Tale from the Deepwater

Chapter 17

She hesitatingly touched a petal which caused a shockingly burning sensation that made her feel as if her fingertip was on fire. Having never felt something like this before, she immediately pulled back her hand. But the sensation hardly left any trace of pain, and even if it did, she soon forgot about it as a strange smell wafted to her, and she inhaled deeply to take more of it. She could not quite describe it, and the closest resemblance she could think of was a mixture of the diluted fragrance of dozens of flowers freshly plucked from the wet earth, still carrying traces of rain and forest which was mixed in musk. She closed her eyes and sniffed to take as much of it as possible before it was whiffed away. She wanted to smell it again, but she dared not touch them. After a long silence, she spoke.

"I...I went to the village and met two humans. One of them was smaller. "

Receiving no response but no reprimands either, she continued with the narration of her experiences as coherently as possible, even if she could not form a proper expression for each of them. Everything had so overwhelmed her, but much of interest revolved around the pair of siblings. The man was sitting silently, and she was not sure if he was even listening since he did not as much as give her a nod or sign. She recalled the fleeting and changing expressions on the faces of other people in the village, which she remembered even now. She found it odd yet fitting that this man had none and wondered how she looked when talking or silent.

She had been wanting to ask him something for a while now, but she hesitated so much that she paused and then started talking about something else instead. But realizing that there was no knowing when and where she would see him again once he leaves, she mustered courage and asked at the risk of causing him irritation.

"Both of them had a name. Maybe all of them have one. And...and they asked me mine."

She paused for a while and continued, "But I don't have one."

After a long silence, she finally asked, "So...perhaps you could help me find one?"

During the conversation, he had lied down with his back on the grass and his eyes closed. There was no movement at all, and she wondered if he was asleep. That was why she could manage to ask it in the first place. She couldn't have if his eyes were open even if he was not facing her. She thought she was talking to herself at this point. She still preferred being in his silent presence than without it, so she stayed there observing, with a heightened awareness and appreciation, the night and the richness of these relatively fewer objects and activities, which in day's light were seen yet lost with everything else. She looked at the flowers, then at the sky, and from time to time, stole glances at his sleeping face even though she quickly averted her gaze soon enough lest he woke up and found her peaking.

She was lost in thoughts till the lights from the flowers started to fade as the lights from the sky begun to descend down. When she turned to look at him again, he was standing which startled her since she did not perceive his moments at all, even though she had superior senses to most creatures. From his posture, it seemed like he was about to leave, and she knew that he could leave in a blink of an eye without leaving any trace.

"Maren. You can call yourself that," he said.

"huh?" She looked at him dumbfounded as if she did not understand what he just said.

"If you want to, that is, till you come up with another name of your choice."

By the time she processed that, he had left, but he left a smile that lingered on her face which she had the ability to neither control nor cease.