Myne Awakes

Myne Awakes

Myne Awakes

“Whew. That was heavy...” Kamil said, setting his carrying basket down on the table with a thump. Today was market day, and we had gone to buy meat for winter preparations. I set the things I had bought onto the table as well, then looked at my son, who was now resting on the floor.

“Time for the next step. Kamil, could you fetch the salt for me?” I asked. We needed to get the base preparations done, since pig-killing day was coming fast. Kamil frowned and grumbled about being tired, but he stood right up and went to the storage room. I chuckled to myself as he went.

At this rate, he’ll be ready to go by spring.

Kamil had been begging me to let him go to the forest, most likely because there were so many other kids his age going there for winter preparations, but I feared he didn’t have the stamina to handle the trip, or the strength to make it back with the older kids before the gate closed. Right now, I was testing him by sending him to the market and on errands to the east gate where Gunther worked.

“Okay!” I took out a somewhat large board, covered it with cloth, and started setting some meat atop it while Kamil came back in with a bag full of salt. The sight reminded me of the time Myne had found the salt much too heavy to carry. She had ended up crying to Tuuli, asking her to help with tearful eyes. Kamil didn’t really look like Myne, but his similarly colored hair and eyes meant I often thought about her when I looked at him.

Has Myne woken up yet, I wonder...?

We were currently keeping ourselves going by believing in the letters Lutz occasionally brought to us, which said she was still alive. We had gone quite a while without any updates, until we finally received good news in the middle of autumn. It was around the time Lutz had gotten back from a trip to some distant city.

“Looks like there are some signs of change popping up. It’ll still be some time before she wakes up, but it’s progress,” he had said. That good news had warmed my heart amid all the business bearing down on me, but then a whole month passed. Before I knew it, the end of autumn was on the horizon. It had been almost two years since the winter Myne was poisoned.

I hate the winter... The more blizzards keep me stuck inside, the more bad thoughts I have. I can’t believe it’s this time again already...

I played back the memory of when Lutz had read that terrible letter aloud, and my heart twinged with the same pain that had washed over me when I was told Myne had been poisoned.

“I just hope she wakes up before winter...” I muttered to myself with a sigh.

“Huh? Mom? Did you say something?” Kamil asked, looking up at me. I smiled and held out the water jug.

“It’s nothing. Go wash your hands. We need to start rubbing salt on the meat.”

“Okay! I’m excited for pig day!”

Pig-killing day was something of a small festival. All the kids looked forward to it, mostly because we got so much food. Myne had always gotten sick around this time of year, and she would pull a face whenever the occasion was mentioned, but Kamil would immediately gaze up with renewed enthusiasm, even when he had just complained about being tired.

We bundled up the salted meat, took it to the winter storage closet in our storage room, then started preparing dinner. Gunther was on afternoon duty today, so he wouldn’t be getting back until after the gates closed.

“Are we steaming the bird with wine?” Kamil asked. “Dad said that’s his favorite.”

“No, we’re cooking it with herbs this time. The salt needs to rest a day before we can steam the bird with wine,” I replied while preparing the herbs. It was then that someone suddenly started pounding on the front door. No sooner had Kamil and I exchanged worried glances than we heard a familiar voice from the other side.

“Mom! Kamil! Open the door! It’s me, Tuuli!”

“What? Tuuli...?” I asked aloud. She usually only came home on Fruitday afternoons or Earthday mornings. On top of that, she had completely mastered the etiquette the Gilberta Company was teaching her, such that she always acted graceful and polite even when at home with us. She never pounded on the door or yelled.

I opened the door in confusion, and in raced not just Tuuli, but Lutz as well. Given how much they were gasping for air, I could guess they had sprinted all the way up the stairs.

“What happened, you two?” I asked. “Don’t you have work today?”

“We do, but Lutz came to see me, and they said I could go home for today. Lutz can tell you why. Haah... I can barely breathe...” Tuuli gasped.

Kamil rushed over and gave her a cup of water as she rubbed her throat. She gulped it all down before casually wiping her mouth; her usual elegance was absolutely nowhere to be seen.

“Thanks, Kamil. Give some to Lutz as well.”

“Okay. Here you go, Lutz.”

Lutz accepted the cup with a thank-you, gave Kamil’s dark-blue hair a quick tousle, then downed the drink in one go. Kamil responded with a broad smile. He liked Lutz a lot, since Lutz was always the one who brought him new picture books.

“So, what happened then?” I asked while watching Kamil celebrate. Lutz looked at me with a wide grin.

“Myne woke up yesterday!” he announced.

My eyes widened; this was the very news I had been hoping to receive for quite some time now. Tuuli, meanwhile, clapped her hands together in excitement.

“I knew it was going to happen sooner or later!” she said, but something about the whole situation just didn’t feel real to me. I had been hoping that she would wake up before winter, but not once had I thought it might actually happen.

Hold on... Maybe I’m asleep, and this is just a dream...

I couldn’t help my skepticism. I mean, I had already witnessed countless dreams in which Myne woke up—happy dreams where the whole family jumped for joy at Lutz’s message. The fact that Gunther wasn’t back and things weren’t as good as they could have been made it feel more realistic, at least.

As I wavered between thinking this was a dream and accepting it as reality, Tuuli and Lutz excitedly talked among themselves.

“Lutz, when are you going to go see Myne?” Tuuli asked, a noticeable glimmer in her blue eyes.

Lutz rubbed his nose with a proud smile. “I got word from Gil this morning and we had a meeting this afternoon.”

“Huh? You’ve already seen her, Lutz?! No fair! I thought we all found out together!” Tuuli complained, puffing out her cheeks. Lutz shrugged at her, but there was still an overjoyed smile spread across his face.

“Hey, it caught me off guard too. Seems like she’s moving to the Noble’s Quarter tomorrow or the day after, and they wanted to have a work meeting before that happened.”

Lutz met her...? Myne?

I was still struggling to process their conversation, and for some reason, my heart was pounding harder than ever. It felt like things were gradually snapping into place, and the dream was becoming reality.

“Was Myne okay?” Tuuli asked. “Remember how we talked about how crazy it would be if she got super tall while she was asleep and came out looking like a totally different person? Did that happen?”

Lutz laughed and shook his head. “Not at all. She’s better now, but she looks and acts exactly the same. I kinda couldn’t believe how tiny she is, but she certainly seemed to be self-conscious about it. She cried about how she wanted to get tall.”

Myne cried...?

Myne had never cried in any of my dreams; she always wore pleasant smiles and waved, apologizing for worrying us but being happy to be healthy again.

“Oh... Well, Myne’s always been uncomfortable about how tiny she is, and I hate to say this knowing she cried about it, but I’m super relieved to hear she’s the same Myne I remember.”

I feel the same way...

I agreed with Tuuli without voicing it. I was very glad that my daughter was the same as I remembered.

“So, Lutz... Do you think she’ll order a new hairpin?” Tuuli asked.

“Who knows? But I’ve got plant paper, ink, and new stationery ready. No matter what she needs, I’m prepared.”

“Act as smug as you want; it doesn’t bother me at all. I mean, I’ve made so many hairpins for Myne over the past year in preparation for when she wakes up,” Tuuli said, puffing out her chest. Lutz grinned at her, and she smiled back in turn.

This never happened in any of my dreams...

My dreams always ended not long after the news came; I would always wake up in the dark and sigh to myself. But now, it was progressing beyond Lutz and Tuuli’s initial celebration, and they started talking about the future—about more practical things. It was then that I finally accepted this was real—that Myne really had woken up—and tears began welling up in my eyes.

“I’m so glad... This isn’t a dream... Myne really did wake up...” I said aloud.

“Mom...”

It had been a long two years... A very, very long two years. Sometimes I had worried that she would never wake up; other times I wondered whether the nobles were just hiding the fact she had died. But my fears were unfounded. Myne had woken up. The strength drained from my body, replaced with joy and relief.

Thank goodness, Myne... Thank goodness.