A month has passed... and I've been seeing Maeya on a fairly regular basis, with the exception of her leaving the village occasionally for a day or so at a time. I’ve been drawn to her, not just because I find her quite physically attractive, but also because of something more intangible... something I just can't quite express into words. When I'm with her, I feel so "alive"... I have a wonderful world to live in and such a remarkable woman to share my life with! Walking along with her in this world, just holding her hand as we share thoughts and converse about what is taking place all around us ... I simply can't express all that I feel for her.
Sometimes we walk down to the creek by the bathing area during mid-day when no one is there. We sit on the flat rock overlooking the creek and just watch the many creatures going about their lives and talk about the beauty of the world around us, and our day to day interactions with the other villagers. Sometimes I tag along on her field trips... carrying her basket, and just chat with her about the plants she tends to.
Occasionally, while walking, we pick a grassy spot under the shade of a small tree, and lie on our backs next to each other looking up into a partially cloudy sky. I made a game with her about asking what she saw in a particular small cloud... you know, what the clouds shape reminded her of. I love to listen to her describe in detail the clouds I ask her to "picture" for me. She has such a vivid imagination! Sometimes, in the middle of our chatting about what she sees in the clouds, she just quits speaking and turns her head toward me, still holding my hand. She smiles so beautifully at me, and just looks into my eyes... my god, what that does to me!
Thinking back... not so very long ago... I realize that Maeya has really come out of her "shell" towards me. I remember that she seemed very uncomfortable interacting with me when I first started to show attention towards her. I'm of the opinion that part of the reason that she has been somewhat of a loner, not only towards me, but also others, is that she has always felt different from those around her and had sensed that others were treating her differently. After talking with Bren and Trem, as well as recounting my own experiences in life, I think I can understand some of her inner feelings and loneliness. It must have been difficult for her to go through life with the unusual gifts that she has and also look somewhat different from those around her. I can see why she might have withdrawn from full participation in her society and have had reservations when someone tried to get close.
When I was younger, I was called the "nerd" because of my scientific aptitude in school and was shunned by those that were more into the social scene. That caused me to further withdraw into my own world to escape the pain of rejection. I withdrew into my world of science. It really took quite a while for me to venture out of my shell because of this. I guess when my marriage fell apart; I felt so insecure again that I fled back to the safety of my former world... science. In some ways, I think that Maeya and I are really kindred spirits!
Besides the time I have spent walking and conversing with Maeya around the village, I've also been spending more of the free time that I have visiting Trem and Leea's household. They are such a wonderful couple. It was rare to see a couple back on Earth so much in love for as many years as Trem and Leea have been together. They're so happy and full of life.
I've been working with Trem in the fields, and also helping him with the usual repairs that have to be made to their hut to keep the rain and wind out. It's a lot easier to make those repairs with two people, rather than one. While working with Trem, we talked about many things. He spoke about his childhood and life in the village when he was young.
After a few weeks, he felt we were good enough friends to ask me about myself. I knew he felt uncomfortable about bringing the subject up and perhaps that he would offend me. I smiled at him, and let him know I was not the least bit offended that he asked. He had asked me about my life before I came to the village. I just told him that it was a very sad story, and that it was best not talked about. He carefully brought up the fact that everyone in the village had wondered why I looked so different than all the rest of the people. I told him that I traveled from very far away and that I was the only one of my kind left in this world. I think he felt sorry for me.
He talked to me at length about Terra and Maeya when they were young. He said; Terra was our firstborn, the perfect beautiful baby girl that Leea was hoping for. Ka-mae', our neighbor, acted as mid-wife and helped Leea give birth to Terra. Ka-mae' stayed with Leea for a few hours after Terra's birth. They were taking turns holding Terra and talking about all the happiness and joy she'll bring to their lives, and to the village.
As she grew, Terra became a very outgoing child, so full of energy, running and playing with the other children in the village. She was also a "take charge" child, a natural leader, but not in the dominating sense. When she played games with the other children, she would suggest the rules of the game and the other children would follow along. When she was quite young, she wanted to be mom's helper and learned how to prepare many different types of foods for the family. She helped Leea clean around the hut with miniature tools that I made her. By her teen-age years, Terra had already established her place in the village with her skills in food preparation and organization at the various feasts. The older women were quite impressed with those skills from someone so young, and Leea and I were quite proud of her. Terra entered womanhood physically strong and quite attractive. She had everything that a young man would look for in a mate.
The conversation eventually came around to Maeya...
I was looking for Leea to bring a healthy male child into our family since we already had a beautiful little girl. Maeya... (Trem stopped speaking for a few seconds while he gathered his thoughts, then resumed)... early in Leea's pregnancy, she said she felt different physically and also in her spirit when she was carrying Maeya. It was just one of those things that you couldn't quite explain. She would often sit quietly in the hut and would just look out the window watching the leaves on the trees swaying about in the wind. I often wondered what was going through her mind at that time. I tried to talk with her about it, but it just upset her, so I would drop the subject. When the time came for birth, we had Ka-mae' help as mid-wife again. When Maeya was born, we found that the feelings Leea had during her pregnancy were an indication that something was going to be different with this birth. When we held her for the first time, we noticed that she didn't have quite the weight that a baby girl should have, and we couldn't help but notice that her hair color was so much lighter than ours. When she opened her eyes for the first time after crying, we then knew somewhat of our circumstances.
At that time, Ka-mae' gently lowered her into Leea's arms. Leea held her to her breast, looked into her eyes and said; "Her name is Maeya... for her eyes are as of the berries on the bushes that grow near the lake". Leea gave her that name because that was the name our people have given those yellow berries... "maeya".
After this, Ka-mae' told us that she must be on her way and left rather shortly after delivering Maeya... she really didn't say much at all other than, "You have a healthy baby girl, Leea!" That was rather unlike her. She kissed and hugged Leea, and made her way home.
The word of her birth spread quickly in our village, and even to the surrounding villages. The very next day after her birth, we had a visit from Bren. We were very surprised to see him. It was unheard of for an old one to come to the home of a new mother that has given birth. Usually, an old one will not see the newborn child until around a week later when the parents will take the child to them. Bren called out to us from outside our hut, and we let him in. After entering with his greetings, he congratulated us on our new child, and asked if he could hold her. We wrapped Maeya in a small blanket and gave her to him to hold. He held her in his arms and said nothing for the longest time... he just looked into her eyes. Looking up, he said; I have heard of children such as Maeya from conversing with the old ones from other villages, but neither they nor I have seen these children with our own eyes. Rest now Leea, and be happy for your family and for our village. With that, he clasped my hands, said his goodbyes', and left our hut.
She seemed much like any other child for the first few years of her life. She was happy and played with her sister in and around our hut until she was old enough to play with the other children in the village. The other children quickly noticed that Maeya was physically different from them. The children never said anything about the difference to her, but I think she sensed they treated her somewhat different. We noticed that she withdrew from playing with the children at times, and would wander away from them outside the perimeter of the village by herself. Leea became quite concerned because she had to keep an extra close watch on her continually because of the natural dangers such as predator animals and water holes that she could fall into.
Later, we would notice some rather odd behavior by the wildlife around her. For example, if no one else was near her, she could walk up to birds sitting in a small bush, and they wouldn't fly away. She could actually reach out and touch them and they would sit still.
Maeya had a personality much different from Terra. Where Terra helped Leea at an early age around the home, Maeya really didn't have much interest in learning those skills. She would rather be outdoors carefully studying everything around her. Leea and I became quite concerned, and at times Leea would lose sleep thinking about her. When Maeya was around nine years old she would quietly leave the village and stay away for hours. No one would know where she would go. Leea became quite distraught and would often interrupt my work, telling me to go and find her. When I found her, I'd tell her that she was worrying us when she left the village like this, but she was quite strong-willed. She would quit her "disappearances" for a little while, and then go back to her ways again. As she entered her later teen years, the disappearances became a day or so at a time. We realized that we just had to give up and stop worrying about her. By that time, she was mature enough to take care of herself anyway.
Other girls her age had all the skills necessary to raise a family and manage a household when that time came. They also had the attention of the young men in the village, as well as those coming from outside the village. Maeya lacked those skills, and also the social skills girls develop by being around young men and women her age. She would feel awkward when attending social situations such as feasts and ceremonial observations where there would be young people her age to socialize. We felt so bad for her when young men would come and go through the village during these events, and they would pass her over for the other girls. Maeya would be left sitting alone, with the other girls around her having young men to laugh and talk with. Her mother, observing this, would quietly leave the festivities at that time, and would return to our hut and cry.
Maeya went on with her life anyway. Even before she was out of her teens, we noticed that she would start bringing things home that she gathered from all around us and use them to make medicinals. When she found out that a child was feeling a bit ill, someone was wounded, or one of the old ones had pain, she would go to them with the medicinals she had made and bring relief to that one. She quickly gained the love and appreciation from the families of those that she helped. When we asked her how she knew what to do with these plants, we never got an answer from her that we could understand. All that really mattered was that Maeya had found her place in the village, and we were happy for her.
After Trem had told me these things about Terra and Maeya, he stopped working for a moment and looked me in the eyes. He said, Zhimm, I'm so glad that you have become such a good friend of Maeya. She seems happier now than she has ever been, and you have been such a great help to us since you have been visiting this past month. I told him, I'm so glad to hear that about Maeya! Thank you Trem, I enjoy being with your family.