horizon, all one would see was sand. Heaps after heaps of red-brown soft sand where eyes could see. What was stranger was that there was no one in the oasis apart from us. We had expected a people -- some help -- but so far we had found no one.

"Ayah," Laia's face blocked my view and I smiled as I sat up. She returned my smile and handed me water and some dates they had taken, "This will help you recover."

I nodded as I put one date in my mouth, the richness of it's taste clouding my senses. I closed my eyes as I let it overtake me.

"I need to talk to you." Laia said sitting beside me.

I opened my eyes and nodded.

"I..." she hesitated, "I know this will be difficult but please cooperate with me."

I nodded again unsure where this was going.

"Did you see or feel something when you were..." she hesitated again glancing sideways at nothing in particular, "Gone?"

I nodded. The feeling haunted me at night when I was left alone in my own thoughts. The darkness made my back tingle and warned me of something. I didn't know what.

"Was it before or after the noise we heard?" She bit her lower lip and visibly shuddered.

I flipped my hand towards right.

"After?" She asked.

I nodded.

"What..." she seemed to be choosing her words carefully. "What did you feel?"

How could I explain to her what I felt? I needed someone to translate for me and I wasn't even sure I could explain properly with sign. How could I explain the voice that made me shudder, the darkness that suffocated me. The very feeling of floating in a dark abyss. How could I explain that it was my brother who had rescued me from there as he always did. His voice, the feeling that he evoked inside of me.

In response, I simply blinked at her.

She smiled sadly, "Did you ever ask God why  you were not allowed to talk?"

I had! I had many time and I had never received an answer. It was something that troubled me occasionally but I never let it bother me too much. I always told myself that I shouldn't worry of things that were not in my control - a rule that I broke quite often.

However when I responded to her, I lied. I shrugged indifferently.

She smiled genuinely, "You are too strong. It is scary."

I gave her grin that I hoped looked genuine. I wasn't strong, I was anything but strong. I just knew how to maintain my facade, the way Omar did.

"Right," Laia said standing up, "The boys will be back soon."

__

The temperature dipped surprisingly in the night, something that I hadn't noticed before. I welcomed the cold breeze with open arms and relaxed as it washed past my face. It was a nice contrast to the hot winds that I had experienced a few days back.

I sat up as I stared at the night sky filled with stars. I had never seen so many stars in the sky before. It filled with awe and wonder. Beside me, Laia slept peacefully curled up. How could she look beautiful while sleeping was beyond me? I didn't even want to know how I looked like.

I stood up. I had been resting the entire day, it seemed that it was important that I got my rest because they had decided to leave in the evening the next day. We were on a tight schedule.

My legs trembled slightly under my weight but I ignored it as I focused on feeling the sand against my barefeet. It was cold too and so soft. I smiled.

I walked slowly, my eyes wide as I tried to capture everything I saw in my memory. One day, with the help of Asad, I would explain everything I saw to my mother.

I touched the bark of the date palm as I walked. I wanted to go towards the water, maybe feel it against my skin. However something else caught my attention. It was someone talking - whispering. I froze and turned behind. I could see Laia still sleeping. Should I wake her up?

I bit my lip and shook my head. No; it could be Qamar and Asad talking among themselves. I didn't want to trouble Laia until I was sure. I inched closer to the source of the voice, scared and curious at the same time.

"He has been doing that often." I let out a loud gasp as I jumped in fright. Asad gave me an apologetic grin when I looked at him. I fought the urge to kick him.

He pulled me towards a date palm for a better view. I could make out the slouched figure of the Monarch, his head in his hands as he mumbled to himself.

He sat near the water body, the crescent moon symbolically above his head as if accepting him or marking him. It was beautiful and I could see it's reflection on the water.

I could hear Qamar mumbling, it was incoherent but I could make out 'no' and 'please'. I could feel relief flood within me.

"I didn't know him acting weird would amount to me feeling relieved." Asad said with a low awkward chuckle. I couldn't help but agree.

I nodded in response.

"He is trying hard to be in control," Asad said looking sadly at the Monarch, "It is applaud worthy."

I looked at Qamar and smiled. It was.

"I think we should leave him alone. I'll check up on him from time to time. Come."

He motioned me to join him and I walked with my brother. We chose a spot under a tree and sat. Asad sat cross-legged leaning against the bark. I sat beside him.

"Did you know that if we move northwest from this oasis we will reached Rawthor. In fact, some of The Rayt belongs to Rawthor. There is no evident border but it is understood."

How do you know so much? I asked my brother.

"Qamar was not lying when he said he knew his land." Asad said with a smile as he looked in the general direction of Qamar. "He is a very clever man."

Asad looked at me with a smile and then stood up, "I will go check up on him."

I nodded stretching myself as I leaned against the tree. It was nice to know that he was not as much in control as I had imagined. I didn't know him being so stable scared me. His calm had been unnerving.

But now, it made sense to me. Or at least I could accept it. His weird behaviour was normal to me. I had genyinely become strange.

"Ayah," Asad appeared wide eyed.

"Qamar..." he said, "He is gone!"