Chapter 2

"Grandpa, can I ask you?" she requested, her voice a soft murmur in the quiet morning air.

“Mimi, you are always welcome to ask me,” Pa Larway replied, the deep lines around his eyes crinkling into a warm smile.

"So… how soon did you sleep last night?" she queried, her gaze intense and searching.

"You know I hardly sleep," he said with a weary sigh. "Especially last night; I didn't sleep at all."

She widely opened her eyes and kept her mouth agape, looking straight ahead of her as if seeing a ghost. Her grandfather’s expression shifted into a deeply suspicious mood, and a troubled look painted his face, rolling down from his furrowed forehead.

"What's the matter? Is everything okay?" he asked, his voice laced with curiosity and concern.

"Yes, I'm okay," she said, though her body told a different story. "But didn't you hear a meow of a cat or even a hooting of an owl?" she queried again. As she spoke, she slowly moved to and fro, holding her chain with her left hand that overlapped her right hand, which was crossed tightly on her chest.

Without another word, she walked out of her grandfather's presence and into the backyard with no straight thoughts in her head. She tried to convince herself that it was just a nightmare as she mechanically walked through her daily house chores, her mind miles away.

Larme, who had not seen Miko since morning, walked eagerly towards her house with the quest of finding out if she was okay. With his cutlass held firmly in his right hand and his left hand tucked into his pocket, he walked past the house. His looks were a bit suspicious as he snapped his eyes in and around the compound, but he couldn't capture a glimpse of her. He blew whistles again, the familiar, lilting tunes he normally used when he came around. With unstoppable whistling, he repeatedly shambled to and from the front of the house but still couldn't see her. Finally, he moseyed off like a wounded horse hoofing to its stable as he left for his own house.

Larme; a 15 years old who was just a year older than Miko, was parented to by a single mother and they both lived in a Zor quarter. An average height dark skin with sloppy face and hairy eyebrows. Because of his gap teeth and dimples, he couldn't hesitate to smile unlike Melakeh or Paye. Who were always ready to fight.

For many years, Miko had been a childhood crush to Larme; they both moved happily with Koko, Mezo, and every other child in the town. Even though he had never expressed his love, each morning he passed by to leave a little greeting.

Miko, who was in her room, silently removed the robe from her face and threw it onto the rumpled bedsheets. She gave a few hesitant steps away from her bed, then again back to the bed she ambled, lying down with her face turned to the air, silently reciting the haunting voice in her head. Her mom flounced to her door to find out why she hadn't completed her chores. She slapped the door with an impatient shout.

"Meko!!...come outside and complete what you were doing!" The plywood door swung open forcefully, and she saw Meko looking straight into the patterns of the bamboo strip ceiling. She stood for a few seconds in the doorway without being noticed by her entranced daughter. She moved toward Meko and gave her a few sharp taps on the shoulder, a strange look of irritation on her face. "Yes!! What is it!?"

Miko jerked and jumped up, immediately hugging her mom tightly, seeking shelter in her familiar presence.

"Mama B, I'm scared," she said, her entire body trembling.

“ Can I tell you something?”

she questioned as she displayed fear in her face.