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

C007 Food...!

"Hmmm... You are a terrific cook, Ani. This dishes you made are really delish...! You surely are a terrific chef!" I praised Ani truthfully after a few mouthfuls. The food, no matter how simple it may seem, was enough to feed me and last me for the whole night.

You could imagine how I awoke in the middle of nowhere by the beach and not knowing what else I would need to do thereafter. Fortunately, I had made the right choice of choosing the right side of the path and finally reached back 'home'.

Ani looked up at me and smiled with a silly grin on her face. The food even though without an accompaniment of soup; which I am used to eating was simple yet delectable.

I could feel the freshness of the fried mackerel melting in my mouth. Yeah, literally speaking it melts in your mouth after you need to chew down on it...!

It was a Spanish Mackerel and it's known to be bountiful around the area early in the morning and it could be caught using a hand line.

The blanched greens along with the garnish of stir-fried coconut gratings made a perfect combination. The taste of coconut blended with a bit of chilli and onions even though it's rather spicy but soon became a perfect blend when eaten together.

Simple yet fulfilling. I guess this is the way the simple folks have their dinner. It would be fish harvested from the sea and vegetables that they grow behind their back yards.

The blanched greens were neither soggy nor undercooked. i found out soon enough that the greens that I had eaten were actually the young stalks and leaves of a cassava plant.

After eating and burping a few times to let Ani know that her food was simply delicious and up to my standards, I licked my fingers clean as Ani passed me the bowl of water that we had washed out fingers in to rinse them clean.

I helped Ani to clear the place where we sat down to eat and went to the 'clean kitchen' in tow. Not only was I being gentlemanly, but I also took this opportunity to scrutinize the living conditions as well as the interior of the house.

At the very least, I would not be lost when asked to perform some tasks by Ani and would look pretty normal to her.

There was a sleeping area with 2 tatami mats made from dried coconut leaves that were woven closely.

2 pillows that had been stuffed with some light fillings were on the tatami mats and the coverings of the pillows were made of the same material as the 'sarong' I was wearing except for the designs.

The whole house was quite plain and with little to no furnishings at all. Unlike other modern homes, this is way beyond minimalist...!

But its good, you know. At least the space was free from clutter and at a glance, you can see if the floor area was clean or not be sitting or even rolling around after dinner. Even though there's a room within the house, the only way for the wind to get through is at the doorway.

The windows were not the bay type of designs where it will swing out when one pushes on it. But rather it was lifted only at the bottom area just to let a draft in and the hot and stuffy air out.

After clearing the stuff in the 'clean kitchen' I noticed the absence of cooking materials hence the name of 'clean kitchen' solely the main purpose was to store and serve prepared food.

I peered through an opening on the wall and saw where the 'dirty kitchen' was situated and there it was, right at the other side of the house where a stockpile of firewood, twigs and even the coconut husks that had been dried was used for the starting of fires.

A makeshift rocket stove was in place and the area was covered with fine sand. A bucket of water was placed at the side so that once cooking is done, the pieces of embers would be thrown inside the bucket of water to extinguish them.

It could be recycled and reused for the next cooking session. Another part of the area was for the food preparation side where a large chopping board that was made from a slice of the tree trunk was sitting there and a few kitchen knives were placed neatly there as well.

The place looked pretty neat after Ani had cleaned them right after a cooking session. A black pot was set aside and I later learnt it was used to boil water and would be displaced into a pot for serving some tea leaves or coffee grounds.

Sugar was job existent so I guessed the only way to sweeten the beverage is with honey.

As dusk was fast approaching, Ani lit two oil lanterns the size of a palm and handed one to me."Put it in the bedroom and don't forget to extinguish it before sleeping," she advised as she took hers and placed it at the corner of the living hall, illuminating the whole place immediately while casting long shadows at the same time.

The oil lamps were made from some kind of clay that had been air and sun-dried for some time. As a fuel, Ani had used some animal fat or from some beeswax to actually lit using a small hemp string as a wick.

It's rather primitive so I guessed this would do for the time being in this era. Since there was a bonfire in the middle of the settlement and also the torches that had been lit and set up along the fences of the Chief's House, there would be more than enough light to illuminate the surrounding.

I took the opportunity to ask Ani about her day and quickly understood that she was helping the women of the settlement in weighing in the raw and dry grains to be stored in the settlement's granary.

She also helped to monitor its stock movement and inventories everything to first in and first out kind of movement.

I didn't see any crop fields along the way since I had entered through this settlement so I dare not ask her to incase it would raise her suspicion.

Furthermore, she was weighing the dry grains which means the grains was brought in by other means. Maybe it is being brought in from other nearby islands and I wondered how big this area would be.

Not only that I learned that she was able to juggle her time to tend to the house and cook, but she also was able to do supervision work and also be ably to track inventories.

It seemed that she and I were doing the same things except that we both were handling different industries, that's all. I later learnt that grains were the most sought after products here in this settlement and it could be comparable with its weight in gold...!

As I was trying very hard in stifling my incessant yawning, Ani immediately noticed and told me, "Abang, why don't you take a rest first?"

"Tomorrow you need to be at the beach to transact with the other buyers for the green mussels and bring a few pieces back with you so I can cook dinner alright?"

"Just a few pieces because I know you and the 3 brothers would feast on the smaller pieces out there on the beach as usual."

I looked at her and then replied, "Alright Ani, there should not be any problem at all. I will choose the biggest ones for you tomorrow and prepare dinner. What do you have in mind for dinner tomorrow?"

Ani paused for a while and then she said that if she can find some grated coconut milk then she would make a simple coconut gravy dish with the mussels right after she had baked over the embers for a while to Let the shells open.

From there, she would scrape out the insides of the green mussels and leave it for cooking. The shells could then be used as a type of fertilisers for the plantations behind the house where the vegetable patch was cultivated.

"That sounds great...! I can't wait for dinner tomorrow and I will not eat too much with the brothers tomorrow. At least I won't spoil the appetite too much." I then picked myself up and headed back to the single bedroom.

I checked the floor and it felt cool when my feet were on the tatami mat that was made by the dried coconut leaves.

I knew that these woven mats would be made by some other materials and this simple tatami mat that I was standing on measured about 6 feet by 6 feet.

I wondered where my side was so I waited for Ani as I sat down on the mat and looked out from the doorless doorway.

Ani walked in right after me from the kitchen area and she blew the palm-sized lantern off from the living hall and went inside the bedroom.

"Abang, you sleep at that corner. At least you are nearer to the doorway and not complain of feeling too hot like usual."

Thank God...! At least she was the one that recommended me where I should be sleeping that night...! If not I would be fumbling about and would have easily blown my cover.

We laid down on the tatami mat before I crept over to the corner of the bedroom to blow the light off from the lantern. With the full moon in the sky and its shine penetrating the cloudless night sky, there is no need to have any artificial light at all.

The large luminescent moon was enough to lit up the whole settlement.

After a few moments later, I heard soft steady breathing from Ani which indicates that she had already fallen into a slumber.

I tossed and turned as I was trying my best to fall asleep on the hard floor. Even though I was used to sleeping on a hard floor before, but it had been many years since I had done so.

Suddenly I felt the urge to answer nature's call. "Damn it...! I can't be lurking around at night when everyone is asleep. Don't they have a potty of some kind that I could pee in and dispose of them early in the morning or what?"

"Sheesh...! I didn't know that the night would be this cold tonight. It is like having natural air conditioner around here...! Damn it...! I should have gone to Lee earlier after dinner so I would not have to wake up in the middle of the night to do my business...! "

I thought aloud myself and I really lamented on how to relieve myself that night. Not only did the bonfire had long died down, I guess even the hens and roosters were all asleep. Everything was dead quiet right now...!

I sat up and stood up slowly, trying to avoid making any noise that might awaken Ani. I went to the living hall and walked down the staircase and wore my open-toed leather sandals.

Everything around me was dead silent. The bonfire in the centre of the courtyard had long died down, leaving a few embers crackling on the wind.

The cicadas were getting lovely as they were calling out to each other within the trees behind the common well for showering.

I gingerly walked fast towards the area, threw the bucket into the well and retrieved a bucket of water. Once I had done so, I reached from below my sarong and lifted it up to my waist so I won't accidentally pee on the cloth.

It was pitch dark in that area and my eyes were slowly getting accustomed to the darkness.

After relieving myself, I walked back slowly to the house and observed my surroundings.

It seemed that the guards were meant to be there guarding the house of the Chief and not patrolling around the small settlement.

I was also wondering how a person could be Chief in this kind of small settlement.

With the moon illuminating my way, I could see and imagine how this simple settlement was able to survive and thrive in this kind of condition.

When I was about to climb the staircase of 'my' house after washing my feet (again since I had washed it once at the common shower area), I instinctively turned my head about when I heard some rustling behind where I had relieved myself.

"Oh shit...! I must have peed on some dog or something...! Luckily it wasn't there to bite my little ding-a-ling there...!" I thought inwardly.

But all of a sudden, I saw a HUGE shadow shaped like a wolf walking on its hind legs lurking around near the granary where Ani worked...!

Good God...! An animal that walked on its two hind legs like a human...!

I wasted no time and quickly removed the open-toed leather sandals and ran up the staircase in a single bound and nearly fell die to the long sarong that I had worn which reached below my knees and scrambled back to the bedroom.

Luckily, Ani didn't notice the commotion as her breathing was kind of steady and I laid down and covers my head with the pillow.

It's not that I was scared but I'm just not ready for this kind of s**t right after I had arrived in this time and place...!

=*=

Dear friends, if you spot any errors, please leave your comments in the paragraphs or the chapter section. Thank you for the POWERSTONES and God Bless.