Lara
All night, I fought sleep. My mind was constantly focused on Roark. Was he feeling better? Could the doctor heal him?
I shut out those thoughts by thinking of Mom—the way she used to smile, and how she gave the best hugs. I still remembered the way the kitchen smelled when she baked cookies.
Mom was always my comfort space. Memories of her eased my pain, and as I finally drifted off to sleep, I knew I would be strong like her. I had to be.
A heavy weight settled on my chest, making it difficult to breathe. My eyes popped open and I gasped. One of the little girls straddled my chest and was almost nose to nose with me. Her little finger reached up and touched my hair.
Shoulder-length black hair, dark red skin and curious eyes; she was such a pretty little girl.
“Good morning,” I said with a smile.
“You look strange,” she commented, then stuck her finger into my mouth and pulled my upper lip away from my teeth.
“Wha ae ya doin’?” I asked as best I could without moving my upper lip.
She let it go and then stuck her little finger into my ear and wiggled it. Talk about being inspected!
When her tiny finger went for my eyeball, I gently grabbed her hand. “I have to draw the line there.”
The older woman came flying through the house and cried, “Girgia, get off her!”
She grabbed the little girl under the arms and lifted her from my chest.
“I am so sorry,” she said, eyeing me warily.
It was easy to see that even though she had offered me a place to stay, I was still an alien and she didn’t trust me. At least not completely. Who could blame her? I’d feel the same way.
“No worries,” I said, sitting up with a smile.
Another day to get through...
“Thank you for letting me stay here last night,” I continued.
Glancing around awkwardly, I didn’t know what else to say, or what to do.
The language barrier was a hindrance I was thoroughly sick of running into. It was easy to figure out why they didn’t have translators here of course—most people probably never left the planet. But I might well be living here for the rest of my life, and that meant I needed to communicate.
The silence grew to an uncomfortable tension. They didn’t seem to know what to do with a Human sitting in the living room. Feeling somewhat silly, I tried the only thing I could think of.
“I am Lara.” I pointed to myself. “Lara.”
The older lady smiled, pointing at her chest in turn. “Ersa.”
“Ersa,” I repeated, making her smile. Looking at the little girl standing against her legs, I grinned. “And you must be,” I paused, so they could understand the words, “Girgia?”
The little girl hid her face and giggled. Ersa smiled down at her before catching my gaze. “I know you can understand me.” I nodded. “If you are interested, the girls have a language training program. Part of their required schooling is knowing how to speak in Standard, the common language of the universe.”
Common language of the universe? So…I would be able to converse with anyone, anywhere? I swallowed back the tears and nodded. I didn’t understand why she wanted to help me, but I would take any help I could get. And if Standard was the common language, did everyone know how to speak it? Even people like Nonya?
Ersa disappeared down the hall, carrying some sort of device when she came back.
“This will teach you the language.” She placed the device across her head. It sort of reminded me of headphones, but the tiny tip rested on her right temple, the left tip resting right behind her ear.
It didn’t make any sense, but I would certainly give it a try. I took the device and smiled. “Thank you.”
She nodded. “Come on Girgia, let us make first meal.”
Finally alone, I placed the device over the top of my head, exactly the way she had showed me. It didn’t make sense; the words sounded foreign, and I thought about taking it off. I mean, what good did it do to repeat strange words over and over?
After about thirty minutes of getting nowhere, I tore the device off my head, frustrated with the entire situation.
Ersa stood in the doorway and waved for me to come. Maybe it would make more sense after I had something to eat. Mom always said that nutrients fueled the brain.
“Girgia, go wake Idlon.”
The little girl slid from her chair and raced down the hall. Ersa huffed, and rubbed her forehead.
“I am too old to be taking care of little younglings,” she said.
I wanted to ask where their parents were and what had happened. Girgia came barreling down the hall while the other girl—Idlon—followed sleepily behind, rubbing her eyes. They couldn’t be more than three, maybe four years old, at least by Earth years.
Looking more closely though, Girgia did look a little older than her sister. The two of them climbed up into the chairs that surrounded a small round wooden table.
“Please have a seat,” Ersa said, flicking her wrist toward a vacant chair.
“Thanks.” I lowered myself into the chair next to Girgia. She giggled, then sheepishly hid her face in her hands.
The table was small and a tad wobbly as she placed the food in the center. Glancing around, I noticed a small replicator, but not much else except what might have been a sink.
“Thank you,” I said.
I watched the girls dig in. I remembered that every person who lived here had plenty of food, but it was still hard for me to take anything from the girls. Growing up poor, I knew how hard food was to come by, and I couldn’t in good conscience take from them. I would eat last, and then start on the training program again.