Kibi lovingly tended Ilika all the next day, even though she had not slept a wink the night before. As the others looked on, helpless to do more than bring her things, she washed him and applied salve to his wound. When she could do no more, she kissed his silent lips and let her tears fall onto his pale skin.
Toward evening she became more assertive, informing him in a stern voice that he must wake up to eat and drink, or he would die.
And still he slept.
As darkness crept over the prairie once more, Kibi could no longer keep her eyes open. She curled up close beside Ilika and cried herself to sleep.
Ilika lay in a pool of blackness for an unknowable length of time. He did not experience pain, but neither did he know joy. He was not, in this place, able to think, or reflect, or remember. He just was.
At some point during the eternity of his existence, he began to hear a familiar voice.
Ilika, time to wake up! You are not released from your duties yet. There is much to be done, much to teach your charges, and much to learn from them. Wake up, Ilika! Kibi and all the others are waiting for you. Wake up!
He didn’t understand what the voice said, but somehow, listening to the voice, the notion came to him that he could do something. He could move.
He could move upward toward . . . he didn’t know what, but it just seemed the right way to go.
NEBADOR Book Three: Selection 108
The darkness all around him was thick and heavy, like black sand, so he dug his way upward. After an eternity it became more like a liquid, so he swam. An eon later the blackness was even thinner, and he felt himself floating or flying, ever upward, not knowing why, but trusting that this was what the voice wanted him to do.
Dawn was already in the sky when Ilika started twitching and thrashing.
Kibi flew out of some dream of despair and was on her knees beside him a moment later.
“Boro! Anybody! Help me! He’s moving!”
Sata, on watch, arrived first.
Rini was there a moment later, and seeing Ilika’s violent thrashing, cradled his teacher’s head in his hands.
“Ilika, I’m right here!” Kibi cried. “Please come back to us! Sata is here, and Rini, and we want you to wake up so you can eat and drink. Then you can sleep again if you need to. Boro is here now, and Neti and Misa. Here comes Buna and Toli, and here’s Mati. We love you Ilika, and we need you. Please wake up!”
Suddenly Ilika sucked in a huge breath of air, as if he had just surfaced from deep under water, and his eyes snapped open. He gasped repeatedly, and his unfocused eyes gazed up toward the dawning sky.
He heard Kibi’s voice, and after a few minutes started remembering names and faces. Blinking his eyes, they slowly began to focus, but felt scratchy and dry. He tried to move his lips, but found them parched and cracked. Slowly, almost painfully, a concept formed in his mind, something he desperately needed. He opened his mouth to try to speak the word. “Water . . .” he barely whispered.
Within moments Boro and Toli helped Ilika sit up, and Neti reached out with a cup of water.
Ilika tried to take the cup, but spilled it all over himself.
“That’s okay,” Kibi said through tears of joy. “We’ll help you until you’re strong again.”
Another cup of water was poured, and this time Neti held onto it while Ilika drank.
NEBADOR Book Three: Selection 109
By sunrise, he was starting to speak a few words and recognize his students, but his speech was slow and labored. They asked what he wanted for breakfast, and after a long moment of thought, he requested soup.
Kibi was at his side constantly, and when he remembered his bracelet, still on his wrist, she handed him the knowledge processor. With shaking fingers that were slow to remember their skill, he selected the medical functions.
“You really need to teach me how to use that thing,” Kibi scolded gently.
“Very . . . soon,” was all he said as he pondered the symbols on the knowledge processor. “No wonder . . .”
“What?”
“Concussion . . . dehydration . . . low blood sugar . . . blood pressure not much better . . . do we have any honey?”
“No. Just molasses.”
“Feed it to me . . . before I black out.”
Nobody could remember where it was. Kibi dumped the contents of several rucksacks before she located the prize, and was spooning the dark syrup to Ilika less than a minute later. He took another cup of water, and in a short time was speaking more clearly.
“The soup still sounds good, but I need to eat some fruit first.”
Neti and Buna located all their fresh and dried fruit, and Ilika was soon chewing small pieces of apple.
“Tell us everything we can do,” Kibi coaxed. “Buna, Sata, and Misa can still go into town without getting into trouble . . . I think.”
Ilika let out a slight chuckle. “Fruit, soup, eggs . . . sour berries . . .
powdered bones.”
Rini got paper and wrote as Ilika spoke.
“How much did I cost?” Ilika asked, lying back down to await the soup.
“Two small gold,” Boro said from the fire pit, “plus whatever was in your pouch.”
“Pouch is hidden in the alley across from the guard station. Under rocks.”
“I’ll have Buna and Sata look for it,” Kibi promised. “I just want them to eat breakfast before they go.”
“Yes. Breakfast is good. Walking into a guard station without someone to
NEBADOR Book Three: Selection 110
watch your back is . . . just plain stupid.”
Boro, Rini, and Toli all grinned.
For the entire first day, Ilika was dependent on his students for everything.
Kibi tended him, and everyone else did whatever they could to help. Sata created a hearty soup, but cooked it well.
She and Buna headed for town shortly after breakfast, promising to stay out of trouble. They knew the list of students who could safely enter Cattle Town was getting short.
Ilika ate, drank, and slept. At his insistence, Kibi woke him every two hours, and he consulted the knowledge processor. Based on what he saw, he asked for different foods, or more water. They would have loved to ask him questions about the nutrients he was selecting, but he didn’t yet have the energy to teach.
Buna and Sata returned with Ilika’s coin pouch, powdered cattle bones, and many other foods, but had failed to find sour berries.
Ilika asked for the powder to be added to everything he ate. Then he slept again.
On the second day, Ilika was able to sit up longer and talk with his students more. He explained what happened when he went to look for Kibi and Neti, and they filled him in on events he missed, including his own rescue. He nearly cried when he heard how much effort it took to get him back. His fellow travelers smiled proudly.
Buna and Misa went into town with a new list, including supplies for the next leg of their journey. They returned grinning and dangling a bag of dried sour berries from a woman who was happy to part with them when silver was offered.
Everyone smiled at Ilika’s concave cheeks and squinting eyes as he sucked on a mouthful. Neti’s eyes became moist as she remembered Miko in the same situation.
Later that day, after a nap, Ilika took their questions about his medical condition, and explained why he was trying to get more calcium and ascorbic acid. Then Kibi had a different kind of question.
NEBADOR Book Three: Selection 111
“I was wondering . . . the person, or people, who help you plan our lessons
. . . and who led us out of the fire . . . and made the aurora over Miko’s grave
. . . can they help you when you’re injured?”
Ilika was silent for a moment as he struggled to remember. “They did.
When I was unconscious, they told me when it was time to wake up. But they never help when you can take care of things yourself. They didn’t rescue me because you guys were there to do it.”
On the third day after waking, Ilika knew, by the foul smell following him around, that it was time to bathe. After sitting by the fire to eat breakfast with his students, he slowly dragged himself to the stream with Kibi at his side.
The coolness of the water nearly took his breath away, and he quickly sat down so he wouldn’t fall down. He managed to get himself reasonably clean and refreshed, and Kibi helped him into clean clothes. On the way back to camp, he started shivering and had to bundle himself in blankets again.
Sata and Buna had much less shopping to do that day. After returning from town, Buna looked very thoughtful about something, but was not yet willing to talk about it. Sata and Misa knew, but weren’t going to say anything until their friend was ready.
That evening, Ilika predicted that after one more day of rest, he would be able to do some traveling. They discussed their route, and no one could think of any reason to alter their original plans. They all looked forward to seeing the high cliff and the desert below, and having two more birthday parties.
Deep Learning Notes
When Ilika began to gain consciousness, the direction he went, “up,” is a metaphor. What things do we associate with “up” and “down”? Are they all opposites?
Ilika’s actions when he “dug,” “swam,” and “felt himself floating or flying” are also metaphors. What feeling does each one give?
NEBADOR Book Three: Selection 112
The “black sand,” “liquid,” and “blackness ... even thinner” are similes, because the story admits that what Ilika experienced was “like” those things.
They are paired with the previous metaphors to help portray the essential feeling.
To you, how long is “an eternity” and “an eon”?
When Rini cradled Ilika head in his hands, he was performing an important life-saving task when someone is experiencing seizures or other violent movements they can’t control. At such times, they are in danger of hurting themselves, and their head (most important) and sometimes arms and legs must be restrained.
Ilika was in the difficult situation of being the only one with much medical knowledge, even though he was the one who needed care. This shows how important it is in any group or family for as many people as possible to know how to care for a sick or injured person.
What important nutrients was Ilika trying to get when he requested eggs, sour berries, and powdered bones?
Ilika explained that his unseen helpers did not rescue him because his students were there to do it. What do you think of this theological concept?