© Ashe Hunter
Project XXI 2015
~*~
Translation: [1] Now then sleep, sleep, my child. Sleep and dream, my lovely child. I'll give you the city of Alexandria in sugar; All of Cairo in rice. And rich Constantinople. And there you shall reign for three years.
~*~
"Ekko! Get over here, right now!" yelled Lowry, staring out the dirty window, brown eyes wide with a frightening hunger.
"Coming!" I replied, grabbing a small, leather pouch we stole a week ago.
I ran beside Lowry, and I saw what Lowry was so excited about; the delivery man had come back with more food supplies.
"Ekko!" Lowry hissed, eyes blaring with anger like the ear-piercing sirens that always echoed through the streets. "Get down! This is our chance for food! When he gets in here to give food to us, I'll distract him, and you take the goods, okay?"
I nodded, and clutched the leather pouch.
"Got it."
As those two words escaped my lips, the man walked in, holding a tiny loaf of bread and a bowl of water, staring at us coldly.
He threw the loaf of bread on the concrete ground and dropped the bowl of water, splashing its little remains on the floor.
As the delivery man was leaving, Lowry screamed and attacked the man, clawing at his legs.
I sighed. I didn't know that she was going to attack him.
I silently walked behind the squirming man; Lowry had an iron-like grip.
Slowly, I snuck my hand into the man's bag of food, and grabbed five, large loaves of bread, and two water bottles. I quickly stashed it in the leather pouch and pulled Lowry off the man.
"Get off him!" I acted, pulling Lowry off the man; Lowry was surprisingly good at acting.
"No! I can't handle any more of this torture, Ekko! This man deserves to die," Lowry screamed, turning her face around at the slightest second, winking mischievously.
"Lowry! Calm down! You're not going to kill anyone because you don't have enough food," I reasoned, the man staring at us with a wild look, scrambling back when Lowry tried to bite his arm.
Lowry slowly lessened in my grip, and crumpled to the floor, looking so sorry that I almost wanted to comfort her, even though she was just acting.
"I'm... sorry," Lowry muttered. "I don't know what got into me. I think this hunger is just getting to me. If only I had more food..."
The man threw the bag towards Lowry, some bread tumbling out of it.
"T-take it!" the man trembled, backing away once more. "I was in a giving mood anyways!"
A grin tugged at Lowry's lips as she tried to keep a straight face.
"Thank you! This is sure to destroy every last inch of my hungry stomach. You are a very kind man! Thank you so, very much!" Lowry thanked, bowing multiple times, her chocolate-brown eyes glinting with a hint of sarcasm.
Lowry moved away from the door, thanking the man one more time, and the man bolted out, shutting the door behind in a hurry.
After a few seconds of silence, Lowry burst out laughing.
"Ekko! Did you see the look on his face when I attacked him? And when I tried to bite his arm. That was the best thing I've ever seen in my life!"
"Lowry, you really shouldn't have attacked him; that was pretty wrong of you, even though that man was a jerk. Besides, you're only fourteen; you'd have many other things where you'll be far more happier than now," I reasoned.
"Like when we bust out of this stinking orphanage," Lowry muttered.
"Yeah," I agreed. "Hey, we should start eating our food now."
Lowry's frowning face brightened up at the sound of food.
"Oh yeah! I forgot we had food," Lowry added sheepishly, scratching at the back of her head, where dark-brown hair cascaded down in curls. "If I never had you, Ekko, I'd never be able to steal food. How do you walk so quietly?!"
I shrugged, saying,"I dunno? Just a weird gift I have, I guess..."
Why do I have such a weird gift?
"Well it's a pretty awesome gift when you're in the orphanage!" Lowry smiled, grabbing a loaf of bread to eat.
"I guess," I grinned, shaking all my thoughts away, focusing on our humongous stock of food; tonight will be a feast...
~*~
I opened my eyes slowly, to see that I was lying down in a small crib, a mobile of all the star constellations above.
Wait. What? Is this a dream? Why am I a baby? I can't remember my childhood at all...
I got up slowly, and tried to get out of the crib, only to be gently pushed down by two muscular hands.
I squinted my eyes, trying to see the man who pushed me down in the blinding light; maybe this man is my father!
Before I could make out my "father's" face, a blanket was put over my body, warming me up instantly.
"Τώρα, στη συνέχεια ύπνο, τον ύπνο, το παιδί μου. Ύπνος και όνειρο, υπέροχο παιδί μου. Θα σας δώσω την πόλη της Αλεξάνδρειας σε ζάχαρη? Όλα Κάιρο το ρύζι. Και πλούσια Κωνσταντινούπολη. Και εκεί θα βασιλεύει για τρία χρόνια," [1] my "father" sang, his voice melodious in a language I couldn't understand.
"Sleep tight, my child," he whispered, turning off the lights as I went to sleep soundly.
~*~
I flashed open my eyes, looking around myself frantically.
Where's the mobile? Where am I? Where's my father?
I looked beside me to see Lowry sleeping soundly, bread crumbs stuck on her mouth.
Oh yeah; I'm in the orphanage. But my dream felt so real.
Suddenly, a soft feather-like touch softly brushed against my knee-cap, breaking me away from all my thoughts.
A beautiful, blue butterfly fluttered around me, landing on my knee and staying there, almost like it was waiting for something to happen.
What could this mean? I thought, watching the butterfly look outside the door, waiting.
~*~
Hello again! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the beautiful Ksenia Solo above as Ekko! She is soo pretty, like ugh. Anyways, thank you iiOutlawQueenii for giving me some actresses! I'm sorry I didn't use them though, ^_^" Anyways, make sure to comment and vote! (Sorry for the chapter being a bit long)
-Ashe Hunter
YOU ARE READING
Project XXI (Book 1 in the Hearts of Myth Series)
Fantasy"Hephaestus! This is what; the twenty-first time you're asking for the same blessing? You'll just never give up, won't you?" "Yeah," Hephaestus grumbled, disliking how Phanes reminded him that this project took him twenty tries so far; Hephaestus'...
