Charcoals' smell, black smoke puffed through the gap between the wooden ceilings, flew towards the sky as the little girl fluttered the scorching stove with a rectangular, bamboo fan. Black charcoal powder covered her cheek and forehead, accentuating her appearance to be cuter.
While Ziya and her mother were preparing the stove, Eldu was resting on the terrace. Wanted to help, he reached out Ziya's mother only to be rejected.
Moments later, a fragrant smell struck his smelling sense, causing his stomach to yell. Opening his eyes, he heard footsteps coming over and found three small bowls, with white steam puffed from it to the air, carried on a wooden tray by the little girl.
Knelt down on one knee, the girl carefully put the bowls horizontally. She placed three spoons beside the respective bowl then called her mother.
Not long after, the woman came, politely sit next to the girl. She smiled and stretched a spoon to Eldu. "Eat it slowly."
Eldu hesitantly received the spoon with mixed feelings. Staring the gentle smile, he sincerely said, "thank you."
After giving a slight nod, the woman lifted a bowl in front of her.
On the other hand, the little girl already started eating the soup greedily. She no longer cared about these strangers because now it was between her and food!
Her mother heaved a sigh of relief seeing her little glutton act normally. She was worried if her action made her daughter uncomfortable. Stroking her chest with ease, she then took a sip and started to eat too.
On the other hand, Eldu held a bowl dearly like it was a fragile princess. He smelled the white steam, waved it toward his nose, and felt the warmth he longed for; a portion of decent food. He took a sip. From a sip turned into a full spoon. Drinking it slowly afterward.
No one knew that right now, six people gathered under the same roof; four strangers and two villagers. If other villagers saw this, rumors would inevitably spread. Even with no rumor, it was quite not appropriate to invite four stranger men when no indigenous man was at home. At worse, robbery might occur and many other possibilities.
Although knowing this, the woman cared less.
Painted the fluffy white dots at the expanse, the crimson sun hesitantly peeked in the edge of the horizon. A quarter disc of it had sunk, and a faint moon shape glowed, impatiently waited the day over.
In this dazzling crimson sun period, slurping sounds and spoon hitting a wooden bowl jazzed up. As the rest of the strangers, Banma, Dun, and Majo, woke up, they immediately joined the war and wiped all soup until the last drop.
"Ziya, let's clean ourselves," said her mother after they finished the meal. Ziya got up, carried a basket full of clothes. Her mother also invited the others to do the same thing. They nodded and went along with her.
They arrived in front of a well, about ten meters distance from the house. It had a pulley with a strap tied to a bushel basket for transporting the water.
Some crumbs adorned her face, gently wiped by her mother's finger. Ziya then put a basket full of clothes down, rolled her sleeves, and sorted it out, whereas her mother spoke to the strangers.
"Since you are my guest, wash yourself the backyard. Take the water here then bring it to the backyard. You'll know where you should pour the water once you arrive."
They didn't ask more and began immediately.
There were two wooden basins. Each could be filled approximately by 10 to 15-bushel baskets. They pulled the pulley and filled the basket bit by bit.
It took them about several minutes to fill half of the basin. Then, Gu Banma and Po Eldu carried it to the backyard.
The backyard was clean and tidy. There was no decoration. It was simply a place to the washroom for both equipment and body with nature as its scenery.
They saw a pile of stones on the right side. It was rectangular shaped with semen capped the inner part and a wooden plank covered the upper part. It was the place to contain the water.
Carefully opening the wooden plank, a shallow puddle was seen. After making sure it was the right place, they immediately poured water carefully to prevent it from leaking out.
They patiently waited until the basin emptied. Alas, it couldn't fill much. Thus, they returned and repeated it a few times. Until moments later, with sufficient water, they began to clean themselves properly after a long time.
***
The sky turned dimmed. The disc on the horizon almost sunk, leaving a bit trail of light piercing the clouds. Birds flew, returned to their nest. Some animals holed themselves.
On a terrace of a wooden house, a skinny male lighted a candle. Surrounding him were five humans with their hands kept moving between two baskets alternatively.
In the middle of them were some of the harvests that Ziya's mother got. They sorted and selected it so that they knew which would be sold and which would be eaten, graded and all.
Near them were some fresh grasses and leaves wrapped by animal skin or twigs. The withered one was wrapped by branches, all of which were neatly organized in jars and a shelf.
The wind blew, bringing the melody of nature as insects shook their organ to welcome the night. Trees gently swayed along with the rhythm as the moon slowly rose accompanied by dazzling stars. Its light penetrated the darkness, giving a peaceful vibe.
Amid the silence, someone broke the tranquility by coughing then said, "I don't know where to start but I would like to thank you so much for saving us."
Hearing this, Ziya's mother pulled her hand from the harvest then called her. She came over and sat politely while her mother was looking at Eldu's eyes.
"My name is Lena. This is my daughter, Ziya." said the middle-aged woman while embracing her daughter on her lap.
Ziya looked unhappy this whole time. The strangers made her restrain herself. She had a lot to tell to her mother. Lena smiled wryly because of her silly daughter.
"My name is Po Eldu. I am sincerely grateful for your kindness."
"I am Gu Banma. I am truly indebted to you."
They replied quickly, almost at the same time.
"I, I am Yi Majo. I am very grateful for this hospitality. Please call me if you need help."
"Me too! Me too!" said Dun while nodding his head.
Lena smiled at Dun and asked, "what's your name, young man?"
Danny Dun's face slightly turned red. "I am Danny Dun. Nice to meet you, Madam Lena."
There was a moment of silence for a while. Moonlight slowly illuminated their face. Then, Lena put the harvest in a sack.
All of them had stopped sorting the harvest. Lena looked at the 'guests' one by one. Her hand caressed Ziya's sleepy head. "Dear, can you go to bed without me?"
"Why? I don't want to sleep alone," replied Ziya while yawning.
"I will have a little chat with these guests. Dear, can you do that once for me?"
Eldu and his companions just listened to the conversation between them for a moment. A kid like Ziya needed her mother's attention so she was sulking on it. Eventually, Ziya left them to sleep.
After that, Dun opened his mouth and almost blurted his thought but a gentle voice echoed through his ears. "Take it easy, child. The night is young. We can slowly talk about it."
He once again felt embarrassed.
However, his mind was full of questions about the wooden tube, the village, the fiery rabbits, and so on, thus he truly wanted to get the answers as soon as possible.