When There Is Nothing Left But Love

Nora turned to me and queried, “Scarlett, if we indeed get to go home this time around, what would you want to do most of all?”

What did I want? That question lingered in my mind as I continued trudging forward, deep in thought.

There wasn’t any food I was especially craving. After a moment’s pause, I concluded, “I want to see the person I miss most, give him a hug, and apologize to him face-to-face.”

Nora seemed taken by surprise. Then she curiously pressed, “Is it somebody you’re in love with?”

I gave her a faint smile but declined to reply.

Night had fallen when we finally reached saw signs of human life. The village we’d arrived at was located in quite a rural area of the mountains, and perhaps due to its inaccessibility, there didn’t seem to be many inhabitants around.

From the number of lamps we’d counted shining in the dark, there were probably thirty to forty households scattered throughout the village.

“Let’s find a place to hunker down for the night,” Nora suggested, already making her way towards the door of the nearest cottage.

“Woof! Woof!” A dog suddenly rushed out into the yard and began sounding the alert at our sudden intrusion.

We clung to each other, terrified. Fortunately, the dog was leashed to a rope. It strained against its tether, barking continuously.

The owner of the cottage had evidently heard the ruckus. Out stepped a middle-aged man with tan, weathered skin.

but none of us understood what he was trying to say. After a while, Tabitha gasped. “We might have unknowingly crossed the

hadn’t brought us any closer to home. We’d even gone so far that we were in another

of the cottage seemed to further mistake our intentions. He waved

young woman, approximately sixteen years of age, ran out of the cottage just then. She

young woman urgently conferred with the man for a while. He then grew noticeably calmer and lowered the axe

few hesitant motions with her hands in return, trying

couldn’t tell if he understood. He did, however, let

was a dismal sight and stripped down within. Its clay walls were caked with soot,

used decades ago. The lamp burned dimly at a bare fifty watts, probably to save on electricity costs.

a corner. The roof of the cottage was, in fact, a tent stitched together out of gunny sacks. There was dust everywhere. It turned to grime at damp

that covered the tent looked sure to

out two bowls from a cabinet and placed them before

to the language barrier, the man continued to gesture furiously. He seemed

bowls in front of us. The food was steeped in chili. Nora recoiled ever so slightly,

it?” Tabitha exclaimed rather adventurously. She had more of an appetite than the rest of us

for a whole day, we dug in rather gratefully. The flavor of the pickled onions, spicy with a hint of sourness, was quite

really tasted anything. The pickled

in a corner. They gazed at us with curiosity and

with her

to understand that