323. Fleur, 4

(Blume)

I have sweet dreams. Asleep and awake. The moon is pretty and cutely bright.

A day passes. I recover my strength and enough water for now.

I recover and recycle my stretched branches and roots.

And I resume travelling from that rest with a smile.

I was able to run for about eight hours the other day. Not bad. Now I'll walk though.

I keep some of the filaments around my skin to continue capturing some vaporised water from my sweat or from the air. I can keep myself more fresh for a little longer like that.

I'm awake. Fully awake. When you've been a ghost like me, it means a world more than just the contrary of being asleep. That's one example of the relativity of meanings words and languages can carry.

Senses, sensibility, thoughts, sensations, memories. Everything.

I'm happy, so happy.

I'm reaching a land with grass, and even orchards and woods ahead. An oasis, or perhaps even a riverside fertile land. I'll see what lies ahead.

I see ruins half buried in the ground here and there. They look like the earth is slowly eating them.

I find new landscapes around.

Every city has similarities with every other, nut it's ultimately always a slightly different kind. With a different history and personality, and body sizes, and smells, and tastes even, and knowledge left to share.

I'm eager to discover how this one will fare.

And what I found rapidly was beyond my wildest dreams.

Even though I knew it would eventually happen.

I'm not meeting another being-like-me, oh no. This is even rarer.

Humans. Alive.

Living here.

Tending to a field of trees with various fruits and nuts on them.

Things I've never seen before.

A rather young woman notices me as I walk closer, even more than me, she cannot believe what she's seeing. She jumps down from the tree she was in, and runs away from me. I let her disappear with a smile.

I look in the trees she was working in. She was planting or removing caterpillars there it seems. A basket she left is half full of them, and I can notice many more crawling around the branches of the trees.

They're big as the palm of my hands, larger than chicken eggs. Was she harvesting them or bringing them to pasture?

I pick up the basket and walk nonchalantly in the direction she ran to. Behind there, I discover a small village showing clear signs of repairs and urbanism. It's well maintained and cared for.

I reach a small stream of water a little behind.

There are ropes hanged around it with wide sheets attached on them. It brings some shade over the water, protecting it from the hot sunlight a little. That's interesting.

As I twirl around, I discover another person, holding a rifle pointed at me.

It makes me grin and hold back a laugh.

Try me...

I haven't had the chance to experience real anger and hatred that rises from pain, wounds and death threats as a human would. I'm a little curious.

But it's not a wish to be sadistic and get a casus belli to justify it either.

So my curiosity doesn't push me ahead there. Well, not the one about the pain and anger.

The one about them however, why yes! The curiosity for these humans here is very strong now. I want to know more! I want to be friendly!

I just smile, and extend my arm holding the basket of giant caterpillars as to give it back to them.

That person lowers her rifle, and lowers her hood. An older woman, with darker skin. A beautiful skin. Chiselled, shaded, like a beautiful landscape.

We meet.

And she soon smiles as well.

She even has tears in her eyes, as she holds my shoulder to guide me to her home.

~

A little while later, I'm sitting in a cool shade under large trees, in the rear garden of a house.

I'm being served a tea I'm not accustomed to. I thank them graciously. It's hot, burning a little my lips and my tongue.

The entire household seems to be gathering to meet me. An old man and the old woman I just met. Two other mature women, and two younger ones, maybe just the age of Myls, or a little older.

They are clearly delighted to have a visitor.

They are also surprised to see me in good and healthy shape despite my absence of luggage and my tattered clothes barely holding over me.

I just laugh. I don't understand two third of what they're trying to say, because I don't know their language.

Since I gave them my thanks for the tea in old English, some of them then try to speak to me in that dead language.

Only the old woman speaks well enough for us to sustain a normal conversation.

When I tell her that I am British, born and raised, and came here from Egypt, she translates it a little haphazardly.

They all look at me a little agape from the surprise. It seems unbelievable to them, but it's true.

~

We continue chatting about everything and nothing. I tell them about things I've seen and things I know, while they share the same.

I giggle more than once to myself, as they forgot to ask me the one question I would have expected to come first.

They don't understand how I live and how I managed to come here, but they are too overjoyed to linger on that. They didn't catch on that hint.

They want me to stay, to stay, to stay. It makes them so happy to have me, a foreigner and traveller, they're thanking Allah and me for this gift. Even if but for a few days, they really want me to stay.

Unfortunately I tell them, I will leave after a few days no matter what. It saddens them, but they sure wanted to make the most of it.

They gave me new clothes to start. My first real clothes really.

They had fun combing my hair and pampering me in all sorts of ways. They gave me a sublime haircut. This along the gold trimmed dark patterned clothes, I look beautiful in my eyes.

My eyes have a golden tint I notice. I didn't even know what I really look like. I'm admiring myself now in front of their mirror.

A healthy looking woman with long brown hair, very smooth and light chestnut skin, with freckles all over the upper part of my body. Green gold eyes. No real belly button, they noticed as well.

Another clue they didn't follow upon, as we all laughed at the shapes of my belly, instead of raising the true question.

They make me eat everything I can until my belly is swollen.

Everything, including the fried giant caterpillars. They're juicy and creamy but rather bland in taste.

They make me listen to music.

My eyes and hair reacted to that sensation. That was new to me.

It's a little overwhelming now...

They make me try a dance. I'm awful at it, at first.

But I can learn fast, very fast.

Frighteningly so. The first laughs because of my clumsiness become something else before the day ends.

I dance.

That's another incredible feeling I would never have imagined possible.

It's otherworldly, even for someone or something like me, which is saying something.

I thought a body was just a tool, a vehicle. It's... It can be more, far more. I have another overwhelming glimpse of it like that.

I dance. They don't laugh anymore, they're stunned at how I move and the stamina I display with ease.

My muscles feel sweet. I sweat a lot. It's really fun. I don't feel like myself anymore for a while.

Who was that that I recall being?

~

I'm taking a bath in the night.

It's so nice.

It's a really nice place here.

I still want to go nonetheless.

We exchange warm hugs on the morning when it's time to say goodbye.

I'm ready to go again.

They serve me a last hot tea, for the last chat.

I drink it happily.

I'm telling them I'm going to head north.

We are in Persia, though they give it its modern name of Iran.

I want to see the edges of the world, and beyond, I tell them.

They are... bewildered. Then they laugh.

The old man says he's happy to see someone with such a nice will to be alive, such beautiful and strong will to live and see the world. I nod a thank with a kind smile. He's sadly not eager to let go of my hands and me I feel.

The old woman says she is happy to have met such a kind and gentle human in our day and age.

I couldn't help but laugh. They're surprised by my reaction.

B - You thought I was human?

Oops. They're all a little scared now.

I take my leave before they change their mind about anything, with a heartfelt curtsy and goodbye.

I'm just myself, human also.

I wave and blow a kiss at them as I leave, while they're still looking at me go.

They have some ambivalent feelings now because of what I last said.

But I liked them.

After I'm gone, they will think back and notice the little hints that maybe I wasn't really human.

But they will also remember that I've only been kindness and cheers to them. So they will realise that things like us don't always mean harm. We're not always insensitive monsters.

Just like humans.

We can also be kind hearted as well sometimes.

In the meantime, I'm walking through another patch of dry lands.

And I'm wearing what may very well be the most beautiful clothes in the world. It feels like a shame for me to be wearing them.

Behind me in the distance, I notice that one of them is attempting to follow me, while keeping their distances.

I don't mind.

They have to experience and learn what they can as well.

We're the same, in more ways than one.

~