I remember you… (drabble for Tabris week)
Scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, rinse. Scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub, rinse.
Kallian was at the well, doing the afternoon washing. It was her least favorite chore, being out here in the middle of things, having to make small talk to those who passed by. Some days she wished for anything to break the monotony. In the Alienage, all the bad and interesting things happened at night: thefts, quarrels, fistfights, even the occasional murder. Nothing happened on lazy summer days like this. Anyone with any sense was inside resting or fanning themselves.
Just then, a shout tore through the warm afternoon air. "Faster, you big slab of meat!"
She wiped her brow and looked up to see a boy—a human boy—sprinting through the grimy street. He had orange-ish hair and a sharp nose, and his limbs whirled like the arms of the windmill on the other side of the bridge into town. He was being overtaken by an enormous black dog with wild eyes. Its tongue lolled from between bared white teeth, as if it were laughing.
The dog seemed to notice Kallian staring. To her horror, it turned and charged toward her. Spittle flew from its mouth as its legs pumped faster and faster. She felt the hair rise on her arms and neck. It was coming straight for her, and she wouldn't get away with a bite on the leg this time. This one was big enough to tear her head off. She screamed and lurched to her feet, sending her washboard flying into the air.
"Ripper! NO!" The boy swung around and started chasing after the dog. But what would he do once he caught it, she wondered, all ninety pounds of him against an animal like that?
The dog was too fast. There was nowhere to run or hide. There was nothing for her to do but squeeze her eyes shut, bury her head in her arms, and hope for a miracle. But just as she expected impact, there was a sudden caterwauling behind her. She turned in time to see a gray tabby scurry up a spindly tree. The dog flew past her and launched itself at the tree trunk, whining and jumping on its hind legs. The cat scrambled up to the third branch and stared down at its would-be attacker.
Oh, thank goodness. Kallian took deep breaths and silently willed her heart to stop pounding.
The boy pulled up so hard beside her that up a cloud of dust billowed behind him. He leaned over, put his hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath. "You…okay?" he asked, wheezing. "Stupid dog. I'm…sorry." The whistle in his lungs sounded like the one her cousin Soris always got after a game of tag. Sometimes Soris got so bad he needed a doctor.
"S'okay," she said, with a sidelong glance at the dog. Ripper was still too close—far too close. But he hadn't been after her. He'd never been after her. It had only been the cat. Perfectly normal for a dog to chase a cat.
She peered up at the boy. He was at least a foot taller than she was. His skin was lightly tanned and his lips were chapped. Clearly, he spent a lot of time outdoors. She couldn't quite make out the color of his eyes in the afternoon sun. "You have asthma?" she asked.
He nodded. "Sometimes. It's going away as I get older, thank the Maker." He straightened, walked over to the dog, and tugged it away from the tree by its brown leather collar. "Ripper! Get down. What did I tell you last time? No more treats for you!"
Ripper hung his head and whined.
"That's the biggest dog I've ever seen," Kallian said. Ripper sat back on his haunches and looked up at her. His skull was a ridged mass of bone; his eyes were beady and black. He was panting hard and his tongue still hung from his mouth, dripping saliva into dusty puddles between his white-spotted paws.
"Not so big," the boy said with a shrug.
"Bigger than the one that did this," Kallian said, and pointed to a ragged scar on her calf. It was the length of her index finger and almost as wide. A feral dog had attacked her not six months ago, and Soris too when he'd tried to get between them. Shianni had said the scar would never go away. Kallian still started when she caught a glimpse of it. She'd never look nice in a dress thanks to that stupid animal.
"Oh…that must have hurt! That must have taken forever to heal," the boy said, wincing. "I actually like cats better. But dogs are what I've got. Stupid ones!" He turned to Ripper. "Guess we should go, muttley. It'll be suppertime soon. Not that you deserve any."
This boy seemed nice, even for a human. Nobody else had cared about her scar. When he looked at it, it seemed to hurt him too. "Where do you live?" she asked.
"Nowhere near here. I, uh…" he said, turning to look down the street, "I'm just visiting someone."
Just visiting. She tried to keep her face a mask. Shianni always said she liked people too much and trusted them too easily. She'd only been talking to this boy for five minutes, plus his stupid dog had almost given her a fit. She shouldn't feel bad that she might not see him again. "Good bye, then," she said. "If you come back sometime, look for me. I'm usually doing the wash in the afternoons."
He gave her a wry smile. "I'm not supposed to be here." By here, she knew he meant the Alienage. "But if I come back, I'll look for you."
"My name's Kallian." She was practically staring at him, and she still couldn't tell what color his eyes were. She wouldn't forget him, though. Ruddy cheeks, an easy smile, that copper-colored hair.
"Mine's Alistair."
He smiled, and was gone. Ripper trotted off after him, his tail wagging.
