Eudaimonia: Maya's Journey

The frontier

They knew that to achieve their goal, they would need to refill their food and water supplies regularly. They could count on North and Beramute's purses; however, there was a limit as to how far their meagre savings could take them. So, they also counted on people's generosity when they arrived in towns to buy provisions. When they encountered isolated houses they hoped that the inhabitants would sympathise with them and would invite them for lunch or dinner – most of the time they would leave with extra food. At night, they slept rough under the stars, or in stables.

One evening, after a long walk under the sun where they hadn't met a living soul, they arrived near a farm, exhausted and famished. They knocked at the door and a young girl of about ten opened it.

"Hi," said North.

The child felt intimidated.

Maya broke the awkward silence, "Are your parents here?"

"Mum is in the field, she won't be long," she answered shyly.

"We'll wait for her on the doorstep," said Maya firmly.

The girl stared at Maya intensely.

Maya smiled at her. "I am Maya and those are my friends North, Beramute, Melo, and Utaka. And you what is your name?"

"I am Sellu and here are my brothers, Gio and Von," she gestured as she opened the door completely, revealing the heads of two young boys, their bodies hidden behind the living room's table.

The brothers whose uncanny resemblance gave away the fact they were twins, came out of hiding at once when they heard their names.

"I have to look after my brothers when mum is working and I must not let anyone I don't know in the house, but we're not strangers anymore, so you can come in."

They accepted the invitation to step in, and she sat them down and gave them water and a piece of bread.

Maya couldn't help watching her. She admired the dedication of such a young person assuming with a disconcerting maturity the responsibility placed upon her.

"And your dad?" asked North brusquely.

"Mum doesn't want us to talk about it," she cut short this topic of conversation.

An hour passed and their mother suddenly entered the house in panic and out of breath. She had noticed Utaka and Melo in front of her door from afar and had run frantically, fearing the worst had happened.

She looked desperately around for her children while Maya, North, and Beramute observed her.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

The twins who were still playing did not realise the tension in the room and they left their busy game and jumped lovingly into their mother's arms.

North spoke, "Do not worry madam, we're only here for the night, your daughter has charitably welcomed us."

Partially reassured and comforted by the well-being of her children, she apologised about a hundred times and confirmed they were welcome to stay.

Her name was Slena and her husband had mysteriously disappeared two years ago, leaving her in charge of their children and the wheat fields. Without going into details Maya told her they were heading to Bispolis to cross the desert. Slena didn't ask any questions and she invited them to sleep inside instead of the stables.

"You can stay as long as you wish, but there's only space in the living room."

"Perfect, luxury even," said Maya.

After the modest supper the hostess declared, "I have no more strength left and I'm going to bed. I still have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks."

She excused herself and moved into the room next door where she slept with her three children.

Maya watched her enter the bedroom and close the door behind her. She suddenly turned towards her two companions who were already cosy and lying on the floor. "We must help her."

Beramute and North looked at each other in bewilderment.

She added, "This poor woman is alone with three kids and she's gonna kill herself working. We can't simply take advantage of her hospitality and not give anything back in return!"

Still taken aback by Maya's abrupt declaration, they remained silent.

"What do you think?"

Beramute said, "Huuummmm..."

North could see that Maya was determined to do this, so nodded in agreement.

As the sun rose, Slena emerged from the room and she was surprised to see the three friends were already up and dressed. They immediately informed her they would help her to finish the harvest and she was deeply moved. She cried gratefully, before hugging them and thanking them for such an incredible gesture.

Sellu woke up at that moment and asked her mum what was going on. Her mum told her that the gods had sent them and for Slena their presence was providential, she was convinced they had been sent to save her. She would have never managed to harvest all the wheat by herself and she would have had heavy losses.

They had breakfast and immediately started working.

Every day, they filled cart after cart and when the night came, they would stop and head to the surrounding villages where they sold the fruits of their labour. In four days they had done the job that would have taken Slena a month to do otherwise. She now had enough money to hire some help and live comfortably until the next harvest.

On the fifth day they were ready to get back on the road. Sellu was teary and Slena provided them with loads of food. The little family watched them disappear into the horizon, the providence reclaiming them.