Birds danced in the air as yellowish light burst out from the east. Long strands of high cirrus clouds stretched across the sky.
At this time, a pair of mother and daughter was humming in the kitchen.
The black hair mother wore a simple linen cloth with a wooden tube hung around her waist. She stirred the food slowly while her daughter's tiny hand meticulously peeled potato for breakfast.
"Mother, why don't we wake them up?" asked Ziya without looking at her mother.
Lena tasted a spoon of porridge before answering, "let them rest longer. They must be tired."
Ziya did not ask further because she peeled the potato and cleaned it seriously, then she gave it to her mother. She did her best!
In the process of preparing breakfast, she asked about harvest and neighbors, and many more. Basically, she demanded Lena's stories because yesterday she was being ignored by her mother!
The fragrant smell from soup started to spread to every corner of the house, suppressing the porridge smell.
On the wooden table, there were two bowls of vegetables soup, two bowls of mashed potato, a portion of rice, and a pot of porridge.
Lena and Ziya clasped their hands, then grabbed a spoon. Ziya took a full spoon of mashed potato with a little bit of rice, chewed it a while, then swallowed it. She then lifted a bowl of soup, slurped it slowly.
"Hmm!" Ziya chuckled. "It's very delicious. Mother, you should cook some more!"
"Don't praise me, you glutton. Even if I make one big cauldron, you won't be satisfied!" Lena messed Ziya's hair.
"Who would have thought that mother's food is still delicious? I think you are lucky this time. Perhaps your food tastes different if you cook again." Ziya grinned.
"I knew it!" Lena chuckled and pinched Ziya's cheek.
"Ouch! No, not my cheek!" complained Ziya.
That morning, they had a good time. Accompanied by nature's exotic sounds, they talked a lot and laughed a lot. That's how this family usually be.
When the sun was already up, Lena went to the wooden barn. She brought a pot of porridge, and put some herbs in it. She left Ziya to take care of the harvest for a while because she had to take care of the men.
After she arrived at the equipment room, she saw her guests sleeping with faint breath as if something pressed them.
Seeing this, she went to the kitchen and brewed leaves and grass, mixed with honey and other ingredients. Since she entered, she never tend to wake them up.
A bitter fragrant came from the herbs she had just now brewed. Thereafter, she poured it into a teapot and placed it near the guests.
A few minutes later, they could breathe smoothly. It was like something that obstruct their breath had vanished.
"Did I guess it wrong?"
Lena frowned. Supposedly the herbs worked, the men would wake up. Even after waiting for an hour, the men had not woken up yet.
Therefore, she decided to leave them and visit them later at lunchtime. She had many things to take care of in the harvest period, so she couldn't waste her time.
She told Ziya about the guest's condition and some details on what Ziya should do to them. After she wrapped it up, she began to leave the house for harvest. Only Ziya remained.
During lunchtime, Ziya visited the guests because apparently, Lena did not return. Perhaps she was busy, Ziya thought. When she checked the guest, they were sleeping.
In the afternoon, Lena had not come home yet, thus Ziya had to visit again. She changed the herbs and took the porridge out from the room. Unfortunately, they were still unconscious.
When the moon showed its faint light, Lena finally had time to check them. She could not focus on the harvest the whole day.
Some neighbors also noticed this but didn't pry much on it. They thought it was a casual worry on her daughter.
In the room lighted up by firelight, Lena wore a white cloak. A wooden tube on her hand shone, then a faint liquid spread on Majo's upper body to examine his body.
She took a break for a moment. After that, she analyzed it and prepared the next step she should do for the guests.
After considering a certain hypothesis, she continued to analyze the rest. The wooden tube shone longer this time because she wanted to achieve more data.
"This is bad. I can't think of an effective way to recover them." Lena murmured while cleaning up the mess after the checked up done. She wanted to know why the guests couldn't wake up.
She tried to wake them up with herbs, poured water on their face, even slapped them. It was as though their consciousness had gone, leaving the body alive but no soul inside.
"Mother!" Ziya knocked on the door excitedly.
"Come in, dear. What makes you so happy?" Lena's puffy eyes countered the smile Lena showed to Ziya.
Ziya entered with a pigeon on her shoulder. She looked at her mother's condition and said, "mother, don't worry about harvest anymore. Father will arrive tomorrow morning!"
"He's back earlier? Did something happen?" Lena hung her cloak on a hanger.
"I don't know. Uncle told me that he will come in the morning," said Ziya. She stretched her head to peek at the guests behind Lena's body, then gripped Lena's index finger with her right hand.
"I see." Lena smiled but frowned internally.
Based on the schedule, her husband would come home next week. This sudden event, returned a week early, meant something had happened. Lena couldn't help but worried him.
"Let's wash your face and sleep. We should make delicious food for him."
"Yes, mother."
Lena took a final glance at the guests. She shook her head, thinking about her family on the line.
A storm was brewing near the village and she knew this piece of information because of her position, yet she nonchalantly took care of strangers.
Unlike some lower-rank villagers, she had a quite privilege to gain certain information. This was something unrelated to the guest but still, as someone who had such a position, people could condemn her under the pretense of power abuse, telling her that she was selfish because turned blind to the present problems.
Anyway, there was nothing good from worrisome. The smile of her daughter was enough to disperse negative thoughts.
On the other side, she found it as a blessing. She rarely encountered difficulties in treating patients, so this was a good opportunity to gain more experience. She could discuss the way to wake them up with her husband, and many more regarding the guests.
From now on, she should keep this as a matter of secret. The problem could grow into something unimaginable if something went wrong.
For example, villagers made rumors that the guests were criminals from a foreign country and got injured by a high-level expert. Such people were not welcome here, just a time-ticking bomb.
Moreover, she was aware of the journey that the guest went through. They emphasized the delivery of valuable goods without exposing what's inside or the destination. Who knew the client pursued the guests to ask for the goods? Another potential problem.
Strangers are strangers after all. Everything could possibly go wrong.
Wrinkles formed every time Lena thought about this. She looked at the window with a sigh, and slowly closed the window as the world rested peacefully.