New Land

Scarlet was saddened by the recent events and her friend left her alone in a world that felt so foreign to her. Some buildings were slanted while others were floating a little above ground. She wiped her tears as she recalled Theo’s piece of paper. She opened it carefully and the letter started whispering in her ear. It was Theo’s voice.

“Scarlet, I knew it was bound to happen sometime. I am not part of your world, I came to you, because I need your help. In finding someone, I saw that you were perfect. You were a kind and wonderful friend to me. If you stop by the sandwich shop called Gourmet in town, you will find Grandmother Mimi, she can give you a place to stay, mention to her that you know me. I will try to reach out to you tomorrow. Stick close to Mimi.”

Scarlet thought to herself what would Theo need her help with and trying to understand what he meant that he was not part of her world.

She thought to herself first things first, she would need to find this grandmother.

As she wandered the streets, she noticed the women wore plain gray dresses and headdresses. All the men wore gray dress shirts and dark gray pants. Everyone she passed, stared at her closely. She was not the most fashionable person back home, but here, she stood out like a needle in a haystack. She was trying to find the shop’s name. The boards were all written in a language she could not understand.

Grandmother Mimi wiped the sweat dripping down her face with a handkerchief.

“Phew that’s hot.”

She was baking her last bread for the day. They were crispy brown on the outside and fluffy inside. She was listening to some whispers from other bakers.

“Oh, did you hear there’s a young girl wearing such strange clothes.”

“My I wonder why she’s visiting our city.”

“I just hope she knows where she is going before Valerius finds her.”

Grandmother Mimi chuckled, “You ladies need to settle down and stop with all of your silly rumors.” As she said that, in the corner of her eye, she saw Scarlet.

“Oh, my goodness, it’s true.”

“Psst, young girl, over here.” She rapidly waved her hands. Scarlet noticed the waving and moved closer.

She examined the older woman’s face and thought it was possible that she could be the grandmother whom she was searching for. She had distinct wrinkles under her eyelids and gray hair strands hanging out from her red silk bandana. Her body was muscularly built similar to a pro wrestler.

Scarlet shyly approached her, while looking down at the sandy soil underneath her feet.

“Now, I don’t know where your folks are at, but you shouldn’t be dressing like that out in public or people will say something.”

“Are you Grandmother Mimi?”

“How do you know—”

“It’s Theo. He told me that you ran a sandwich shop and I could stay with you.”

“Now, just hold on one minute, Theo, told you that.”

Scarlet nodded to Grandmother Mimi’s dismay.

“Well, fine, but I can’t let you run around in those clothes. Follow me”

Scarlet followed the grandmother to one of the rooms in her house. It was very homely with scented candles that smelled like lavender. The shelves were filled with rustic decorated pottery and varying sizes of knick-knacks.

She started to carry out some dresses draping over her arms.

“You know, I used to have a granddaughter, Rose, she would be your age if she was still alive.”

Scarlet looked at the photo of the girl on the dresser. She was wearing a sun hat while holding a watering can standing next to a younger looking Grandmother Mimi. She noticed that her face does bare a resemblance to the girl’s face from the picture.

The dresses were laid out on the bed. They were of the same color, but different shades of gray. Scarlet chose the gray frilly dress and stood infront of the mirror.

Grandmother Mimi smirked, “You like that one, huh. Well, once you’re dressed, you can help yourself to some supper.”

“Do you need any help with the chores in the house?” Scarlet asked.

“No, all I need you to do is come down and eat.”

This was a change of pace for Scarlet. She never felt as welcomed before as this place.

The Grandmother gave her a bowl of bone soup and bread.

“Now, eat child, I haven’t gotten all day."

Grandmother Mimi felt she might not eat as much since she was in the room. She wanted to give her some space.

“I’ll be stepping out for a moment. Now, please enjoy yourself.”

“Thank you for the meal.” She started to break the bread and dip it into the soup. It has been a while since someone had cooked for her. She was very gracious for the homecooked meal. It was delicious. She kept dipping the bread until the very last drop. The bowl was pristine with minimal crumbs.

Grandmother Mimi snuck a few glances in and was pleasantly surprised with how much she ate. When she walked back into the house, Scarlet smiled.

“It tasted delicious.”

The Grandmother was hiding a big smile on her face. “Good to hear my dear.”

“I only have one spare room.” The Grandmother turned on the flickering lights.

It was a small simple bedroom. The blue curtains were decorated with stitched constellations. There was a wooden desk with a book on top of it next to the black lamp.

“Make yourself at home, I’m guessing Theo will come around sometime tomorrow.”

“Thank you Grandmother Mimi.”

“Goodnight dear.”

“Thanks, night.”

Scarlet climbed into the bed and pulled over the blanket. She had trouble sleeping. She rolled around and changed her sleeping positions a couple times. Eventually, she got out of bed and kneeled to say her routine prayer.

Lights to Light,

Darkness be fright,

I have a strong might,

Go away, out of sight.

As she recited those words, the book on the desk started to react and wobbled unsteadily.

Scarlet was puzzled and went over to the desk. There was a book titled Memory. She started to open it, but it closed shut on its own. Intrigued, she looked over in the room to find any objects. She opened the drawer from the desk and found a pen. She tried to put the pen inside the cover to prevent it from closing. She was able to read the front cover; it stated that this book belonged to Rose. The book stopped resisting, Scarlet began to continue reading. In the pages, there was a record of what Rose did during the day, night, what she ate, who she met, everything that would happen in her life. This was beyond a diary. It was more of a record of her daily activities.

What is this? Scarlet thought.

While tired of seeing the same thing written repeatedly, she started to flip toward the end of the book. Some of the pages were empty. The last written page wrote “I am really afraid of living here. I don’t think I can stand it much longer. There was a big red x on that page.”

Scarlet shivered and dropped the book. It fell over on the floor face down releasing a key.

She picked up the key and examined it. There was a rose sculpted on top of the key. She placed it in her inner shirt pocket.

Then, she went back to bed, unsure of what to make of what she had just read. Trying to get back to sleep and maybe her questions will be answered tomorrow.