Women of Clay

Part 5

He bent over to drink some water from the stream and sat afterwards on a large stone to rest. That was when he saw a naked girl standing on the other side of the stream. She was skinny with a height of about one meter and half. He estimated that she was somewhere between twelve and fifteen years old. Her short black hair was cut in a clumsy manner while her shiny dark skin reflected the rays of sunlight that penetrated the thick treetops.

His heart in his chest jumped like that of a sixteen-year-old boy. How much he wished that moment to be thirty years younger and join this wild creature in her carefree existence.

He realized that he had just stepped into a forbidden world far removed from everyday reality. In old times, this nude girl would have passed as a nymph or some other mysterious creature of the imagination.

The girl bent down in a squatting position and picked up the white piece of cloth she had been washing. Was this the only piece of clothing she could afford? Maybe this could explain why she was naked. He had read somewhere about a family in China who could only afford one pair of trousers. Each day a different member would wear it while the others stayed at home and waited for their turn.

The girl had already noticed the seaman staring at her with his big wide eyes. Contrary to the seaman's expectations, she did not run away like a scared deer. She stared at him with great curiosity as if she wanted to make sure her eyes were not tricking her. It made him realize that if there was an alien element that did not fit in this environment, it was him and not her.

With the grace of a wild goat, the girl jumped from one stone to another until she reached his side. This gave seaman the chance to observe her at close range. Her face was flat and round with large eyes and a tiny nose. Mosquito bites covered her legs and there was dirt under her toenails. She was not too different from the countless gypsy children he had encountered all over his country.

She stared at him in the same way someone would stare at an extra-terrestrial visitor. She did a full circle around him to view him from every possible angle and let her hands touch the seaman's arms, his shirt, and his trousers. He was probably the most exotic being she had ever encountered.

"A you from the Yoo Kay?"

It was an astonishing experience to hear this wild creature talk to him in Pidgin English. She spoke as if she had a sock stuffed in her mouth, yet it was undeniably English.

"No. I'm not from the UK."

"What a you doing here, sir?"

"Taking a walk."

"We don't see foreigners around here very often."

"Where did you learn English?"

"My friend from Yoo Kay teach me English."

"Where is he now?"

"Gone."

"Where do you live?"

She pointed deeper into the forest.

"Do you want to come my house? Meet my mother."

"Sure, why not?"

Finding a local who could speak English in this part of the country was like being sucked into an episode of the Twilight Zone. You had to be an idiot to refuse such an invitation.

"Get my dress first," said the girl.

She crossed the stream to pick up the piece of cloth and returned to the seaman without putting it on. She took him from the hand and led him into the trees.