by B Latif
There, he landed on his feet.
“Ah! Why are you pulling my hair, Rose?”
He seemed offended but after hearing her answer, he smiled faintly.
“Because my foot is hurting me!”
Henry placed her in the lap of the tree and said, “Stay.”
He went away without telling her where he was going, still shirtless, and Rose’s face glistened in the sunshine as the tears fell on her cheeks. Holding her ankle, she was trying hard not to scream.
After a while, he came back with a paste of leaves and herbs. Kneeling by her, he held her foot. After rubbing the paste on her ankle, he tore apart the hem of his shirt and knotted it around her ankle. After washing his hands, he sat beside her, exhausted.
“You okay now?” he broke the silence.
Rose nodded as a heavy tear fell from her eye.
“Then why are you crying?”
She didn’t hesitate in answering him. she had looked at his face all the time as he played the role of a homeopath, without raising her eyes at her or talking.
“You won’t be able to meet my mama now.”
“No big deal, I’ll meet her later.”
There was silence. He kept looking at her as if waiting for her to stop crying. But she didn’t. he licked his lips and asked again, “Why are you still crying?”
Rose sniffed and looked at him as if he had made the greatest sacrifice of the century, “What will you wear now? How will you tell your mama that you need a new shirt?”
Poor girl, she must have thought everyone asked their mothers for new clothes the way she had to.
Henry resisted laughing. Rose continued, “Now your mama will scold you because of me,” she sniffed again, “You can take my dress and make yourself a shirt from it.”
The response was strange.
Henry leaned forward and kissed Rose on her forehead. His lips stayed there for a long time, his hands cupped around her wet cheeks.
Everything was silent. Even the birds.
It seemed as if he would stay like that forever, but his lips moved away, placing his forehead against hers. Looking into her eyes, he whispered, “I love you, Rose.”
The incredulity on her face was visible. The only thing that moved was her eyes when she blinked. Henry said nothing after that. It looked as if he had taken days to decide, but had failed, and now every word had come into existence without thinking.
“Henry?” Rose said tentatively.
“Hmm?” he gulped but didn’t let go of her face.
“What is love?”
Henry smiled. The look on her face was so full of candor that he couldn’t consider her question to be a form of trickery.
He moved his head away, dropped his hands down in his lap and smiled.
“Love is…” he stopped. Rose had taken out her book and was going to note down every word he said.
“How do you spell it?” she asked, looking at him.
Henry frowned.
For a second, it seemed he was going to tell her. but then the furrow between his eyebrows deepened and he became indecisive again.
OBSERVATION No. 22
Man is not capable of making decisions. The more options he gets, the more confused he becomes.
Suddenly, he shouldered his quiver and bow, scooped up Rose in his arms, and started walking again.
Rose kept looking at his face, but he was stern now.
“Guide me,” was all he said.
When Henry reached the dark and deep parts, he dropped her on her feet.
“Won’t you come with me?” she asked.
He just shook his head. Maybe he was ashamed of his confession. He turned to leave, but again Rose called him.
“Henry!”
He didn’t look back, just stopped on his way.
“Why didn’t you tell me what is love?”
There was silence at first, then he looked back at her and explained the reason for his capricious behavior.
“Because… I don’t know.”
He left.
Chapter 12
“Mama?”
Rose had her head in my lap, watching the crescent moon and the stars with great interest.
“Hmm?” I asked, brushing her hair with my fingers. I thought the question would be about the night, but I was wrong.
“What is the meaning of love?”
My fingers came to a halt and my smile faded. I had the impression that she had forgotten the question, even the word after two days but here she was, asking me about it.
She waited.
I waited too. I waited to make up a meaning, but I couldn’t. I didn’t know the meaning of love. What can I love? Whom can I love? I have no competition, no companion. I’m alone, yet I have souls with me.
I’ve lived for ages. I’ve seen things. I have experience. I know there’s no such thing as love, but the name of attraction between opposite genders. Love is nothing, it has no existence.
OBSERVATION No. 23
After years of experience I have realized there is only one he who loves you, and it’s not he. It’s He.
“I don’t know, Rose,” I told her finally. At once, Rose sat upright, and I knew why. This was the first question I had failed to answer.
“You don’t know?” she asked incredulously.
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Silence. It was hard for her to digest that her mother couldn’t answer her question. Feeling let down, she dropped her head in my lap again, blinking at the twinkling stars.
“Mama,” she said after a while and there was hesitation in her tone, “Henry says he loves me.”
I didn’t reply as I didn’t know what to say to her. Then there was another question.
“Is love good?”
Good?
It is hell. It is heaven. It is paradise. The answers to the questions in your mind:
1. If you love a person more than you love the Lord, it leads you to hell.
2. If you love a person moderately, it leads to heaven.
3. If you love someone so much that the separation makes you closer to the Lord, it leads to paradise.
But still, my answer for Rose was the same, “I don’t know, Rose.”
Perhaps she had no other question, or she realized I had no other answer because that was the end of our conversation.
***
“Mama?”
“Hmm?”
We were watering the roses in our gloomy orchard.
“Henry asked me to visit his home.”
There you go: Henry, Henry, Henry.
I frowned. Couldn’t this man leave my Rose alone?
“So?” I didn’t want to sound cold.
“Can we go with him?”
I stood up and looked at her, We?
“Rose, I can’t go,” refusing was easy.
“Why not?” she started following me.
“Because,” I replied without stopping, “Because… I have to go to work!”
It worked!
“Oh, no… it means I can’t go either.” She turned around to leave.
Should Rose see the world? Or shouldn’t she? I was still deciding when I saw how upset she was. I couldn’t stand to see a single tear in my daughter’s eyes.
With a heavy heart, I said, “Of course, you can go, Rose!”
“Really?” her face lit up once again.
“Yes,” I put my arm around her and walked, “But be sure you follow our rules to protect yourself.”
“What rules?”
Rules… humans always forget rules. The humans who set rules for themselves and rare, as are those who don’t cross the boundaries of their rules.
OBSERVATION No. 24
Following the rules set for your soul is the most difficult goal for humans.
I sighed.
“Listen to me very carefully,” holding her shoulders, I turned her to face me, “Rose. The world you will see is a deception and will mis
guide you. The glare of the greed of the world destroys humans. But remember that world, no matter how beautiful it is, will turn into dust but you will return where you belong.”
“Where I belong?”
I looked deep into her eyes. My child was growing up, this was the first time I had realized it. but her guileless nature wasn’t suitable for the world.
“To the Lord.”
Rose nodded. She understood me very well.
***
“How do I look?” Rose asked me excitedly.
“Like my butterfly,” I smiled at her.
I had brought a new dress for her, as she couldn’t go with Henry in untidy clothes. It was again her favorite red gown. She thought red was her personal color and never wore anything else.
Rose smiled.
“But, Rose, how can a butterfly live without flowers?”
“You mean you are coming with me?” she walked to me looking happy.
“No,” I took out a beautiful, ruddy crown of roses I had made for her, “It means my flowers are going with my butterfly.”
I placed the crown on her head, and she laughed faintly.
“Why do you always give me roses?”
“Because you, my child, are my rose, and every rose belongs to you.”
As we walked, the shadow of fear made a home in my heart. Wow… quite a human statement.
I wanted her to protect herself, so again, I reminded her of the rules.
“Rose, stay away from men. If you find yourself alone in a man’s company, leave immediately. If someone harasses you, call for help. If you call me, I’ll come to help you and don’t talk too much, and don’t get over-excited, okay?”
To my surprise, she was noting the things in her diary! I stared at her.
“Got it!” she replied.
I didn’t know if she really understood because she had never told me about Henry’s kiss. There could be three reasons.
1. She didn’t understand its significance.
2. She didn’t understand what it might mean to me.
3. She was indecisive.
But I never asked her about it. Had I done so, she would have asked me how I knew about it, and then there was no answer to that question, was there?
I stopped as we crossed the graveyard, but Rose walked on.
“Won’t you come to meet Henry?” she asked as she noticed my absence beside her.
“I have to go to work,” I replied without hesitation.
OBSERVATION No. 25
Some humans hesitate before lying and some hesitate after lying.
She stood for a moment, then turned around and walked on. Goodbye, Rose.
I stared at her as she left me alone. Then her steps slowed down, and she stopped. In a moment, she came back hurriedly with tears in her eyes and hugged me without warning, “I’ll miss you, Mama, I’ll miss you!”
I didn’t embrace her because of my sadness. At that moment, I really wished I were a human and could go with her. When she didn’t leave me, I wrapped my arms around her, and she kissed me on my cheek.
“I’ll be back soon.”
“Be a good girl,” I smiled at her as we broke apart, “You always have to be.”
I was afraid. Being in the human world meant being in a world full of opportunities to sin.
***
Henry was waiting for her, and a slight smile appeared on his face when he saw her. Rose was also excited and giggling.
“Let’s go,” Henry told her. It was strange to see him without his bow. This was the first time he was without it and he looked bare.
Rose must have thought they would walk as she knew nothing about transport and followed Henry.
“Is it far away?” Rose asked.
“Yes.”
She was silent, thinking, and then she asked again, “Where will we stay at night? I’m so tired of walking.”
Henry stopped and looked at her with an astonished frown, “We’re not walking.”
Rose stared at him, “I can’t run, Henry.”
The noise grew in the forest.
“Who says? We are flying,” Henry turned his face up, looking at the clear blue sky.
Rose also looked up. The immense sound echoed around them, as the rotating wings disturbed the calm air, like a gale out of nowhere.
Rose was in awe of the mechanical beast as it landed in front of them. Henry looked at her shocked face.
“Where did you find such a huge butterfly?”
Henry smiled, “Want to have a ride in the butterfly?”
Rose was wildly excited like the wind, but she looked at him tentatively as he stepped closer, and she gingerly took a step back.
“Come on, Rose,” he moved forward amused, holding her waist, “I won’t hurt you.”
He lifted her into the flying machine and climbed in beside her.
“Sit down please,” he asked her as he gestured to the pilot, and the helicopter left the forest floor.
Looking out the window, Rose laughed, “Once I had a dream that I was flying on a butterfly!”
Henry smiled and moved towards her, “Well, it looks as if not all dreams remain just a dream.”
“Oh look! Everything is so small!” She looked at Henry and then her eyes scrutinized the inside of the helicopter, “Henry… this butterfly is very different…”
There was a moment of indecision, “That’s because this isn’t a butterfly. This is my helicopter, Rose.”
Rose opened her book immediately and started writing. Henry cast his eyes on the words, stopping on love as she hadn’t written its meaning.
“No, no. it is spelled H-E-L-I-C-O-P-T-E-R,” Henry told her, and her fingers froze after writing it, “It is a flying machine.”
“Henry, what’s a machine?”
He bit his lip, raised his eyebrow and murmured, “Human replica of God’s creations.”
Rose understood, and as they flew over the vales, mountains, and buildings, Henry kept answering her never-ending questions.
When they landed, Rose was thrilled by the cars waiting for them. She was very enthusiastic and wanted to learn about everything and write it all down in her book. But Henry told her they had plenty of time for that.
“Your home is wonderful!” Rose exclaimed, looking at the buildings from inside the car.
“No, it’s not my home,” Henry told her, “You see, you live in the forest, but the whole forest isn’t your home. I live in a small part of this huge city.”
As she looked through the window, Henry kept staring at her with a wrinkled brow. He didn’t say a word after that. It seemed that she wanted to observe every minute detail, as she seldom blinked, not wishing to miss a thing.
The three cars stopped. Henry got out of the middle one and opened the door for Rose. He held his hand out for her, and she took it reluctantly.
He walked toward the wooden door and stopped, looking sideways at Rose who was gazing at the palatial house, wide-eyed.
He didn’t smile as he hailed, “Welcome to my world, Rose.”
“Wow,” Rose uttered.
Henry walked inside, gesturing to the security guards to stay out. The house was glamorous, after all it was the president’s house. The modern furniture, Persian carpets, classical paintings, antique ornamental pieces, there was perfection in everything.
Rose didn’t dare to touch anything but admired everything.
“When I met you in the forest, I thought you lived in trees.”
Henry smiled at that. Rose looked at him suddenly, “There are no animals and no birds. How can humans live without nature?”
Henry sighed, “They… we are used to it. Are you hungry?”
“Yes, but how will we eat? There are no trees, no fruit,” she seemed rather worried about it.
Henry gave a faint hint of smile, “My house, my rules.”
He walked toward the dining room where the table was already set. It seemed he had planned lunch for her.
“Come on, sit down,
Rose.” He pulled out a chair for her and sat at the far end of the table.
Rose seemed nervous as the servants looked at her strangely. She wasn’t dressed like the women in Brazil and there was a ring of roses on her head. The servant left after talking to Henry about something she couldn’t interpret in her mind.
When he was gone, Rose stared at Henry, who was eating his roast dinner now, and reading a newspaper. She got up and settled on the chair next to his.
“Why have you come here?” he asked, turning his attention to her.
“I’m… I’m scared… stay with me,” her timid reply came.
“Okay, now please eat something, you must be hungry.”
He offered her fruit, the thing she was used to. She was very surprised when she heard they cooked food, and even more to see the number of dishes there were. Henry asked her to eat as much as she wanted. There were endless questions about everything. After lunch, Henry showed her the house.
“Henry?”
“Hmm?”
“Where is your mama?”
Henry’s steps slowed down at the question and he sighed, “Mother’s don’t have time for their sons here, Rose. You must make an appointment to see your own mother. You’re lucky to have such an exquisite mother.”
Rose bit her lip, and there was silence.
“Come on, let’s go out,” Henry proposed, and she nodded.
They visited many places with the security lurking behind them. Rose gawked at every human she saw. She wanted to write the meaning of everything in her book, but Henry told her there were so many things that they wouldn’t fit in it.
She was impressed by the shoes, dresses, and the jewelry, but what attracted her most was a teddy bear. It was a cute, white, fluffy teddy bear. She smiled at it, the way a girl smiles at a boy, beguilingly. After a while, Henry said they should go home as it was getting dark.
When they left the shop, Henry busied himself with his phone and only looked up when he heard a noise.
“STOP! STOP, THIEF!”
Henry froze on the spot and looked back. The shopkeeper was rushing toward them.
“You must pay for what you took, sir.”
“Excuse me? I didn’t take anything.”