The Light in Aquala

The clicking was so steady and consistent that Mara had stopped hearing it as just a sound and started hearing it as a rhythm.

Three clicks, a pause, three more. It was steady as a heartbeat.

Lena and her had dropped their backpacks to the ground and Mara was sorting through everything, getting things ready to go. Her exhaustion was starting to take a toll as she realized she had packed and repacked the same outer pocket on her backpack two times now. As she sorted, she listened to the clicking sound, waiting for the interval to shift, waiting for something about it to give itself away. But it didn’t and the lights were back now too.

The old woman stood by her, waiting and watching.

Behind her, the village was bustling with activity, and every family was out on the sand, as far away from the jungle as possible.

Everyone knew what to do in case they needed to evacuate quickly. The toddlers were up on the shoulders of their parents, babies in their mother’s arms. Children were pointing at the lights and the boats, asking their parents a constant stream of questions, while the teenagers were gathering all of the animals and getting them ready to be led along the trail. The goats were protesting and the dogs were ecstatic with the knowledge that a walk was about to start. The village’s chickens were being carried in bamboo crates that swayed with every step, resulting in many clucks of protest.

Those with injuries and the older ones had been helped down to the beach and were sitting on upturned crates and coils of rope, waiting by the boats. The morning fires were being put out quickly and the smoke drifted across the groups of people, the smell of delicious roasted fruits and fish, charred wood and the herbs the village used for seasoning. Bags of food, along with canisters of water, were loaded onto the backs of the larger animals.

The escape had begun.

Mara had spent her whole childhood on this beach and had learned to swim and fish here. She had watched the stars come up over the water a thousand times with her sister. She had never seen the beach this full, not even during the Festival Season. Every family, every neighbor, every face she knew were all there.

They were either moving into position for traveling overland, or they were at the boats, which had been drawn up now in a neat row along the sand. The older ones and their belongings were now being loaded into them.

Nine boats. She counted them twice. Just nine boats for hundreds of people.

Lena had already jogged to the beach and joined their mother, both of them completely occupied with checking the boats and stopping to talk to different groups of people. Their presence was having a calming effect as they moved through the crowds quickly, patting shoulders and calling names and making people laugh even now.

Meanwhile, Tavi had run over to the teenagers and was helping them round up the animals and get them ready for the long trek.

As the three of them came back towards Mara and the old woman, Mara could tell by their faces that they were very concerned.

Tavi announced that the animals were almost all organized and now they had to figure out who was best to lead the animals, and who would be best to follow behind them, making sure no animals strayed. This was a more privileged position since some of the strongest men in the village would be guarding the backs of the group, in case of attack by the lights or from whatever was making that clicking sound.

"The boats take about 80 people," Lena said. "Maybe eighty-five if everyone sits close and no one brings anything they do not absolutely need."

"But there are more than three hundred villagers." cried Mara.

"There are more than three hundred, plus the animals." their mother said calmly, as she looked back at the boats and then at the path that the rest of the village would be traveling on.

She continued speaking calmly. "We talked with the hunters and the fishing families. The village’s evacuation plan is still for the older ones and the infirm to go by boat and be taken to the meeting place by sea. The rest will travel by land, along the Northern trail, staying as close to the coastline as possible.”

“So, boats for the ones who cannot walk far. Overland for the rest?" questioned Mara, just to make sure she had heard correctly, while still calculating numbers in her head, trying to see if somehow more could go by boat.

She looked up to see the older ones being helped into the boats, with a few precious possessions in their hands: a blanket that has been passed down for generations, a small box with trinkets filled with memories, and all of their little pets either being held, walking beside them or in small bamboo crates to contain them on their ocean journey up the coastline to the meeting point.

Lena now looked at the path that would be taken by the rest of the village.

It was the old trail that climbed behind the village and crossed the freshwater rivers running into the ocean. Fortunately, at this time of year, the rivers would just be streams and there wouldn’t be a problem getting across them. The trail hugged the shoreline and then went inland a short distance, up over a ridge and then back down onto the Northern side of the island. The trail then ended at the second cove, where they would be meeting those in the boats.

Lena had explored along it many times and knew that it was narrow in places and steep in others. This journey would take a few days, considering the size of the group that would be traveling over it.

They would encounter challenges along the way, areas where the trees were thick and the roots could trip a person easily. Particularly dangerous were the loose stones along the final ridge into the cove, where she had once twisted her ankle.

Lena had confidently consulted with the hunters on which way to go and how long it would take them to reach the cove, where everyone from the boats would meet them. Everyone knew that she had traveled this trail often, so they listened to her input willingly.

Especially Gralor.

She smiled as she thought of him watching her with a look of pride and amusement on his face as she went over the evacuation plan. She had always liked Gralor, ever since she was a teenager, but it was only recently that she became aware that he was interested in her too.

Lena started filling Mara in on the established evacuation plan.

"Some of the hunters will run ahead, and the ones who know this trail best will go first and clear any obstacles out of the way. The rest of the village will follow and by the time they make it to the cove, the hunters will have fires going with food and fresh water ready. They will also help those arriving in the boats, since they will need light and space and someone who knows how to organize a landing."

Mara nodded in agreement, still tallying up amounts of people in her head and trying to come up with a better plan to get more into the boats. She watched as Tavi rejoined the teenagers readying the animals and then watched as Lena started to walk back toward the far end of the beach where the young hunters were already gathering with lanterns and shoulder packs at the beginning of the trail.

"You are doing the thing where you are counting things," Lena called back over her shoulder.

"I am counting things because there are things to count."

"There are always things to count. That is what things are for." Lena countered, turning her head back to grin at Mara as she walked. "If we die tonight, I want it on record that I said we should have brought more snacks."

"You always say that." Mara replied, feeling gratitude at the familiar bantering. It helped alleviate the tension she was feeling.

"And I am always right." Lena shot back while starting to jog towards the group of young hunters in the distance. They had finished organizing themselves and were now saying a quick goodbye to their families, who would be following behind them with the rest of the villagers.

Mara's mother smiled as she stood next to Mara, enjoying the familiar banter between her daughters.

She smiled even wider as she noticed Lena saying a slightly awkward goodbye to Galdor. They were obviously interested in each other, and the idea of one day being a grandmother was a very happy thought. She sighed, hoping with all of her heart that her daughters would return to her safely.

The old woman came to stand closer to Mara and her mother. She had not sat down or asked to be helped to a boat.

She simply stood with an inexplicable expression on her face watching the village activity as everyone got ready for their journey to safety. The morning sun had caught the lines of her face and the silver in her hair and the careful way she held her hands when Mara turned to look at her.

"You have questions," she said, without glancing at Mara, who was watching her carefully.

"I have a lot of them." Mara looked at her. "You said there were accounts. Records of information that have been passed down in your family. I really would like to these before we all leave."

The old woman was quiet for a moment.

The clicking still coming from the jungle, three clicks and a pause and then three more clicks. She tilted her head slightly as if she were listening to something she had been told about a thousand times and still didn’t understand. Then she turned and walked toward her hut without another word.

Mara and her mother followed her.