WOW! So dramatic! Have you noticed that I become VERY critical when it comes to my work? Well anyways, I hope you enjoy it. I won't blame you if you don't. Seriously, I'm doing this for entertainment and practice. Constructive criticsm, please? I really don't care if nobody likes it, but my friends won't stop pestering me to upload it...
Hours after I finished crying, I became hungry. Great. Now I was depressed and starving, what a perfect combination. I had no more tears, none. I cried my heart out and swallowed it again. I left the ocean and entered the woods. There was a greater chance of finding food here, right? Wrong. I was an inexperienced hunter. Sure I could make a few tools, but I didn't know where to get the supplies.
I went to the river, where maybe I could find some fish. I remembered how Madhur and I always found fish in the river that was within our boundary. I choked on my saliva at the nostalgia. To forget about my memories, I carefully laid my tiny feet on the rocky ground within the river.
It was hard for me to catch fish. I could only stay in the shallow areas. I was really small. Probably 4 of mother's small feet stacked on top of each other? Anyways, I really struggled trying to get some fish, for they were much too fast for me. I collapsed, causing myself to get entirely wet. I almost cried, but I was out of tears. I gazed at the water before me, feeling tormented. I then began to regret listening to mother's vision.
I left the river and found berries. First, I made sure they weren't poisonous by examining them. When I was positive they were okay, I stuffed as many as I could into my mouth. I didn't need to pick a lot until my small belly got full.
I made my way back to ocean. I got lost a few times, but in the end I managed. I just had to look for the sun. It sets in the west, the direction of the forest, so all I had to do was go in the opposite direction. Easy.
It would be time for me to sleep soon. The sun was almost gone. The sky was splattered with pink, purple and blue. It was beautifully hung over the ocean. I lay down on the sand. It was soft enough for me. Slowly my eyes began to close as I stared at the sky above me. The last thing I saw was a single bright star in a dark blue sky.
I sat up from my peaceful sleep. I had looked up expecting to see the sun coming from beyond the water. Instead, I saw huge white sails on top of many brown platforms. Curiosity overcame me and I immediately named the strange thing 'Cloud on Trees,' since that is what they appeared to me. Could it perhaps be the water spirits? I sat put watching the Cloud on Trees grow closer to me by the second.
The Cloud on Trees crashed against the sand with noise that made my ears hurt. I continued to sit where I was, despite the fact that I was in the open. I'd like to see those water spirits chase me out of the land MY mother gave me. Ha. Like she would ever allow that to happen. I tried to make a confident smile, but in the end, it became unsure.
I watched as strange men disembarked the Cloud on Trees. I guess they were tents? Or teepees, whichever floats your canoe. Something about these men interested me. They weren't as dark as the native, nor were they as light as I. They were a mix. Interesting.
Not only was their color different but so was their style of clothing. It looked much more interesting than the bison fur I wore. I couldn't help but wonder which animal was hunted for their clothes.
They came from beyond the waters, where the sun rises. That was all I knew about these strange people. Well, I also knew that these people were clueless. Why? Because they all now treaded the same light sand I walked upon, but they couldn't notice a baby, sitting all alone in the open? I was an apparent 1 year old and even I would have noticed something like that. Soon, as if my mind was being read, a man turned around and saw me.
He had brown hair, green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. The moment I saw him I felt a connection. I didn't know what it was, but I felt as if I had something in common with this man. He stood there paralyzed with what looked like fear. I stared at him with confusion.
"Q-Que es esto?" He yelled pointing to my mouth. Simultaneously, I licked my lips and tasted berries. Wow. I was almost positive that some creature would have come up to me and licked my face clean, while I slept. My theory was wrong. Oh well, how would I know?
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand then wiped it on my bison clothes. The strange man seemed to have calm, and grew a strange, mischievous smile upon his face. He walked closer to me. I gave him a blank expression and just stared at him. Eventually he stood right in front of me.
"Hola niño pequeño, ¿quién eres?" the man asked me as he knelt to the ground. I guess he was trying to make himself at my level? I didn't know how to reply since I didn't know what he said. I tilted my head and raised an eyebrow. He examined me.
"Eres lindo…." He played with my hair. He kept twirling my strand of hair that stuck up from the rest. My eyes widened as my curiosity grew. He studied my clothes and frowned. "Pero su ropa está insultante." He continued frowning.
"Olle! Usted." He pointed to one of his men. "Dame ropa para el niño." He turned to me and smiled as the other man left. How I wished I could understand what he was saying. I was dying on the inside from curiosity, and these questions I wished to ask only made matters worse!
"¿Eres la tierra?" He asked me. I pouted and it struck him that he was making me irritated by giving me anxiety. He patted the sand beneath us. "Tierra." He continued to pat the ground. Oh. So this Tierra thing is ground? Interesting….I nodded, understanding. He pointed to me.
"Tu." He repeated numerous times. I repeated him as well. So 'tu' meant me? Okay then. Easy enough to remember. So ground equals me? I guess that seems right. I am a spirit…or demon. Whichever worked, and I honestly didn't care about being considered a demon anymore. The land. Mother gave it to me. I knew that was certain. She said it, herself.
"Tu eres la tierre?" I watched him point to me then pat the ground again. Me something ground. Yeah, I believe so. I nodded and he smiled.
"Entoces, desde ahora, su nuevo nombre es 'Florida.' Oiste?" I nodded, although I still had no idea what he was talking about. He pointed to me and repeated Florida. I guess that's my new name? No more Alaka? Oh well, Florida did sound a lot cooler…
"Florida!" I repeated. It sounded so pleasant on my lips that I had to smile. I said it the exact same way this man did! He smiled at me and ruffled my blonde hair. I felt my cheeks warm up at the sudden affection. The only people I received affection like this was from my mother and brother. Never from a stranger. I never received any affection from my own tribe. I was only treated like a friend or vermin. I liked this feeling. It made my heart warm.
The man the stranger dismissed earlier returned. He now came with some strange material with the same color that matched the clouds. The stranger yanked the material out of the man's grasp and handed me the material. I took it and lifted it to see what it was.
It was a gown. A pretty one with a red bow around the collar. When I lifted it, another piece fell onto the dry sand. I guessed that that one piece was for my bottom half by the way it was shaped. I picked it up moments after it fell and stuffed it into my arms. I looked at the stranger curiously, and he smiled. Was he really giving them to me?
The stranger put the dress part over my head for me. At first I thought I was going to get trapped, but luckily I wasn't. It felt weird having clothing on the top part of my body. I ran behind one of the nearby rocks to put on the bottom part.
I threw my old cloth towards the trees. It wasn't needed anymore. I had different clothing now. Something new and life changing. I walked back towards the stranger. I was curious to know his name.
"Eh." I grunted while pointing at him. "What is your name?" I said in my language. He stared at me confused then smiled. He pointed to himself.
"España." I smiled back at him.
"España." I repeated, testing the name. The ending of his name made me giggle. Ña. What a funny way to pronounce something.
"Me voy hacer tu nuevo hermano" He told me. I looked at him and smiled. I didn't know what he had said, but I nodded and pretended to understand. I twirled in place, watching my clothes lift up from the sand. I bet I looked adorable. I ran towards the ocean to see if I could see my reflection. It was too blue to see my appearance so I frowned. España followed me and saw my expression. Once again, he dismissed one of his men.
The man came back after I spent a few minutes kicking the water with my bare feet pouting. España kept giggling saying things like, 'Que lindo' while squealing. I puckered my face and made an annoyed grunt. I watched as the man handed España a strange object. I caught a glimpse of it. It was very shiny.
España showed me the object, and I saw another baby like myself looking into it. I had ANOTHER twin? Since when? I moved and it moved with me. I twirled, it twirled. I stuck out my tongue and it mocked me. My patience was wearing thin.
After having the strange object copy me, I wanted to show it a piece of my mind. I was going to poke it. HAHA! How do you like them apples, now? Confidence sparked in my heart, and I did poke it. Only, instead of feeling skin, I felt something hard, smooth, and cold. My eyes widened as I stared in awe. What was this thing? I rubbed the strange object, hearing a strange squeaky sound. España smiled.
"Es un espejo." He laughed at my curiosity.
"Espejo?" I repeated, still unsure of its functions.
"Mira." He continued facing the mirror at me. He went to fix my hair, which was a mess no doubt. I didn't have to see in order to know. I looked into the mirror, seeing a hand on the child's head. The child had twigs, leaves and the same piece of hair sticking out that I had. I then realized that this child was me.
As España went picking pieces of scraps out of my hair, I made theories about the espejo. One was that it was a new spirit, who is trapped in another world. She mocks people and can transform into them because she's just bored and can't do anything else. The other was that it shows you what you're doing. I went with the second one because I could feel the weight of Espana's hand on my head.
He pointed to the woods. I think he wanted a personal VIP tour, don't worry I'm free. It's not like I had anything else to do but starve to death and be lonely for the rest of my miserable life. No, I wanted to change my pessimistic attitude. I was going to take this chance and open the world. I was to learn more about who I am, and España would help me. I turned to him and made a huge smile that my eyes couldn't stay open. I reached for España's hand and he gladly held it while squealing 'que lindo!' again. I tugged on his arm towards the forest. He turned around towards his men.
"Vamos!" He shouted before facing me again.
"Vamos!" I repeated. Yet again, España squealed 'que lindo.' I could tell that this would be an interesting friendship.
Time to be your personal translator. YAY!
Q-Que es esto? = What is this
Hola niño pequeño, ¿quién eres? = Hello small child. Who are you?
Eres lindo = You're cute
Olle! Usted. Dame ropa para el niño. = Hey! You. Give me clothes for the boy.
¿Eres la tierra? = Are you the land?
Entoces, desde ahora, su nuevo nombre es 'Florida.' Oiste? = Well then. From now on, your new name is Florida. You hear?
España = Spain
Me voy hacer tu nuevo hermano = Im going to be your new brother.
Que lindo. = How cute
Es un espejo = It's a mirror.
Mira = Look
Vamos = Let's go
Pays off being hispanic. It really does. P.S. It's time to put all that knowledge about conquistadors to work.
