Escaped and Rescued

Chapter Five

The young girl had never seen the true beauty of her own kingdom before. 

The dull descriptions and scare information given to her were no match to what she gazed upon. There was noise everywhere. Which she did not notice before due to her earlier predicament. People were swamped in every area her eyes glazed over, pressed up against walls or rushing past people along the sidewalk or peeking their heads out of the horse-drawn carriages they were riding in. Everywhere she looked it was like she was seeing her family. Everyone looked so similar yet so different.

One woman had her eyes. A little boy had her freckled face. A boy her age had the same hair as her. An old woman had her skin. And everyone was at peace. She could feel it in the air. She felt out of place from all the people who wore frilly clothes and shoes that made satisfying clicking noises on the stone ground, while she definitely looked very mysterious.

The mixed sounds of people conversing as well as the 'neighs' from horses and their hooves against the ground as they walked by gave Kazimiera a new perspective of sound.

Kazimiera started to walk forward, her eyes scanning everything in front of her, unlike everyone else, who's eyes remained forward. The quick-paced movement of people trying to get where they need to be so early in the morning was exhilarating.

While the morning sun's golden flames were beginning to lick the tips of buildings and the sweet smelling morning dew began to thaw, as well as heat rising into the air from the street vender's stoves while they prepped their colorful and aromatic ingredients for their future customers, Kazimiera wished she could stay here and experience everything just this one street corner has to offer, but she was brought back when she heard a train whistle blow again.

A new kind of urgency was thrust upon her and she started to walk slightly faster. The closer she got towards the entrance to the train station the more she was being squeezed and pushed and trampled by people. But still her smile grew. She must've looked silly saying "Disculpe," rather politely while smiling with her whole mouth when others shoved people out of their way without a second thought.

Kazimiera jumped in surprise when she felt a sudden burst of steam shoot into the air to the right of her head. She stopped in her tracks and looked over to see a vendor cooking something on his stove while it sizzled angrily. A delicious smelling something. It had an assortment of bright colored vegetables and sauces that was wrapped in a tortilla. Kazimiera's mouth watered as she watched the vendor drizzle on top more sauce and sprinkle a purple spice blend on top.

"Cuatro pecas." The vendor spoke sluggishly as he handed her the tortilla wrapped meal.

"What?" Kazimiera asked.

"Cuatro pecas. Or would you rather stand here all freaking day?" he answered clearly, annoyed.

"Oh, um, here." Slightly confused, Kazimiera dug into her satchel with one hand and fished out two gold coins and dropped them into his outstretched palm. "Thank you a thousand fold sir."

The vendor simply nodded his head without looking up, already making more of whatever it is he's making.

Kazimiera bit into her colorful snack and at that moment realized how hungry she was. The mixed textures and flavors danced on her tongue. She barely allowed herself time to chew before she bit into it again and again, chewing slowly with her eyes closed. She probably hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. 

The train whistle. It goes off for the third time. Kazimiera gasped and hurriedly shoved her snack into her mouth for one last bite before breaking into another sprint holding onto her satchel with one hand and her snack with the other. Kazimiera, trying to be more like a Shovonyan citizen started shoving past people but her royal manners got the best of her and immediately apologized to every single person she ran into. She almost stopped completely to check to see if an old lady she ran into was alright, but she pushed forward. The slight guilt stirring in her stomach.