Red Eyes In The Night

2

"Ama, what are we doing this winter?" Eleven year old Deno looked up at his grandmother at whose feet he sat. "What do you mean, doing?" sixteen year old Teri, Terro's twin, called from the other side of the fire, "We'll be sitting in a hut, shivering, as usual. Rani is the only one who will have some fun, as she alone is allowed to hunt." "Hunting is not just fun," Rani didn't look up from the pair of leather shoes she was making for Deno, "it is mostly hard, tiring work." "But you get to go out," Teri threw a stick into the fire, "Ama, why can't Terro and I hunt too?" Their Ama made a shushing sound, "You haven't even given me a chance to answer Deno's question." She placed a hand on his dark curls, "We will stay in the village this winter." "Ouch!" Rani dropped the shoe she was working on and sucked her pricked finger, "In the village?! Why? We've never had trouble spending the winter up here!" "I know," Ama replied, "but I'm not as young as I used to be, and I think the change will do us all good." Rani carefully put the needle down, "The change?" "Yes," Ama looked into the fire, "to see other people, be part of a community..." Rani narrowed her eyes, "Other people. Those other people do not look upon us too kindly, you know." "Maybe we just need to get to know each other." "I know enough about them," Rani clenched her hands by her side, "they are gossipers and they despise us because our father was a windblown leaf and our mother crazy enough to like him." "Rani..." Ama's tone was warning, but her eldest granddaughter sprang to her feet, "I hear them every time I go down there, staring and whispering and laughing behind their hands! I want nothing to do with them." She got her bow from the hut and started off towards the trees. "Rani!" Ama got up, "Where are you going?" "Hunting," Rani pulled on her leather gloves in quick, angry motions. "But it's night!" "There are animals to hunt at night too." "But..." Ama trailed off as Rani looked up, her grey eyes cold, "I am not afraid, Ama. And you pray for me every day, you, Teri, Deno and Terro; so what could happen to me?" Ama sank down onto the log again, "Alright, go then." Rani strode off into the shadows without hesitation.
"Ama, why doesn't she believe too?" Deno leaned against Ama's leg. She sighed, "Your sister has a lot of anger and bitterness inside, Deno. She doesn't understand how JIREH can be God if the world is full of death and pain. She is hurting because she feels alone." The boy shook his head, "Rani likes being alone." "I didn't mean that kind of loneliness, Deno. She feels that she must carry her burdens alone and make her own way in a harsh world." "But JIREH is our Provider," Teri spoke up, "and that means we are not alone, because He helps us carry our burdens and watches over us." Ama nodded, "That is true. But Rani doesn't understand that. Yet." For a few minutes, there was silence around the fire. Then Teri muttered, "What I don't understand is why you won't give permission for Terro or me to go hunting." Ama looked up sharply, "We've had this discussion before, Terina." "But I'm...we're  sixteen now!" Teri poked savagely at the fire, "Rani hunted from the time she was ten!" "That was different." "Why?" Ama looked up, her usually warm brown eyes angry, "Your mother was continually weak after giving birth to Deno. Then she died when he was a year old. There was no one to look after you. If Rani hadn't gone out and started hunting, none of you would be here today. Your sister lost her childhood, having to provide for you and herself." "I am not a child anymore, Ama," Teri's tone was unrelenting. "I know that, Teri." "Then why won't you allow it? And don't say it's because the man should provide, you won't allow Terro to go hunting either." Ama sighed, "Rani is right, the world is harsh, merciless and dangerous." "But you let her go out. If you're so worried about safety..." "Rani grew up in the forest. I am sure she knows it better than even the hunters down in the village." "You won't get good at something if you don't get to practice, Ama." "I know," Ama sighed. "Then why?" "I was going to let you and Terro go out when you turned sixteen," Ama's voice was low, "even if Rani was against it." "Against it?" Terro echoed in disbelief, "Why would she be against it?!" Ama looked around at her three grandchildren, "She is afraid of losing you. You are all she has and she would die before she let any hurt come to you." "But we could learn and then we could help her," Teri looked up to where the sparks from the fire disappeared.  Ama shook her head, "She doesn't want to risk it, and now I won't either." Teri shivered and moved a bit closer to the fire, "Is it because of those rumors?" "Rani doesn't believe they're true," Terro put in. Ama placed her hand on Deno's shoulder, "I know, Terro. But no matter what it was that killed those people, there is something dangerous in the forest and until that threat has been removed neither I nor Rani will allow you to go hunting." "Ama," Deno looked up with fear in his eyes, "what if it gets Rani? She is alone and it's night." Ama shook her head, "But our prayers go with her. And we know JIREH hears us when we speak to him. Now it is time for bed. You too, Terro. You may stay up in the hut until Rani returns, but not out here." She got up slowly and followed them to the hut. When they were all under their furs, she latched the door and lay down herself. Rani knew how to unlatch the door from the outside. But Ama couldn't sleep and found herself lying wide-eyed in the dark, listening for her granddaughter's light footsteps. How long would she be gone? When would she return?

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JSK