Chapter One

She stared at the broken fountain that settled in the corner outside, near a small storage house that only takes ten steps to get there—starting at the fountain’s point. In her sight, birds were flying, and steady trees without any wind were like city buildings. Over twenty-two years, Amandla had never seen what a city looks like and how people do things there. She was living peacefully, happily with her mother in the forest. Her dreams were anywhere in the city, but no one else could guide the house if she went together with her mother. She took a few steps forward and pressed her forehead against the cold glass from the window; she sighed. Even at three in the afternoon, the birds were still hunting for worms, and the wind finally started its job. All-day long, alone...her footsteps were the only noise inside the house. This was how she lived—you would probably feel free with all the other things if you get fed up in the city life, but there are limits on what being free was—that was the truth. No matter what freedom means to everyone who has dreams, there will be a pause for it. She wrinkled her nose as the dust swept inside the door before sneezing. “Time to clean,” she notified herself. Then suddenly, four things happened. Whack, groan, curse, knock—and at the moment, it was not her time in being disabled by her clumsiness. Tomorrow, her mother will not be going home, and on the same day, her mother 'is' going to live alone in a mansion of the Coates family. Her mother described the house of Coates like the fairytale books. Mainly referred to her as the same in the little mermaid prince castle. The walls were high, painted in light brown shades, with their garden placed as the entrance under the curved exterior stairs—you could imagine hiking towards the jungle in a set of steps—because they also have a mountain view when visitors go to the back of their house. Coates had their beach as the front view. Her mother told stories about how the Coates named their mansion ‘The garden of Eden.’ However, no matter how she views the place, she cannot dream of looking up to it.

“Silly you, that will remain as your dream. Just a dream,” Amandla said while rubbing her buttocks after a hard fall from the ground. She pointed her index finger at the silence with no one else around. “And I shall keep my limits to it in the dream.” She had to remind herself because it was better for her to keep believing that her dream or wishes did not come true.

“Stand up, Amandla; you must try harder,” She exhaled. “Tomorrow, you will be alone again, and the next day – hoping for a better change.”

Amandla’s breath miffed on the ground as she pushed herself to stand up. She breathed faster, then a bead of sweat showed on the sides of her forehead and neck. To calm herself down, she has to keep in mind some words that her deceased father trained her to do:

Butterflies

Sunflower

Grass

Stones

She lay her back on a small table leg to gaze for a minute at the point where she fell and hit the ground. A small rock got stuck on the floor because of the tiny holes.

“Butterflies, sunflower, grass, stones. I must calm down,” She continued chanting, just like the tune of Ursula doing her spells in front of Ariel. “Butterflies, sunflower, grass, stones. Calm down already, Amandla.” For an extended moment, she started to move her bare feet, then swung her body away from the table leg until her body straightened up, and strands of dark brown hairs were swaying out from the sides. Her sea-green eyes were beaming, and her mouth remained flat in its corners, making her look more like a doll with a small-featured face with nothing but a subtle expression. Finally, she stamped out her body as she walked through the occupied drawers she had always used—and she would never see it again after tomorrow.

Amandla was removing the slippers and essential things out from the drawer, packing the last of her stuff like a cake being put inside a box. She rested and yelled for her sake to make it less lonely every time she made some noise, or she would be running around outside the house catching dandelions again. Then there was a knock on the main door of their home. “Amandla,” it was not her mother. But indeed, it was a far neighbor from the east side. They were not that close but as long as there was no lousy record between them, then it was alright. Really, she was glad that even if they were not near and with such distance, the thought of just having someone to talk with was relieving. So, without slowing down, she set aside the things she was trying to work on and wore a pair of rubbered slippers before she went downstairs to open the main door. “

“Come in, Aviana.” Amandla greeted her with a sweet smile. She was a bit taller than her, raised her head slightly head up—you could tell that five-four feet for her were enough to make themselves happy. Aviana smiled back at her, “I must say, can you give me additional feet? So I can level my face in front of you? You are five-seven tall, oddly."

“You should be proud of your height and my mother may be a little shorter than you and me but it would not be that oddly.”

“I am proud, Amandla. Besides, ‘was’ trying to ask if you can give me—“

“Obviously, I cannot give some inches of my height.” Amandla avoided mentioning or hinting about Aviana’s odd phrase related to her different height. Instead, she slightly closed the door as Aviana entered while looking around. “Your mother is not here yet?” now that she asked, Amandla wondered if she was trying to have a conversation or was there more?

Aviana grinned at Amandla.

“No, not yet. She will probably be home late. Why?”

Amandla studied her guest by slightly tilting her head to the right side. It was not like Aviana would come more often but rarely because of the distance and their family's different work. And when she comes to her, there are only two things: A new magazine to ponder and a family problem that she must endure or share with her for advice. As she remembered at one time, the fact that the only problem Aviana had ever told her in her life was a simple evening class that only her tutor had made a move inside their household, and it seemed more of an awkward thing to do. Instead of teaching her some lessons, the tutor was flirting with her mother, who also likes to mingle even if she knows that her husband 'is' still alive. But during that month, she had avoided being seen in the evening, and sometimes she was at Amandla's house in the early hours of the afternoon to spend time staring at the view, thinking if she was just born into a mad nonsense family. And Amandla told herself that she had no choice; she had reached that thought before about understanding Aviana’s situation even if she did not know the rest of it. She could not bear Aviana's desperateness at the east side for a moment longer. “

“Hello? Amandla, are you still there?” Aviana waved a hand in front of her.

“Oh,” She blinked her eyes twice and said, “Sorry, how about we go to the kitchen and let me give you something to chew on first. We cannot have an empty stomach while having a conversation, yeah?” In silence, Aviana nodded in agreement.

The echoing sound coming from every step they produced made Aviana chuckle. “Are we like in a horror film or something?”

She responded“ “Maybe,” while the corner of her lips gradually curved up.

“I can tell you are smiling,” Aviana said beside her while she dodged being seen. “Laugh already. Do not hold back; if you do, you will fart.”

It did not take them long to reach the kitchen; Aviana and Amandla steady themselves on the oven side. “Careful, Avi.” She notified her early. Since there was broken glass on the side of the stove being placed by her mother, she had already inquired about it, but her mother won’t tell her why she kept it there. “

“So, I am here to tell you about this,” Aviana did not have to let her wait another minute for what she was about to say, "Look!” Her eyes widened, and at the same time, her eyes crossed, turning towards the nose. She could picture herself having Esotropia, “Hold it and read it aloud,” Aviana shouted with excitement in her voice. “Okay, wait,” She arranged the magazine that Aviana was holding in both hands by taking it away from her. “But seriously, you do not have to show it to me like that. I am getting dizzy by it.”

"Alright, now read."