Chapter 5
"I will do it."
As soon as I accepted it, a victory smirk formed on his old, wrinkled face. It was visible in his old eyes that my acceptance fed his big ego. He thinks I accepted it because I fear him, and that's what made me accept this unfairness. The only thing I feared in this world was seeing my brother cry out of hunger. He doesn't deserve this only because he is my brother. So it's my responsibility to take care of him, and that's the only reason why I accept this. I will do it hundreds of times, even if it's unfair. I will crush my pride thousands of times only for my brother. He cleared his throat, still with a victory smirk plastered on his face. His old, lust-filled eyes again moved all over my body.
"Let her work, and if you see her slacking, don't pay her," he said, commanding the head worker to let me work but with condition.
"Take the baskets and go to the fields," the head worker said in his monotonous voice as he waved me off without a second glance. I lowered my head and walked away, still feeling old eyes fixed on my back. I collected the basket and started working on the fields. The other women who worked with me started whispering things as they saw my dirty, stained dress. I looked at my dress. It was dirty because I was dragging wood from the forest to my hut.
The hem of my dress was full of wet mud, and at the corner, I had the red-blue stain of berries, which I plucked for Helio from the forest. I had completely forgotten about them. They were still there, safe. I sighed in relief. Ignoring them, I started working. I was used to their judgemental looks. It was nothing new for me. I worked half the day without taking a break as the head worker had his eyes fixed on me. I know if he saw me slacking, he would complain to the old landlord, and I wouldn't even get half of my wages. I kept working and working. The sun was shining angrily on my head as it was mid-afternoon.
My throat has completely dried up now because I have been working endlessly. I looked at other workers who were doing their work leisurely. I sometimes envied them. Their lives were normal, unlike mine. I had to face difficulty and struggle for even small things in my life, but they only needed to work a little bit to get them. I sighed as I wiped the sweat from my forehead, looking at the blazing sun. The basket full of vegetables was getting heavy on my back as I put more vegetables in it, making my backache worse. I hissed in pain, adjusted my back, and continued doing the work. After working for some time under the blazing sun, the head worker told the worker to take a break. I looked at him with hopeful eyes.
Am I allowed to take a break too?
He looked at me with emotionless eyes while he waved his hand for me to take a break, making me smile at him, thankfully, for showing mercy on me. He then walked away to eat his lunch. I removed the basket from my back and kept it on the ground carefully, not wanting to get any vegetables to fall out of the basket in the process. Everyone was busy drinking water, and some were opening the clothes in which they had brought food. The armour of food made my stomach grumble. I decided to walk away from them and take some rest under the tree until the break was over. I sat under the tree shade where the sun's rays didn't reach. Closing my eyes, I decided to rest. I rested my head on the big trunk of the tree. I opened my eyes after a few minutes and looked at the knot of my dress where the berries were. My stomach grumbled more loudly.
"No, I can't eat them. They are for Helio," I reminded myself as I moved my head from side to side to take that thought out of my head. I was thirsty, hungry, and sleepy too. I was about to drift into sleep when I heard a voice in the distance calling my name. It made me open my eyes and look at a small figure walking cautiously towards me. He was trying his best not to spill water. My little saver has finally come. I kept looking at him with a small smile tugging on the corner of my lips.
"Sorry for being a little late,'' he apologised to me as he handed me the bowl.
"I told you before that you don't have to fetch water for me every day," I said as I drank the water.
"And let you fall unconscious because of thirst like last time," he said with his narrowed eyes fixed on me. I know he got scared last time when I fainted. I was lying on the fields for hours, but no one came forward to help me. Helio found me when he came back from his school to the field.
"It just happened once," I murmured as I continued drinking the water, feeling guilty for making him scared like that. He still looked at me with narrowed eyes to distract him. I opened the knot on the hem of my dress.
"See what I have for you," I said as I showed him the wild berries. Berries," his eyes lit up, looking at delicious, juicy fruit.
"Where did you get them?" he asked as he took one of the berries from my palm, put it in his mouth, and moaned at its sweetness.
"I got them in the forest when I was coming back home. That's where I met Dea," I said happily as he took one more from my palm.
"Why are you not eating it? They are delicious," Helio said in his delighted voice, bringing the berry to my mouth. My mouth watered looking at them, and my stomach grumbled.
"No, you eat them. I ate some in the forest." I denied him with a small smile that was tugged at the corner of my lips.
"It's been so long. You must be hungry. Eat it. They are a lot for one person," he said, putting it in my mouth even after I denied him. I can't win against him. I started eating it with him and sighing at its sweetness.
"Oh, I completely forgot," he said suddenly, and that's when he took out the small box made of bamboo from beside him. I didn't notice it before. I looked at it in confusion.
"What is it?" I asked in curiosity as he brought the box in front of me.
"I brought Titchy with me," he said, opening the box, and a small snake resting on it raised his head as soon as the box was open. He looked at us with his small eyes, making me smile at him. He looked so adorable.
"Helio, why did you bring him here? He is still injured," I said as I looked at Titchy, looking at us as if he understood what we were saying.
"I know, but Dea went back to her home when I came back from school. I didn't want to leave him at home alone. He would have gotten bored, so that's why I brought him with me," he said in his small, sad voice as he looked at Titchy. I know he just wanted to make Titchy feel at home. His intentions were good.
"You did good. He would have gotten bored on his own," I said to lift his mood, and my words made him look at me with a smile.
"Do you think he would like to eat berries? Should I feed him some? He must be hungry too," my little brother asked curiously. I didn't think about it. He must be hungry too. I nodded my head, and Helio took the small piece of berry to his mouth, but Titchy refused to eat it. Making us both look at him with frowns on our faces.
"Maybe he doesn't like berries," Helio said in his sad voice as Titchy refused to eat them.
"Don't be sad. Helio, snakes don't eat fruits. They are carnivores," I said as I put my hand on his shoulders as he kept looking at Titchy curling up in a small box. I heard the head worker calling us back to work.
"Helio takes Titchy back home. I will come back with food home," I said in my hurried voice as I stood up to go back to the fields. My little brother nodded his head. I went back to the fields and started working. Helio and Titchy stayed seated under the tree for some time, looking at me. After some time, they left only after waving bye at me. I worked hard until the sun started setting, calling it a day. I stood in the line of workers at the end to receive my daily wage. When my turn came, the vegetables were counted, and then the head worker handed me my earnings. A worker was throwing away the vegetables, which were damaged and couldn't be sold in the market. They will feed them to animals.
"Can I take them?" I asked with hopeful eyes while looking at the head worker. He looked at my pointing finger as he stood up from his seat.
"Take some of them," he said with pity in his eyes. I thanked him with a big smile on my face, which he ignored, and I walked into the big house of the landlord. I went and gathered them in the small, broken basket that was lying beside them. Taking them, I walked to the market to buy some bread for dinner. When I was walking back home with bread and vegetables in my hands, I saw from afar that people were washing and cleaning the outside of the temple of the Drakon. He is the dragon god who protects us.
The doors of the temple are only opened once a year during the festival to pray for the prosperity and fertility of the land and the people who dwell here. People say the land we live in, the river from which we drink water, the forest from which we get wood, and many more things belong to him. He is the real Lord of this place, so we have to show him respect every year so we don't face his wrath. My eyes moved from the heavy temple doors to the emblem that was carved on the top of the doors. A big dragon blowing fire out of his mouth was carved so skillfully. I could see the minor details from here too. I kept looking at the carving mesmerizingly. What made it look alive was the red rube that was placed in the place of the eyes on the carving. I saw flickers of fire in them, making me furrow my eyes. I kept looking at them, forgetting everything.
"Hey, where are you going?" I heard someone shouting at me, and it made me flinch. That made me come out of my daze. I found myself standing in front of the stairs of the temple. I moved my eyes all over the place.
How did I get here?
I was in deep confusion. I looked at my hands to find them empty. Vegetables and bread. I panicked and turned back to find them. I saw them lying on the road where I was standing a few minutes ago. I took them and dusted them. Still, with confusion, I looked for the last time at the temple and started walking towards home. I moved my head in disbelief. What I'm still doing here. I need to be home.
Helio must be waiting for me.
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