The next morning I was awoken rather early by a strange and unexpected but pleasantly warm smell wafting into my nose which after I got up and blinked a bit I recognized as a fresh cup of coffee in a tin-can-cup.
Right next to it on some newspaper, there was something warm wrapped in brown paper and every part of me was screaming with questions about how this meal got here and if I was somehow dreaming but it was as if all my pent up hunger came rushing to the surface and without another thought, I was slurping down the coffee until I felt I would burn my throat.
I started coughing from drinking the hot liquid so quickly but I was suddenly frozen when a voice shouted softly from the kitchen warning me to be careful and eat slowly.
"Careful now! Breathe the air, not your supper!"
The voice held something that felt familiar but I didn't recognize it and I was overwhelmed with panic over the stranger in my home which caused me to forget the breakfast and run into the kitchen to see who this was and I was greeted by the warm and beautiful face of the Eskimo princess boy who's photograph I had taken almost a year ago in the height of early summer.
Back then his skin had been sun-kissed and he had been dressed in blue with his lips stained a bit from eating wild berries but now he seemed to be a little plumper with the absence of sun clearly showing on his face that was decorated with a bandage over the bridge of his slightly bruised nose along with an almost completely healed black eye and busted lip yet still his gentle smile seemed to be just as bright as the day we first met.
"Good morning Barnabas! I'm sorry for the coffee being too hot but I brought other things including honey that should help cool your tongue!"
I wasn't sure what to say!
Should I thank him? Ask him why he was here?
I then noticed that he was crouched down on his knees soaked up to his shoulders in front of a cast-iron tub scrubbing all my dirty clothes clean with a washboard and some kind of sweet-smelling soap.
I then noticed that my cleaned clothes were ironed and hung up to dry by the stove, a brand new stack of wood sat by the stove and a fresh loaf of bread with butter and all sorts of jams sat on the new table.
He had cleaned up the whole place and brought a whole stack of beautiful and fluffy quilts and pillows along with some kind of colorful winter boots and coats.
I was speechless and sure that I just stood there blinking like a fool for way too long until he stood up and rung out a pair of my underwear and hung it over the stove causing a sizzle as he then picked up a needle and string from a bag and started sewing the moth holes up.
"You did all this!" I said in surprise.
He turned around and with a gleeful grin along with a tilt of his head almost like a bow of some kind and answered rather sweetly.
"Yes! Your cousin asked me to take care of you while he was gone to France but I wasn't able to be there for you so I hope I can do enough for you to make up for it!"
"What do you mean!" I asked not at all excepting the response I got and in the sweet tone of voice, I got it.
"Oh, I couldn't come because I was in prison! Then when I got out I needed to sew blankets and winter clothes for you!"
He then went back to finishing washing and sewing the laundry while I just stood there rather rudely out of my overwhelmed state of mind.
I tried to figure out why on earth this strange aboriginal was in my house and caring for me in such a domestic manner, perhaps he was being paid by my cousin but he had gone to so much trouble!
"Here I'll go fetch your breakfast so you and I can sit at the table!" He said as he dashed off to my room and back with the bundle of brown paper and unwrapped it on the table revealing a freshly baked salmon with some kind of herbs on it on a bed of wild rice and green grass things.
I'm sure my eyes popped out of my head like a cartoon character at the sight and it was like I was on autopilot as I threw myself into the chair and before I could help it I started digging in as if it was my only defense to stop myself from drowning from my own salivation.
I'm convinced even the nectar of the Gods couldn't taste this good, I'm not too sure if it was the fact that this was a new meal to me or that this was the only real meal that I had had in months to a year but I couldn't remember ever tasting something this good.
I was about halfway through the fish when I realized that he spoke about us eating together and I immediately felt quite sorry since this man had gone to all the trouble to take such good care of me and bring me food all out of his own pocket and his own time yet I had done nothing but repay his kindness with silence, not even a thank you and not even a little politeness or courtesy.
"I'm sorry! Here you should have some!"
"Oh no! That's quite alright I made it for you anyway and judging by how fast you jumped at it you most likely were really hungry I'm very sorry I wasn't able to get here sooner! Here eat the fish head, it's very good to eat when people are sick, lots of nutrition!"
"Oh no thank you! I'm quite fine without eating fish heads thank you! Umm, here you should have it after all you've done a lot of work this morning!"
I pushed the fish over to him but he just smiled with a giggle and pushed it back.
"No, you need food more than I do, especially the head since it's the best part of the fish!"
"No, really I am so stressed since I've been such a rude host you've done all this for me and I don't really have much else to give!"
I pushed it back to him but again he smiled and giggled as he pushed it back to me.
"No no, it's alright! You don't have to do that, just eat!"
Somehow this push between the two of us continued on as if it was some sort of game leaving us both to frustrated but in a different kind of way in a way that was almost humorous until we were interrupted by the familiar sound of Nikolai walking in through the door with his heavy coal miner boots stomping on the old creaky floor.
He saw Nanuq and ran to him with a smile and embraced him lovingly enough to break the smaller man's back if he had hugged him any longer.
"Oh, Nanuq! At last, you've come back to us! This is a cause for celebration!"
He called down his wife and told her to break out the Christmas roast they were planning on saving ahead of time.
She came running down the stairs shaking her rolling pin at him for suggesting something so stupid but the moment she saw Nanuq she dropped the pin on the floor and ran to him and kiss him on the cheek as she then ran upstairs to go and make the roast.
"Oh, Nanuq thank the Theotokos that you're alright!" She cried as she ran upstairs calling out to her daughter's to get ready to cook the biggest feast they had in their lives.
"Nikolai I didn't know you and he knew each other!" I asked
The old Russian smiled and proudly proclaimed that not only had he known Nanuq for a long time but that his family owed him a great debt.
"Yes! Good friends with this good man! He saved my daughter Tatiana's life! Then when I was laid off from work at the mines and we had to make ends meet with very little food he helped us out when I was sure that the little ones would go hungry!"
Nanuq blushed.
"I'm glad I could help but again like I told you so many times before I'm no good man I'm just a man like all men are!"
"don't listen to him Barnabas this one's something special!" He said with a huge grin and he pat Nanuq on the back.
Nikolai's wife came back downstairs with the whole family and the biggest meal that I think I've seen in a long time along with fine China that Mrs. Tchaikovsky only brought out during special occasions such as Christmas and weddings.
We all drank warm tea sometimes with a little vodka and danced and sung along to funny songs until late in the night when my neighbors returned to their loft upstairs to rest and Nanuq started to once again finish up cleaning.
I looked outside to see the blizzard blaring outside and I decided that the least I can offer him what is a warm place to sleep tonight until the morning instead of asking the person who cleaned my house and brought me dinner to go outside in the cold.
"Umm Nanuq you helped me quite a lot today and it means a lot to me so the least I could do is offer you a warm place to stay tonight it's looking pretty ugly out there!"
He looked at me while folding a dish towel in almost a fidgety way and it was a strange look in his eyes, it was a look that I couldn't recognize and a look that I couldn't really remember seeing anyone ever before.
His dark eyes were cloaked in the shadow making the dark brown almost appear black causing them to shine like the night sky filled with diamonds yet despite their darkness they were still warm like amber and honey.
There was a red tinge to his cheeks which is no surprise since he worked quite hard today but that red tinge to his cheeks reminded me of the redness in his face when I first met him in the summertime when everything was as warm as the sunshine.
And as I looked at him I could feel that same warmth in his eyes but suddenly he turned away and tossed the towel over a handle for a drawer in the kitchen and started to smooth it out and make sure that it was level for some reason.
"Ugh! You're very kind to me but that won't be necessary I have to get back home you see! I'll be alright, I've lived here all my life so I know my way through storms besides my father will be missing me!"
He turned back to me with a kind smile then handed me an envelope with no name.
"This is for you! It's medicine tea that tastes like coffee! Thank you for having me and being so kind but I must be on my way home now so I wish you a well-deserved night's rest!!"
"Ugh thank you! Goodnight to you as well and again thank you!... For all of this!"
He smiled once more this time a full smile and with that, he threw on a thick fur coat and made his way out my door and off into the freezing night leaving me alone in my kitchen wishing that I had perhaps made more of an effort to make him stay or at least tell him that I would repay his charity.