THE GUARDIAN

Day Two. "I am Allayna Jones."

A familiar smell that emanates from food floats in the air. The aroma is relaxing and mouth watering at the same time - that was how our kitchen always smelled.

My sweet mother always cooked deliciously. Her special roasted chicken was the family’s all time favorite. Its golden brown crispy skin, along with its tender juicy meat, flavored with Asian herbs and spices makes this dish “the prefect roast chicken” – as my father would say.

Cooking savory dishes was her way of motivating us to come home and dine together… and enjoy each other’s company… and talk... and laugh... and pray.

I was smiling while remembering our typical family Sunday dinners.

"Wake up! Hey, wake up!”, my mysterious saviour cried roughly. I slept. I almost forgot about him and about where I was. I dreamed of dinner… of my mom… my dad... my family and I felt a sudden pang in me when I became conscious of how much I was missing them. 

“You have to eat before we move,” he said while motioning where the food was.

Oh, that’s where the roasting aroma in my dream was coming from – I uttered in my head as I stood up and moved towards the food.

A five-inch slug like creature poked on a twig was being grilled over a burning wood coal. I sat down and picked it at the cooler end of the stick. Its funky smell immediately registered to my nostrils.

“What’s this?”, I asked the man with an icky expression on my face.

“You don’t want to know”, he replied in his usual hard toned voice. “Eat it or you’ll starve, I don’t care… but, I tell you – there’s not plenty provisions around here“, the man continued.

Here goes nothing – I said to myself. I took a deep breath and gave it my first bite.

The food did not taste ambrosial like my mom’s roasted chicken, but it wasn’t bad either. It was chewy like a squid and tasted like an old crab meat from the fridge.

He sat across me. The slowly dying glow from the burning coal illuminated his face. This was the first time that I saw him clearly and strangely, I was not scared.

The dirt and the mud were not able to hide the scar running from his nose ridge through his left cheek. His dark brown poorly cut hair was a mess, and an untrimmed beard partially covered his thin lips and chin. His dark blue eyes have the tough look of a veteran war combatant, and they were always watchful... vigilant.

"Thank you”, I said muffling my words while starring him in the eyes. It was difficult to talk because the barbecued slug was a bit stringy, so I swallowed the bolus and repeated thanking him.

“What’s your name?” I asked while wiping my right hand in my pants. I extended my arm for a hand shake as I declared, “I am Allayna… Allayna Jones.”

He fixed his eyes at me, as if trying to measure if I was worthy enough to know his name.

I paused breathing as I waited for his answer. My mouth partly opened as I was about to take another bite. I was like someone earnestly watching a thrilling football game with a warm hotdog on stick in one hand.

Then, he swiftly threw a knife at my direction and to blink once was the only reflexive movement I was able to do. He stood up to pick his weapon. 

I turned my head and saw a four feet long black snake with its head firmly pinned by the knife to the ground. The viper which died instantly was almost a meter away from me.

The man looked me in the eyes and said, “Neal.” 

Why would he want me to kneel down? – I was confusingly asking in my mind, when he continued saying, “My name is Neal Gordon.”