A/N: This is my first fanfic ever! I am very rusty in my abilities. I am testing my abilities to explore a short scene, and any feedback is much appreciated.
The memory of it is as clear as a dream.
Outside the window, there were the evergreens, the base of the mountains, the clarity of the sky. Home was the smell of stone that supported the house in the rain, the sound of the kids knocking the door and asking her to come out and play. At this point, how could any of this have been real before?
What is seared into her mind now is the smell of grass burning, clouding her senses as she looked at her mother sprawled on the ground and begging her to wake up. Were the other villagers safe? She only remembers mama falling and cannot remember if she saw the village chief or any of her friends there that night.
Rydia sits now, on a bed with her arms around her legs, looking out at the sight of a vast, empty desert. The mountains (are those my mountains?) can be seen far in the horizon, faint and small. People are outside of her room, shuffling around. Music, loud bangs, and laughter that sounds like it came from giants can be heard downstairs, and every once in a while someone will yell out.
"Another one, friend! That's the spirit!"
She doesn't understand what this means. What am I going to do?
The door opened and the man came in. His armor is black, darker than the sky over the desert at night, a time when she can't see if there is life out there. Rydia doesn't look at him. She cannot will herself to do so.
The man puts a plate by her side. She can smell the food, but does not know what it is, and will not look at it to see. She keeps a hard focus on the molded details of a hard, rough stone block that is part of the windowsill.
"You must be hungry. I took out the vegetables. I'm sure you kids don't like them," he said.
Rydia doesn't answer. She counts the number of ridges on the stone in her head. If she counts enough, he will go away, just like he does every time. He had told her his name before, but she was looking at this same windowsill when he said this and didn't care what it was. She looked at this same windowsill when he told her that he was sorry for what happened that night.
She keeps her focus on the stone, wondering if this was similar to the ones that were in her house. How come I never noticed them? Will I ever remember what they looked like?
"I don't think it tastes bad," he says. "Maybe at worst, it's goblin meat, which doesn't quite taste like chicken, but it's at least chew able."
Rydia can feel her hands tightening around her legs. The ridges on the stone look like they are twisting around, forming paths in between them that anyone small enough could explore, if they were ants. Rydia wishes she is an ant. Then she can crawl out of this window and ride the sands back towards the mountains, where ever they are.
She hears a sigh, and the man walks away. For that moment, Rydia lost sight of where she was on the stone. How long was he standing there looking at her before he left?
Once safe in the room, Rydia looks at the food. It's mostly made of meat, and what looks to be rice of some kind. It's something she doesn't know. I want mama's stew. Her eyes start to burn, and the sight of the foreign food fades as the tears start to pour out.
If only she never told mama that she hated stew.