Foreigners: An OHOL story in OHOL time. (Fictional)

karltown_veteran · 2019-12-03 19:40:46

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The Foreigners
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You are born in a large town to a woman, completely naked except for a gold crown on her head and covered in tribal tattoos. She wears her hair in a thick black braid. She is thin and brown and beautiful.
-- say hello
Your mother looks positively jubilant. “Hello, baby.”
“We aren’t very welcome here, I’m afraid.”
-- look around
Your little round head swivels around curiously, and it’s true. A portly ginger woman, a mess of chubby cheeks and freckles and bangs, glares at you from the corner. She wears an apron over a long white skirt. A chef toque wobbles precariously on her head. At her feet is a ginger girl in a loincloth. She too is glaring.
-- glare at them
You glare back at them. You’re surprisingly vicious for a baby, showing all of your teeth. The woman picks up the little girl and says something you can’t understand. She moves back a few paces, still glaring.
“It’s ok baby.” Says your mother. “We just have to lie low. Watch out for people with knives.”
At the tender age of two she is teaching you the rules of survival. She smiles sadly. “Better to learn early.”
-- frown
You frown. She looks sad. “No no, it’s ok. Don’t feel bad, baby. They’ll learn to like us. I’m sure they will.”
She whispers: “You are bird.”
Your name becomes Bird Greenhill. “You are the youngest of the greenhills”. She says. “It’s just me, you, and your aunt Bea.”
She says: “Our town was once large and beautiful. Red roses bloomed. There was a church. We were a peaceful people. We made sugarcane farms and mango trees. And we tattooed each other.”
“We were very connected. I was part of the royal family, the tribal kings and queens. Despite our riches we farmed and did our best.”
“Then the gingers came. They didn’t like our town, or our ways. We had gold, given to us by a friendly old ginger man. They didn’t like that we had gold. They wanted tattoos. But they weren’t respected or trusted by our elder, Ada, so she refused to tattoo them. That was when they drew their knives.”
“Their king spared me. He didn’t like me but his town needed rubber. He said I could provide it, so he took me with him. I was a girl of thirteen, afraid. I had lost my grandmother Ada and my mother, Teresa. I had lost my tribe.”
“I’ve been in their town for five years. Trying to lay low. The people there don’t like me, but their king won’t let them hurt me.”
She holds you tight. “You will have to get rubber if you want to survive here. You will have to survive.” You spot the king.
He approaches your mother. He wears green shorts, a wool shirt and a leaf crown. His head is bald on top, but on the sides his hair juts out wildly. It’s still mostly orange, but it has faded with age.
He pulls a piece of paper out of his bag and writes something. My mom picks it up. “You gave birth.”
He hands her a rubber ball to erase. She writes “Yes”
He writes “You already have a daughter. Victoria. We don’t need more rubber getters”
She looks at you, anxiety spreading across her face. Writes “Please”
The king glares coldly. “You have to get rid of her. Or you can leave. But this town has a rule. Two Greenhills maximum.”
He continues. “I’ve already gone against my people by allowing you to live. Milky the baker complains a lot already.”
You need to make a choice.
——drop and run.
Your mother doesn’t have to choose. You know you have to leave. She yells “Wait!”. You’re heading for the badlands. You’re feeling hungry. Then you spot something moving in the corner of your screen. You think “Mom?”
——investigate
But no. It’s a pale boy with curly red hair. He’s wearing a raggedy loincloth, and carrying a basket of pies. He looks confused as you waddle sadly up to him. He feeds you a piece of carrot pie.
——trust him
He says “come” and leads you back to a remote area of town. It’s a little away from the main town. There’s a small farm in front, carefully watered but no berries. No sign of food. Standing by a fire in the corner is a thin ginger woman with billowing red hair cradling a little boy. Her cheeks are sunken in and she is dressed in rags. She sees the little boy and her face lights up. She says something excitedly as he sets down a pie. Then she sees you and steps back.
—— hide behind the boy
You hide behind the boy, trembling. But then he speaks to the woman. “Mom” “Sle” “Is” “Oj”
You can understand him - mostly. Slowly, with his messy foreign tongue he explains that he and his family is banished. His older brother Hans, had been sixteen when the war had started between the ginger family - the Tuttles - and the Greenhills. He had refused to join the war effort after being drafted, and had formed a secret rescue effort to try and help the Greenhills. But someone had ratted them out to the king before they could do anything. They suspected it was the baker’s husband, said the boy.
—— tell him what happened to you
He listens quietly. Then he translates for his mother. Her face crumples and she says something quietly. He says it means “we will help you for as long as you need, but our food supplies are low.”
——offer to help
She smiles. Her name is Ethel and her sons are Kane and Martin. Kane, the boy around your age, hands you a basket and leads you into the Greenlands. He tells you how to survive in the wild by eating gooseberries, small pink fruit peeking out from green bushes. He tells you how to find the ripe ones. Then you and Kane fill your baskets and head home to Ethel and Martin.
——but..
You gradually feel at home with Ethel, Kane and Martin. But spending time with Ethel makes you remember your precious minutes with your own mother. You promise Kane you will return and then head for the main town to make sure she’s all right.
—— hide behind a building
You hide behind a small house with cracked adobe walls. You are about to move further into town when you hear voices from inside. You’ve spent enough time with Kane and Ethel that you can understand most of what they’re saying.
“I saw the girl, Henrik.” Says a female voice. “I’m sure I did”
“Impossible!” Cries the man, Henrik. “The girl was last seen heading to the badlands. And she was only a baby. She couldn’t have survived.”
“I’m telling you, I saw her picking berries off a bush not far from town.”
You freeze. They must be talking about you.
—— tiptoe to the window
It’s none other than the baker woman, Milky, and her husband. She stands, back against the wall, a determined expression on her face, no longer wearing her hat but still in her apron and skirt. Her husband wears a tall black top hat, black shorts and a white shirt. He looks bored, as if she annoys him. The girl sits on the hardwood floor, a little older now, wearing a loincloth and a sealskin coat, playing with a rubber ball.
Milky pauses. “Maybe those invalids adopted her”
Henrik scoffs. “Impossible. They don’t have the food to support her.”
“They might. I’m missing a few pies from the bakery. I keep swearing that it’s them.”
Henrik pauses nervously. “Still unlikely.”
“And they live near the gooseberry fields, don’t they?”
Henrik wrings his brow, panicked. “You’re right. Well.. if this is true, we have to tell the king.”
——sneeze
Milky and Henrik are too busy arguing to notice. You breathe a sigh of relief. But then you notice then you notice the little girl staring straight at you. She tugs on her mother’s skirt, but her mother doesn’t look up. Then You hear her whisper something, and this time Milly and Henrik look up..
..at the window. Henrik starts to stand up from his chair. He grabs something from the table.
—— run.
You run miles without looking back. You come to a wheat field behind the bakery. You crouch among the long golden stalks. You fall asleep as the sun goes down.
You wake up to the sound of shouting. It is early morning. You are about to head back to Ethel’s camp when you hear your mother’s voice. Slowly you creep through the field. Then you dash out into the marketplace. No one appears to notice you.
-- hide behind a cart
You sneak behind a cart carrying fish. There is a man nearby it trying to haggle with a rich woman. He holds an arctic char up to her, pleading with her to buy it. “Sales have not been good, and my children need to eat.” She scoffs at him and knocks the char of his hands. it falls to the dirt below, right in front of his old brown boots. He sobs. You are distracted until you hear Henrik’s voice shouting something. it’s coming from the town center, the bell and the area around the bell.
-- keep moving
You manage to hide behind several stands, moving a couple steps at a time. Then you spot a growing crowd of people. In the middle is Milly, Henrik and the King. Henrik is pointing accusingly at someone, and Milly’s arms are crossed defiantly over her apron. Her daughter stands beside her. As you walk further you realize your mother is the person Henrik’s yelling at.
-- join the crowd
You blend with the crowd of villagers - at least,you hope you do.
You can just make out what they’re saying.
Milly glares at the king. She holds her daughter’s hand defiantly.
“I’ve seen the little girl scampering around.”
“We saw her just last night.”
“That’s what we thought, too, but we think she was taken in by the indesYourables.”
“Milly, dear, please be quiet. Let me do the talking.”
Your mother steps forward weakly. “I’m telling you, me and Victoria had nothing to do with this.”
Henrik scoffs. “That’s not the issue. Either way, one of you has to go.”
“But.. Bird is- my daughter is living with the indesirables, isn’t she? So she won’t bother you.”
“Not so!” Shrieks Milly.
“She was peeping into our window last night!”
“Our window, of all things!”
Henrik turns to the king.
“Arthur,you must be reasonable. Search for the girl, and then kill her.”
Your mother gasps.
Arthur puts his head in his hands.
“I’ve told you, we cannot afford a search party.”
Henrik’s fists curl.
“Fine! Then execute the mother in the daughter’s place. We have no need for any more rubber. She is not good for anything but children, and do we really want those.. Those filthy little brownies running
about our town? Befriending our pure ginger children?”
Your mother puts her hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “Please..I can farm. I can work.”
Arthur turns away from her and starts to head back through the crowd. “I’ve done all I can for you.”
“Wait--” She grabs his sleeve.
He turns to her.
“I’m sorry, Rose. But I’m a King. I have to help my people first.”
His eyes are dark and full of pain.
Henrik rests a hand roughly on your Mother’s shoulder and pulls her back. With his other hand he takes a knife from his pocket. Your mother screams and struggles. Milly leads her daughter by the hand hastily back through the crowd.
“Let us through, let us through.” She mumbles. Milly goes into her house and slams the door. The lock turns. You turn back to your mother.
He is tying her with ropes. You don’t want to look away, horrible though it is.
A hand reaches out and snatches you from the crowd.
-- scream
You try to scream but the hand covers you with a large blanket.
“Excuse me, let me through.” The person says, in a woman’s voice.
A man calls “What’s in the bag?”
“One of the monkeys has escaped.”
The person begins to run quickly, but with a strange grace. You can hear them breathing hard. After ten or so minutes you stop. The person lays you down and removes the blanket. You claw at her the minute you are free.
“Wait, it’s me!”
You look up. She is a young woman, five or so years older than you, maybe sixteen. She is dark like you, with the same black braid as your mother.
“It’s me.”
She pants.
“Victoria.”
She is wearing a white wool shirt, white shorts and wooden sandals. She is thin and beautiful, like your mother.
—— believe her
“Sister?” Your mouth grapes open.
“Come on. You must be hungry.”
She leads you into a small hut. You’re in the middle of the jungle, but the hut is made of pine needles instead of rubber tree leaves. She hands you a mango. “Eat this.”
—— eat it
You gnaw furiously at the mango. It’s been a while since you last ate.
You gaze up at her dreamily. “Did Henrik kill mother? I didn’t see.”
“Yes..” She casts down her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
“We have to get her things back.”
“We will.”
She leads you to a pile of leaves on the floor.
“You can sleep here for now.”
You’re about to lie down when you hear the door open. In comes a very dark man, a man of the desert. He has an Afro and is carrying a baby boy, not older than a few months. The boy has dark curls and is wrapped in a sheepskin, sleeping. The man wears nothing but a pair of black shorts. He slams the door behind him.
“Victoria.”
He runs to her.
“I’m sorry about your mother.”
She embraces him.
“It will be okay, Victoria.”
“Who’s that?” You demand.
He turns to you. “Victoria’s husband, Wade.”
“That’s Bird, Wade.”
“Hey, Bird.”
You point. “Whose baby?”
“Ours. His name is Grasshopper.”
Victoria whispers.
“Bird, we are going to go to mom’s old town. She gave me a map once. We can’t stay here.”
“How far?”
“Two kilometers. But we’ll have horses. Wade has helped with that.”
“I want to take someone along.”

You have to go back through the town. Kane is on the other side. It is nighttime, so you walk casually. There’s not much chance you’ll be spotted.
You walk past the man with the fish cart. All the day’s fish that weren’t bought have spoiled, and they have been dumped on the roadside outside the man’s house. You notice that he hasn’t sold many. You see him in his living room, playing with his children. He looks hungry.
Then you walk past Milly’s house. She is by the table making dinner. Her husband stands next to her, complaining. He slaps her and she flinches. Her daughter, now a girl of fifteen, sits outside kissing a pale, blond boy under the stars. She looks at you and for a second your eyes meet, but for some reason she decides to ignore you. You pass by the King’s house. He is shriveled now, his red hair all but fallen out. He sits at a table alone, face in his hands. His crown sits on the table in front of him, next to your mother’s town. You can hear him saying something. You press your ear to the wall.
“Rose.. Rose..”
You leave him. You come to Kane’s door and knock quietly. He’s been expecting you for weeks now. He’s seventeen, just like you. Freckles dot his face and chest, he wears white shorts. His mother Ethel walks out. She clutches the hand of her six year old daughter, Lili, and her ten year old son Martin stands on her other side, hand on her shoulder protectively. Without a word you and Kane walk back silently through the Tuttle streets.
You ride your horses for many days and nights. When you arrive Victoria’s hair is greying. Her two daughters walk obediently behind her, forever loyal to their mother. Her son Grasshopper walks with his father Wade through the burnt ashes of what was once your town. Then you come across a house in the middle of the rubble. You all come inside, and there is Aunt Bea. She smiles.
“I knew someone would come back one day.”
She hands you a photograph.
“That’s your grandmother Lucy with Rose.” Then she dies and is buried with a red rose.
You show it to your daughter, Kanena. She shows it to her father, Kane. You turn to give it to Victoria and find that she is dying. Her hair is silver. She stares into her husband’s eyes and they die together, like wrinkled peaches long after their expiration dates. You turn again and Grasshopper is working in the mango fields as mango trees bloom and die, as your hair turns grey. Grasshopper is coated with tribal tattoos.
You turn once more and you are showing it to your granddaughters, all tattooed and wearing gold.
—— speak to them
“Our town is resilient” you say. “It’s managed to come back.”

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antking:]# · 2019-12-03 20:07:34

10/10 story can we expecting a continuation?

Jojigirl · 2019-12-03 20:27:24

Good job Karltown, I enjoyed reading your story!

WalrusesConquer · 2019-12-04 15:22:22

This was really great! I got a "choose your own adventure vibe" from it, I hope this won't be the last time you write a story ^^

karltown_veteran · 2019-12-04 16:02:00

Thanks guys!

One Hour One Life Forums

#1 2019-12-03 19:40:46

Foreigners: An OHOL story in OHOL time. (Fictional)

#2 2019-12-03 20:07:34

Re: Foreigners: An OHOL story in OHOL time. (Fictional)

#3 2019-12-03 20:27:24

Re: Foreigners: An OHOL story in OHOL time. (Fictional)

#4 2019-12-04 15:22:22

Re: Foreigners: An OHOL story in OHOL time. (Fictional)

#5 2019-12-04 16:02:00

Re: Foreigners: An OHOL story in OHOL time. (Fictional)

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