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 Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:00 am
Malea 1
Malea had paced the room more times than she could count. She was waiting as patiently as she could for Kalpana to get back home, but she knew she had some time to spare. Things had been hard for the both of them. After that storm, Kalpana and Malea had gone out to search for his parents, hoping that they had known better and had taken shelter. They found the boat, but no menehune on board.
The boat had capsized and crashed against a rocky bank in the marsh. It was irreparable. But so had Kalpana’s small skiff tied to a dock. They were both lost, which meant that Kalpana’s parents could be there somewhere.
But it was looking bleak. It had already been weeks since they had last seen them.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:00 am
Kalpana 1
Kalpana hadn’t been able to focus on fishing since the storm had passed. He wanted his parents to be alright, to be out there somewhere, maybe just hunkered down with a healer. Maybe they were hurt and couldn’t get back to him yet. Maybe that was the case.
He tried to convince himself that that was what had happened. He had been out every day searching for them, looking to see if there was just some place he hadn’t looked yet. At first Malea had gone with him, looking fervently, hoping just as much as he did that the search would be quick. When it wasn’t… when days started to pass… he asked her to stay home. Man the house, and get back to doing what she needed to do to run her potion shop.
Kalpana was out again looking, hoping for the best but at this point expecting the worst.
But the weeks had only brought Malea and Kalpana closer together. They moved in together, sharing his parents house in their absence. If it was temporary, they would move somewhere else, maybe expand Malea’s home and live there. She already had a small space above her shop, they could build something adjoining, make it easier for her to work than it was now.
His mind was already wandering when he saw something he hadn’t yet. There was a hand reaching out from a ruptured pile of roots. A tree had overturned, one of many from the storm, and between the tangle of mangroves and roots it was hard to make out what it was.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:01 am
Malea 2
Malea tried to keep herself busy. There were things she could be doing, but her mind shifted to other thoughts. She had news to tell Kalpana, amazing news. It felt so special, but under the circumstances, how was she supposed to tell him?
She opened the door, stepping into the doorway before shaking her head and closing the door once again. She should wait.
She paced more, lining her steps up. If she kept this up she would leave a track in the floorboards. She forced herself to stop, to breath, and then she opened the door again and stepped out into the foliage.
She steadied her mind, willing herself to commune with the animals around her. She spotted a small bird, chirping from a tree nearby. ”Hello. Have you seen another menehune around that came from this house?” She pointed to the home behind her and waited.
The bird’s broken chirping language was hard to understand but she knew what it was trying to say. It gave her the general direction of the path to her east and toward the coastline of the larger swamp in Elehune. ”Thank you.” She tweeted back before moving along the way. With any luck she could find him and intercept him.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:01 am
Kalpana 2
Kalpana’s stomach lurched as he approached the root system. He could see the hand matched his skin. There were others missing from the storm, it hadn’t been just his parents. It could be someone else. Another poor soul.
He leaned over, crouching down on one knee while he inspected the source of the hand. Open eyes stared back at Kalpana and he shoved himself backward, landing on his bottom and pushing himself as far back as he could. The eyes were lifeless, hollow, and familiar. Heartbreakingly familiar.
It was his father. He was dead.
Kalpana felt his stomach heave itself over and he retched into a brush beside him. His mind was blank with grief, he couldn’t form a thought, his body going on autopilot.
Was his mother with him?
He squeezed his eyes shut against the image of his father looking back at him and nearly crawled forward again, searching for signs that they were together.
There she was. Holding onto his father in her final moments.
Kalpana broke down into tears. This was it then. The mystery was solved. They would have to get them out, clean them up. He would need help. He couldn’t do it alone.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:02 am
Malea 3
Malea followed the trails the animals provided and before long she saw Kalpana in the distance. But something was so so wrong. He was hunched over, shaking… sobbing. Oh no.
Malea instantly felt tears fall onto her cheeks. He had found them. She was sure of it.
She ran forward, trying her best to reach him as soon as she could, falling into him and holding him, letting him cry. She cried with him, grieving for him. ”I’m so sorry.”
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:02 am
Kalpana 3
Kalpana felt her before he knew she was there. How she found him he couldn’t know and wouldn’t ask.
”We need to get them out. I need help.” His thoughts echoed. ”We need to gather more men.” He told Malea, holding her tight and still sobbing into his lover.
It took time, but eventually he was able to hold his own weight, he could function. The immediate grief had passed, though he still couldn’t breathe.
”We need more hands.” He said again, his gaze not quite looking at Malea.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:03 am
Malea 4
”Of course, we need to get help.” she looked to the hand outstretched and darted away, she couldn’t bare to look at them. The relief of having found them was ruined with the actuality of the situation. They were gone forever. May the gods take them into their homes. She helped Kalpana to his feet and waited for him to start walking. ”We can get my fathers to help, or neighbors. Whichever is closer. We need to get them to rest.” She spoke to Kalpana, trying to take on the burden of planning before even being asked. Kalpana had enough to deal with, he didn’t need to have a logical head on his shoulders just yet.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:03 am
Kalpana 4
Kalpana let Malea continue to talk but he felt miles away.
He started to walk, looking just for the closest people he could find to help. He knew there were some homes nearby, maybe a couple of men could help them.
It all resolved faster than he would have thought, and before the afternoon sun had set in he had his parents draped in mourning cloths at his home. ”I don’t know what to do now.” he whispered to Malea, the grief apparent in his voice.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:03 am
Malea 5
”We keep going.” She answered him in a caring whisper. She held onto his hand and laid her other on top of Kalpana’s mother. She whispered words of prayer, guiding her soul to the gods and letting her rest. There would be a ceremony, there would be proper rites. And it would all happen soon. There was no time to waste in Elehune. The humidity and the swamp conditions didn’t let bodies last long.
”What do you need right now?” She asked him in a soft tone. Whatever she could do to help him, she would. Her thoughts of her morning were already gone from her head. There would be another time.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:03 am
Kalpana 5
”I need to be alone with them. I need time.” He responded. It was sudden, he didn’t know it was his last day with his parents that morning. He had set them off on their boat before he had taken off.
When his luck turned for the worst he called it an early day, he knew better than to beat a dead horse. But his parents probably had better luck than him; they kept going. Right into the storm.
He shook his head, tears returning to his eyes. They looked peaceful now. You couldn’t see the bruising from the broken trees under the mourning cloths. The thought made his eyes sting and his chest feel tight. How much pain they must have felt in their last moments together. The only reason they stayed together was the protection of the mangroves. It cradled them through the rest of the storm.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:04 am
Malea 6
Malea rubbed Kalpana’s back again, but could see he was already far away.
She let herself out of the room, waiting for him outside of the house. She would be there when he was ready for her.
Her mind returned to the morning and she felt her heart skip a beat. Oh yes. Her news. It seemed out of place now. She felt her heart grow heavy. What should be a happy time was stricken with grief. She patted her stomach. This little one would be there for some time yet, there was always later to tell Kalpana. When he was ready. Maybe it would soften the blow, maybe it would make it worse, it was hard to say.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:04 am
Kalpana 6
Kalpana took his time, made his peace. He would remember them for who they were living, not like this. He grabbed their cold hands and squeezed once more as a final goodbye. The ceremony would be tonight and then it would all be over.
He took a deep breath in, his exhale shaky and shallow. He didn’t think it would come to this.
He opened the door to their home and thought now about the building itself. It would be his and Malea’s home now. They would make it theirs, and his parents would watch over them in the process. There would be so much he wouldn’t be able to share with them, it broke his heart again, but they would manage.
He grabbed Malea’s hand and pulled her into a hug. He had Malea, she was his rock.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:04 am
Malea 7
Malea embraced Kalpana and held him as long as he needed. ”They’ll be proud to watch over you.” She answered his thoughts already, knowing the worries that would be on his mind. There was a lot they still hadn’t been able to do yet, but they would be watching, Malea was sure of it.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:04 am
Kalpana 7
Kalpana felt the reassurance of Malea and heaved a heavy sigh. ”I’ll miss them.” He let himself be vulnerable in front of Malea and he knew there wasn’t another person he could do that with. ”We’ll wait for tonight and then we’ll move on.” He steeled himself. He had always been told the grief comes in waves, it doesn’t go away, though it does dull with time. That was enough for Kalpana right now. He was still in the thick of it, but it would get better.
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Posted: Wed Apr 17, 2024 8:05 am
Malea 8
”Kalpana, I…” She drifted off. She almost said it, but thought better of it. Today was for his parents.
”I’m with you. We’ll get through this.” She told him.
The ceremony came and went, it was beautiful and caring and more people had shown up than she had imagined could have. Their social circle was larger than Malea’s, but they were liked. They were popular and funny and inclusive members of Elehune.
It was only after it had ended that Malea was alone with Kalpana again. ”I’m sorry this happened to you.” She offered him again.
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