Piqpagi

~A Ghost Of Kindness~

The next morning I was awoken rather early by a strange and unexpected but pleasantly warm smell wafting into my nose which after I got up and blinked a bit I recognized as a fresh cup of coffee in a tin-can-cup.

Right next to it on some newspaper, there was something warm wrapped in brown paper and every part of me was screaming with questions about how this meal got here and if I was somehow dreaming but it was as if all my pent up hunger came rushing to the surface and without another thought, I was slurping down the coffee until I felt I would burn my throat.

I started coughing from drinking the hot liquid so quickly but I was suddenly frozen when a voice shouted softly from the kitchen warning me to be careful and eat slowly.

"Careful now! Breathe the air, not your supper!"

The voice held something that felt familiar but I didn't recognize it and I was overwhelmed with panic over the stranger in my home which caused me to forget the breakfast and run into the kitchen to see who this was and I was greeted by the warm and beautiful face of the Eskimo princess boy who's photograph I had taken almost a year ago in the height of early summer.

Back then his skin had been sun-kissed and he had been dressed in blue with his lips stained a bit from eating wild berries but now he seemed to be a little plumper with the absence of sun clearly showing on his face that was decorated with a bandage over the bridge of his slightly bruised nose along with an almost completely healed black eye and busted lip yet still his gentle smile seemed to be just as bright as the day we first met.

"Good morning Barnabas! I'm sorry for the coffee being too hot but I brought other things including honey that should help cool your tongue!"

I wasn't sure what to say!

Should I thank him? Ask him why he was here?

I then noticed that he was crouched down on his knees soaked up to his shoulders in front of a cast-iron tub scrubbing all my dirty clothes clean with a washboard and some kind of sweet-smelling soap.

I then noticed that my cleaned clothes were ironed and hung up to dry by the stove, a brand new stack of wood sat by the stove and a fresh loaf of bread with butter and all sorts of jams sat on the new table.

He had cleaned up the whole place and brought a whole stack of beautiful and fluffy quilts and pillows along with some kind of colorful winter boots and coats.

I was speechless and sure that I just stood there blinking like a fool for way too long until he stood up and rung out a pair of my underwear and hung it over the stove causing a sizzle as he then picked up a needle and string from a bag and started sewing the moth holes up.

"You did all this!" I said in surprise.

He turned around and with a gleeful grin along with a tilt of his head almost like a bow of some kind and answered rather sweetly.

"Yes! Your cousin asked me to take care of you while he was gone to France but I wasn't able to be there for you so I hope I can do enough for you to make up for it!"

"What do you mean!" I asked not at all excepting the response I got and in the sweet tone of voice, I got it.

"Oh, I couldn't come because I was in prison! Then when I got out I needed to sew blankets and winter clothes for you!"

He then went back to finishing washing and sewing the laundry while I just stood there rather rudely out of my overwhelmed state of mind.

I tried to figure out why on earth this strange aboriginal was in my house and caring for me in such a domestic manner, perhaps he was being paid by my cousin but he had gone to so much trouble!