Among the trees and bushes are women picking fruits, berries and other things. This has to be what he wanted to show me because I see him smiling out of the corner of my eye. He nudges me forward and with a yelp all eyes are on me. They turn to look curiously at me and a few are startled at the sudden intrusion.

“Pardon us, ladies. I have someone for you to meet. We have a visitor, his name is Aderran. We were passing through to find Denchi, have you seen him?”

Judging by how they’re looking at me, I don’t think that they heard him. And I can’t help but to stare too. They look like the women from my dream. I don’t see the particular one that I saw, but they’re all so beautiful I almost don’t care.

“I take it you like what you see,” Tetyh says in my ear. I was so lost in my thoughts that he being suddenly so close makes me jump. The women laugh and my face starts to feel hot.

“Oh, you asked about Denchi,” one of the women steps over and says. “He’s down at his usual place with Tziatana. And…nice to meet you, Aderran.”

She looks at me and her face turns pink. She walks over to the other women and they start giggling. I’m sure they’re talking about me even though I can’t hear what they’re saying. Seeing the boats earlier was nice but this is even better. This is what made the trip and dealing with Maeren earlier worth it. And by the way they’re looking, it’s confirmed, looks definitely aren’t a problem. I wonder how I knew what they’d look like. Maybe I knew based on what the men looked like but that dream felt so real, from the way she looked at me to the touch of her hand. And why was I an animal? Every time I think that it, I can feel the side of my head pulsing. These are similar to the headaches I get when I try and think of something or try to remember something from my past. If they are indeed connected, then I know for sure that I’ve seen these women before and that I’ve at least been to the part of the forest close to the village. If Mother won’t tell me then I’ll do whatever I can to come here as often as possible. I’m more confident that this village is the key to figuring out where I came from.

Hmm, maybe that’s what she meant.

How long have I been thinking to myself? Everyone is staring at me now and I know it’s not because I’m unfamiliar to them. Now they probably think I’m weird. Great.

“Should we go to meet Denchi now?” I feel like the longer I stand here the more awkward it will be.

“Yes, let’s go. I know he should be eager to hear how your day has gone,” Tetyh motions me over to follow him to where Denchi is.

“It was nice meeting you all,” I quickly tell the women as we’re leaving from them.

They all give me a bye and I’m convinced they think I’m crazy. I could see if I was too nervous to talk to them, I just got in my head. I’m replaying everything I’ve seen today in my mind and I can’t help but feel overwhelmed. I want to learn more about them. I want them to like me. I want to help them. I want to learn more about my past.

Just when I’m thinking about not getting too much in my head, here I am doing it again. I’m not sure how far we’ve been walking or if Tetyh’s said anything to me. I need to focus. It’ll be time for me to head home soon and I’ll have all the time to think about what I’ve seen and learned today.

“How much longer do we have to go?” I ask.

“Not much longer, he should be up here around this set of trees. A lot of good fruit grow here and we’re trying to get them to grow in the area we’ve set out so we don’t have to always walk this far.”

“If you’re trying to get something to grow, why don’t you ask Mother?” She said yesterday that she can help things grow. Doesn’t she help them with these types of things anyway?

“Some things we want to be able to do ourselves and she’s helped us out so much, I think we’ll be able to handle this. Besides, she won’t be around forever. We need to get to a place where those that come after us will be able to take care of things themselves.”

That sounds reasonable. I’m certain they knew they couldn’t go on forever relying on Mother’s help. What will she do once she’s not needed? Will she continue to live here or will she move on? Even if it’s not with their food, what about the medicine she provides? She can show them how to give it, but I can tell they wouldn’t know how to make it, otherwise they’d not need her help in the first place.

“Heh, that’s not to say that we won’t need her help as much, but we still need to be able to do what’s expected of us as the elders. You know?”

He probably sensed what I was thinking by the look on my face. I wasn’t necessarily bothered by what he said, but he’s probably noticed that I keep getting quiet.

“I didn’t think of it that way,” I say. I hope he doesn’t notice I’m lying. “I just think it’s interesting how much you’re doing to make sure your people are ok, especially with what you went through before she got here.”

“Yes, that’s why I said that we’re so grateful that she’s helped us so much. Some may show it more than others, but we all appreciate what she does.”

“I know.”

Hearing that makes me smile. If I’m able to help out then I want them to feel the same way about me.

“Here we are,” Tetyh walks around a group of bushes and we see Denchi at a tree putting some of the fruit in a basket. He doesn’t seem to notice when we walk up. “Denchi, our guest is here to see you.”

“Ah,” he puts the fruit in his hands down in the basket. “Aderran, it’s nice to see you. Have you liked what you’ve seen so far? Come tell me about it.”

I walk over and tell him about everything that I’ve seen and learned so far, leaving out some parts for obvious reasons.

“Seems like you’ve had a full day,” he chuckles. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself and liked what you saw. And don’t worry about the other things, I’ll make sure they won’t be a problem by the next time we meet.”

He softly pats me on the back and starts to tell me more about the fruit that he’s picking. He talks about wanting to take some of the fruit and plant their trees in their area to have more of a variety of food to eat and to explore more things to do with them. We share our knowledge of the fruits and other plants in the forest and I tell him about the plants that grow around where Mother and I live. Suddenly, I hear a rustle behind me.

“Tziatana, you’re back. This is Aderran, I told you earlier that he’d be coming today.”

I turn around and there’s a woman behind me. As soon as I look at her, my breath catches and my mind goes blank. She looks about as old as I am, maybe a little younger. As she gets closer, I can tell that she’s related to Denchi, same brown skin and nose. The only thing that is very different are her eyes. They’re the same eyes I saw in my dream. She’s not the same woman that I saw in my dream but those big brown eyes are still unforgettable. I take back what I said earlier, this has made this trip worth it.

Denchi clears his throat and l look over at him. He’s frowning and I realize that my mouth is slightly hanging open.

“This is my daughter, Tziatana. She helps me a lot with planting and has become quite knowledgeable about life here over the years.”

Tziatana. Saying her name over and over again is causing it to burn into my mind. I thought the women I saw before were beautiful but she is something else entirely. Her slim face and how her long braided hair frame her face; her short figure makes her look so delicate. Those eyes, soft and warm, almost begging me to look at them and nothing else. How long have I been staring at her? I’m not sure, but I could look at her all day.

“It’s nice to meet you, how long do you plan on visiting?”

“…”

“He’s passing through for the day but with some luck he’ll come by more often. He’s knowledgeable about the medicine we store so I thought it would be good for him to take a look around.” Denchi says, because I think I forgot how to speak for a while.

“Yes…the plants and hoping to see more of you later.”

Tetyh coughs and Denchi looks at me wide eyed. It takes a moment for me to realize what I just said.

What. Is. Happening.

Is it time for me to go home now?