Hainan Dao

Book II Chapter 09

HAINAN DAO BOOK II

CHAPTER 09

The little girl wandered down the alley, clutching a stick in her hand. She traced it along the walls, flicking off chips of clay and mud as she took one step after another. Gazing up into the night sky, she regarded the moon, with her accompanying band of cloud attendants, waltzing across the heavens in silence. Her eyes drifted back down to the dirt path before her feet. She had to be careful. She didn’t want to fall.

“Blackness for stones, brightness for water…” She muttered beneath her breath, reciting to herself the old adage for seeing in the dark.

She happened to pass by a doorway, where two women sat beneath the light of the moon, chatting. After she went by, one of them whispered to the other, in a voice too loud not to overhear, “There she goes, poor thing…! Do you think she even looks like him?”

Ahbi didn’t bother to turn around. Frowning, she bent her head forward and pressed on faster.

The first woman whispered something else. All Ahbi could make out was the word, ‘tall’, and then the two women behind her clapped their hands together and began laughing.

Ahbi snorted. She stuck her chin out as she marched along. She didn’t care what they or anybody else were saying behind her back. In fact, she had stopped caring a long time ago.

As she continued home, Ahbi came to pass through the centre of the village where she stopped for a moment. In front of her was the clearing that was home to the village well. Focusing her eyes in its direction, she remembered what had happened there last week. She frowned. She wondered if her doll was still in there.

She began making her way over to it. She stopped after a few steps.

So what if it was still in there? she thought. It wasn’t as if she could go climbing into it to fish it back out. In fact, Mother had warned her on pain of death never to go even near the well again, if she was all by herself. In no uncertain terms, she had made it clear that if, for whatever reason, Ahbi should find herself at the bottom of that thing just one more time, no one will be coming around to get her out, and that was a promise.

Ahbi glanced to her left and right. Peering over toward the nearest house on the edge of the clearing, she caught the wan light of a flickering candle flame wafting out past its window.

She smiled. Ah, but I’m not really all by myself, am I? She started walking again.

Besides, I’m just going to have one quick look…

She hurried over to the edge of the well and took a peek downward. She squinted. She couldn’t see much. It was just too dark. She didn’t want to lean too far over the edge. That’s how it had happened last time.

As she straightened up again, she sighed. If only she had a light. She shook her head and pouted. No, if only she had someone to help her, to give her a hand. Someone older, or taller. Maybe like an older brother…or maybe even older than that. She swivelled around and slumped to the dirt, leaning her back against the wall of the well. Let’s face it. There were many things that Ahbi wished she had…

***

“Mother?”

Mother turned her eyes away from the window, to face the voice that had called out and startled her. She had been holding something in her hand, but now she was shoving it into her pocket in a hurry. Getting up from the edge of the bed, she approached the little girl standing with her back against the door.

“Mother?”

“Ahbi.” Mother smiled and opened her arms to her daughter.

Melting, Ahbi drifted into them at once, her thoughts and her troubles for now forgotten. “What were you doing, Mother?”