"Sayli! Get up dear! It's time to feed the animals!" Her mother called.
Sayli sat up squinting. She moaned and scratched her head. A drop of water fell onto her nose and she flinched. When she realized it was just a drop of water, she let out aa annoyed grunt.
It was raining.
She got up and got dressed and walked down the rickety wooden stairs. Her mother was preparing, once again, Juk for breakfast. The smell lingered as she walked into the barn that was attached to her house.
The pail for water and food were sitting in their usual spots. She filled one with hay and the other with water. Then she opened the door and ran to the barn out in the field.
As she past the wheat field, she remembered her dream and looked away. "Dad." She whispered to herself. She let out a sad sigh as she walked hastily through the barn doors.
Three baby turtle ducks ran past her. The two ostrich horses, Kayda and Doru, squawked at her as she emptied some hay into their buckets. Behind her she heard a meow and she turned to see the jaguar cats giving her "the look".
She laughed dryly, "I haven't forgotten you guys." Sayli walked over to a giant bag full of feline food. She put a couple handfuls on the ground for the cats. She also found a small pail and filled it with water.
After she was done feeding the animals, she hurried back to the house to eat her breakfast.
"So Mom, since the wheat harvest is almost here, I thought maybe we could make some bread with some of it, you know, with the leftovers." Sayli suggested.
"That sounds like a good idea. The harvest looks plentiful this year and I am predicting we will get a good profit." Her mother said, smiling weakly. "Today, you just need to go into town and get some food. We will be having Roast Duck tonight."
Sayli's eyes lit up, and as soon as she was done with her breakfast, she hurried down to the street market.
Sayli loved it there. It smelled so exotic. Foods were being cooked and fried and baked and everything. Perfume was being tested. Instruments played in turn for spare change. A hand cart pulled by with masks on it. The colors, the sounds, everything was so nice here.
She walked through a few bazaars and past a few beggars, an old man was singing for a gold piece. How Odd┘ she thought. I feel bad for him, yet am amused. I have a spare copper piece.
Sayli dropped a copper piece and the old man thanked her. She carried on towards the butcher shop. There, she saw an old man butchering a hog.
"Excuse me," she asked. "How much would a single duck cost?"
"5 copper pieces" The old man said gruffly. She nodded and pulled out 5 copper pieces and gave them to the man. In exchange, he gave her a naked duck on a hook. She laughed cheerfully and carried on her way.
Usually, when Sayli was at the Street Market, she stopped and looked at stuff on her way home. So it was no surprise that she ended up bargaining for a pair of jade earrings with a scratch in one. Eventually she only paid two copper pieces.
Over her shoulder she heard, ⌠┘nobody left.■
⌠Really, nobody?■
⌠Nope, looks like the fire nation is setting out for war.■
Sayli knew better than to listen to war talk. She had better things to do, but the next thing caught her off-guard.
⌠Wow, I know a couple people from the Air Temple, matter ▒fact, that Sayli▓s father is from one of those temples that they got.■
⌠Poor man, slaughtered. Wonder when the family will figure it out.■
Sayli▓s heart dropped. Then it rapidly started to beat. She breathed hard and began to run home. She ran as fast as she could, as if it were as, if she ran fast enough, what she heard would go away.
That night, at dinner, she was silent. She went to bed and did her chores in the morning. For the next week, she was in this habit, barely talking.
One day, she had to go to the market again. She tried to do her business quickly. She kept getting distracted.
As she was beginning to go home, she heard a women crying. She was holding a letter in her hand and reading it aloud to a crowd.
⌠┘I am scared, I do not know if I will ever see you again. Know that I love you. I must close this letter now. My dearest.■
The crowd around her erupted in conversation. Sayli walked up to her friend, Daya, and asked what was happening.
⌠Didn▓t you hear, the Fire Nation has started war. They have already wiped out most of the Air Benders. They are killing them all.■ She said.
But Daya regretted it for one, she saw the look on Sayli▓s face, And two, it just snapped that Sayli▓s father was an Airbender and that he hand been gone for quite a few months.
Sayli▓s eyes filled with tears. She breathed hard and a lump in her throat appeared. She dropped her things and ran. She just ran home.
When she got there, her mother saw that something was wrong and asked what had happened. Sayli walked up to her and collapsed in her arms in sobs. After a half hour of crying, she told her mother what had been happening.
⌠I have to find him mom. He has to be alive. I just know he is. I have to go.■
⌠No you can▓t Sayli, you have barely learned the basics of earth bending. You can▓t go, I forbid you.■
⌠But mom, he▓s out there, I can feel it.■
⌠I said No! Now wash up and go to bed!■
Sayli▓s eyes filled with tears and her lip quivered. Then she ran to her room. Slamming the door.