Outside Ascension

by Amy Proebstel

  Surprised, Amanda stepped closer to the portrait to pick out all of the little girl’s features. She shifted her position from side to side to try to catch different angles in which to view her. The hair on the back of her neck began to rise as Amanda realized the little girl reminded her so much of herself at the same age that it was unnerving.

  Just then, Barla walked out of the formal sitting room and noticed Amanda’s interest in the hanging portrait. She came to stand next to her and said, “These are my two children, Gravin and Rasa. When this was taken, Gravin was six anons and Rasa was just four anons old.”

  Amanda could only nod as she continued to stare at little Rasa.

  “Are you okay?” Barla asked as Amanda failed to respond to her casual conversation.

  “I just can’t believe this picture.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “This little girl, Rasa, looks just exactly like I did when I was the same age,” Amanda spoke quietly. “She and I could be twins.”

  “How interesting,” Barla commented as she looked closer at the portrait and then at Amanda to compare. “It’s too bad you don’t have any childhood pictures of yourself to really be able to put side by side.”

  “How old are your children now?”

  “They are twenty-one and nineteen anons old.”

  “Do they still live here?”

  “No, Gravin is in his last year of post-study over on Reesun. Do you remember where Reesun is located?” Barla decided to make this an impromptu geography lesson.

  Amanda paused to consider then asked, “Cuba, right?”

  “Very good,” Barla replied with a full smile on her face.

  “What about Rasa? Is she here or still in school as well?”

  “Rasa isn’t here, but she’s not in school either. Almost three anons after this picture was taken, an administrator from Jehoban came to us and asked if our daughter could be taught by Jehoban Himself. The honor was so great, we could hardly refuse,” Barla replied.

  “You mean you let them take your daughter from you?” Amanda’s shock finally broke her intense study of the portrait to look at Barla in astonishment.

  “Oh, no! It’s not like that at all. Our whole family was asked to go along with her, but Ahn couldn’t very well leave his post, and I had all of the orphaned children to look after as well. We talk with her all of the time and, remember, I can keep track of her through her necklace as well. Rasa is an amazing girl. She begged us to let her go, and she’s accomplished so much since she’s been there, we are very proud of her endeavors.

  “I must admit, I do miss seeing her grow up and mature. I can only imagine what a handful she could’ve been when she became a teenager,” Barla spoke sadly.

  “Does such a thing happen very often?”

  “No, it’s very rare anymore; only one or two children are chosen in a declan to be taught by Jehoban,” Barla spoke with pride.

  “Where does Jehoban live? Have you ever visited her?”

  “Jehoban lives on Acaim, Jamaica as you know it, and visiting is not allowed. She’ll come home to see us when she feels her studying is complete,” Barla spoke quickly as though she were trying to convince herself it might be soon.

  “Are you saying you haven’t seen her in person since she was six years old? It’s been thirteen years!” Amanda exclaimed in amazement.

  “What she’s doing is much more important than my desire to see her!” Barla admonished. “And, like I said, she’ll come home when her education is complete.”

  Clearly, they had reached the end of the conversation, and Amanda felt uncomfortable enough to want to change the subject. She cleared her throat and asked, “I was wondering if you knew what happened to my clothes? I hope it’s not considered indecent for me to be running around in nothing but this robe.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about the robe; we’re the only ones at home right now. Yesterday I sent my maid to the seamstress with the measurements I took from your clothes to have a new wardrobe made for you. Ahn and I noticed you only had the two outfits to wear, and they don’t exactly blend in with the Tualan fashions, as you may have seen when we were in the market yesterday,” Barla replied offhandedly as she turned and started walking toward the kitchen.

  Amanda followed Barla’s lead and hoped lunch would be offered. They walked into the kitchen, and Barla gestured for Amanda to seat herself on the stool at the island. “What would you like for lunch?”

  “You don’t have to serve me,” Amanda replied quickly as she jumped up from the stool preparing to make her own meal.

  “Don’t be silly, Amanda. You don’t know anything about this kitchen, and you’re my guest! Now sit back down and tell me what sounds good!” Barla replied pertly as she pointed back to the stool and tried to keep a stern expression on her face.

  Amanda raised her hands in surrender as she moved back around the island to sit. “What kinds of things do you have to eat which I might recognize?”

  “Would you like breakfast or lunch?” Barla asked as she mentally reviewed the various items available in the cooler.

  She considered for a second and then replied, “Lunch sounds wonderful right now.”

  “How about a sandwich and chips?”

  “Perfect,” Amanda replied, then hesitantly asked, “Can you make it without pork? I don’t eat it for religious reasons.”

  “I don’t either,” Barla said as she started gathering supplies to prepare the sandwich. “Do you like tomatoes on your sandwich?” She held up a plump, red tomato for Amanda to view.

  “I love tomatoes. Do they taste as good as they look?”

  “Better!” Barla replied with a wink. “You won’t believe how much better the fruits and vegetables taste on Tuala—since they’re grown aquaponically, they actually have flavor!”

  Amanda closed her eyes and tried to remember what she had read about aquaponics in her studies of Tualan culture. “That’s where they use fish to fertilize the water in which the plants are grown, right?”

  “Exactly, Amanda. You’ve really learned a lot from your studies.” Barla smiled smugly at how well her student had learned.

  “Why don’t they grow food like this on Earth?”

  “I imagine they would if they tasted how much better it was. It also has more nutrition as well as being guaranteed to be organic! If any chemicals were used on the plants, it would kill the fish!”

  Barla was efficient and quick with her food preparations. Each time she wondered whether or not Amanda would like something added to the sandwich, she would hold it up and raise her eyebrows in question; Amanda would nod or shake her head to answer.

  In just a few short minutes Barla had the sandwich prepared and on a plate. She turned and rummaged in a cupboard until she found the bag she wanted and turned around holding it in front of her as if it were a prize.

  “These,” she said with excitement, “are my absolute favorite chips. They are a little different than you’re probably used to, but they are amazing.” She tipped the bag over the edge of the plate and poured out a generous helping of the bright red chips. She picked up the finished plate and placed it in front of Amanda with a flourish.

  “Thank you, Barla,” Amanda said. She bowed her head to pray. When she finished, she picked up a chip. She looked at both sides, smelled it, and then took a tentative nibble. Flavors burst through her taste buds, and she instantly craved more. She popped the entire chip into her mouth and smiled as she hummed, “Mmm hmm.”

  “They’re wonderful, huh?”

  Amanda swallowed and replied, “Yes, but what are they? I thought I knew, but then another flavor came at the end which threw me for a loop.”

  “They’re called tocolas and are a corn-based chip, colored and flavored with tomato juice, and the flavor at the end is the lime juice and salt.” She sat with a smug expression as she reached into the still-open bag and started eating them for herself.

  Not wanting to appear rude, Amanda forewent the desire to hav
e another chip to then sample the sandwich. She was not sure if it were seasoned with hunger or if it really were the most amazing sandwich ever, but the flavors were exciting.

  “I feel like I’ve never tasted food before!” Amanda commented to Barla as she took another bite.

  “Like I said, the food on Tuala actually has flavor. Here, let’s try an experiment,” she turned quickly and grabbed one of the cucumbers from the bushel Amanda had purchased the day before. She held it up and asked, “Do you like cucumbers?”

  Amanda could only nod since her mouth was currently occupied with another bite of sandwich.

  Barla smiled and sliced off a couple of sections. She picked one up and handed it across the island for Amanda to sample.

  Amanda swallowed her bite of the sandwich at the same time as she took the proffered cucumber. She bit into it and chewed. “Oh my,” she said, “I just can’t believe how wonderful this tastes! It’s amazing!”

  “Want more? I can cut up the rest for you if you want it.”

  “Gladly!”

  In just a few minutes Amanda’s plate was empty, and she looked toward the bag of chips wondering if it would be rude to ask for more.

  “Do you want more tocolas?” Barla caught Amanda’s look of yearning and held up the bag.

  “If you don’t mind sharing your favorite snack with me,” she replied promptly, and she held out her plate to receive them.

  After lunch was consumed and everything cleaned, they retired to the library to resume Amanda’s education on Tualan culture. Barla introduced books by popular authors, others on childhood education, and still more on games.

  “I don’t expect you to learn about all of these things because I don’t think you’ll be in Tuala very long, but it’s fun to see what’s important to Tualans. Don’t you think?”

  “Do you really think I’ll be going home soon?”

  Barla leaned forward and touched Amanda’s arm to lend strength to her words. “Yes, I do,” she stated firmly.

  Amanda closed her eyes and sighed, letting hope flow through her like a tonic.

  “I was wondering,” Barla began and then paused.

  Amanda opened her eyes and saw Barla struggling with some inner conflict and prompted, “Yes?”

  “When you go back to Earth, could you please let my family know I’m okay?”

  “It would be the least I could do to repay you, Barla. How could you think I would refuse?” Amanda admonished gently.

  “Well, you do realize it’ll be difficult to explain to my family. This whole realm would be difficult to explain to anyone, but I’ve been gone so long they may not take it very well if you know what I mean.”

  “I can handle it,” Amanda assured her.

  “There’s another difficulty as well,” Barla began, “something I haven’t told you about yet.” She did not continue but seemed to be gathering her thoughts.

  “What is it?”

  “I have heard—but I don’t know if it’s true—when Jehoban created the barrier which separates the two realms, he made it so the people from Earth wouldn’t remember their time here. Because of it, I wouldn’t risk going back to Earth since I have my husband and children here; I don’t want to take the chance of not remembering anything about them.”

  “So,” Amanda began slowly, “how will I remember to tell your family about you if I won’t remember my time here?”

  “I think if I wrote down everything for you in a letter maybe it would bring it all back. I can’t be sure it will work, but I think it’d be worth a try, don’t you?”

  “Sure,” Amanda agreed, thinking her solution sounded reasonable.

  “You’ll have to keep the letter with you at all times because you won’t know if you’ll have any advance warning when your opportunity arises to go back.”

  “I can’t see where that would be a problem either,” Amanda assured her again. “Do you want to tell me about your family?”

  “I’d rather not,” Barla replied quickly. “I get pretty emotional when I think about them. It’s been so long since I’ve seen them, I wouldn’t know what to tell you about them anyway,” she finished lamely.

  “It’s okay the letter will be fine,” Amanda said as she picked up the book on poetry from her lap and pretended to be interested in the passages on a random page.

  They spent the next few minutes in companionable silence. Amanda looked through the different books she had pulled from the shelves while Barla stared into the fire and contemplated what to include in the letter to her family. They both jumped when a log shifted in the fireplace and sent sparks flying with a loud crack. The tension left the room as they both laughed at having been startled.

  After a couple more hours of reading, analyzing, and discussing various Tualan customs, Amanda retired to her room to take another bubble bath. She was not sure when she would have another opportunity to do so, and she wanted to experience the total relaxation which only the warm water could provide.

  When all of her muscles were warm and limp from an hour-long soak in the tub, Amanda dragged herself out of the water and into bed. She pulled the covers up under her chin as she relaxed onto her side, facing away from the windows. Her last conscious thought was how cheerfully the birds were chirping outside of her window.

  The room was lit with another kind of light when Amanda opened her eyes. She tried to recall what had disturbed her sleep enough to bring her to full awareness when she heard more shuffling at the other end of her room. She sat up on the bed, holding the sheets to cover her naked torso, and saw Barla arranging various packages on the seats of the now darkened windows.

  “What’s going on, Barla?” she asked sleepily.

  “Oh good, you’re awake,” she exclaimed excitedly as she turned around and smiled at Amanda. “Come and see your new clothes.” She gestured impatiently for Amanda to leave the bed and inspect her booty.

  “Where’s my robe?” Amanda asked as she prepared to get out of the bed, but could not find anything with which to cover her nakedness.

  “Don’t bother,” Barla replied. “You’d just have to take it off to try these on. Don’t be shy, I’ve seen women’s bodies before, I have one, too, you know!”

  Feeling foolish and self-conscious, she got out of bed and crossed her arms over her chest and walked over to where Barla was pulling garments out of paper boxes. She soon abandoned her modesty in favor of touching various fabrics to see if they felt as nice as they looked. Amanda picked up one dress from the selection and held it in front of herself to try to envision it on her.

  “Do you want to try this one on?” Barla asked as she noticed her interest in the dress.

  Amanda nodded and started to unbutton the front of the dress.

  “Just a minute,” Barla interrupted, and she quickly rummaged through another bag until she pulled out a pair of garments and held them up proudly, “you’ll need these to wear underneath first.”

  Amanda took the undergarments and donned them quickly to help alleviate her self-consciousness over being naked. With new vigor, she finished unbuttoning the dress, stepped into the skirt, inserted her arms into the long sleeves and began to button it back up. The fit was perfect; the color and cut were amazing. Amanda twirled and smiled as Barla looked on with happiness.

  “This is perfect!” Amanda squealed and rushed forward to hug Barla.

  “I knew it would be,” Barla replied cheerfully. “Here try these on as well.” She handed Amanda a shirt and a pair of pants. “Pants can be kind of tricky and I want to make sure they got the fit right.”

  Amanda stripped off the dress and donned the other outfit; again, a perfect fit. She went through the rest of the outfits with equal success. Everything was perfect including the colors. “After trying all of these wonderful outfits on, I don’t care if I ever see my other two outfits again. I was getting thoroughly sick of them, I must say!”

  Barla laughed out loud and said, “We could have a ritual burning of them if it would make yo
u happy!”

  “No, I don’t think it’ll be necessary, but these new clothes are surely appreciated,” Amanda replied while trying to suppress a childish giggle. Then a sobering thought struck her, and she asked, “What am I supposed to do with all of these clothes when I go back to Earth? I won’t be able to wear them all when I return, and it seems a waste to give them all to me only to have me leave them behind.”

  “So practical,” Barla clucked her tongue at Amanda and continued, “and here I was having so much fun!” She shook her head then said, “I actually thought about that as well. When you’re done working down at the dock, and you leave with Bryon, I’ll let him know if anything should happen to you, your clothes should be given to his wife, if they’ll fit, or to charity if not. Will that suit your sensibility?”

  Amanda sobered instantly when she realized some plans had been made for her to leave and asked, “So you’ve made the arrangements for me to go?”

  “Yes, dear, I have. Bryon is an old friend of mine, and he has business in these parts in the middle of this next week. When he leaves, you’ll be going with him. He lives further inland and doesn’t have much to do with the people around here, so you’ll be safer from Petre where Bryon resides.”

  “But what about finding Neal and The Golden Jesisca?” Amanda practically pleaded as she realized how soon she would be leaving.

  “Don’t worry, Amanda, we’ll continue the search and forward anything we find to Bryon’s house. You’ll know everything we do almost instantaneously,” she reassured Amanda by reaching out and grasping her forearm gently to reinforce her sincerity. “And remember, I’ll have the letter for you to deliver to my family, so I’ll be just as anxious about getting you back to Earth as you are!” She smiled and then hugged Amanda.

  Amanda’s arms automatically reached around Barla as she returned the embrace. They stood holding one another for reassurance as much as comfort for at least a minute until Barla pulled away.

  “Now,” Barla said as she rearranged the clothes on the seat, “I think these outfits will work best for the office, don’t you?” As if the moments before had not happened, Barla was all about business and practicality.