𝐄𝐂𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐘 | neteyam

twelve 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄

MANY PEOPLE NOTICED how much happier I got within the last three days. My parents noticed it, Lekxyo noticed it and of course all my friends noticed it.

I smiled more often, laughed more often and talked way more. And all of that because of one reason. Well, actually because of a person: Neteyam.

Most hours we spend together, the others often joined us. We swam in the warm ocean, made bracelets, had long conversations in the evenings and he even showed me how to ride his Ikran.
It was an incredible experience, flying so high above the ground, seeing everything, the whole island from up the sky.

I know that I said that we have to be careful when we spend time together, so people won't get the wrong idea, but right now, I didn't really care.

-

As Neteyam and I walked down the sandy beach, our bodies near the other one, one thought couldn't leave my mind.

"Neteyam, I know you live here for a while now, but tell me, don't you sometimes miss the forest?", I asked the boy, who walked beside me curiously.

A sad smile appeared on his face and I immediately regretted my question. I don't want to see him sad.

"Well, of course I miss it. Every day! I miss everything about it and I wish I could show it to you one day. You would love it, Aylikhi.", he said to me and I gave him a smile of honesty.

"Yes, I would. Just you speaking about the forest makes it sound absolutely perfect. I showed you our ways, but I would love to learn some of yours," I said and Neteyam looked at me in confusion. It was almost like he wondered, Really? You care about them?

"Sure. I could show you how to shoot with an arrow, if you want," Neteyam said to me and I nodded in excitement.
My entire life, all I knew was this island and the metkayina. I loved everything about here, but I would love even more to learn something about the other parts of the world around us.

"I would love to! But tell me, what else did you do in the forest," I asked him and he chuckled at my curiosity.

He thought for a moment and tapped on his chin. "Well, me and my siblings discovered the forest, or I helped my parents with hunting or fighting the sky people-", he started but I had to interrupt him.

"You saw sky people?!", I asked him and gasped. He nodded. "What do they look like?", I continued asking him.

"Well, they are much smaller than us, have earth-toned skin, speak a weird language with each other, dress differently and they are pretty brutal!", described Neteyam but I had no image in my head. I furrowed my brows and Neteyam let out a laugh. "You can be lucky that you never saw one before!", he said to me and I smiled.

We continued walking and another question popped up in my head. "Did you have a girlfriend back in the forest?", I asked him and waited desperately for an answer.

He probably had one. I mean, he looked perfect, with his gorgeous face, beautiful eyes and the good build. And he was funny, very smart and of course kind. I'm sure many girls had a crush on him. I felt some kind of jealousy in my stomach. Stop it, Aylikhi!

"No! I'm sure most girls haven't even noticed me," he said and scratched his neck nervously. Lie. Even here I heard some girls whispering about him, the Ometikaya prince.