Chapter twenty three
Niverea was dumbfounded as she stared at the falling ashes . They looked beautiful as their grey had a silver tint to it under the moonlight.
"Wow . No wonder they didn't want the slaves to see this . " She held out her hand and watched in awe as the fluffy substance flew on her palm.
Her mouth formed an ( o ) and she was elated to have witnessed something as peculiar as that . They were less people and the noise had reduced by the time she was done gaping at the fine spectacle in front of her .
She looked around , realising the fact that everyone was actually going and the market was getting darker and quiet .
She walked towards the stand where the cow was tied . She stopped Midway as a question popped into her head .
Where was she going to sleep tonight ?? She couldn't possibly sleep on the street , much more a street where she was totally unfamiliar with.
No , that couldn't happen ! There had to be a way out . But how ? What was she supposed to do?
While she was thinking about all her life predicament , something stuck her and her eyes widened.
Something was wrong. Something had totally gone wrong .
No no no , everything was totally wrong .
The cow was nowhere to be found. The stand stood there , it's lonely back against the world . There was no cow . No nothing.
She closed the gap by running frantically towards the place, she looked down on the floor.
Perhaps the cow was taking a nap and it decide to lie down for a while. She got on her knee and ran her hands on the floor ,her hands getting stained from the dark soot.
Had the cow perhaps grown some wings ? Was it testing out some kind on prank on her ?
She looked up to the sky and quickly closed her eyes when the ashes was about to fall into her face.
Just when she thought nothing could ever go wrong in her life again . Turns out that her life that was already nothing but shambles , had gone from being a shambles had was now elevated to the level of being just a mere crumb .
No no , to a powder . Yes , that was what her life now was .
No cow , means no money . And no money means no life . And of course , no life means death .
Which automatically means she's just as good as dead right now . Because what good will it do for the world if she's to go home without the money nor the cow ?
She sank down deeper into the ashes covered floor and threw her hands up in the air . She let out a scream on top of her lungs .
"Dear cow , I know you can hear me . I'm sorry for forcing you to move in the rain . Oh how foolish of me. I know you needed your pretty rest , I really do. But you know , you will just be human. Now you really need to come back . I need you to come back . No ! You must come back. Auntie will treat you to some fresh and sweet Hays . "
She spoke on and on as if the cow could actually hear her . Anything to take her mind away from her impending doom .
The man who was holding a bottle of what seems like alcohol was staggering away , and stopped at the sight of Niverea in dirt .
One could tell he was drunk , from the drowsy look on his face and how he couldn't stand up straight .
Niverea looked from her eyelashes that was getting a bit wet from the tears that was about to fall , she glanced at the man with a confused scowl on her face .
She scrunched her face and held her nose with her hand to stop herself from the bad odour emitting from the man . The feeling of deja Vu instantly came over her .
The man actually reminded her of Build and his drunkness.
The man kept approaching and Niverea quickly stood up and readied herself in a fighting stance .
"Aye girl . You looking for something?? . " He clutched the bottle like his life depended on it as he asked . His feet was all wobbly and Niverea feared he would fall on her .
Just how had she found herself in this situation?
But the question was actually relevant and Niverea would gladly kiss the man's stinky ass as long as he'll be able to help her.
"Ah yes . Sir ? I was looking for a cow . About this big ?" She demonstrated with her hands and tried to explained the size and width of the cow .
"Oh a cow ?? . About this big ? " The man repeated what Niverea had just told him ,which made Niverea nod her head like she was trying to get rid of it .
"Yes sir. " She bobbed her head up and down as hope surge through her , spreading it warm hands all over her chest .
"I think I saw one . On my way here . " He glanced back and pointed behind his shoulder . He was swaying away in the cold air .
The ashes continued to rain down on them ,and Niverea wanted to go back as quickly as she can .
"Dear sir , would mind showing me the place ? You Know . If you're kind enough of course . But judging from your look, it doesn't needed to be doubted over . You're certainly one kind man . " She spoke with a smile .
A beautiful insincere smile .
The man's brow shot up , and he looked like he was in disbelief that someone had called him kind .
Of course, Niverea was merely goading the man forward. The man looked everything but kind. He was kind from being kind , especially with that fierce looking scar that ran down his left cheek .
"Alright , why don't you follow me then . The ashes would cover the way soon and there'll be no road to pass . " He led the way and two of them walked forward .
With Niverea silently praying the man won't fall on her or worst of all fall asleep on the road .
As predicted by the man , the ashes begin to fall in a more harsh and thick manner . It filled the air and the ground was getting harder and harder to walk on.
They kept walking and walking , deep into a darker alley .
Niverea shivered and rubbed her hands on her arm to stop the goosebumps from forming on them .
"Uhm , kind sir ? Don't you think we'll be there soon ? This place is quite far for the cow to have walked within that span of time . And the weather is nothing if not bad . " She breathed through her mouth.
Walking was getting harder by the passing second ,.and truth to be told Niverea was feeling quite tired herself .
"The cow ? Which cow? " The man looked back at Niverea . Confusion swimming in his gaze .
He looked suprised to even see that someone was following him.
No ! It couldn't be .
"Oh dear sir . The cow that you told me you saw ? Remember? The one that was this big ? " She demonstrated with her hands again.
Frustration was quickly building up in her as the man was acting as clueless as ever . He was simply staring at Niverea as if she was speaking some interesting foreign language .
"Ain't no cos anywhere . Girl . But I'll get going . Good luck . " His words came out in a slur as he let out a disgusting loud burp.
He turned right and wobbly disappeared into the dark night , leaving the open mother Niverea alone.
Wait , what just happened? Niverea couldn't really process all the information at once.
So the man had actually been drunk the whole time ? And he legit left her in the middle of an alley ?
This has got to be a joke ! Even if her death was inevitable , still she wouldn't wanna due like this !
Not in some godforsaken alley where many unknown monsters was hiding ? And in the thick and quickly piling ashes ! She wasn't planning to die like this .
She tugged at her hair and almost ripped them off in frustration . She sat on a nearby stone and force down the thick bile of tears that was on its way from her throat .
She couldn't start crying now. She needs to save the energy to do something more productive . Like finding a place to stay tonight .
The ashes were pouring down the sky as if they had all but been waiting for this moment . What did she need to do ?
She was as clueless as ever as she roamed her eyes around to see if she could find a safe place to sleep tonight .
Not a chance .
Finding the resolve deep inside her stomach , it wasn't even enough to keep her moving but she gathered all the left energy from their tedious walk and tried to get on the road back .
She turned back toward the way that she came from , treading carefully so as not to fall flat on her face .
Yes she was hungry but it doesn't mean she has to eat the grey ashes .
A flurry of movement alerted her , and she stood rotted to the spot , too nervous to go on .
What was happening? Why does this feel like deja Vu all over again ,?
She gulped down the remnants of her saliva and willed her frozen legs to walk . The weather was chilly tonight , and the moon had risen fully , showering the earth beneath her the most pretty silver rays .
But nothing looks pretty in Niverea's eyes for now . And infact everything looks scary .
But the good thing was that at least , she'll be able to clearly see the way back to wherever she came from .
But that was another unthinkable problem . Could she recognize the stall now ? It was dark and everything resembled each other .
But she still has to try .
The shadow of a black long cloak flickered in her eyes and she caught the swift moment . She gasp in Suprise .
Finally! The end is here already. They were here to kill her !
She broke into a run , flailing her arms about and trying her best not to scream her lungs out .
But why was everything getting weirder by the day ? She dashed into the road , not sure which was which as she continued to run .
She stopped when she got to a dead end that led to nowhere .
There was no building in sight , no stall , no artificial light . It was just a dark eery space .
She sank onto her knee in weakness and all means of breathing eluded her .
Finally the black cloak came to stand in her front , and a shrill scream flew out her mouth.
What the heck ?
She couldn't see the face as it was covered but she could feel .
Danger ! It was danger that she felt from this ...what?