Everlasting Chains

Separate Places/Closer Still

100 days had now passed since the year had begun of which there was nothing worth remembrance but the constant cycle of death and disappointment... for Basha that is..

He has always been and always will be a man of deep sorrows, hidden under the cloud of logic and contentment... as long as he lives under this yoke that he cannot see beyond.

He denies my words not because of the glint of hope that comes with them but because he sees a reflection of himself in the very same, longing for that which is forbidden.

And truthfully, I would have been the same.. but for the sake of my younger sibling I remain immovable, unchanging, everlasting like the Sun that beats upon our skin, today, tomorrow, until.. peradventure our lives meet an unexpected fortune.. until that day comes I remain the ground upon his feet and the Sun above is head. Presumptuous as it may seem.. it's the least that I can do.

Not too long after the fourth month of the year, I was moved permanently to work in lands belonging to our Master which were quite the distance from where we had been all the years before.

This was all thanks to our taskmaster's pesky interference, seemingly after plunging us into deeper despair by separating us.

As usual, Basha never even voiced his discontentment.. I should have done the same but alas my mouth has far more sway over me than my brain, for which I paid the price in lashes enough to make me shiver all night.

This change however, wasn't entirely fruitless for I feasted my eyes on something far more interesting than Basha's condescending gaze.

Lady Ameretat. She was sent to oversee these lands and came to live there with her younger sibling Bershaf who turned quite the number of heads as well.

They often walked through the fields, as was the luxury of the high born.. I cannot say that I understand whatever manner of joy they derived from gadding throughout the fields but I can say it was a sight I'd love to brag about in front of that eunuch Basha, curses!

Since we were not supervised as strictly we slaves became quite acquainted with each other and this is where knowledge spread ..knowledge of the outside world, that is, beyond the plains from those who had been brought in but more importantly, rumours of war approaching our lands.

I had never seen anything like it; war and therefore I could barely picture anything remotely close to how it was described to me because I couldn't understand it.

Perhaps because I had nothing, or even because I myself was another's possession. I had been used to being content with what I have or rather..what I've been given.. the concept of bloodshed for the sake of more land didn't seem to make sense for me, then again, not much made sense since we were killed off for much less.

Eitherway it did not seem like it was my problem to begin with. All I had to do was concern myself with digging, whether it was for my master's grave or for the unfortunate invader to come if any, thats all I knew to do; dig.

Spitting on the ground; my mouth parched, I glanced over at the two ladies in the distance and then it hit me as I observed their happiness effect a smile on my face, "What would become of them if they lost their freedom? Surely even if the stars fell from heaven their descent would be cushioned by the clouds. And even if by some wild chance we were to gain our freedom, the difference remains in the truth that we are fish, trapped in the sea."

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25 days have passed since Hasan was assigned elsewhere and honestly I still can't tell this week from the last for lately, they've been as stale as the morsels of bread we are rationed.

The days have for some strange reason become longer and the taskmaster's voice seems more irritable than before.

The wind feels dry, as if carrying with it the scent of barren lands long since forgotten and the sky seems closer than ever.. suffocating almost.. almost as if it intends to crush us all at once... despite it all, that fool is probably swooning over some woman right now, that tactless linear minded boy.

Eitherway I can't seem to shake this eerie feeling numbing all sensation in my feet.

It feels like a time to run and yet my bonds seem to ooze the strangest sense of safety, the strangest sense of destiny, the strangest sense of freedom.