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Inside I'm Hollow 3/3
By Meredith Bronwen Mallory
mallorys-girl@cinci.rr.com
http://www.demando.net/
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EPILOGUE
They come in from the fields, laughing, arm in arm, carrying their scythes over their shoulders. They lean the long, curled tools against the wall, leaving the door open so the sounds of other worker women singing can drift in. They smell of sweet golden thrush, cinnamon and red-brown hajp-- the things they harvest.
"--danced over the water, skipped over sea,
And all the birds of the air couldn't catch me!"
Laughter, names called out across the fields in bright, powerful voices. Hands raised in greetings, farewells, and see-you-soons.
"You going into town tonight, doll?"
"What about the place down by the docks? Cheep fruit, good music, I hear."
"Say, have you heard about--"
"Don't that just beat all?"
"--Ha! And then *I* said..."
"They just work us to the bone, don't they?"
"I'm telling you..."
Forms retreating down the well-worn paths, arms swinging free.
'Night all.
'Night.
"I'm beat," says the dark girl, smiling none the less. She raises her long black hair out of its work-bun and begins to braid it together, absently unbuttoning her dress with her free hand.
"Me too," says the fairer one, with the new freckles sprinkled all the way down between her breasts. There are two beds, one against each wall of the bungalow, with the window in between. The fair girl sits on her bed with a grace unusual in a farm hand, idly contemplating the book at her bedside.
"You wanna read tonight, or go to the party?" asks the dark girl.
"I'm tired, Eyumi, let's just go to bed early. We have the whole holiday ahead of us."
"Yeah," Eyumi's smile is broad, her lips are large and expressive. "Maybe we'll head into town tomorrow."
"Sounds wonderful. We can be two duchesses out for a good time."
"Don't I wish!" Eyumi finishes with her hair and drops her shift to the floor, tossing it towards a pile of clothing in the corner. Pushing the door to just a little, she eyes the faded calendar tacked up on the wall. "Say, we ought to celebrate, Achinu."
Achinu makes a questioning noise in the back of her throat, unlacing her frock and letting her hair billow around her body. Her fingers are smooth, the nails trim, her palms only just beginning to show wear. The faint, red lines of scar move along her palms, making them seem like flowers. She has heavy, elegant hands; hands that hold, and cradle and drop.
"No, look here," Eyumi taps a white, numbered square with one large finger, "See. It's been almost three years since we found you."
"Yeah," Achinu smiles, laughing at her own expense. It's a delicate sound, and must be handled carefully, or else it shall break and destroy everything. "The little naked girl in the ditch."
"Hey," Eyumi's rough hand rests just for a moment on Achinu's bare shoulder, "I'm glad you came here, however." Achinu just smiles, weaving her hair and reaching up to touch the other girl's hand. "Say," a new look comes into Eyumi's eyes, "Don't you ever wonder..."
"No," says Achinu, and the word is surprisingly flat. The door suddenly slams shut, as if to keep out the world and all that might threaten the golden peace of a day's hard work. Neither woman seems to notice. "If I don't remember, then I'm not meant to."
"I suppose. Yeah." Eyumi steps away, "Be right back, gotta use the john."
"Okay," Achinu reaches into a basket at the end of the bed, "I'll leave a piece of cornbread on your pillow." As Eyumi steps through the door, the other woman's expression changes. She regards the bread blankly, her face as empty as her memory. Then, breaking the loaf into pieces, she climbs to her feet, shaking her head as though just waking from a dream.
From outside, "Sounds good!" Achinu takes her own piece and bites into it slowly, laying back against her flat pillow and tawdry quilt. On the horizon, the sun and it's white dwarf companion are setting, throwing red light through the widow and onto the floor between the beds. The objects in the room begin to shake, as if they are human and shivering with cold.
Slowly, Achinu reaches out a to touch the nightstand.
"Hush," she croons, pressing her hands to her breast, bowing her head. The light touches her profile, brings something to her eyes that makes her face seem to belong to someone else. "Hush."
The room is silent.
Later, "Closed the shutters for you, Achi. I know you don't like them open."
"Thanks," Achinu says sleepily, one eye open and the rest of her face buried in the pillow. Eyumi pats her on the back and moves to her own bed, settling down under the covers. "Night, Eyumi."
"Night, Achi. Sweet dreams."
"You know me." Achinu stretches, staring up into the endless night, " I never have nightmares."
