ELANIA

Cake, I love cake

Elania went back to looking at the treats. “What are these?” she asked, with her voice now back to normal.

“Um they are croissants,” Allison replied taking a step forward.

“Croissants. And these?”

“Macaroons.”

“Macaroons. And what is this?” she asked, going down the line.

“Um that is a red velvet cake,” Allison replied.

“Cake, I love cake. Can I have some please? I haven’t eaten in days. I’m so hungry.”

“Sure, of course.” She grabbed a plate and cut a piece for her.

“No!” a man said and both Elania and Allison turned to him. His name was Frank and he was sitting at the table in the corner, dressed in a designer suit having a piece of apple pie and a cup of coffee. “Don’t give her anything, we don’t allow her kind in here.”

“Frank come on,” Allison said.

“No.” Frank stood up. “If we start letting people like her in here and giving away free food, the lot of them will come, and the next thing we know, this place is going to turn into a homeless shelter,” he said and the others agreed.

“You should leave,” a woman said.

“Guys come on she’s hungry,” Allison said.

“Then let her go to a homeless shelter where her kind are,” another man said and they all agreed as Elania just held herself, moving closer to the counter.

“What is she even wearing?” another woman asked.

“Right, she smells,” a third woman said covering her nose with her hand and Elania instantly went red faced; of course she smelled, she was out in the outlands and hadn’t bathed in days. It was the truth but it was very mean.

“And why does she talk like that? What is that?” a fourth woman asked wondering what her accent was.

“She’s probably just stupid, they’re all just stupid and gross,” the third woman said.

“I’m not stupid,” Elania said standing up for herself. These people were insulting her and she was not just going to stand there and let them.

“And her eyes? Look at her eyes,” the second woman said.

“She’s probably on some serious drugs cuz those eyes are not normal, they’re almost scary,” the third woman said and Elania looked down.

“Can you please just leave? We’re trying to eat here and we will not have your filthy drug abusing kind ruining what should be a nice lunch,” Frank said and they all agreed.

“Alright you guys that’s enough! She’s a human being, you are not going to talk to her like that and you are certainly not going to do it in here,” Allison said putting her foot down.

Elania staggered a little as her vision became blurry. “I don’t feel so good,” she said.

“Oh no she’s going to puke,” the second woman said and the people who were seated on the tables near her quickly stood up and backed away.

“Hey are you o.k.?” Allison asked, genuinely concerned about her.

“No,” she whispered and dropped to the floor.

“Oh my gosh!” She ran through the half door by the wall and went to kneel down by her side. “Hey?” She shook her. “Hey?” Allison’s voice echoed as Elania blacked out.

Hours later, it was nighttime and Elania was sleeping in a bed; double and with beddings so soft it was like she was sleeping on clouds. She was in a nightshirt and had a bandage patch over the cut on her forehead and was sleeping so peaceful it was like she was in her own bed.

Just then, the curtains to the bedroom opened slightly and a woman peeked in to check on her, it was Allison and she had brought her to her home to take care of her. Elania was still out cold and for a moment, she just stood there looking at her. Her hair was blacker than black and her eyes were like nothing she had ever seen before. Who was this woman and where was she from?

Morning came and Allison, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, was in the kitchen making breakfast; scrambled eggs and bacon. Upstairs, Elania heard the food sizzling and woke up, yawning as she sat up and stretched herself. She looked around the room and though it was beautifully put together, it had her slightly panicked as to just where she was. Her heart had even begun to race but when she took a closer look at the pictures on the wall, she calmed down; they were of Allison, and her friends and family.

Looking down and wondering what she was wearing, Elania then got out of bed to take a closer look at the pictures, as outside the noises of the city carried on.

Allison finished making breakfast and served it on a plate, just as Elania made her way down the stairs. She was wearing the robe Allison put out for her on the same chair that her washed and ironed under garments, socks and scarf were neatly folded on. She reached the bottom of the stairs and looked around, her place was cuzy and colourful and she had more pictures of friends and family on the wall beside the TV.

“Hey? You’re up,” Allison said and Elania turned to her. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” Elania responded and walked to her, looking at the large window that brought beautiful light into her loft apartment.

“You’re just in time for breakfast, please come and sit. You must be hungry.”

“I am,” she said and Allison pulled out a high chair for her and she sat down. She then started preparing her breakfast as Elania weirdly looked at her reflection on the electric silver kettle; moving her head from side to side and then up and down as she wondered what it was and how it was doing that. Her curiosity peaked; she reached her hand out to touch it.

“Uh don’t touch that it’s hot,” Allison said and Elania quickly pulled her hand away.

“Sorry.”

“It’s alright.”

She put a plate in front of her and when Elania looked down, a wide smile grew on her face.

“Red velvet cake, macaroons and . . ,” she said and tried to remember the last thing. Allison smiled urging her on. “And . . . Croissants.”

“Yes, good job,” she said and they laughed.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Elania dug in as Allison prepared a warm glass of milk for her and placed it next to her plate. “And a glass of warm milk, nothing goes better with sweet treats than a glass of warm milk.”

“I love warm milk.”

“Me too.” They chuckled and Elania took a sip of her warm milk as Allison went and sat down on the other side of the island where her food was; quietly chuckling to herself at how Elania was manhandling the treats.

“These are so delicious, do you make these yourself?”

“I do. The bakery is mine. My mom left it to me a few years ago and I’ve been running it since.”

“They’re very good.”

“Thank you,” she said and they carried on eating with Allison passing subtle glances at her; she had seen beautiful women before but Elania was just something else, she was breathtaking. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Elania,” she responded.

“Wow, that’s a lovely name. I’ve never heard it before.”

“I was named after my great grandmother.”

“Right. I'm Allison.”

"Lovely to meet you Allison."

"Lovely to meet you too Elania," she said and they carried on eating.

“This is your place?” Elania asked looking around.

“Yes.”

“You live here by yourself?”

“Uh yes, I used to live with someone but things didn’t work out between us so he moved out,” Allison answered.

“Your husband?”

“Uh no, just a friend.”

“Is it not just the one bedroom?” Elania asked.

“Yeah it is.”

“So where was he sleeping?”

“Oh uh . . . We were together so we were sleeping in the same bedroom,” Allison answered.

“But you were not married?”

“No, we were just living together.”

“Right,” Elania said quite taken aback. When a man and a woman were living together but were not married it was called co-habiting and it was against the Holy Scrolls, and as a firm believer and follower of the Holy Scrolls, she always took it upon herself to advocate for its teachings. But not wanting to call her out on it because she barely knew her and didn’t want to bite the hand that was feeding her, she decided to end it there. “It’s nice, our houses are nothing like this. The ones in the capital are big and very fancy but the ones in our community are small, much smaller than this. Your buildings are so tall, they touch the sky.”

“They’re called skyscrapers. This one is much shorter than those thank goodness cuz I’m not a fan of heights,” Allison said and they chuckled.

Elania looked up. “And your candles, how do you light them all the way up there?”

“Oh they’re not candles. It’s electricity.”

She looked back at her. “Electricity?”

“Yeah.” Allison stood up and walked to the switch. “When you flip the switch the lights go off and when you flip it again they come on. Off, on,” she said switching the flip and Elania just sat there looking up with a childlike wonder on her face.

“Wow.”

“And it’s not just the lights, the electricity powers pretty much everything. The kitchen appliances, the TV, the radio and the geyser.”

“Geyser?”

“Yeah it’s how we warm water to bath. It goes into the geyser and boils and when we open the hot water tap hot, water comes out,” Allison said as she sat back down.

“Wow, we warm our bath water over the fire. We collect firewood from the forest and then put it in the fireplace,” Elania said. “How does the water get hot?”

“There’s a metal element at the bottom of the geyser that heats up and boils the water. When we switch it on, it starts heating up and when we switch it off, it stops.”

“Like the light switch.”

“That’s right, almost everything that uses electricity has a switch that way you can manage how much of it you use,” Allison said.

“Wow you people have some very interesting things. Lights that go on without matches, skyscrapers and even those things which move in the road, what are they? And how do the people get inside?” Elania asked, she was seeing all these things for the first time and it was fascinating.

“Oh those are called cars and we get into them through the doors on the side. We use them to move around.”

“Cars, they’re funny and very loud.”

“Yes, those are the hooters, people honk them when they want someone to get out of the way or when they’re saying thank you or if they’re just in a very good mood.”

“The first one yes, I’ve experienced it first hand,” Elania said.

“Well, welcome to Bertrand City.”

“Thank you.” Allison chuckled as they ate on, with Elania continuing to look around. “What is that?” she then asked pointing.

“It’s a TV, television.”

“Television.”

“Yeah.”

“What does it do?”

“You turn it on and you watch stuff on it like movies, music videos and whatever else they have on these days,” Allison answered.

“What are movies?”

“They’re moving pictures; people act like in plays.”

“We have plays too,” Elania said.

“Yeah so kind of like plays but then they’re filmed and recorded with a camera and people can watch them.”

“So how do they get in there?”

“They’re recorded on digital cameras and the footage is later edited on a computer, that’s another machine they use to put all the footage they shot in order so that the story flows from the beginning to the end. And then when they’re done they hold a premiere, that’s when everyone who worked on the movie gets dressed up and goes to watch the movie on a screen kind of like that one but much bigger. And then after it’s had its run at the cinema, where the big screens are found, that’s when it’s put on DVDs and shown on TV channels.”

“That sounds very interesting.”

“It is quite glamorous; a lot of people who work in the movie business are famous and live very extravagant lives.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, gosh do you really not have these things where you’re from?” Allison asked edging forward in her seat, it was like explaining things to a child.

“No we don’t.”

“Man, you must be from deep in the rural districts.”

“Uh . . . Yes.”

“Cuz I’ve heard that some of them are so remote they’re completely cut off from the rest of the city.”

“Yes, they are quite remote,” Elania said and carried on eating; not wanting to say more on the topic because of what old man Jhika told her; no one should know who she was, where she was from or where she was going.

Allison went on looking at her. “And your hair, it’s so black and big. How do you get such big curls to hold? I tried it once and it was a disaster. They told me my hair was too thin to rock big curls so I just stuck to wearing my hair straight but yours,” she said and even got up to take a closer look. “I’m sorry may I?”

“Sure,” she said and Allison touched her hair, so soft to the touch it was like water moving through her fingers.

“Oh wow, how is your hair this soft and still able to hold these curls?”

“I don’t know, it’s just the way I was born.”

“Oh my gosh it’s beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“Wow, what I would do with a head full of hair like that,” Allison said returning to her seat and they chuckled. “And your eyes.” Elania immediately looked to her side. “No, oh my gosh no they’re not bad they’re . . . They’re absolutely stunning,” she then said and Elania looked back at her. Her eyes were cyan blue with white rings around her pupils and her iris. “Are those contacts or were you born like that?”

“Contacts?”

“Born like that, wow,” she said and leaned forward. “I have never seen eyes like that ever. They’re so unique and beautiful.”

“Thank you. I’m the only one with eyes like this in my community. And when I travel to other places, people always look at me strangely.”

“Well don’t let them get to you they’re just jealous cuz those are the best looking eyes I have ever seen and you wear them perfectly.”

Elania was chuffed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” They smiled at each other and continued eating. “Your accent is a little different too, I guess that’s because you come from a really remote place.”

“Yes.”

“So what happened? Did you lose your stuff or get mugged? Why had you not eaten in days?” Allison asked and Elania took a few seconds to come up with something.

“I uh . . . I lost my things.”

“Oh my gosh Elania, that’s terrible.”

“It was terrible, I asked for help but no one helped me,” Elania said.

“I’m so sorry about that, people around here can be so mean sometimes. And while we’re on the topic I just want to apologize for what happened yesterday. Those horrible things they said to you, they were way out of line.”

“That’s no way to treat people.”

“No it’s not but unfortunately, it’s a dog eat dog world out here and there’s only so much you can do,” Allison said and Elania flinched.

“Dog eat dog? Your dogs eat each other?” she asked shocked and Allison laughed.

“No our dogs don’t eat each other, it’s just a thing we say to mean things are a little hard out there and people will do anything to come out looking better than others.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah so don’t worry, the dogs are safe.”

“O.k.,” she said and they chuckled, continuing to eat, with Allison still passing glances at her.

“Where exactly are you from Elania? Which district?”

“Uh . . .” Elania’s heart began to race, she didn’t know the names of any of the districts in Bertrand City, she didn’t know anything. Still, she managed to remain calm. “From the west?”

“Westing.”

“Yes.”

“Oh wow that’s one of the most rural districts in the whole city; there’s an article I read once about how 85% of the people there are so poor it’s like they live in the Stone Age, no offense.”

“None taken.”

“That must be rough though, having all this available but not being able to access it. It must make life a quite hard,” Allison said.

“Well, that’s the life we’ve always known so we don’t really see it that way. Of course we’d like to find easier ways of doing things but that’s how we’ve been living for years so we just do as we have always done and keep moving forward.”

“That is so admirable. Making do with what you have.”

“Exactly.”

“Right. Gosh, we have all of these things at our disposal thinking that’s the way life should be, we get so busy running around that we never really take the time to think that there are people out there who don’t have what you have.”

“That’s alright, life is different for everyone. People are on different levels and that’s o.k. It’s not about owning the whole world, it’s about finding the piece of it that’s yours and making the most out of it. Finding your passion and doing whatever you can to hold onto it because it is through that passion that God’s promises will be fulfilled in our lives,” Elania said and Allison immediately lit up.

“Like my baking. The heat from the ovens burns my face, I clash heads with my employees almost every other day and some of my customers annoy me to the point of wanting to pull my own hair out, but once that batch of freshly baked goodies comes out of the oven and it’s perfect, it makes it all worth it because I just love it so much.”

“Exactly,” she said and they smiled.

“I like that, always follow your heart.”

“Always.” They smiled on and continued eating.

“So, what brought you to the capital?”

“I uh . . . I actually wasn’t even supposed to come this way, it’s just that I was so hungry had I not come I would have dropped dead,” Elania said and Allison threw a hand to her chest, moved even more by her sad story. “I was heading north-east, I am heading north-east.”

“To Rushmont District?” Allison asked pointing to her north-east.

“No this way,” Elania said pointing to her right; the real north-east.

“Oh Firthton.”

“Is that all the way that way?”

“Yes it is, it’s a border district just like this one. About twenty hours out,” Allison answered.

“And which community is the furthest?”

“Tulier. It’s the very last bus stop, that’s where you’re going?”

“Yes. In fact I should even be leaving,” Elania said standing up and Allison stood up too. “My clothes. I need my clothes.”

"O.k. well I cleaned them for you. I couldn't get them squeaky clean though, that green stuff on them is as tough as nails. What was that?”

“I uh . . . It was paint.”

“How did you get it on you like that?” Allison asked.

“I uh . . . I lost my footing and fell into a pile of it.”

“Oh my gosh I hope you didn’t hurt yourself.”

“Oh no I didn’t, I’m fine,” Elania answered. She hated lying to her especially after how nice she was being but hiding the truth from her was of extreme importance, it was vital to the balance of life.

“O.k. well they must have been using some special kind of paint cuz it really stuck on.”

“Yes.”

“Right, come on, your stuff is upstairs,” Allison said and Elania followed her upstairs. They entered the room and she went and pulled her dress out of the closet, and lay it on the bed.

“Oh no it’s ruined,” Elania said. It had accidentally fallen on the dress that was covered in the creature’s blood and organ bits and now it was stained.

“I really tried to get it off. I put them in the washer five times but the stains just wouldn’t go away.”

“It’s alright.”

“Are these the kinds of dresses you guys wear back home?” Allison asked.

“Yes. Oh dear, you think they’re horrible don’t you?”

“No I don’t.” She chuckled. “I actually like it. The print is very interesting. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“We call them tenges. All our clothes are made from them; the men's are plain whilst ours are colourful with all sorts of patterns on them. And sometimes we wear them as wraps, scarfs and even head pieces,” Elania said.

“Wow, your community must be quite colourful then.”

“It is,” she said and Allison smiled.

“Well since your dress is ruined I can give something to wear if you don’t mind?”

“You would give me something to wear?”

“Of course,” Allison answered.

“But I might not have the means to give it back to you.”

“Oh that’s fine, whatever I give you, you can keep. You know, have something to remember me and the big district by.”

“Wow Allison, that is so nice, thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” she said and started looking through her closet. She pulled out a cute yellow dress and placed against Elania’s body. “Ugh super cute. You can always trust BamBam to deliver the slay.”

“BamBam?”

“What? Elania you can’t not know what BamBam is?”

“What is BamBam?” Elania asked and Allison’s jaw dropped. “Is it a person?”

“The person who designed this dress yes, she is one of if not the biggest designer in the entire city.”

Elania just stood there blankly looking at her. “O.k.”

“Oh my gosh, anyway BamBam is a designer and she designs the best clothes ever.”

“Right, well um, has she happened to design something with a little more length?” Elania asked as she looked down at the dress.

“Is it short?”

“It’s short.”

“It’s right below the knees, that’s like the standard length of not too long and not too short.”

“I know but I think I’d be more comfortable if I wore something similar to the length of my dress,” she said and Allison looked at her dress on the bed.

“That dress is so long it looked like you glided into my shop,” she said and they laughed. “Do all the women in Westing wear dresses this long?”

“Yes, we all dress quite modest.”

“Oh wow, like to the ground long? Like nuns.”

Elania chuckled. “Yes.”

“Oh o.k. well I think I just might have something that long but it might not be pretty.”

“I’ll take whatever I can get.”

“Alright,” Allison said and put the yellow dress back into the closet and began looking for another. “Here we are.” She pulled out a purple long sleeved empire waist dress and held it against her body. “Is this good?”

“Oh wow this is perfect.”

“My grandmother gave it to me on my twenty-seventh birthday.”

“A gift? No I can’t,” Elania said as she took a step back.

“Yes you can and you will. Please my grandmother has the worst fashion sense, I would not be caught dead in anything she bought me, no offense.”

“Some offense, this is such a pretty dress.”

“Great you can have it and on your way to Firthton you can pick up my grandmother and have her too,” Allison said and they laughed. “Please I’d love for you to have it, it has been cooped up in there for six years and desperately needs love that it’s not going to get from me so it might as well get if from you. Please.”

“You really don’t mind parting with this?”

“No I don’t, I’m never going to wear it. It’s just going to grow old in there, so why keep something locked up when it could be outside enjoying the sun,” Allison said.

“Wow, one man’s poison really is another man’s cup of tea.”

“It really is,” she said and they laughed. “Please take it, I’d really, really love for you to have it,” she then said and stretched it out to Elania as she stood there thinking about it.

“Alright.”

“Yay,” she said and handed it to her. “O.k. so you get yourself into your new dress and I will be downstairs.”

“O.k.”