The Scars
Year of the Lilies
Torrid Season
Unknown Road
Unknown Place
Mavli
MY EYES OPEN SLOWLY and I immediately wish it hadn't. I want to sleep this nightmare away. I wish I'll woke up in the hut beside my sister like I did yesterday.
Yesterday feels like another lifetime. It's funny how I took the simple bliss of being at home, of being with my mother and father and sister for granted. I'd give anything to be with them right now. I wish I can turn back the hands of time.
The huge cart moves beneath me almost fluidly, its rhythm is almost comforting. I can hear the cantering hooves of the horses that pull me further away from the only life I've ever known.
<The Thirst Year of the Lilies Torrid Season Unknown Place Unknown Place •Mavli• AS THE DAY PROGRESSES, the heat of the Torrid Season becomes more apparent. And the stench of our unwashed bodies becomes more unbearable. My nose burns and itches at the smell. What have we done to deserve this? The naked girl in the cage beside mine is still eating rigidly and staring at nothing ahead. Her slender fingers grab the bars of the wooden cage tightly. I wonder how she manages to sit with perfect posture when we are in so much pain. Swarm of flies buzz enthusiastically around us and a generous number of them hover around the scarred boy's face. He doesn't make any move to chase them aw
The Sale Year of the Lilies Torrid Season Market Altsas Mavli WHEN THE HEAT does not relent and the heavy stench in the air becomes unbearable, I feel bile rising up my throat. The churning of my stomach becomes excruciating. Can I hold on a little more? I lean exhausted in my cage, I'm so dehydrated and my tongue is dry and my teeth are gritty. When will we arrive our destination? As if on cue, stone towers appear at the horizon and I feel very uneasy. I suddenly wish we do not reach there so soon. From the shadow our cart casts on the ground, I can tell it's late in the afternoon. I let my weak eyes roll until they land on the li
The Deer Year of the Lilies Torrid Season Unknown Place Unknown Place Isla I PERSONALLY PREFER THE FRIGID Season. At least I won't have to deal with all this heat plus the pain I'm already suffering. I woke up when the sun was high up in the sky and burning the Earth mercilessly with its rays. Everything is blurry and the air is punctuated by the irking smell of unwashed bodies. My arm is aching dully, I turn my eyes to scrutinize it, the image of the protruding arrow fills my mind but I'm very surprised to find my arm heavily bandaged with a damp foul-smelling cloth. I remember the smell of the herb too well, mother used to use it on our wounds when we were much younger. I'm shocked that our captors had the heart to treat our wounds. They will probably want u
The Kingdom Year of the Lilies Torrid Season The Market Altsas Isla WHEN I WAKE UP, we are approaching huge towers that provides the soldiers that are guarding the Kingdom a birds eye view of almost everywhere. I catch myself staring at the towers in awe of the power of the people. This Kingdom must be very powerful to raid our home and cart us away like livestock. But unfortunately, I'm too weak to do anything. I'm too weak to use my mind. I won't even create a breeze even if I tried. The cart stops and as if on cue, the crying and wailing stops. Eerie silence reigns the pungent air. I'm beginning to lose my calm when flies begin to buzz actively around me. But from what I can s
The Peacock Year of the Lilies Torrid Season The Hut Altsas Mavli I'M USED TO THE HEADACHE NOW. I'm used to the rhythm of the throbs. The familiar throbbing and aching reminds me that I'm human. It reminds me that I'm alive. It reminds me that I still have a chance. Yesterday's events are just a blurry memory in my psyche. I don't try to recall, I don't want to. So I push all of them to the back of my head and lock them up in there. All I know is that I'm sitting at a corner in a tiny hut that is half the size of our hut back at home. Nine other people are lying or sitting here with me. None of them are sleeping though I'm sure sleeping is what we are expected to do with our night.
The Plantation Year of the Lilies Torrid Season The Plantation Altsas Mavli I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE STRAWHAT I'm given by the taskmaster. We all were given one and also a change of clothes which comprises of a calico long-sleeved shirt that's way too big for me and drawstring calico trousers which are big for me too. We are shackled by our ankles and chained together then the taskmaster leads us into the gated plantation. The land is very expansive and stretches out to the horizon. My fists clench as I stare at the acres of land, our farmland and at home is less than one-eighth of this plantation, why would one family own such wealth? My back is nudged hard by the stick the taskm
The Scream Year of the Lilies Torrid Season The Hut Altsas Mavli MY FACE FEELS TENDER. Like cooked meat especially my right cheek. My right eye is swollen and sore. My mouth is bleeding and I'm sobbing. I sit at the corner I sat yesterday night and early this morning. I rest my forehead on my knees and wrap my hands around my legs. I cry loudly not minding that there are nine other people in the hut. I cry till my throat stings and gets really sore and till my voice breaks. A calloused palm rests on my shoulder, I shrug it off but it doesn't stay away but reclaims my shoulder. "Plea
The Grits Year of the Lilies Torrid Season Unknown Place Altsas Isla I WAKE UP ON THE MAT I WAS GIVEN to sleep on the previous night. My arm aches and throbs with dull pain, reminding me of why and how I got here. I was bought by a goldsmith, he's a short wiry man. He was rather curt with me but he managed to ask his wife to spared me a bowl of onion gruel. I ate the awfully bland food and ran outside to throw up. His wife — a tall, overweight woman followed me outside with fear that I might run away but she covered her nose with her hand and went back inside the hut. Their huts are built differently from ours at Kintil. Theirs is built from stone or sunbaked bricks while ours were molded from mud. &n