Heart's Desire

Chapter 11

Water sounded in the distance.

"Water" Sae shouted, "I see water!"

Both of them started running. Myka just stood there and stared as they ran right off the road towards the sound.

Myka sighed in exasperation. When had her sisters become so noisy? Myka did not understand it. They had always been so quiet. Now she could not get them to shut up about anything. It had been none stop complaints for the last two days.

Sae would always start with, "Are we there yet?"

Ada would follow up with, "Yes, aren't we close?"

Myka would respond with "No, we aren't there yet. Do you see the palace? No, we still have awhile to go." They would be quiet for a couple of minutes.

Then Sae would chime in, "It's getting hot Myka."

"Yeah and my feet hurt," Ada would chime in.

Never fail after this line both Sae and Ada would say together, "Can't we stop."

It was as if they rehearsed it. Just when Myka would build up a good pace both of them wanted to stop. Didn't they get enough sleep at night?

"No" Myka would reply.

"But we're so tried," complained Sae.

"And my feet hurt," said Ada, "They aren't use to this much walking."

"You want to get there don't you?" Myka retorted back.

Myka watched both of the sisters exchange a glance.

Sae was always the first to give in.

"Yes. I do," Sae would say.

Ada had no choice but to cave after that. If both her sisters were against an idea, she did not have the wherewithal to stand against them. She slumped over and continued to walk begrudgingly. She would not say that she would continue. She would not give Myka the satisfaction, but she continued on all the same.

Eventually her sisters would start up again. There were breaks between the bouts of conversation. They provided Myka time to think about her prince. Where was he? Was he still alive? Had the villagers found him? She had this nagging feeling that he was in great danger, but she had no way of knowing for sure. It was so unfair! She felt so powerless, so weak. It frustrated her to feel this way. She had never cared about something so much. She had never had a reason to care before. Moreover, what did she receive for her caring? Nothing but worry lines on top of her many wrinkles on her forehead.

Myka looked at the sky to relieve her frustration. The sky remained clear blue and completely unchanging above them. The sun shined on their back unhindered. The unending clear blue calmed her down as nothing else could. The blue was peaceful. She had not gotten a good glimpse of it ever before. Light rarely penetrated the gloom of the alleys the sisters had called home. Light was to be feared. It exposed them. Trash in light degraded fast. It became inedible. Here it gave her strength even when her lips cracked and she face burned. The dirt on her face and hands protected her from the worst of its rays. It was her body that was really feeling its effects. Truly, the sun was glorious, but couldn't it shine a little less hard on their backs? They had not found water yet and their thirst was building. It was not unbearable yet. Nevertheless, it would be soon if they did not find water.

Now they had. The sound was music to their ears.

"Wait up," Myka cried.

There was a bridge ahead of her if she had followed the road. Instead, she curved to the right of the road. There was a goat path leading down to the water. At least Myka thought it was a goat path. She could not tell these things. An animal could have made it or maybe a human had made it. All the paths she had traveled before in her life were paved. The city streets were stone or packed dirt. None of them looked like this small two-foot windy path. Grass hugged the side of the walk and scratched her legs leaving sticky green seeds behind. She took little notice of it. She was too intent on the water bellow her. At one point, she tripped in her hurry. She made herself into a ball to keep the ground from hurting her. She rolled down the rest of the path and crashed into the water sending spray everywhere.