Games We Played

Anaya, Daughter of Lena woke as the sun rose, orange and warm through her window, bringing with it a soft ocean breeze on her face. In the distance, the melody of the village women’s song coming closer to their hut on the hill reminded her of her special day. Today would be a day of singing, dancing, and preparation. Lena, Daughter of Celia, came into Anaya’s room, with her morning cup of tea.

“Drink, daughter.”

Anaya looked over and saw her finished dress, a simple leather dress to the knees, embroidered with live and dried flowers. Her mother and grandmother made it last night after the lottery.

“So my name was drawn,” she deduced.

“It was.” Lena sat close as Anaya drank. “You will be sacrificed to the god this evening to ensure our village’s survival.”

Anaya finished the drink, and her mother put the cup in her lap and placed both hands on her daughter’s face, looking deep into her eyes. “We have known this day might come, so we have been preparing for it with all our love and all our knowledge.”

Anaya nodded and took a deep breath. “I am ready.”

Celia, daughter of Sezna, came in singing the melody of the women who had drawn nearer, their song both mournful and powerful. Ayana’s sister Vidya followed close behind her.

“They are almost here,” Celia said, holding two dark brown leather belts.

Anaya put on a robe and Lena took the dress.

Her father, Ren, son of Kann stood outside the men’s hut waiting for them to exit their hut across the path. Her seven-year-old brother, Trenon, crouched next to him playing with rocks, a sullen look on his face. They were surrounded by the men of the village smoking pipes and drinking from gourds.

“Today is a blessed day,” Ren boomed with pride. “My daughter is the sacrifice that will keep the village safe!”

The women of the village ululated, a chorus of about 50 voices, while the men applauded and whooped. Vidya laid a crown of flowers on Anaya’s head, then all the women paraded down into the valley for the day’s festivities with Anaya in the lead holding Vidya’s hand. The men stayed at Ren’s hut for the men’s ceremony.

“I don’t want Anaya to die!” Trenon shouted. Some men chuckled; others were silent.

Ren patted his head. “She must die for the village to live. The god will see that she is an acceptable sacrifice and will leave our sheep alone.”

Trenon dropped his rocks and walked into his hut.

****

In the women’s tent at the bottom of the valley, she bathed. The large tub was filled with cool water and Anaya was submerged, eyes open, counting to 2400. Her hands were bound with rope in front of her. The tent was filled with women and girls who also held their breath. As each breath holder reached her limit, she breathed, and began to hum the festival song. Very few women would hold their breath for as long as Anaya could.

Sacrifice, Sacrifice…

She reached 2400 and sat up slowly in the water. She began to work on the rope and was able to release herself very quickly. She stood up in the tub holding the rope as the women and girls cheered.

Her mother, grandmother, and sister helped her step out of the tub and dry off.

Girls of varying ages practice escaping knots with each other, giggling at their efforts. One girl began to get frustrated.

“It’s hard,” she grumbled.

“Patience, girls,” an auntie admonished them gently. “Use the time. Don’t let time use you.”

Sacrifice, Sacrifice…

Anaya’s hair was braided with more flowers and rope. She donned the leather dress. Her grandmother threaded a belt through the dress, a small bag attached.

“We can’t all go, but we can all prepare,” she whispered in Anaya’s ear.

“Thank you, Nana.”

Vidya gave her another leather belt. This one had a knife in its sheath, to be worn like a garter under her dress. At thirteen, she had three more years before her name could come up in the lottery. Anaya kissed her on her forehead.

Sacrifice, Sacrifice…

Outside the tent, girls were singing and dancing the Dance of the Wounded Gazelle. One girl was wearing the god mask and chased the other girls around as they shrieked. The men had joined the singing, dancing, and drumming. Meat was grilling on a large fire.

Trenon ran up and hugged her as she exited the women’s tent.

“Don’t go,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry, baby. It’s the tradition.”

“I hate it.”

“I know. Maybe you can change it one day.”

“I will. I will be chief and I’ll change it.”

She kissed him on top of his head. He looked up at her and she wiped his tears away. She smiled at him sadly. He took her hand and they walked to the banquet table. She was seated at the place of honor being served meat stuffed with fruit and herbs. She had never felt so special, so extraordinary. She ate heartily. She drank juice, but she only pretended to drink the wine.

The sun was setting. The food was eaten. The dances were over.

The drums took up a happy beat. Her father washed her hands and face, and the villagers gathered for the final dance. They paraded her further down the valley, men in a column, women in another column. They reached a small ravine wherein there was a cave. A path led from the top of the ravine to the cave. Ren took Anaya’s hand and lead her away from the villagers.

They reached the mouth of the cave, where a stone dais awaited, years of use leaving a dip in its middle. Her father gestured her to sit, and joined her. She looked at his face brimming with pride and noted his silent tears. She looked up at the villagers above as they sung, her mother, grandmother, sister, and brother among them. Her father gave her the cup the elder had given him. She sipped it, and paused at the familiar tasted. She looked up at her mother who gave her a small, knowing smile.

The singing and drumming grew to a feverish pitch as her father held her head back as she drank the juice. She sank back into his arms and he laid her carefully on the dais in front of the cave. The joyous song gave way to mourning as the father made his way back up the path to the villagers, his head down, as he walked away from his doomed daughter.

***

She woke up, the moon was full in the sky. She looked at the moon sadly, tears coursing down her cheeks. Furtive movement in the cave near her interrupted her reverie. She moved smoothly, silently as she pulled her hips and legs through her arms to bring her bound hands in front of her.

Remember, Remember…

She quickly removed the rope and placed it in her bag.

At the belt on her thigh was a knife. She brandished it and looked in the direction of the movement. A large lizard stepped out of the cave, tongue sliding in and out testing the air for her scent. It was as long as she was tall. She hid behind a rock and waited for it. And waited. And waited.

Patience, girl.

She hated waiting. She climbed to the top of the rock she was hiding behind and peered over to the lizard that was stalking her. She dropped a small stone to the ground. The lizard turned and ran to the spot. She landed it and swiftly slit its throat, its blood squirting on the ground as she lay on top of it, breathing heavily in fear.

Remember, Remember…

She turned the reptile over and cut its belly open. She pulled the various flowers from her dress, and some seeds from her bag. She stuffed the deadly rhubarb flowers and ricin seeds in the belly and muscles of the beast. She used rope from her hair braid to tie it body shut, and dragged its body by its tail into the cave.

It was heavy but she was able to lift it up onto her right shoulder and walk carefully through the cave. After several hundred meters, she could not carry it any longer and reverted to dragging it. She looked up and saw that she was at the mouth of a larger cave. The light of the full moon shone through the top of the hill, filling it with an eerie light. She peered into the cavern to see that it connected to other tunnels. In the center of the cavern, there was a sight that made her drop the lizard and cover mouth to catch a scream.

It was too late. At the bottom of the cavern lay a lizard of impossible size. It boggled her mind. It must have been ten times the size of the lizard she carried, which was at least as long as she was tall, not counting the tail. She wanted to back away, run away to her mother, cry in her grandmother’s bosom.

But it was too late. At the sound of her stifled scream, one large eye opened slowly, and the beast stirred. Quickly she pulled more flowers off of her dress and stuffed them down the throat of the reptile. She emptied the bag of the ricin seeds and forced her fist into the dead lizard’s throat. She was panting in panic and beginning to hyperventilate.

Remember, remember…

She thought of her sister playing with the knots with her friends. She thought of the auntie, calling for patience.

She calmed down. The beast had started to move toward her sounds, but she was ready. She lay on her stomach and placed the reptile’s face closer to the mouth of the cavern and wiggled it. As she baited the large monster, she noticed initials scrawled into the wall. GC. Jela, daughter of Coya. Coya was Sezna’s closest friend. The beast sniffed at the carcass, licking the blood off tentatively. With a loud SNAP it snatched up the body and gobbled it in one gulp. Anaya lay there with her hands covering her mouth so she wouldn’t betray her position. She waited.

Another smaller lizard came out of another tunnel and the beast snatched it up, too. She waited. The beast grew sluggish. Another reptile came out and walked through to another tunnel. The beast blinked, but did not move. Time passed, and it still did not move. She crept down slowly, covered in blood, and got closer and closer to it, trembling with every step. With her knife in one hand, she found a broken bone and picked it up to use as a makeshift sword. Soon, she found herself near the monster’s face. Without wasting another breath, she plunged her knife into its throat fiercely and repeatedly, knife and bone, bone and knife, with heaving panicky breaths. The beast moved sluggishly with the poison in its system, then stilled.

She turned around to find two more smaller lizards behind her. She quickly swung and missed the closest with the knife, then buried the bone in its eye. It howled piteously, and she ran. The second lizard attacked the first, and she ran, slipping in lizard blood and dung.

She crawled on her belly into a tunnel where she had not seen any lizards. It was a gamble. She crawled on hands and knees, silently crying. Eventually, she saw a glow ahead of her. In the darkness of the cave, she saw the water lit through bioluminescent algae. On the wall she saw more initials, Mona, daughter of Norina. She took a few short breaths, then a deep breath, and lowered herself into the water.

She swam. She followed the underwater algae through the tunnels, swimming as fast as possible, doing her best not to panic. Her arms hurt. Her lungs ached.

Until again, the light of the full moon above her called her attention to the water’s surface. In a surge of desperation, she broke the surface of the water and breathed deeply, savagely, then floated on her back gazing at the moon.

Later, she made her way to land. Within a circle of stones, she set a fire using a flint from her bag. There she dried herself. The flames played over her face as she scratched her name on a rock. Once dried, she got up and walked away.

***

In front of her hut, Lena hung the laundry to dry. In the distance on another island, a plume of smoked snaked through the early morning sky, and she smiled to herself.