The Journal of Dreams (The Tales of Tahana - Book One)

Chapter 7: The Seabird

21-2-2-4012 DM, Arang, Telama, Hilaraya

The port of Arang had always been busy on the first market day of every quarter moon, but now, almost everyone in Arang came to the port to bid Dari farewell on his journey to the capital. It was the sixteenth hour of light and the sun was almost halfway down its journey to the west. The sky was a vivid blue and thin feathery clouds were scattered in the sky as if painted by a skilful chariadu with a huge paintbrush. A steady westerly breeze blew, stirring up the sea to make low dancing waves and carrying with it the salty scent of the sea towards the long whitestone loading dock that extended to the deeper waters of the port. The briny scent of the air mingled with the fruit-scented perfumes that most of the Majarani and the pedani wore as they stood on the dock in their colourful clothes. Meanwhile, the rest of the Arangi were on the beach or on boats around them.

Dari, who wore his white cotton tunic, white linen trousers, and brown leather sandals, was surrounded by the prominent people of Arang. He stood about ten arms away from the gangplank on the port side of the Seabird, a magnificent ship that travelled once every moon across the Melaku Timara Strait to Kanay and back.

The Seabird was not supposed to travel until the first day of the next moon but the Mava asked the ship captain to set sail that day. She owned that ship after all. The white hull of the Seabird rose about fifteen arms high above the water. Its three tall whitewood masts carried blue canvass sails that reminded Dari of the colour of a clear summer sky. The sails were rolled up but ready to be set by the sailors once they were ready to leave. The ship's gunnel was painted bright blue with two white lines that resembled waves, which ran from bow to stern. At the ship's bow, which pointed northwards, was a carved whitewood figure of a seranadu, a water guardian, with slender hands that outstretched forward. She wore a circlet of seashells on her long wavy hair that covered her upper body and her lower body ended in a shapely scaled fishtail that curved outward to the front. It appeared as if the seranadu had just jumped out of the waves to point straight ahead and stayed suspended in mid-air. Of course, Dari had seen seranani along the desolate rocky edges of the western beach. He found them singing merrily in their high ethereal voices to the sound of a music that sounded like a lyre, which was always perceivable when one of them was near.

Dari carried a huge pack on his back loaded with his clothes and some of the gifts that he received from the guests in the previous night's banquet. He felt quite pleased as he remembered all the scrumptious food. They roasted a cow on a spit and its meat melted in his mouth with its juices. There were different kinds of fish dishes in sweet and spicy sauces served in colourful clay pots and serving dishes. There were little rice cakes and cookies in various shapes, sizes and colours, which were all sweet enough to make him giddy for the rest of his life. The coconut juice with bits of white coconut meat was refreshing, and the wine, which he had never tasted before, was very smooth and fruity. Amyi did not allow him to drink more than a cup of the wine and forbade him to drink the ale that was served. He wouldn't even have taken a mug of ale even if it was offered to him because he didn't like the taste of it. He could still hear the music that the band played when he and Anya danced with the other guests. The festive mood of the banquet was completed by the sight of a large full moon against a cloudless sky, which was filled with stars. The light from the moon made the evening much brighter together with light of the colourful lanterns that hung in strings from a centre pole where the band played.

At the end of the dance, just before the banquet ended, some Arangi folk came to him and gave him small gifts. There was an assortment of rice cakes from the peratani, much of which were in his pack and would surely be consumed before the next day is over. There was also some dried squid from Enyang Sari, their family's favourite dried fish vendor at the even market. He had those for breakfast that day. The different groups of silapani also gave him an assortment of gifts. The weavers gave him a dark green woollen travelling cloak with a white figure of a machayanu embroidered in smooth cotton thread on the upper mid-section. The band of smiths and woodcarvers gave him a small pocket knife with a finely carved whitewood handle, and a fine Silari steel sword the length of his hand, which came with a neat brown leather sheath. He kept the cloak and the pocket knife in his pack but gave the sword to Amyi. The potters gave him a set of clay cups and a pot painted with a line of small summerstars that run around the middle. Those he gave to Anya so she would have something nice and new at home. On his right hand, he carried a wooden case carved with the Suda clan crest that contained new brushes and small pots of paints that the Mava gave him.