Chapter 45: The best day of my life

It’s approaching dawn when I stand up, as if I need to pee, and jump silently outside the cabin.

I’ve been wondering what to say to my brother on the radio, and also about what Nila told me earlier, and I’ve been pondering so much I didn’t sleep a bit.

Actually, I’ve been worrying about what Nila said much more than about what to say to my brother; if I had to split, my mind would be 70% on what he said and 30% on my message.

Unable to think straight, I walk aimlessly in the village. The breeze is cool and the sky just bright enough to see around. I wonder where Nila is sleeping…

Walking until the northern border of the settlement, I notice one small cabin is standing on its own a little further than the rest, near the hill where the shepherds were watching their herd.

I peek inside and notice two human forms, but Nila doesn’t seem to be in there.

I walk around the cabin and find a small road that leads to the top of the hill. Walking up there would give me a broad view of the whole settlement.

I squint my eyes at the bright light that is slowly rising above the horizon.

I find a wide clearing on top of the hill, where the sheep are peacefully sleeping.

On the side of the small road, in the middle of a heap of straw, Nila is comfortably napping, surrounded by a group of sheep to keep him warm like a wool duvet.

I raise an eyebrow at this sudden showcase of delicateness, like straight out of a myth. This Nila reveals that he’s quite the sensible guy to be able to sleep surrounded with animals like this…

I get the irresistible urge to ruin his heavenly night.

“Wake up!” I shout.

“Wh-!” Startled by the sudden noise, the sheep and Nila suddenly wake up and bleat, confused.

“Hey there!!” I shout again.

Recognizing my figure, Nila runs a hand over his face and asks, perplexed, “Gini…? What the heck are you doing? Why are you here? What time is it??”

I grin widely. “You’re supposed to watch me, you’re doing a terrible job at it.”

Without standing up, he keeps looking at me half awake. “Can’t you just let me sleep…?”

“No, I couldn’t. You looked too much like an idiot so I had to warn you about it.”

“Warn me about what?”

“About looking like an idiot.”

We look at each other in silence until I add, one last time, “You look like an idiot.”

“FINE! I DON’T CARE!” Enraged, he throws a pile of straw at me, but it’s so light it falls before reaching me.

Grinning even wider, I continue. “You should care. It’s essential information.”

“I do not care and I’m going back to sleep.” He says, lying on his back again.

All the sheep that were sleeping next to him have now left so his princess aesthetic is lost, and apart from his expensive-looking clothes, he currently looks like a homeless guy.

This whole thing amuses me immensely and I continue to mess with him. “Too bad, I’ll have to tell Rohini that you can’t even watch me. So, you would have failed a duty as simple as that twice!”

His eyes twitch when he hears Rohini’s name and raising his head again, he pronounces with hostility, “I can’t let you do that… I’ll kill you so you won’t speak a word!”

He jumps at my throat with his hand mimicking an eagle’s talons, but I see him coming from too far away. I take a step back and he falls face-first on the ground.

I scream with laughter for the first time of my life.

“You… I’ll beat you up, I swear!” He clenches his fist.

“Try to stand on your feet first!” I laugh.

He jumps at me again, failing at reaching me over and over, until the barking of a dog rises from down the hill, as a response to our racket.

We look at each other with tense smiles, “Oh no, you woke up the dog!” Nila cries.

“I didn’t do a thing!” I shriek, running down to the other side.

“It’s because you kept shouting!!” He rushes behind me.

“No way, no way, it’s because you slept with the sheep, you weirdo!!”

“YOU MAKE IT SOUND WORSE THAN IT WAS!!!”

After reaching the other end of the hill, we look at each other, relieved that the dog doesn’t seem to be chasing us any longer.

“How can you be so breathless after running this little?!” I tease proudly, my breathing slow and without a single drop of sweat on my face.

“You… Animal… I couldn’t finish my nap because of you… I’m exhausted…” He articulates.

“I didn’t sleep at all because of you either!” I make him notice.

“WHY?!” He throws his hands up, dumbfounded.

I take a few seconds to ponder before explaining shamelessly, “You told me about some weird things yesterday, I couldn’t sleep at all! Why did you do this?”

“IT’S NOT WEIRD!!” He screams.

“You’re the one who said it was weird.”

“I SAID IT’S WEIRD AROUND HERE!”

“See, you said it. And why are you shouting again? Do you want people to hear you?”

“Nobody lives on this side of the hill!”

Noticing that the sun has risen higher since I started messing with Nila, I mention, pointing at the sky, “Sure, but everybody should have woke up now.”

“FUCK!” He shrieks.

“And you should take a bath, Princess.” I pinch my nose. “You stink of sheep and straw.”

“You’re a real devil, you know that? How about you, when is the last time you bathed?”

I point at myself with my thumb and puff up with pride, “Rohini cleaned me herself the night before!”

He ruffles my hair, “Rohini this, Rohini that! You really only have her in your head, uh! You can’t even say you don’t like her!”

Blushing a little, I notice he’s right and I can’t stop thinking about her, so I shake my head and remove his hand, “Shut up! Don’t touch me with your dirty hands!”

“You’re stinky now too. You come with me.” He grabs me by my waist and hoists me on to his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

“WHAT THE HELL?! PUT ME DOWN!!” I scream and jiggle but his grasp is too strong.

Carrying me all the way around the hill, unfazed by my screaming and wiggling, he throws me in a small and dirty pond swarming with insects. “There! Much better!” He exclaims, proudly.

“YOU’RE DEAD!” I cough and hiss, my face and clothes covered in dirt.

“How the tables turn?!” He laughs.

I jump to my feet and climb up his body like a snake, with my hand-to-hand combat skills. I aim to make him fall in the pond using my body weight to raise his his center of gravity and topple him over … but he doesn’t move an inch.

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“You really are weightless, you know that?” He giggles at my failed attempt to destabilize him.

At least I spread the mud all over his clothes, “Curse you, you’re all dirty too!”

We fight for a bit until noon, and when we walk back to the settlement, we meet an enraged Ishqam. We fail at running away from her.

She grabs us by our collars. Pulling Nila down and me up by the sheer strength of her arms, she roars, “WHAT’S UP WITH YOU TWO?! WHY ARE YOU SO STINKY? GINI, IF YOU’RE GOING TO RUN AWAY ALL THE TIME, I’M NOT TAKING CARE OF YOU ANYMORE! FIND YOUR OWN PLACE TO SLEEP AND FOOD TO EAT! LOOK AT HOW YOU TREAT THE CLOTHES WE GAVE YOU, YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT! AND YOU, NILA OR NALA OR WHICHEVER ONE YOU ARE, WE DON’T WANT YOU AROUND HERE, YOU AND YOUR CRAZY FRIEND! GO PLAY WAR SOMEWHERE ELSE!”

After begging and apologizing for long minutes, she pulls us to the clear river nearby. She kicks Nila’s butt and orders him to bath further away, then forces me to remove my clothes and thoroughly wash up. The little Nimrit brings me a gray robe to wear while I clean and dry the kameez and shalwar I was given, under Ishqam’s severe gaze.

When my clothes are good enough to put on again, I change, but Ishqam doesn’t seem pleased with my efforts yet. “You’re not getting away like this, come.”

She takes me by the hand and we walk back to her cabin. Fearing what kind of fate awaits me, my heart pounds a little faster than usual.

This time, Nimrit and Anhad are making bread on the stove.

She orders me to sit and brings me a plate of bread and cheese. “Here. You didn’t have breakfast.” She says with her severe tone.

I looked at the plate, then at her face, confused.

“Aren’t you hungry? Did you eat something?”

I shake my head.

“Good, then eat.” She sits next to her children and starts helping them.

I silently eat the food with mixed emotions building in my heart, and when Nimrit looks up, she notices something strange with my face.

“Sister, why are you crying?”

Massive teardrops were flowing from my eyes without my consent.

“I … I…” I try to explain.

Ishqam looks at me with a hard-to-read expression. So, I cover my face with my arms so she can’t see me.

While I’m not looking, Nimrit walks up to me and hugs my shoulders. “Don’t be sad, Sis!” She beams.

I’m not sad…

When I finally get my sobbing under control, I finish the plate. “Thank you for the food.” I manage to pronounce, an awkward smile on my face.

“You’re welcome!” Nimrit, Ishqam and Anhad respond in unison.

Ishqam continues without stopping her work, “Nimrit, Anhad, go play with Gini outside. I can finish alone.”

Anhad jumps on his feet, delighted and runs outside. “COME, GINI! I’LL SHOW YOU AROUND!” He shouts.

Nimrit who didn’t leave my shoulders screams next to my ear. “ME TOO! ME TOO! COME, GINI, WE’LL SHOW YOU AROUND!”

I grimace at the sudden noise, but Ishqam, whose eyes are constantly on her work, beams slightly without showing it.

I put the plate down and stand up. Nimrit is startled by my sudden movements, but grabs my hand; and we walk together toward the exit.

But instead of looking down to find the little Anhad, I look up to find him being carried on the shoulders of Nila, clean from head to toe.

I frown. “What? You’re still here?”

“Did you forget that I have to watch you?!” He exclaims, with Anhad, laughing out loud above his face.

“I did forget, you’re doing such a terrible job at it!”

Looking at my face, he notices, “Did you cry?”

“NO WAY!” I shout.

“YES, SHE CRIED!”

“SHE CRIED!”

Nimrit and Anhad have instantly betrayed me.

“You traitors…” I hiss.

Nila laughs and gives a high-five to Anhad, and a handshake to Nimrit. “Thank you, my little spies!”

Still firmly holding Nimrit’s hand, I hiss again.

“So, where were you all going?” Nila asks, turning around.

“SHOWING AROUND!” Anhad shouts.

“SHOWING AROUND!!” Nimrit repeats.

“Yeah, let’s show Gini around!” Nila laughs and imitates a marching soldier.

We follow the two boys around the whole settlement, and they show me every household accompanied by a little presentation of their occupants. I’ll definitely never remember all those names and professions, since none of them stand out, but it is quite an exciting adventure.

We walk along the river, play tag with the other children, and listen to stories from an elder. We later help a shepherd find a few lost sheep and get sweets as a reward.

Without us noticing, the sky has already turned dark and we slowly make our way back to Ishqam’s place.

Nimrit and Anhad are too tired to keep standing, so they head inside directly. Ishqam is away at the moment, but that’s not a problem for them and they go to sleep.

Turning back to Nila, I ask him, “Where are you going now?”

“I’ll go meet with Nala and Rohini and I’ll come back later.” He responds.

“Don’t you have a mobile phone like Rohini? Why do you have to meet with them?”

“I ran out of battery, there is no socket around here.” He sighs.

“I see… Do you think she’ll come to see me?” I ask, a little hopeful.

“Maybe, if you’re a good girl.” He grins.

Kicking his ass, I let him go, smiling at the thought that he’ll probably sleep with the sheep again tonight.

Lying inside Ishqam’s cabin, I contemplate. We had so much fun, this was definitely the best day of my life…

But soon after having these thoughts, my face tenses, and I remember something essential I should have never forgotten.

I … forgot to send a message to my brother…

A faint but familiar noise that only my ears can catch, rises from far away in the sky.

Panicking, I jump outside and start looking above the horizon and see, in absolute terror, the shadow of the attack helicopter from our division obscuring the moon’s figure.

Stunned, not knowing whether to scream or run, I stand there dumbfounded, processing the fate that awaits every person around me.

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