Meeting Maya's Family

Maya and Casper’s house looked relatively small from the outside, but now being inside, it’s surprisingly spacious. Maybe because there isn’t an awful lot of decoration, or other random stuff, that could fill up the room. It’s very practical, but still very homey.
A dining table in the middle surrounded by six chairs, right next to a small kitchen counter. A fireplace stood directly opposite of the kitchen counter and there are stairs in the back going to a second floor, with a small door beneath those stairs, probably leading to a closet. A few windows let in the afternoon’s sunlight, brightening the room.

Besides the door we just came in from, is a small rack with two dark cloaks on it.
When we went inside, Maya took off her knife pouch with the knife still inside and hung it on the rack. Casper instead let his bow lean on the wall, the rack is on. His arrows right behind it.
I still had Maya’s hat on and, not knowing where else to put it, hung it on top of one of the cloaks.

‘Helloooo, we’re back!’ Casper said throughout the house.
‘Welcome home honey. Did everything go well?’ A female voice responded from upstairs.

An adult woman walked down from the second floor.
Without even being introduced to her, I could already tell that she was Maya’s mother. It was very easy to see see whom Maya got most of her looks from. I almost wouldn’t have been able to tell the two apart, were it not for a couple differences. The woman has short brown hair, not even reaching her shoulders and she wears a lightblue dress. But the biggest difference is that she didn’t have the cat ears that Maya has.

‘Hey mum. It went surprisingly well actually. Casper was even able to catch something.’ Maya said to her.
‘Look mum! look!’ Casper took off the fish from the stick, to show his mother.
‘Really! Well done. I’m so proud of you.’ She hugged Casper tight.

Such a nice mother-son moment between those two. You can really see how happy she is for her son. Seeing the two of them, I was reminded of my own mother and how she’d hug me tightly like that whenever I got a good grade for something.
I wonder how she is doing now.

‘And who might you be?’ She asked me sweetly.
‘Oh, uhm.’ Her sudden question made me stammer a bit. ‘I am Micheal ma’am. Your daughter and son found me in Emmerberk Woods. I don’t know how to go back home, but they helped me with finding a place to stay.
‘My, my, such polite speech.’ Maya’s mother said.

I tried to be as polite as possible, but her compliment still made me bashful and I had to look away for a second.

‘And where might you be staying if I may add?’ Maya’s mother continued to ask. She had a look as if she knew where that would be.
‘Oh, Uhhh.’
‘About that mum.’ Maya interjected. ‘Can Micheal stay here, at least until he knows how to get back home.’

‘*Sigh*’ Although Maya’s mother let out a sigh, she didn’t look displeased. Instead, she had a kind and understanding look on her face.
‘While I personally don’t have a problem with it, nor do I think your father would. You shouldn’t promise something like that without informing us first.’
‘I- I’m sorry. I just…’ Maya looked dejected. Not just in her expression, but her cat ears were also drooping.
‘It’s alright dear. It’s nothing big, but next time remember to ask us beforehand. Okay?’
‘Okay.’ Maya’s ears were slowly perking up again as her mother cheered her up. Her expression also became happier, but there was still a hint of guilt to be seen.

‘If you are looking for your father, he is in the backyard taking care of the potatoes. But before you go, can you store the fish in the basement for me. Oh, and can you also get the last bit of rabbit meat from there. I’ll start preparing dinner. We’ll decide later where… Micheal was it, will sleep for the night.’ Maya’s mother said.
‘Got it.’ Maya nodded and nudged me to hold her fish. I obliged and she walked towards the door beneath the stairs.

The door only lead to a ladder going a couple meters deep. Maya went down the ladder, but signalled at both me and Casper to wait.

‘Alright, I’m down now. You can drop the fish one at a time. Once you’ve dropped one, wait for me to come back for the next okay?!’

I first dropped the one that Maya gave me and she caught it without issue, then I dropped mine and last was Casper with the fish he caught.
Would it be safe for the fish to be stored in a basement for a prolonged time? Maybe if it’s cold enough down there, but it’s not deep enough to substitute for a fridge.
Maya climbed back up with a not-so-alive rabbit in hand. When she stood on solid ground again, I couldn’t help but ask.

‘What are you keeping down there?’ I asked Maya.
‘We mostly store our food down there.’ Maya answered and it seems my initial assumption was accurate.
‘But how are you keeping everything fresh then?’
‘That’s simple, we collect a lot of ice when it’s cold out and store that down there as well. Our basement keeps most of the cold in. That way, we can preserve our food for a little while longer, until it goes bad. The ice stays frozen for quite a while too, but after long enough, it does eventually melt. Though when that happens, the next cold period is usually around the corner.’
‘Really?! That’s actually really cool.’ I responded in an excited tone

That’s a surprisingly smart answer for food preservation. The absence of any sort of fridge, means you’ll have to eat the things you caught, or harvested as soon as possible. I believe pickling could also help them in this regard, but it would really mess up the flavour then. Not that I know how to do that, so I can't really help them there.
Maya turned to give her mother the rabbit and her mother already seemed to have grabbed a few potatoes.

‘Ma’am, should I help you with anything? Maybe peel the potatoes, or something?’ I asked Maya’s mother. Since I’m going to be staying here, I should at least help them with a couple things here and there.

Maya’s mother looked back at me with a smile and said:
‘That’s sweet of you, but I’ll be fine on my own for now. And you don’t have to call me ma’am. My name is Iris, so just call me by my name, okay.’
‘Okay ma’a- I mean Iris.’ I said back and I turned to go with Maya and Casper.

We walked through the front door again and out back to a small potato farm. The potatoes look well-cared for and the farm itself is neatly organized in rows. But those potatoes looked a lot bigger, compared to the ones I am used to.
A somewhat well-build man was standing on arms and legs, hunched over. Plucking out weeds and caring for the crops. He wore a plain green shirt and had a straw hat on, just like the one that Maya has.

‘Hey dad we’re back!’ Maya said. Casper was already running towards his father.
‘I already heard you entering the house. How are my two kids?’ Their father looked surprisingly jovial. He spread out his arms and Casper jumped at him and right into his arms.

‘Dad, Dad. I caught a fish.’ Casper said in an excited tone.
‘HAHAHA, that’s my boy.’ Their father patted Casper’s head. ‘You did a good job teaching him Maya.’ He walked over towards her and started patting her head as well.
‘Ahhhh, it was nothing.’ Maya said kinda smugly. Her smug expression quickly disappeared as she then told about me.
‘Dad, this is Micheal. We found him in Emmerberk Woods and….’ Maya started introducing me, but got interjected by her father.
‘Let me guess. He needs a place to stay for the night.’

How did he know? Is he a psychic?

‘H-How did you know?’ Maya asked.
‘I heard some of the villagers talking outside our house, about how you brought a stranger in our house. From there, I had a hunch with everything else.’ Their father said matter-of-factly.

I guess that could be heard from here even, huh. From the little I’ve seen, this village isn’t particularly big, so gossip can go around pretty fast, but I didn’t expect it to be this fast..

‘Hey kid, the name’s Richard.’ He extended his hand and I did just the same to shake hands. ‘Come, let’s talk more inside. I can smell dinner from here and it’s making me hungry.’

He took off his hat and put it on Casper, who was still in his arms. Just like Iris, he didn’t have cat ears either.
Does that mean that they are hereditary then just like eye colour and other physical traits? With how close Maya looks to her mother, it’s most certainly not adoption.

As I started questioning more about this world and it’s inhabitants, the sun started to slowly fall behind the horizon, tinting the sky in a deep orange colour. Combined with the cliffs of both mountainsides, seemingly glistening in the sunlight just like the waterfall a couple hours ago, I was once again treated to a stunning view. Now burned in my mind as something I wouldn’t forget.