When morning came, Hutch awoke to the activity within the ward. A nurse was checking on the older patients while an orderly delivered the trays of questionable cuisine.
It still seemed surreal to be back amongst humans, surrounded by the modern conveniences they offered, that he couldn't help but be skeptical of the situation. Having thought about it overnight, as sleeping sound with constant noise was nigh impossible, Hutch concluded that one of two things must be true. The first being that everything he was experiencing was indeed the true reality, and upon Salvador's destruction of the amulet, he had been returned to his world, a week or so, from the moment he had initially vanished. Or the second option, he had determined, was that this wasn't reality at all, but an elaborate spell Salvador had trapped him in.
Now, while the second option was by far the more appealing possibility, Hutch found it difficult to imagine how Salvador had managed to accomplish such a thing given the state he was in at the time. However, over the years, Hutch had also come to understand that underestimating what Salvador was capable of was also a guaranteed way to end up dead.
The major question that his thoughts had left him with however, was how to determine which of the two possible answers was correct; Exhausted as he was, he hadn't yet figured that out.
"Jules Hutchinson?" the orderly asked as she carried a covered tray towards him.
"That's me," Hutch replied, watching the orderly set the tray onto the overbed table.
"Hope you like bran muffins and cornflakes," she remarked as she pressed the 'up' button on the rail of the bed, which slowly raised the head until Hutch was in a sitting position.
Hutch found the ride to be rather disconcerting, having not experienced any sort of automated thing in decades; clenching his hands into fists beneath the blanket, in an attempt, to hide his discomfort.
"I'm sure it will be fine," he managed to mutter out once the bed had ceased moving.
"A stellar review if that happens to be the case. Otherwise, you now get to pick, Apple or Orange?"
"Apple," Hutch was quick to reply.
He knew the taste, the color, and the shape of apples. Called by a different name, but a familiar fruit all the same. Many things had been similar on that other world, and as the orderly set a plastic cup with an aluminum lid onto his tray, he longed for those stranger days, warmed by the rays of an unhindered sun, surrounded by nature, and the Sajomei people that he had come to know as his family.
"Come on, put your back into it! You should easily be able to lift a full bushel of honalos by now!" Kahlala laughed as Hutched struggled with the large cumbersome basket overflowing with bright red, round fruit.
"I could lift it just fine if you didn't fill it to the point of spilling out," he replied as he managed to maneuver the basket onto the back of the wagon.
Taking a moment to breathe in the sweet scent of the afternoon air, Hutch watched Kahlala sit on the back of the wooden wagon, draping her arm over the pile of fruit. Her smile sparkled, as she watched him with her violet eyes. She was younger than him by about a year, but already stood near a half-foot taller. Which given that most of the Sajomei women averaged six feet, Hutch was already accustomed to looking up at her. And while it was easy to mistake them for humans from behind, there were several glaring differences when looking at them directly. Their faces weren't as flat, with their noses and jaws more prominent in profile, although the females' features were typically narrower, with a shallower brow. Brown eyes were nearly as rare as a solid skin tone, while hair without stripes and spots was considered a sign of a god's blessing. Overall, there was something almost animalistic about them, especially in silhouette. However, despite their physical differences, it didn't change Hutch's opinion when it came to Kahlala. To him, from the moment they first met, from her violet-colored eyes and the ash-rose color of her hair to the white blotches on her otherwise tan skin, he only saw her as beautiful.
"Hard to believe you've been here long enough to see the harvest. Half expected you to vanish by now," Kahlala remarked, before plucking the largest, ripest looking honalos from the basket. Pulling the fruit to her mouth, she bit into the rosy flesh, swinging her legs in a happy manner.
"And where exactly do you expect me to go?" he questioned, while wiping the sweat from his brow.
"You showed up out of nowhere," she muttered as she chewed, "who's to say you won't leave us the same way?"
"Leave him be, Kahlala," Ghan'dono remarked, setting his hand onto Hutch's shoulder. "You've done good work today. But we still have more to do. Keep focused on your task."
Ghan'dono was a monster of a being, towering over Hutch by little more than two feet, making him taller than average for the males. He was also triple or more his width, with fists the size of basketballs. However, despite being made of solid muscle, he had a kind and welcoming heart as well as a steadfast wisdom. He had, with great ease, managed to gain Hutch's trust in what seemed like a short amount of time, giving him more of a purpose in life than he had ever previously thought of having.
Since being found, unclothed, face down in the dirt on the side of a road by Ghan'dono, he hadn't had any time to stand still. If he wanted anything, a roof over his head, food in his stomach, or cloths on his back, he had to work for it. Yet, despite his age, Ghan'dono hadn't left Hutch to completely fend for himself. Rather, he guided him, and showed him how to do what needed to be done, and in return, Hutch let go of his ego, and found it a simple task to ask Ghan'dono for help when he needed it. Regardless of how brief a time they had known each other, they had found a mutual respect, something that was as foreign to Hutch as everything else on that world.
"Not too focused though," Kahlala piped up having swallowed her latest bite, "otherwise you're going to miss out on what's going on around you. Especially since now that the hard part is done for the day, it's time for the fun part!"
"More fun than climbing trees and lugging around baskets?" Hutch questioned as she jumped down from the back of the wagon.
"Of course, it is!" she exclaimed, while he and Ghan'dono closed the back gate of the wagon. "Because now, we get to spend the rest of the day with the Kopi'ama!"
"The what?"
"The old women of the village," Ghan'dono clarified with a chuckle. "Don't worry, I give you my word that it is better than it sounds."
It was a lengthy ride to the main lodge on the far side of the town from the orchard, and when they arrived, Ghan'dono drove their wagon around to the back where a large covered patio was located, already prepared for the task that was about to take place. On the journey, Ghan'dono had done his best to prepare Hutch for the situation, but even with the knowledge he had been given, he felt entirely unprepared to see the rows of tables, sorting bins, washing basins, cutting boards, knives, and the menagerie of chatty, lively women, who were eagerly awaiting their arrival.
Ghan'dono had barely managed to park the wagon, when the women approached beckoning them with fervor to the table at the center of the patio where the Elder of the village, a rotund man with a frog-ish face, sat upon a large tan pillow, dressed in burgundy robes with bones and claws for jewelry. On the table, as was tradition, sat a cup for each person present, and beside the Elder was a freshly tapped cask, from which he began to fill the cups. One by one, each person present was given a drink from that cask, and when it came time for Hutch to receive his, he accepted it, feeling grateful that he had been included, despite being a virtual stranger amongst them.
Lifting the cup to his nose, Hutch was struck by the fragrant nature of the drink, finding it familiar, although redder in hue.
"Apples," he muttered to himself, although Kahlala was close enough to hear.
"What does that mean?" she asked him.
"Apples. Where I'm from, we have a fruit near identical to honalos, although all the ones I've ever seen were smaller and white inside, but they smell the same."
"Did you eat a lot of them before you came here?"
"No. They were too expensive most of the time, but I used to drink a lot of the juice. It was always my favorite."
"Then I think this is going to become your new favorite. That was the first cask sealed from last year's harvest, and this year, you're going to be a part of making the casks that we get to drink throughout the year," Kahlala explained as she stared down into her cup. "Everything tastes better when it's made with the people you cherish."