Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold by Turaki Umar

Author:Turaki, Umar
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Little A
Published: 2022-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

12

ARRIT

Arrit picked out the plastic bowl she usually served the prisoner’s meals in. She was about to dish out the food when she paused. Instead, she selected the best plate in the house, Uncle Yilshak’s plate, the same one she had just washed, the blue one with the gold twirls that danced across it like spirals of sunlight. She felt compelled by some unknown force to see the prisoner eating off this plate. The idea, and the fact that she would be responsible for it, made her feel powerful and free. Something had happened in the last two days that took her flat understanding of the world and folded it into shapes she had never considered. Otherwise, she would never have said a word to the prisoner, let alone served him like this.

As she carried the prisoner’s food to him, Arrit had the hunch that something was about to be upturned if she did not desist. She had been pushing her luck for two days now. She had to stop this nonsense; she had to stop fraternizing with the enemy. She reached the window and passed the plate through it. She opened her mouth to speak quietly. A hand crept out of the darkness and held her, and she released the plate and drew back. There was the crackle of china breaking. He had been standing beside the window.

“I’m sorry I scared you,” he said.

Arrit glanced around. Uncle Yilshak still had not returned. Polu had gone out.

“Don’t touch me again.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You broke it.”

The clink of ceramic pieces being picked apart came through the window. He placed the broken shards on the windowsill, where she could see them. There were other plates in the set, so it would not be immediately obvious that one was missing. Still, it was bound to come out in the end: Uncle Yilshak sometimes hosted guests for dinner, and he liked these plates for such purposes—unless he bought a new set and forgot about these, which was unlikely to happen since these were barely a month old.

She had some time.

Arrit found a plastic bag and moved the broken pieces into it. Throwing them in the dustbin was not an option. Uncle Yilshak sometimes inspected the trash before it was taken out to ensure that food was not being wasted in his house. She would have to hide the broken plate until the next day and dispose of it on her way to school. She was moving from the window when he spoke.

“Arrit.”

Arrit stopped. It was the first time he had used her name in the two days he had been here. He said it softly, as though it too would break if he spoke any louder. Her name on the lips of a stranger. Why did it sound so familiar? She realized she did not know his name. They called him a prisoner, a thief. For all the fear they harbored for the people behind the barricade, this young man seemed . . . normal. In fact, but for the black marks in his eyes, he seemed like any other person.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.