Mud Pie

I had been slogging through the mud that seemed to coat the world for ahns. Sleepiness had coated my eyes as much as the mud and muck had seeped into every part of my body, or so it felt. Every able hand and foot was in use keeping the slow moving wheels in motion. It was not easy work. In fact, it was harder than anything I had ever done in my life. I was reminded of the start of my journey and trying to get my own cockeyed wagon released from the clutches of slushy half frozen mud. Men and beasts had been handy this time, but it wasn't any easier to move. It wasn't any safer either. Countless injuries had already been told of through the lines of available communication. The driver of Master's wagons had told me to take a few moments to catch my breath and I didn't argue. I lay back on the platform with a damp cloth and wiped away the grit and grime that clung to my warm skin. It felt utterly...divine. In the process, I renewed the tingle of skin that I had been wearing for days. The mud had smeared in some spots and I started playing with the flung clods from the wagon wheel, drawing along my thigh, my arm, my belly.

"Are you drawing a map?"

The voice startled me and I sat up instantly to look up into a set of quiet eyes. It is the best way to describe them. Tired, like the rest of us, they neither sparked nor were dull. They simply observed. He was young, but at least a few years older than I. Scars lined his cheeks, but not as many as my Brave Warrior had. He rode a mustard brown kaiila, half stained with the darkness of mud, and he was studying the many designs I had rubbed onto my skin. I felt that quick flush of realization that I was a naked woman before a man. I told Him that no map was really needed, for my Master knew me better than even I knew myself. It still amazed me to say that, but in this instance it was certainly true. He chuckled and then asked if I was Fonce's then? I instantly said yes, then thought of the whole truth of the matter according to my Brave Warrior. I did not want to take any chances on being snatched up. I had even hidden in His wagons for as long as I could. I had waited forever in my estimation. But I couldn't lie. So I added..."when He catches me."

He said his name was Pei, and he just came to make sure Fonce's wagons were moving all right. He had left me with an idea, and I admit, an even stronger determination to do something about my situation. Is it fate that sent Pei that day, just at that time, to force me to end my patient waiting?

I think so.