When I woke up, I was back in that tent. I still felt groggy, but I had enough strength to get up. He was there again, sitting on the floor, marking papers. This time, his back wasn't turned.

"This is the second time I've woken up like this."

"Do you mind?" he looked up.

"No. I'm starting to appreciate this place."

"That makes me happy." he smiled a little. It was the first time I'd seen him smile genuinely. Before, it was always to mock me.

Argh, his kindness made me think back to those damn doctor's assistants. They didn't know anything. How could they do that? How could they look at him like that?

Then I froze.

I didn't know anything either. Up until two days ago, I was in Shae. With my family.

Really, who did I think I was? I didn't know anything about life. About his.

But that didn't make me any less angry at those people.

"Did you see the way they looked at you?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"At the doctor. Those two assistants."

"Don't worry. They do it all the time. Everyone does. Nothing new."

"But that's not okay!"

"It's just the way it is. This is the life of an Entertainer. It's a different world, I guess."

His statements made me think. I felt pity for these people. Maybe I shouldn't have, but I felt it anyway. And my eyes showed it.

"Please don't look at me like that. I don't need your pity. These are my own problems."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I've always been very expressive, I just can't hide my emotions."

He looked me straight in the eyes for a while, softly.

"It's not necessarily a flaw. It means you're still pure, uncontaminated by this terrible world. Few are like that. You see it too, the aggression that's rampant in these lands."

Huh, it was an interesting vision. A peculiar one, one I'd never heard before. Emotions as a weapon, not an obstacle. Maybe he was right.

He took the papers and put them away in his backpack.

"Good, I'm done. I should go now. Work. Hope you don't mind too much."

"Go, go. Don't worry about me. I couldn't move even if I wanted to."

"That's true." he said, chuckling. "See you later. Be careful."

"Bye. Be careful too."

After a final goodbye he left the tent and was careful to close it properly. Then his shadow disappeared and I realized he was far away.

I looked around. The tent was circular, small. It was green and red, a little faded. Maybe from the sun and time.

Time?

How long could he have been an Entertainer if the tent was already in such condition? Was there even an age limit for such a job?

Just thinking that there could be children doing it made me shiver. Now that I had seen a little of that world I was sure that no one would ever do it of their own free will. There must have always been other motivations behind it. So what could possibly push the boy to work as an one of them?

I didn't want to think about it any longer. Maybe he would tell me one day. And I would wait for that day.

It was late, I had already slept for most of the day, but that didn't stop me. I was constantly tired. I wasn't used to rhythms like that. I couldn't stay awake, so I fell into a deep sleep once again.

But for the first time, I didn't have nightmares.

-

I felt something on me, a presence. 

A presence? Who could it be? Them, again?

I got scared, my eyes widened, and by reflex, I immediately slapped whoever it was. When my eyes focused on the figure, I noticed it was just him. It was already morning and he was trying to wake me up.

"Argh, sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"A bit."

"Seriously??"

"No. Haha." he started laughing "You wouldn't hurt a fly."

I threw the pillow at him. I wasn't that weak, come on.

"Everything ok? With work, I mean." I asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Always the same stuff."

His job intrigued me. There were so many things I wanted to know.

"But... Can I ask you a question?"

"Tell me."

"Your clients are The Rich, right? But then why do you stop in the villages? You can not answer me if you don't want to."

I was honestly afraid to ask him this question. Or rather, to ask him questions in general, about his life. I didn't want to ruin the relationship we were building.

"It's not an uncomfortable question for me. The answer is quite simple: almost all The Rich use our services, but it's still taboo to be with us. They don't want to be seen by the other Rich with Entertainers. That's why they stay a few nights in a village and request our services there. It's stupid, really. Just like them.
The papers you see me marking sometimes are the "orders". Of those Rich people who want to see me.
Oh, right. Sometimes there are some eccentric Rich people who call Entertainers to their homes in the Cities, but they are very rare. Better not to deal with them, you never know what to expect." he paused for a moment "Oh, sorry. Maybe I was boring you."

"No. Absolutely not. These are things I don't know, uhm, they are very interesting to me."

I thought for a moment about what he had just told me. The role of the Entertainer. It was something universally requested, but not universally accepted.

Then I remembered something he had said.

"You mark papers, and those are your 'orders'... But that must mean you understand some type of language. In order to communicate with others, I mean."

"Are you asking me if I can read? Or write?"

"Yes, exactly."

Once again, I was afraid of the question I had just asked him. Maybe it was too early to ask.

Yes, it was too early.

"Err, forget about it." I said, quickly.

"No, no, I'm telling you. It's nothing. I can't write, the marks I make are Xs. Nothing more. But I can read a little, just a little. Just enough to be able to understand where to go. I can only read the cardinal points and the times. Oh, and also "yes" and "no". But that's where my knowledge ends. I'm still illiterate."

My eyes sparkled. I couldn't believe it. A person who could read, in front of me. A little was enough for me.

"Please... Teach me what you know."

"But, uh, it isn't much." He felt embarrassed.

"It doesn't matter. Please." I took a deep breath. "I've always wanted to learn to read. It's my greatest desire. It always has been. I beg you."

He was surprised by my insistence, I think. It took him a while to answer.

"Well... I can try to teach you what I know, if that's what you want. But I don't have that much free time, it'll be one word at a time at most."

I didn't even have to think about my answer. Yes. Yes. Yes!

"Yes!! That's fine! Thank you!"

He wasn't very close to me – in the center of the tent, but somehow, stretching out, I still managed to hug him. He had given me an incredible gift, even if he didn't know it. He would continue the memory of my father, of my brother. He would continue that promise.

He didn't push me away, he accepted the hug.

That night he taught me the word "North." I knew what north was, but I didn't know how it was written, what letters formed it. N-O-R-T-H. It wasn't too hard to remember, but even if it had been I wouldn't have forgotten it anyway. It was too important. My first word.

We continued for a while. Every night a new word: before going to work he always made some time for me, for our lessons. I still didn't know his name. I didn't remember it. And I didn't have the courage to ask him. It was too embarrassing.

I think he was in the same situation, too, since he never called me by my name. We were similar, in some ways.

I learned all the cardinal points "S-O-U-T-H, E-A-S-T, W-E-S-T," within four days.

Then I learned the times and consequently the numbers too. I learned to count to 24, like the hours. We were doing two hours a day, so it took about two weeks. Then "yes" and "no". It all took around twenty days. Almost a month, woah.

We had spent a lot of time together, and I hadn't even noticed. I was fine there, with him.

-

We had finished our lessons the day before. I had had a lot of fun, it had been a wonderful experience. That night, like the others, he had gone out to work. We were now very far from Shae Village, there must have been at least fifteen villages between us and it. I was completely out of danger.

That night, however, instead of just sleeping, as I had done all the others, I started to reflect, to think. To think about my wounds, my traumas. About all those horrible experiences I had had. And also about how lucky I had been to find him. It wouldn't have been the same with anyone else. I was incredibly grateful to him.

At a certain point, still lost in my thoughts, I began to hear noises outside the tent. Footsteps, yes, footsteps. Faster and faster. Closer and closer. No, they weren't just footsteps. Someone was running.

With great speed the tent was opened and the boy appeared.

"Move. Move! We have to go!"

"What's happening??"

"There's no time!" he started to quickly put his things away, then picked me up. He put me, once again, against a tree trunk and began to dismantle the tent like a fury.

"Fuck, there's no time. Fuck!"

I could hear other noises in the distance. Who was there?

"Hey, I hear someone. Over there." I said, pointing north. My hearing had never failed me.

"Are you serious? Already?? I can't hear anything."

"Trust me."

"Fuck. We have to move right now."

He didn't finish dismantling the tent. He left it there, in the forest. He only took me, and my backpack. And he ran. He ran. Almost as fast as I did that time. The danger must have been similar, I thought.