Sanya and Ursalan
Setting: Forest of some kind. There a house overgrown with trees. A bunch of ladders everywhere. Rope and pulley systems. The house looks like a bunch of shipping containers stacked in different ways to give the residents comfort.
Sanya is swinging her legs over one side of the house. She blends in with her surrounding, swaying with the trees in the wind. She’s waiting. She hears her father speaking to his guest. The guest leaves her father’s side and climbs up the ladder until he comes upon Sanya. She’s not facing him. Maybe ignoring him a bit. The guest sits down next to her. He’s come back after such a long time. Maybe Sanya doesn’t recognize him…but she does. It’s Ursalan. The gatekeeper to their township. “The Lion of Age” people called him. Defending the township day after day, year after year from predators. His group had become well known. If it hadn’t been for him and his group, they wouldn’t have been allowed to prosper. He had been gone for so long, Sanya didn’t think he would ever return. But he did return.
Ursalan sits down next to Sanya. Sanya stood to get up. Ursalan stops her with one hand on her arm. “Please don’t go.”
“Why would I go? This is my house. I stayed and you left, remember?”
“That was so long ago…I had to go. Had to keep you all safe.”
“So very brave of you Sir Ursalan. You should celebrate your arrival with your fans.” Sanya’s tone of sarcasm noticeably apparent.
“Why can’t I celebrate with you? Didn’t you used to be my greatest fan?” Ursalan’s teasing tone only aggravated her more.
Sanya gets up and leaves Ursalan. She retreats to her room. One of the rooms contain her bed while the other side contains her table of electronics. She puts on her goggles and continues to work on a patching up a broken bit of a circuit board. She didn’t want to admit that she was angry. He had found out about her and she was angry.
She hadn’t realized that day time had quickly turned to night. She was all but done putting the pieces to her new little robot together or rather repairing an old robot for the enemy when she decided to take a break. The night air was pleasant. Most of the family members had already gone to sleep. The cicadas’ song fading into the background. She could see the light of her father’s office still on. Either reading a book or deliberating on a legal matter.
She sat there on the edge and started swinging her legs to and fro. Something relaxing about the rhythm put her heart at ease.
“Ah, here we meet again.” Ursalan sits down next to her.
“I thought you went to bed”
“How could I go to sleep without celebrating with my number one fan?”
“I am not your number one fan.”
“Yes you are. You used to write me letters. Why did you stop?”
“Why would I continue? It was too embarrassing. You never wrote back.”
“I wanted to…I always wanted to. It was hard for me.”
“It was hard for me too.”
“Please don’t be angry”
“How did you find out the letters were from me?”
“Who else but you knew me enough?”
“My brothers know you enough, maybe it was one of them.”
Ursalan starts laughing. Sanya quiets him down in order not to disturb the rest of the house.
“If your brothers had wrote me letters, it would be all about what kind of weapons I use and how many ships had I sunk, if I ate bugs for dinner, etc, etc, etc.”
“Fair point…I should go.”
“Sanya, please stay”
“I’m sure you have important things to discuss with my father. He’s still up, you know”
“Sanya, I already spoke to him.”
“Oh…you’ll be leaving tomorrow then since your business with him is complete.”
“My service is almost complete. I just need to help train the next set of soldiers. If your father can negotiate an armistice soon, both countries lives will improve and we won’t need so many active soldiers. I can return soon afterwards.”
“We all pray for that…for the armistice I mean.”
“Do you pray for me?”
Sanya blushes and gets up to leave.
“Have to get to bed. Full day tomorrow.”
“Good Night Sanya”
The next morning, Sanya awakes to find that Arsalan had already left. A letter addressed to her is sitting on her workbench with one odd shaped little box on top. After all these years, she has received a reply. She’s not sure what to do with it. Read it, of course you dummy. Inner dialogue wins again. Careful to take apart the envelope without damaging the letter, she began to read:
“Dear Sanya,
I’m not good at writing letters but here goes. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. You can’t have imagined how they helped me overcome my fears and become stronger. I didn’t want you to know but I was scared. Scared of coming here and scared of what would happen to us if I couldn’t defend the gate. Your father had faith in me and I didn’t want to disappoint him, or our people, or you. How would I return to your side if I had failed? I can’t fail. I need you to know that. I know you’re angry with me Sanya. Forgive me… I can’t have my number one fan angry with me. Who would run my fan club? Keep safe Sanya.
Your number one fan,
Ursalan
P.S. Look inside the box. It’s a leftover piece from one of the robots I dismantled. Don’t tell your brothers otherwise they’ll want it for themselves. See if the ring fits. Had to cut it down to size.
PPS. I spoke to your father but it wasn’t about the armistice. It was about you. If I see you wearing the ring, I’ll know your answer.”
Sanya opens the box to reveal a little black ring with a twisted knot on top. Surprised, she slipped it on. With a smile on her face she thought, “Now to get back to work.” If she could completely reverse engineer this robot, she would be able to decipher the codes the other side was communicating in. She could aide her father in the armistice and bring the “Lion” back home. The future looked hopeful again.
