I was not alone, we talked a lot. She did most of the talking, and I hadnt quite gotten the hang of it yet, often trying to remember every minute of the last two days, to understand what had happened.
The old woman told me about this strange island. Several centuries ago, all the inhabitants were united under one ruler, but the neighboring villages were still at war with each other. Then the people elected a head in each village and made a peace treaty between the villages of the Calshires and the Tarians. She is a Tarian, her village is behind the river where I went. The Kalshirs live a couple of days journey from here, thats if you walk. Now every village has a chief who runs the settlement. In general, Grandma Lisa turned out to be a very kind and pleasant woman.
Not far from where we lived, I found a large lake with clean, clear water. I liked to sit for a long time on the shore, dangling my feet into the cool water, and watch the sunset. Sometimes I bathed, and it helped to distract me from unnecessary sad thoughts.
One nice August day I was sitting on an old fallen tree by the water, and I felt that someone was near me. There was no fear, as if there should be. I turned around.
Behind me, five meters away, was a young man of about eighteen, with dark hair, gray eyes, and a kind smile. Well-built. Above average height, with fine features and a dimpled chin. He looked shyly and smiled shyly. I smiled back and asked:
Whats your name?
Ty, he answered.
Where are you from, Ty?
Across the river is my village, called Tinia. I came to see my grandmother, and when I visit her, I like to come here.
So youre Grandma Lisas grandson?
We talked for a while, then just sat next to each other, occasionally exchanging words, we were silent and looked at the lake water for a long time, no words were needed.
The white lilies growing in the lake, we call them water lilies, are so beautiful and delicate. I love these beautiful delicate flowers, their smell of freshness and purity is so beautiful. When I see them, I immediately think of my childhood, as a five-year-old girl sitting on a pier on the old river Chumysh and first time in my life admired these flowers, we then went with my parents to visit friends.
I havent seen you here before, he smiled, and his gray eyes lit up.
Yes. Ive been here recently. Ive been staying at Grandma Lisas for a few days. I cant find my way back. I came from the other side, I waved my hand in the direction, no matter how many times I go there, theres nothing there, not even a phone in your village, I was still hoping for something and didnt fully accept in my soul what happened, So I live at my grandmothers for now. Maybe theyll find me soon, Im not that far away.
Whos going to find you? Ty looked at me, waiting for an answer.
There are many of us. We came from the mainland, I said.
From the mainland How far is that?
We sailed on a boat for two days. No one here seems to know about it. Everybodys surprised at what I say and they all look at me with pity, I shrugged awkwardly.
Its just that youre from far away. Our people dont know much about things that arent related to the island, Ty tried to reassure me.
I was surprised, but I said out loud:
A ship like that, something like that. You dont have them?
We have ships, but we dont call them that weird. Our fishermen go out to sea in them. Then there are boats, they dont sail very far, they mostly fish and crab in the coastal waters. And we dont have telephones, I dont know what they are.
Its a thing, you can talk to it from a long distance.
I liked talking to him, he was so kind and understanding. I was glad that I had a friend with whom I could talk about something important and not so important, because, being almost isolated, I was bitter and lonely. The future seemed hazy and distant, and Ty understood me, my pain, the fact that I couldnt go back to mine.
It turned out that Ty often came here to visit his grandmother, bringing her groceries. He and his father live in the village, but his grandmother prefers the edge of the forest.
Ty and I talked about everything. Like how nice it would be to visit other countries. He didnt know about Australia or Antarctica, but I didnt know anything about this island, which strangely kept me going. When I told him that people were different in my country, Ty wasnt surprised. We had already realized that we were not at all alike, and at the same time we had a lot in common.
We have different people living in our country. Thats called nationality. And then there are other countries. Some are friendly, some are not.
Im not surprised. There are others on the island besides us. We want to live in peace with everyone. But the Calshires from the neighboring village want our village to belong to them, too.
As I understand it, there are many other islands near this island, and not all of them are inhabited, there are rock islands. On some of them there are a lot of bears, there people walk around with rattles in their pockets to scare the animals away in case of emergency. There are a lot of volcanoes, hot springs with multicolored stones, there are some where the water is very hot and you can boil birds eggs. In those springs where the water is a pleasant temperature, you can swim, and then it is so great to stand under the cool jets of the waterfall.
Tai told me that there is a town to the east, but it is far away. Its a days walk from here and another half days journey. I wanted to go there, and Ty promised that wed go together soon, since its dangerous to walk alone in the desert, and he goes there sometimes, mostly to buy something for his grandmother.
His grandmother lives in seclusion. She has no friends, because thats how life works out. She settled in her time in a forest, when her husband perished in the taiga, left and did not return. She took her grief hard. She loved him very much. She and her daughter lived together, and then somehow her daughter grew up, married a good guy and began to live in the village. When Tai was due to be born, she visited her mother. She gave birth before her due date and died in childbirth. The cabin in the woods was where it all happened.
Grandmother lived alone from that time, Tai went to her several times a week, brought food, and sometimes Tais father came to visit. He is the head of the village now, he has a lot of things to do. My grandmother was glad to communicate with people, but not much, she got tired quickly.
She took me in to live with her, I said thoughtfully.
Yes. I went to see her today. She said she didnt live alone now.
Chapter 5. Were going into town
Grandma Lisa and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast when Ty came in the morning a couple of days later. He joined us and had a fresh berry compote.
The sun had not yet risen high when he and I hit the road. I wanted to see what the town was all about, Grandma told me to stop at the bazaar and buy different spices and good tea.
We walked along the river behind the lodge, crossed over moss-covered greenish stones to the other bank and rounded the village. We walked along a small road towards the morning sun. It shone tenderly and warmed everything around us.
On the right the cold sea was murmuring. The dark sea surface glistened in the sun, and the foamy waves unhurriedly rolled onto the shore, slowly running back. All day we walked and walked along the steep cliff shore. Only once we sat down for a snack. Before the road, our grandmother packed a sorrel bag with scones and pies, and gave us a bottle of milk.
As the sun began to set in the west, Tai suggested a fire and a good rest. He found a brook and made a stew of the grits he had brought from home. We made a fire of brushwood. They spent the night there, and in the morning, at first light, they ate some leftover stew and flatbread and set off.