Part 2

Only a few weeks after the incident, all of the villagers who had not seen us walk back they day after had learned of our lingering existence. However, as we still were alive it must have occurred to them we had obviously not encountered the disease that had killed our mother. Because we had not yet stolen from any of the villagers, a fair amount did not believe we deserved death. Luckily, that ratio was large enough to halt any violent action against us. However, there were not near enough for someone to take us in, nor cease the flow of the constant threats aimed at us when we did dare to venture away from the our spot on the seashore.

My brother found work where he could, hauling firewood or assisting a craftsman for a day in return for a meal. There was little a six-year-old boy could do, few who would accept him, and fewer who needed further help. I always sat quietly as he worked, quickly learning patience for a single meal split between the two of us. He often got a days work scaling chopping the fish caught the day before, as it was one any person could do and the more working, the better. However, our reward was often fish. I grew to hate fish, and cherish it all the same. It happens when you live in a town by the sea.

We stole rarely, and when we did, Malkemen would do it so subtly and with so abundant and unimportant foodstuffs that it was never noticed. We scavenged in the forest, finding nuts and berries and even the occasional critter. We also sucked everything we could from the sea, boiling seaweed and digging for clams. Our hunt proven to be a success on one summer's day, we sat happily on the beach off of the cliffs.

Sleepily, I rubbed my tiny fist into my aching eyes and got sand in them. I began to try and rub it out, only making the situation worse.

He smiled, came over, and used a partly clean section of his shirt to wipe my eyes. "I know, Kinya. Sand always gets you, doesn't it? On day, we'll go somewhere. Where there is no sand. We'll just leave. As soon as you are old enough to travel, when you are close to my age."

"Your age?" I questioned, moaning. The sand in my eyes had put me in a fairly pessimistic mood, not to mention painting my cheeks with little ribbons of water. "You, old!" I began to panic. He was so very old, I'd have to live winters and summers and winters and summers and more and more until I'd lived so long…

"I'm not very old." He said, looking down. "If I was, then we'd leave right now, cause I could take care of you, no matter what age you were. I could bang on peoples doors, tell them to give you some food. I'd be strong and brave, and no one would be mean to us, cause I'd hurt them if they were!" He looked down at me.

"Go home? A house? Bed?"

He sat down. "No one will take us in, Kinya. I don't really know why. Maybe they didn't like Mother. Maybe cause they're afraid they won't be able to feed us and there wouldn't be enough for everybody. It can't be that they think we have the fever because we aren't dead. But it won't matter later, cause we'll leave this place and never come back. It's not so long, to live as long as I have. Maybe we'll leave sooner. But we can't leave now; you're too young."

"I'm BIG!" I proclaimed, squirming and fumbling my arms and legs and getting even more sand in my eyes. I then furiously attempted to get it out, doing no better the last time such an incident had occurred. Malkemen chuckled.

"No, silly, you are too little; even here you're getting in trouble," he chided. "We may as well wait until we have the best chance of survival, cause if we leave too soon then we'd just get in a lot of trouble wherever we go, and that would be no better then here, would it?"

I didn't quite understand all of the words, for he was saying them to fast. All I'd heard was 'no, little, you, trouble, wait have, leave soon get trouble, no better and would it?' But I did understand he was talking about other places in the world. "Where we go? Better?"

"I don't know. But there's got to be better, or it wouldn't make sense. No one would live if they didn't think there was anything better out there, cause they'd think that was it and just die. So even if there isn't anything better out there, I'm not gonna take that chance, cause I'd rather look for it instead of excepting this for being it. Cause there are good things even here, Kinya. Like the sea and the rocks; they give us food and shelter when nothing else would. So how can a world with good things not have some good too?"

"Where?"

Malkemen got up and started walking around as he talked, his feet pacing faster and faster as he continued. "We will follow the sea northwards or southwards, or maybe even up into those mountains. We'll learn, Kinya. Maybe we'll get jobs for periods of time, or learn the traveling crafts, but we'll never stay anywhere long. We'll grow up and become strong and wise and we'll help children like us. Children with no parents and no place to go, and we'll help them find families and homes. So that way, even if every where's like this, it won't matter, cause we'll make it better! We'll be happy and good, and we'll be together forever."

I smiled at this, finally content for the time being. We picked up our meal and went back to the cave, each in our own happy thoughts about the future.