Kindness of Strangers

Keeping her hood low and her hair tucked in, Voah made her way expeditiously toward the market on the way to the children's home. It was still early so most folks were not out and about.

The types of stalls she was looking for were not hard to find and just as she had suspected, the children were playing nearby as their parents and other vendors prepared their things for the day.

Voah passed by the adults and found a secluded spot not far from the kids, but out of view of anyone else. That's when she called a greeting to them with a whisper. The children looked up and stared at her cautiously.

Voah briefly revealed tendrils of her golden locks, put a finger to her lips, and then beckoned them over. The girl looked to her parents and back. There was little doubt that the girl had been warned not to talk to strangers, especially foreigners, but the boy had already started skipping over with a smile on his face. She tried to allay the young girls concern and anxiety by giving her a friendly smile and trying gesticulate that she just wanted to buy some dye from one of the stalls to darken her hair. The children both looked at her confused, so she reached her hands out and gently touched the hair on each of the heads, then reached to her own. Then pointed to the dye stained hands of the girl who was a little helper for her parents business.

The boy thought Voah wanted to take their hair, but the girl immediately understood and explained the situation to her younger brother who gasped in shock. He asked Voah a question which, by his expression, Voah understood as 'why do you want to do that?', to which his sister went on to explain that she wanted to match them because she is a foreigner. The boy seemed saddened by the thought, gave Voah a compliment and put a finger next to his nose with a perfect wink.

The girl was no longer agitated, but was smart enough to remain vigilant and cautious of the people around. Voah took out a fistful of coppers and the girl took the required amount out of her hand, then turned to her brother. She said something to her brother that made him smile and then took off toward the stalls of fabric and dyes.

Voah watched in awe and joy as the children performed a con job right in front of the parents. The boy acted as if he tripped and fell hard, calling for his mother, which distracted both of the parents. The mother came over to check on him while the father looked on with a dubious grin. Meanwhile, the girl slipped a couple of pouches in her garments and placed the coin on the table. Just as the father was about to turn around, the girl pointed at her younger brother and said something in an accusatory tone. She then snatched him away from the arms of his mother and scolded him as his mother rolled her eyes with her hands on her hips. They went back to their business and now muttering about the silliness of young boys.

The two skipped back to the public fountain on which they had been playing earlier and made a round or two before heading back over to Voah. The girl handed over two pouches and made a motion to mix them first with water, pointing at the fountain, then mix them together. The girl explained that she would need a little more of one than the other and looking inside she saw a green powder. She was certain it was indigo. That made sense if she wanted a darker hue, she just hoped it didn't turn her hair blue. Then looking at the other, determined it was henna.

Voah knelt down to receive both of the children. She kissed her hands and reach out to theirs, thanking them in Ozainae and putting a copper of their own. She bowed to them and then rose to her feet, stowing the goods inside her garments. Then she walked to the fountain with them and filled up her water skin. They continued their little game of running around it and waved goodbye to her as she left, thankful for the kindness of strangers. They still didn’t even exchange their names. She thought again about her hurtful words to Gonyaul and how wrong she had been to say them.