I held my breath, watching the forest, especially the ferns. They swished some more, then several people popped out from behind it. “BOO!” the boys shouted. I rolled my eyes. These tricks were daily, not surprising anyone. “Hello.” I said, glaring at them. There were four of them. I couldn’t place them all, surprising myself, but two of them were beyond recognition. “Felipe. Azaire. Funny seeing you here.” My voice was heavily laced with sarcasm, “Now go away.” Felipe and Azaire were identical twin brothers, in looks and in spirit. They were naughty and mischievous, always coming up with new pranks. They had dark hair and eyes. The only difference was the splatter of freckles across Azaire’s face. And of course, they were handsome. All the Enyana boys were handsome. Dark hair and eyes, but most of them were annoying like my brothers. Felipe pouted, “Why? We just got here.” I ignored him and filled my bucket. Azaire came up to me and patted me on the back, “No need to be a spoilsport, Anya. We’re just teasing.” I frowned, “Well your so-called teasing could make me drop my bucket!” “But it didn’t.” Felipe replied. I scowled, “But it could’ve.” “But it didn’t!” Azaire chimed in, obviously enjoying the argument. I looked at him seriously, “You know what?” I tightened my hold on the bucket, “I’m going to go back. You should too, unless you want Lyna yelling at you for being late again.” I walked off, listening to them discuss whether or not to go to our house. We all knew how it would end. Felipe would try to be logical and say they should go back, Azaire would pout and encourage him to stay, their friends would join in, and they’d be galivanting around the whole night. It wasn’t the first time this event had occurred. After Mum had gotten sick, they just gave up. They didn’t stick around and help care for her. Their tactic was to stay as far away from her and grief as possible. Me and Lyna, on the other hand, worked hard to help her get better. Lyna quit school but made sure I didn’t. She began to care for the sick in our little village. In the meantime, Azaire and Felipe would stay out later and later, coming home to eat supper late in the night. Lyna, of course, would wait for them, keeping their food warm until they came back. Mum slept. And slept. She got sicker and sicker until it was hard for her to move. Thinking about this, I began to cry. The tears came slowly at first, but then poured down my cheeks, like the rain was letting loose in a thunderstorm. The salt stung my face, bringing me back to the present. I wiped away the wetness with my sleeve and continued on, trying to make it look like I hadn’t been crying at all. Lyna would worry if it seemed like I had been. When I entered the village again there was no one in the glade. It was suppertime. Everyone stayed inside to avoid bandits and thieves, not that there were many of those. It was so quiet. Silence is deadly. I crept over to our lodge and slipped inside. Lyna was standing over the chimney-fire, making our supper like she did every night. It smelled amazing, like herbs. She turned as I came in, nodding towards me. “Did you get some water?” Lyna asked, not seeing the bucket in my hands. I heaved it up and placed it on the small table in front of her, “Yes.” She smiled, “Good. You’re not as dirty anymore, so I’ll assume you washed yourself too.” she paused, “Have you seen your brothers at all? I know they usually come home late, but...” she trailed off. I nodded, “Yeah, I saw them with some of their friends down at the river. I told them to come home, I don’t know if they will.” Lyna hugged me, “You’re amazing, Anya.” I smiled and hugged her back, then pulled away, “I’m not very hungry, I think I’ll just go to bed.” It was a lie, but I needed time to figure out what I would do if I was ambushed tomorrow. I doubted that it would help, but at least I was trying, not just giving up at the first obstacle. Lyna was worried. I could tell by her furrowed brow. Her lips were thin lines on her face, and her blue eyes squinted at me. I loved her eyes; they were deep and beautiful. She was the only one with that color in our family. The gene was presumably from our dad, who we had never met. Mum, Azaire, Felipe, and I all had dark brown eyes. I reached up and pulled at her hair lovingly, “Don’t worry, Lyna.” I comforted her, “I’m fine, just tired.” Lyna tapped me on the nose, “I know, An.” she said, “I worry about a lot of things, you know that.” I nodded, then headed to my bed. I forgot to plan for tomorrow. I fell asleep immediately. That was a bad choice.
