Alves kept walking. As he walked on, he took a glance at Mia. He expected her to look away at once, or perhaps roll her eyes at him, but she didn't. Instead, she had concern crawling up her face, or perhaps curiosity. Alves was approaching the young man standing by the hanging fancy basket. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't allow himself to be distracted anymore. He got to the man, wearing no precise reaction. He threw his searching gaze at the old man, the celebrant. The founder of the VIAL SHOWER. That would be his first time seeing the man. "So, Mr Alves, can we please get to the good part? There are a lot of attendants who would love to present their gifts."The young man announced. When the fellow had referred to the rest of people in the hall as attendants, there had been a wave of chatter inspired by disagreement. But neither Alves nor the Young man was willing to say anything to that. Soon enough, all attention was back to Alves. Alves turned to the crowd, looking from on
"What was that about?"That was the first words that Mia would utter since they made out for the road. They had been driving since quite a while and dead silence had been their neighbour. Asking that question changed everything, as Alves turned slowly to look at her. Her eyes were searching and serious. It was obvious that she wouldn't give him a break until he had answered her question. He took in a deep breath, then looked away from her. After a wave of breeze had swept past the both of them,"Shouldn't the question be where I am taking to?"Alves changed the direction of the question. She plucked her gaze from him for a while. "You don't want me to stop this car by force. But if that's the one choice you give me, I'll do just that."She reached out suddenly to struggle with him, trying to snatch the wheel away from him. "Okay Okay..."Alves couldn't take the risk. WHAT A CRAZY LADY. He cussed within him, then found a place to pull over, by the road side. There was a weird sil
Alves was more eager in getting to know her side of the story, than getting to know the reason why the ALUWA had shown uninvited and out of thin air. Not important. Not at that moment. Every passing minute, his doubts and speculations kept fleshing up into something of great significance. The more he observed, the more he realised that Mia might know more than he had envisaged. On the ordinary, it was hard to say whether or not that was a good thing. The both of them were standing close enough to each other, her hand clutching his. Her eyes were glued on the ALUWA who were still bowing to the earth; knees brushing the dirt, face plung into the dust, in utmost humility. "Did you just mention the ALUWA?"Alves was way too curious to hide it. Though the words were out before he intended them to, yet he never regretted the action. And for a few seconds, as though she was knocked out of her fantasies, Mia plucked her gaze from the ALUWA, throwing a very stern gaze at Alves. Her facia
It was as though Alves had closed his eyes and opened them in a blink. As though he had just shut his eyes after his pupils had been hit by a blinding light. That was how it seemed when he regained his consciousness. It seemed random and natural, as though nothing happened in the first place. But of course he knew that what happened could never be ignored. "Where am I?"Were the first few words his brain could coin. He traced his eyes down his body till they got to his legs. He was standing uprightly. On something which looked like a steep. But that wasn't really the most important thing at that moment. What was more important and interesting at that moment was what he was putting on. "What!"He exclaimed, but it was weakly. He quickly pinched his trouser to feel the texture of the clothing. It wasn't what he used to feel or know. "This can't be true."He muttered again. He wasn't even paying an attention to his language. "What am I wearing? What is this attire?"The more ques
"How can I suddenly appear in the middle of nowhere?"Alves complained as he walked through the tiny path bordered by the assemblies of thick shrubs. "Could the ALUWA or whatever their name is, really lie to me?"He took a sigh. "What would they had gained though? Lying to me that I am the king of an unknown country. What could have been in for them?"He scoffed,"I must be really dumb to have believed what they said."But the more he talked to himself, the deeper his thoughts widened. "If its true that they lied to me, then why did that bird come into the context. Or was the bird also a paid actor?"He chuckled. Then suddenly he heard a sound. He stopped walking. For no reason, he looked down at his shoes. They were funny looking. But that wasn't what to be worried about. While staring at his shoes, he noticed something under one of his soles. He bent down to pick it. He shifted his leg to a side then picked it up. He put it up, a broken twig. "I thought it was something impor
Alves watched in utmost shock as the seven yachts came to a stop at his front, in a horizontal file, at the bank of the lagoon. He was still wondering what was happening, whether or not to be alerted or scared. Suddenly, several men dressed in attires seemed to be made out of wool, yet neat as though they were suits. Super fluffy and professional looking at the same time. He didn't have much time to wonder and ponder on the unique weirdness of the attires, because the men had climbed down the yachts. Each yachts had a file of men. Each group hurrying towards him. At this point, Alves didn't know how to react. For all he knew, they might have come to hurt him or something close to that. Up to that moment, he still had no idea where the hell he was and what he was doing there. He had met a weird man at the lake behind, discovered that he was wearing a weird attire, then encountered a strangely white panther with enormous weight which had led him to this lagoon. And then yachts, the
"You silly brat. You silly brat."The woman kept hitting him. She hit him in the chest, on the arms, pinched him a little bit, hit him again in the chest. Then she started to cry. Hitting him continuously. But the manner at which she hit him, it wasn't as though she was doing it with the intention to hurt him. She cried and cried for a while then hugged him, holding unto him so passionately. With care and want. With desire and joy. Like you hold unto something that you cherish. Something you are just seeing after a very long time?Alves wasn't sure what this was all about. But one thing which he knew for sure. One thing which was quite evident, was the fact that this woman does not possess any trait of Madam. Madam had never come close to him, let alone alone hug him. So tightly as though she would enter through his skin and get absolved. Then if this person is not Madam, then why does she have the face of Madam? That was one of the most important questions he had got to ask himsel
"Why do you keep refusing to come with me?"Alves stood at the bank of the lagoon, staring sternly, with much inquisitiveness at the leader of the WHITE group. The man hardly looked up at him. He would occasionally raise his head to meet Alves' gaze. "He would not stay."The man argued, but his tone was very much convincing. He spoke from an end that was very accurate. "Why wouldn't he want to stay? I mean, was that why he ran away when y'all arrived?"Slowly Alves was getting answers to his questions, even though that seemed to be the less important of the questions. "I will put it that way, His Eminence."The man did a soft bow. Alves kept the stare at the man for another few seconds. He didn't look convinced, yet he did realise that there was nothing he could do. He couldn't possibly force the man to do against his will. But then he was tempted to abuse his power. Since he was revered highly, he could command the man to escort him. But he couldn't find the need to do that. Plu