Teaching Her

The following morning Amaya woke up early and milked the goat. Her daddy had built her a cup out of bamboo and she used that to store the milk from the goat. The goat has given birth to two kids last month and she started to drink milk from then.

After drinking half the milk, she transferred the other half to a wooden bowl and fed it to the cub. At first, the cub did not know how to drink but soon it licked the bowl dry.

After breakfast, Ibrahim left Amaya to play with the cub in the cabin. He went to the eastern side of the forest where he saw a kapok tree with mature fruits. The diameter of the tree was not so big it will not take him long to cut it down. He wanted her daughter to be comfortable as possible. As royalty, she deserved to be pampered and to live a luxurious life but how can there be such luxury in a jungle?

He gathered the fruits and placed them in bamboo baskets. He cut the log into three parts to make it easier for him to haul them back to the cabin. In the next few days, Ibrahim busied himself making a pillow for him and Amaya. The fruit of the Kapok Tree contained fibers that were light and fluffy similar to the cotton filling of pillows sold commercially in the civilized world.

He taught Amaya how to weave using buri (a kind of palm) leaves. They weaved a mat one meter wide by two meters long and in two layers. They stuffed the insides with kapok and Ibrahim sealed the edges with twines. Amaya now has a thin mattress.

"Daddy, the pillow and the mat are so soft. It felt comfortable. I can sleep better on this."

Ibrahim felt a lump in his throat. He blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. He hugged his daughter for a long time before he calmed down.

"Come here. I'll teach you something new." He said.

Ibrahim taught Amaya to read and write. At first, he wrote the letters on the sand. Eventually, he discovered that he could make clay tablets. He fashioned a pen out of bamboo and he let Amaya write on the clay tablet. It was just like writing on paper. The only difference was that the clay tablet was dark-colored and thick and her pen has no ink.

"Daddy, can you make me more clay tablets?" She asked.

His father consented, and he made five clay tablets.

Amaya drew something on the tablet. She spent the entire afternoon working. Finally, she lifted her head and passed the tablet to her father.

"It is done, Daddy. I drew our family." She said proudly.

Ibrahim studied the clay tablet. On the upper part was the outline of a woman with long hair looking down on two figures that were lying below. One was big while the other one was small. Dots were scattered on the upper part of the tablet representing the stars and constellations.

Ibrahim's eyes reddened.

"You did well, Aya." He ruffled her hair and kissed her cheeks. What an excellent child she was. If only he could share with the entire world that his daughter was brilliant.

The following morning, Ibrahim woke up early and busied himself carving a wooden frame. Over the years, he mastered the art of joining two wooden pieces without nails. He carved out a hole on one side of the wood and snapped the other side in place.

That was how he made the shelf inside their sleeping quarter where they put their clothes made of animal skin, his journal, a small chest that contained Danaya's jewelry, and another chest where he stored his cell phone and his wristwatch that stopped working a long time ago.

He placed the framed clay tablet beside a small photo enclosed in an exquisitely carved wooden frame. It was a photo of him and Danaya on his 28th birthday, a month before their supposed wedding. She had given him the best birthday gift ever, and it was on that night Amaya was conceived.

Ibrahim picked up the photo tenderly and gazed at Danaya, who was looking back at him with wide eyes full of love and adoration.

"I missed you every day Sweetheart. Amaya is growing pretty well and I think she is a genius like her Dad. It's just that we are trapped here on this island and I really worry about her." He sighed and placed back the photo on the shelf.

He suddenly thought about what it would be like if Amaya grew up in Lireya.

'Will she be as carefree and as happy as she is now? Or will bodyguards constantly follow her everywhere, limiting her freedom? Will she be subjected to the same strict rules required by the monarchy? Will she grow up lonely like me?' Ibrahim asked those questions himself.

Ultimately, he concluded that Amaya was in a better position than when he was a child.

After Amaya mastered reading and writing, Ibrahim taught her the languages he knew. He taught her to speak, read, and write in Lireyan, Chaneyan, Usturian, and Uropan. At the age of six, she mastered all four languages of the major countries and could read and write without difficulty.

He taught her how to make wooden cutlery and how to use a spoon, fork, and chopsticks when eating.

He also taught her traditional medicine. He taught her how to identify different types of herbs, which were used to stop bleeding, which ones could ward off insects and cure headaches, and which ones she could use as antidotes for poison.

He was glad he taught her at an early age. Her knowledge saved his life.

He got careless one morning while walking barefoot on the shore. A scorpion stung him, and he was paralyzed and could not move. Five-year-old Amaya found him soon after. He instructed Amaya how to concoct an antidote, and the little girl successfully concocted it and applied it to his ankle where the scorpion stung him.

Ibrahim was scared to death. Amaya was still very little, and she still needed him. He cannot die yet.

He decided to use alligator skin for sturdier foot protection. After a few attempts, he completed a bulky pair of boots for himself but was unable to create a smaller one for Amaya.

He pondered for a moment. In the end, he used the boar's hide to create boots for Aryana. They were lighter and softer, and she would be more comfortable.

He needed to be more careful and accompany Amaya. She only has him in their whole world.