Breathe the ocean in

2

He walks deep into the house leisurely and stops when he reaches an elegant pool in a sun-drenched patio.

- I'm not asking for much, outlander. You didn't answer if you like this house or not.

- It's gorgeous but it's not something I got used to, – the interior is really luxurious. There are openwork bars on the windows facing the patio, gilt lamps in the depth of the gallery, numerous trees in the ceramic pots and soft couches. All of it creates the unique atmosphere. The pool is tiled with the emerald green mosaics looks so inviting to duck into it.

- People get used to everything. So will you, – he squints and forgets of my presence as it seems.

Tired of waiting for his reaction I land the carved chair made of dark wood and allow myself to take the niqab of finally. I'm feeling so soul sucking. It will be almost impossible to run away if I stay here as a captive. There's no access to the global net in Palera and no international phone lines. Woman in Palera has no chance to ask for a help, 'cause there's no one who would support: the police will simply return back home the one who dares to ask for an aid. And there are no social services for women in need, not a single one.

- Samir, – I try once again, but he stops me with the sharp wave of his hand.

- Just listen, girl. You don't know probably, but there's a tradition in our country. When the age is coming, a young man should leave parental shelter and start living on his own. I have a son, and he's turning eighteen tomorrow. I bought this riad for him. But the thing is Kiram can't live alone. He's... – Samir clears his throat up. – Following the tradition he should stay in my house like the "miserable one", – he almost spits the last words out. – But my boy's much stronger than they think. And he can prove them wrong. I intend to give him such a chance. Kiram is blind. He got into an accident when he wasn't even eight... A man chooses his beigaly himself usually, but Kiram has no such opportunity. That is why I chose for him.

I listen without interrupting him. What can I say anyways? And Samir goes on:

- He spent a lot of time abroad. Your order is close to him, so I think you will find a common ground. Don't you show surprise, with a proper power and amount of a gold reserve you can get out even from Palera. The best doctors in Arana and Quiria checked on him but they couldn't help. And now he needs a helper who will become his guide in a world of sighted. Our women wouldn't fit, they're in the grasps of the traditions. You're not.

- Hold on, Samir, – I can't refrain from cutting him off. – You could choose any other of my nationals. Lots of them would agree to live in a posh golden cage. I can even help in your search.

- You didn't get it Anna Maria. I chose. And you're here.

He turns away and leaves patio in a fast pace after telling this, but gets back in a heart bit just to drop the words:

- My beigaly will come soon. She'll teach you everything. I'll bring Kiram tomorrow.

And then he finally leaves. I'm staying alone in a marvelously beautiful cage for a silly bird that flew into a trap amain.

KIRAM

All day long I can't find a place for myself. I even miss the workout which is unheard of me. I can't imagine what my life's gonna be like tomorrow already. I even have no need to gather my belongings, they will do it for me, so I don't know what to do. Father said that my bedroom and bathroom in the new riad are both alike those I have in here, he made it for me to get used to the new conditions easier. It's reassuring. Turab, my driver, stays with me either. It seems like I'm taking a lot of familiar stuff to my new life. But I'm being on edge anyways and cutting the corners in my room. And I'm recalling. I'm recalling the scary days preceding my blindness. It's not like I stopped seeing at a moment. In the beginning it seemed that the things got fine. The fractures were healing, the bruises were fading away. But once I woke in the morning and understood that everything had become unclear and blurred. Father took me to the best doctors of Palera first, but it didn't help. Then Samir decided to bring me out abroad. It didn't take much time really. I remember how much I was impressed by Davil, the megapolis Palera's never gonna be. I was overwatching the life rushing around me with an endless stream of cars, monorails and crowds with admiration. It was so different from Palera frozen in time with its lazy pace. I remember how much I liked Arana with its cold dreamlike streets swept by the snow, one more miracle I've never seen before – frozen water. My vision was deteriorating relentless. Each new country and hospital was taking away my hope. And then one more visit to Arana. I almost didn't see a thing by the time, only the blurred silhouettes. I was moving nearly by touch and I felt dreaded all the time. I met May there in the hospital. For a long time I thought that my new friend was a boy as unfortunate as me. Imagine my surprise when I found out that May was a girl! Girls would never be that open and free in Palera. Wouldn't play pranks and tease. Wouldn't fight back. It was so uncommon. Perhaps that was the main thing which amazed me in an outer world. They were not the women I got used to back home. They could be doctors and policemen. They could talk whenever they wanted to and walk wherever they wanted to without asking anybody's permission. It was weird and unusual. I traveled many times to the West for the last ten years and got used to it, but back then these women seemed to me as alien beings. And we're good friends with May still, see each other every time I visit Arana. We have lots in common, there's always something to discuss with her. We're at ease with May as far as she's deprived of one of the most important human senses, the vision, just like me. And this girl never spares my feelings telling me everything she thinks of me straight to my face. If only my beigaly would be half alike May, living in the same house with her could be not that terrible.

That's enough to daydream of something unrealizable. It's time to sleep. There's a new life tomorrow.