Atasha leaned forward and kissed me gently on the lips as her hand caressed my cheek. “It’s time now,” she told me with tears in her eyes.
“Time for what?” I asked, but it wasn’t Atasha any longer; it was Delia, and she was smiling.
“It is time for food. Will you sit and talk to me? You don’t talk to me anymore. You’ve never talked enough to me.”
I sat down at the table in our house in the trees. “I’m sorry,” I told her, but I wasn’t sorry. “I’ve had nothing to talk about.”
“Do you like Inada?” she asked me, but I wasn’t listening. I had something to do. I got up and walked into the white-walled corridor. Delia screamed after me. “Don’t just walk out! Come back here, Mara! What’s wrong with you!” She followed me to the door, continuing to scream, but then the door closed between us.
I walked down the corridor, letting the closed doors pass quickly by. “Time for what?” I repeated, but no one answered. I knew the eyes were watching me though. They were always watching me. “Well?” I asked them. “Tell me! Tell me what you want!” I screamed frantically as I stopped walking, but no one answered.
“What’s wrong?” Atasha asked, and I leaned my head against her shoulder. “It’ll be alright,” she assured me.
“Will it?” I asked, looking up at her, but she seemed far away. She smiled, but it was a mysterious smile that hid her thoughts from me. She had her arm linked with Leether’s now, and she looked up at him. He touched her gently on the cheek and turned to nod at me. They walked away then, and I was left alone in the hall.
I turned to walk back into my room but when the door slid open, Delia was with Inada, and they were naked. “I’m sorry,” I stuttered and slid hurriedly back into the hall. I turned away from the door and wished I could die. In a moment, I found myself running. I ran until I reached Shadow’s cage.
I opened the cage door, and Shadow came out. Then I opened the next cage door, and the next and the next. When I’d opened the last, we were on the island again. Shadow sprang into a tree, and I smiled up her. I was extremely happy, until I realized that the eyes were still watching me.
“Stop it! Stop it!” I screamed at the sky. “Leave me alone! I did what you wanted me to do! Leave me alone!”
Nadine Of The Cave 