Others Exist

I woke up still on the beach, the day brighter than it had been before. Where did that time go? Sleep is new and pleasant a mini-escape from the chaos of emotion I had previously felt. I opened my eyes slowly to see a man and a boy hovering over me. I gasped but could only stare back at their faces. Both were dark like me dressed topless with leather looking skirts that had shells dangling from them. "Alow? Are you okay?" said the man.

I opened my mouth but was in shock again from the simple speech I understood.

" Am I Okay or am I Alow?" I said confused. Maybe I don't understand. While the man and boy stared I pieced together that 'okay' meant not bad, and 'Alow' meant white cloud. Wait that doesn't make sense. I'm confused again.

"I am okay" I said slowly testing out my words this time. The man reached out his hand and helped me up. I looked at him carefully this time. He had black hair, long and wild around him. Dark brown eyes with high cheekbones, and a strong nose. I felt a spark of some new feeling I couldn't yet name but it faded as I realized I barely knew what was going around around me. "What happened to you sister?" the boy said his little eyebrows furrowed in concern. A moment went by till I understood the meaning of sister, my eyes widened and I felt pressure to play a part of a person I did not know. " The ocean took me and threw me up. Then I crawled back to the sand and fell asleep" I said automatically. The boy, or rather brother, rose his eyebrows and looked at the man's upset reaction to what I had said. "Alow, why would you come all the way down here anyway. This is not where the fisherman fish and you know how angry the seas can be, so why would you come here all alone?" He frowned at me. "Alow?" is all I managed to say. What do white clouds have to do with anything, it is really throwing me off. He sighed heavily, " Yes you, Alow. That is what you are called. Did the sea take your mind too?" He looked at the boy and motioned for him to walk foreword then motioned for me to do the same. I complied pondering the idea of names and how exciting that was, for I had never had one before. I smiled to myself walking along following the man and boy ahead of me.

"Mateqai? Why is Alow acting strange?" Brother whispered but I could still hear. " I do not know Pititi, probably because the great ocean decided to take back the flow of thought it gave her." Mateqai said loud enough for me to hear. I had a new feeling for him similar to the one I now have for the ocean. No fear but resentment, there was a harsh tone in his words I did nothing to receive and this bothered me. Pititi went quiet and just continued walking next to rude Mateqai. I casted my gaze upwards to see mini brown domes in the distance. Homes, I identified. As we continued walking I saw more shapes turn into homes or people. Some women dressed beautifully with many feathers and shells decorating thier hair and clothes. Some women dressed simply with few shells and hair tied simply in a braid. Men dressed waist down some more covered than others. I observed the people and saw a group of children which caught my eye, some were playing a game with each other. I saw a little girl who hid behind her mother's skirt afraid to sit or play with the other children. A man caught my eye. His face held many lines, but that is not what drew my attention. He drew much attention because of his strange giant black and white feathered piece he wore on his head. It was rounded on his head then had many black feathers pointed straight up to the sky. He also wore a thick shelled necklace almost reaching his shoulders. Many kids crowded around him as he moved and danced, speaking and singing to the children. As I came closer I heard him singing of the land and how it came to be rising above the waters. His deep voice was soothing and kind. He reminded me of the elders from just the wiseness and time his eyes held. We reached him as he told the end of his story and rose to speak with me and Mateqai. I noticed Pititi was long gone in a chasing game with the other children. Mateqai told the strange man about what happened to me. "Matipuyaut, I think you should check her head before she goes home to me." Mateqai said avoiding eye contact with me and only looking at the... medicine man. Go home to you? I thought... who are you to me? Matipuyaut nodded and led me away from Mateqai to a dome more colorful than the others. He had me lay down on a cloth on the floor. "I truly  believe that I am fine. You do not need to check on me I will just be on my way" I said all in the same breath. At first he just ignored me checking my body for scrapes or bruises. When he found none he touched my forehead, closed his eyes, and mumbled something I could not hear. He then opened them and looked at me. "Where will you be on your way to?" He asked me. "Home" I said. The safe answer, I was proud of my ability to be vague. But medicine man seemed to see this and ask more of me. " I saw the face you made when Mateqai said 'home to me'. Let me ask you something. Where is your home? Who are your parents? Your siblings? What is your role in our tribe? What man did you choose to live and lie with?" My mouth dropped and I struggled to come up with an answer to Matipuyaut's questions. He gave a deep sign and looked at me skeptically. "I know of no one was able to crawl back from the sea yet not able to keep her memory of her whole life before". My breathing sped up and I looked to him ready to plead my case when he help up a hand and said, " Quiet".