Quantum Leap - Vol. 1 The Leap That Starts It All

C008 Shadows

As I lay down on the tatami mat and thinking back on what I had encountered earlier, my heart was literally in my mouth and I was suddenly unable to move or control my limbs as I lay down curled up like a millipede after being touched.

I tried not to let my thoughts and Imaginations run wild since I had been through rigorous military training before and seeing these types of the apparition was quite common in places where it was less habituated by humans.

"What was that just now??!! Is that part of a figment of my imagination?!" once again I queried this in my mind and slowly I managed to calm myself down.

I crept out of the bedroom and jeered out from the house doorway and I looked out again and tried to peer through the darkness of the wooded area and found nothing amiss at all.

The surrounding which was partly illuminated by the moon looked normal with no signs of intrusion and the wooded area had no sign of being bashed through.

"Was that a wolf or some sort of supernatural being I had seen earlier? Why was there no signs of alarm from the guards at all?"

I thought to myself and find that if a lone wolf was lurking around in the settlement, I am pretty sure that some fowls would be caught by its jaws.

I'm not sure about wolves but either way, it would sure act like a fox and steal fowls that were kept under the chicken coops.

Furthermore, if there were signs of predators in the settlement, surely the Chief would step up with the security measures around the settlement and adding more men in patrols and such.

Besides, from the looks of those men on guard, I think they would only keep the interest of their Chief at bay.

I crawled back to the sleeping room and was almost doing a leopard crawl to reach the spot where I had earlier lain on. I was also half expecting a wolf that would immediately pounce on my back and bared its teeth at the nape of my neck, snapping it into two.

Do predators act the same was as lions and other big cats? I guess they do, don't they?

The thought itself made me shiver involuntarily. I slowly made myself back to the tatami mat and tried to close my eyes as I laid myself down.

The sudden rush of thoughts about the shadowy wolf that walked on its hind legs made me hard to fall back into slumber and I could feel cold sweat dripping on my back as I tossed and turned on the floor.

Finally, when I thought that I had been lulled back to sleep, dawn was slowly breaking over the horizons. The darkened sky slowly turned orangish-red as the sleepiness of the night slowly was washed over by the breaking of a brand new day.

"c**k-a doodle-dooo.....! c**k-a doodle-dooooooo.....!!" the sound of a rooster perched on top of some clothesline was loudly crowing right before the break of dawn, indicating the beginning of another day in the sleepy settlement.

"Grr... Could someone please turn off that darn alarm clock? I'm trying to sleep here...!" I subconsciously growled as I kept turning and held the pillow I was lying down and covered it over my head and ears.

The rooster seemed adamant to wake up the whole settlement until its voice went raw and hoarse through incessant crowing.

The settlement slowly stirred awake and into life as one by one emerged from their houses and greeted one another as they went about their early morning affairs.

"Urrghhh..... Was it a dream earlier?" I sat up on the tatami mat and slowly rubbed both hands on my sleepy eyes. I looked over my side and found that Ani too had woken up as well.

"Good morning, Abang. You don't look like you have gotten enough sleep yesterday" she highlighted to me and gently touched the bags under my eyes.

"Yeah, I cannot sleep well last night. Maybe I was thinking too much about what had happened to me and what would take place tonight." I replied as I avoided the encounter of meeting a shadowy figure that looked like a wolf or something that was walking on its hind legs last night from her.

Perhaps, I could probe some answers from the three brothers later on in the day when we go out to collect the mussels from the sea.

"Abang, the brothers had gone to collect the harvest before the sun was up earlier," remarked Ani. She spoke as if she had known these brothers attitude of going to the beach way before me.

How could they leave me behind? And I am supposed to look out for them on the beach myself? I just arrived here and how am I able to remember the place where I came out of last night...?!

"Why don't Abang freshen first before heading down to your spot to wait for their return? I am sure they would not be back before lunch hour."

Ani implied to me while spreading her hands.

"Yes, might as well I go and freshen up while waiting for you to prepare breakfast, is that alright with you?"

I hoped that I had said the right things because I am not sure if these folks do wake up to prepare breakfast or not...!

After saying so, I walked heading towards the door, eyeing the previous 'sarong' that had worn for my quick shower the night before that was flapping gently on the clothesline, and dried slightly after Ani had wrung it dry and spread it across the line.

I guessed there's no point for the bathing sarong to be dry since it would get wet soon right after my morning cold shower...!

Ani then handed me a piece of stick with frayed ends and told me not to lose this again. I wondered in the back of my mind on the main purpose of this stick as I ambled my way to grab the 'sarong' from the clothesline and head towards the common well for my shower.

Later I learnt that the stick was from a hibiscus plant and the frayed ends were where you scrub your teeth with. Not by using the usual way to hold a toothbrush but by holding it directly by jabbing it straight to one's teeth.

I can't help my eyes from wandering towards the Chief's house as I calculated that the shadow that I had seen last night was heading not towards the house, but rather away from it.

Or simply it is just part of my bloody imagination...!

My queries for the stick that was handed by Ani earlier were answered as I entered the partially fenced up washing area.

A few men nodded in my direction and were holding on to the sticks in their mouth to clean their teeth using them.

Unlike our modern toothbrush where we held the ends diagonally to our teeth and gums, the stick was however used in a direct front approach towards the teeth.

I find it weird for the first time since using a stick with the awkward manner of brushing the teeth. It was sort of like a "picking" type of movement. Only the outer front teeth would be clean but what happens to the ones inside the mouth and behind it?

Gosh...! It would be covered with tartar by this time...!!!

However, after some time, I find it quite methodical to use the stick and with some pros and cons to using it.

Unless one can tilt the head back and open the mouth at 180 degrees, then I am sure the insides of the teeth could be brushed and cleaned as well. Hahaha... f*****g weirdo...!

I didn't dare to take a shower like last night but I just pulled up a bucket of water and washed my face and dampen my hair instead.

The other men saw me and remarked to themselves as I caught phrases like 'afraid of the water' and 'has been like this since young' et cetera.

I could not care less about what others were talking but in this way, I could avoid the unnecessary chill, unlike the other evening. I guessed that I could save the showering in the latter part of the evening.

Since I'm going off to the beach, I would take my shower there instead of with the fishes. Hehe. At the seaside, the sun would have warmed the surface as the depths of the sea would be colder than the surface itself.

"Great idea, there mate. Better be off to the sea since the breeze would make one feel sticky. A quick dip would solve the matter once and for all and I could return here to properly get rid of the salt that may stick on my body."

I thought to myself and find that it would be the next feasible thing to do.

I hurriedly placed the bathing 'sarong' around my shoulders and not forgetting the stick that was given by Ani and went straight back to the house.

I stretched the 'sarong' that I had earlier used to wipe my face and rubbed my hair back on the clothesline to dry. I was soon welcomed by the distinctively smell of coffee that I had been longing for since arrival at this era.

"My goodness...! I love that smell and had almost missed it for the whole lifetime...! By Golly...! If it is not tea, then coffee would surely make my day...! It smells full of java right now and I could drink a whole potful of it. Hahaha...!"

I laughed slightly to myself and soon a smile broke over my face as the smell was wafting right from where Ani was preparing the pot of hot java.

As soon as I reached upstairs, I noticed that a fresh change of clothes placed inside the room like the ones I wore last time. The clothes were folded and had been laid carefully on my side of the tatami mat.

I heard Ani was still busying herself in the clean kitchen and stirring up something so I quickly removed my sleeping 'sarong' and wore my fresh pair of clothes.

There was no underwear or a loincloth to prevent my ding-a-ling from dangling and moving freely inside the pants so I have to make do with what amenities that had been provided for me.

I saw Ani walking from the 'clean kitchen' with a tray and set it down on the floor of the main living space. Fortunately, she was not there to witness me thrusting my hips about as I was observing how shrivelled my ding-a-ling had been since it was not even mine in the first place...! Haha.

Ani summoned me to have breakfast and I packed the room and cleared the sleeping sarong and placed it inside the wicker basket before heading towards where Ani was serving a cup of black coffee for us.

The smell of black coffee welcomed me as I was like a child that had been waiting wantonly for candy as I sat cross-legged and watched as Ani prepares the rest of the breakfast before us.

I saw a few thinly sliced and fried tapioca pieces on a banana leaf. I looked up at her and saw that she had earlier went for a shower at the ladies' shower area as her shoulder-length hair looked partially wet but not dripping and was looking jovial just like how I met her last night.

Her face was flawless without a single scratch or pockmark except for two dimples at the sides of her cheek whenever she smiled.

Her hands I noticed was not coarse but rather smooth as if she had not worked hard labour in her life before.

I gingerly took hold of the small earthen bowl and added a spoonful of honey into my black coffee and stirred slowly. The spoon was wooden so it would not have any adverse effect on the honey or tea.

As I brought the cup to my lips, I could smell the thick aroma just as the ones freshly blended from Starbucks or CBTL. I let out a sigh of satisfaction as I sipped the coffee.

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