obelisk

After what happened on that day, three calm days had passed by. During that time, Alice forgot those thoughts she had very fast. Those few days had a very healing effect on her mind, although she still had to completely sort out her thoughts, it helped to stabilize her mental state that she could put those depressing thoughts aside for a while.

On the fourth day, the tension that seemed to have built up unbeknownst to her suddenly erupted again. It was while Alice was attending to the little herb garden again that they heard the knocking on the door again.

When her grandma left, to open for whoever was visiting, she didn't expect what happened next. She could hear the mother and daughter pair discussing something for a while, and not much later both of them only became louder as they progressed.

This suddenly reminded her of what had happened a few days ago. Suddenly, Alice got very worried, she had only truly learned the value of her family after she lost them, so she didn't want to see the mother and daughter pair fighting like this. Still, after her grandma told her not to worry about it, she quickly tried to drive those thoughts out of her mind, although they always stayed in the back of her mind.

Then, one day later, the daughter came again. It didn't take long until the situation became even louder than the day before. Now Alice really started to worry, and this time she didn't stop no matter what her grandma said.

When the two of them got even louder a day later, Alice knew she had to make a decision, although t wasn't a decision at the same time, she just knew what she had to do and acted on it at the same evening.

….

She didn't let her grandma realize anything over the rest of the day. But when it was finally time to sleep, she only pretended until she finally heard the slightly heavy but regular breathing from her grandma. Alice continued waiting for a while before she freed herself from her grandma's arms and got out of the bed.

Very careful, as to not make any sounds, Alice clothed herself and packed together the few things she had when she came to this place. The clothes on her body and one set of spares, her water bag, the walking stick and finally the comb that had broken into two once again. When Alice looked at the comb, she started pondering for a moment. In the end, she left the end piece on the table and only took the middle piece with her. Then she left the little hut without making a sound.

When she got outside and she closed the door behind her back, her sight fell on one of the other two huts. Alice walked over until she stood in front of the door, lifted her fist, and knocked. She waited a few moments, when no answer came, she knocked again, louder this time. Through the walls of the building, Alice heard someone moving towards the door slowly, and it opened up a moment later.

"Tsk. It's you girl, what do you want at this time?", it was the voice of Charlottes daughter, this was the place where she lived.

Making her hands into fists, Alice affirmed her determination again and spoke:

"I'm leaving."

"Finally!"

"But I have a request. I may not know many things and I don't know what happened between you, but please, whatever it is, make up with grandma!"

"You have no right...", the woman started, but Alice soon interrupted her.

"I don't know what happened, but if I know one thing, than that you will never be able to talk with someone once they are dead."

Beginning like this, Alice started to face all her emotions she had set aside for those few days, although it wasn't easy, once she started to voice out her thoughts she wouldn't let anyone interrupt her.

"Now, I am regretting so many things that I can't see my family ever again that it is almost unbearable, but grandma is still here. She had been trying to hide it, but I noticed, every time she fought with you she always looked extremely sad and lonely! In these last days, she has become weaker each day and needed my help more and more! I don't know what happened, but please! Please!", in the end, Alice still had many feeling she wanted to voice out but didn't know what to say any more at the same time, letting her only with the ability to plead. The more she talked the louder and sadder her voice got. In the end, she almost started crying out of worry but could hold herself back just barely.

Seeing and hearing Alice, the woman in front of her got a troubled expression on her face, finally, she said:

"I... Haaaaa, I will try... talking with her."

For a few minutes, the woman kept looking at the little hut where her old mother was sleeping, and Alice just kept looking at the ground in front of her, getting a little uncomfortable.

Suddenly the woman realized that she still was there and said:

"Didn't you say that you would leave? Then go!"

Alice wasn't sure how to say what she wanted to say next, so she kept hesitating, but in the end, she still asked:

"Could you give me some food? I don't want to take any more from grandma and I have nothing left."

"Tsk. We don't..."

At that moment she got interrupted:

"We can at least give her enough to reach the next town."

Looking up, Alice saw the gigantic man that had been pulling the water from the well every morning, looking at her with a thankful expression.

"Ok, but nothing more!", the woman conceded.

"Oh, and girl, a little tip for you. Don't walk in the middle of the day when it is hot like at the moment. Try walking in the morning and evening and rest in a shadow when it gets too hot in the middle of the day."

….

When Alice looked at the road in front of her, she confirmed her determination once again. Although she was sad to leave her newfound grandma, this was better for everyone. After all, traveling was her fate in the first place, she thought.

Just like this, Alice just kept walking while avoiding the midday heat. If she found a village or inn before it got dark, she would try to ask for a place to sleep and some food. Sometimes she got lucky and the people took pity on her, but most of the times, they didn't. If she didn't find other people, she would just lie down in the grass beside the road and sleep there. And if she met other travelers along the road, she got most of the times only ignored.

As the people that lived in those places couldn't really prevent her from using the well, she had at least water most of the time, but three meals a day every day was only a faint dream from a past that seemed distant already. Once, she had to go without food for two days, but no matter what, Alice still kept walking, because, somewhere in her mind, she knew that it would be the end for her if she stopped. And she was definitely not willing to die just yet, she had to keep living to reach her destiny.

In that manner, ten days passed by and at least the weather started to cool down a little from that torturous heat. When on the ninth day the first light rain since a long time fell, Alice couldn't have been any happier. She would have probably laughed if she had the energy to spare.

At the end of the tenth day, Alice suddenly saw something weird. Still a little distance away, at the side of the road stood a large black rock. It was very thin and tall, so tall that even two grownups standing on each other's shoulders wouldn't be able to touch the top of this stone.

Thinking for a while, Alice remembered again how that kind of stone was called. It was an obelisk.