The Fruits of Earth - Part 3
Monday, December 24, 2018
This morning I almost got caught. As I made my way to the shed, I encountered one of the supervisors. I was quick to invent an excuse and this time it worked, but I had to be extra careful next time.
So today, it is already past breakfast when I find a bit of time to apply my treatment. The other girls are preoccupied with a new staging show we have to prepare, so I grab the ointment I prepared from under my pillow and sneak off to the shed. This is not very easy, since the morning light does not offer many shadows in which to hide, but I manage to get to the shed undetected. Before entering, I make a tour just to be sure I wasn’t detected. Everything seems all right. I move away the loose plank I usually put on the entry and sneak in.
The inside of the shed is darker than outside so I wait until my eyes adjust to the light. Do I hear something? Suddenly I get the feeling that I’m not alone. I make a few more steps and stop. I try to peek into the darkness, while angst of being discovered creeps deeper and deeper into my heart. There’s definitely someone here. I hear a faint noise and see a movement. Now I’m sure. This is bad. Somebody has found my secret place. How on Earth was I discovered?
“Who’s there?” I whisper, my voice faint and fearful.
No response. I make another step. My hands are trembling with raw emotion. What if I get caught doing what I do? My life will be over. One more step… Suddenly, a loud noise and a deep exhaling sound made from my uninvited guest froze me on spot. But apparently, I’m not the only one that’s scared. A silhouette dressed in green rompers appears in the hazy light cast by a crack in the shed’s wall. She seems familiar. It’s one of the girls.
“Ladeena?” I ask, feeling more at ease. “Oh, Ladeena, it’s you. You gave me quite a scare.”
Ladeena doesn’t respond. She just sits there, staring at me. She is frightened and looks like she’s trying to hide something behind her back. She is one of the seedling girls from my season, one of the less popular, if I may say so. She is always withdrawn, not participating in the girls playing, not speaking much.
“It’s me, Mya,” I say. “Don’t look so panicked, I won’t tell.” I won’t tell what? I ask myself. That she was here? What about me?
“What are you doing here?” I ask again.
My question is met with total silence. I always suspected Ladeena was not so bright. She seems a little slow in the brains area. Her silence is getting on my nerves.
Ladeena moves, trying to sneak around me, but I see what she tries to conceal. It only takes a glance to recognize the behavior. She’s been tampering with her legs, no doubt. Trying to provoke her blossoming, just as I do. I grab and hold her arm and force her back. She’s feebler than me, so she does not try to fight back.
“You’re doing it!” I say accusingly. “You’re forcing your blossom”. I approach her and try to grab her clothes. She backs away but there’s no room to escape in this narrow shed. I manage to hold her.
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