Quietly tip-toeing, Freya approached the man. Perhaps he had been drinking all day as he reeked of alcohol, so she moved a bit closer to the food. As she bent down, it looked like she would succeed in snatching a small piece of bread. But then suddenly she heard a rustling sound and froze. Holding her breath, Freya slowly turned her head to see that it was the straw hat that had fallen to the ground, and she sighed in relief. Feeling more confident now, Freya tried to pick up the bread again but was stopped dead in her tracks when a small rock flew over her hand.
“Hey! What are you doing, you brat?” The man yelled in a deep voice.
Freya felt fearful when she heard the man’s rough voice. And when she moved frantically, the scissors fell out of her breast pocket, forcing her to freeze up. All she could do was stare at him.
“Do you have a guilty conscience?” He demanded to know.
It was difficult to tell the age of the man, who’d lifted his upper body away from the tree-stump. A messy beard covered half his face, and the visible skin had been tanned darkly by the sun. “I apologize. I’m just so hungry,” Freya cried out, quivering as she looked toward the ground. She assumed that the man’s crude hand was going to slap her on her cheek or back. Waiting in anticipation, Freya trembled nervously, but the man gulped down some wine next to him instead.
“Seeing that you’re all skin and bones, you must be starving,” the man said more calmly.
Freya was terrified about the great thrashing to come and asked, “Why are you not hitting me?” When she lifted her head to look at him, a big, horse-like smile spread across his bearded face, and he said, “Only senseless human beings beat children. On top of that, if I beat you, you’d die right away.”
“I beg your pardon?” Freya was dumbfounded by what he said. The man was the most bizarre kind of person Freya had ever seen in her life. She was holding something she’d stolen from him and was supposed to be punished by someone if she did something wrong. Hitting a child is a senseless act?
Assaults had happened on any given day at the orphanage. There was no forgiveness, whether she earned too little money or made a simple mistake. Neither Sophia nor her men had shown any guilt at all about beating children.
Feeling exhausted after having come this far, Freya felt dizziness coming on again and dropped down. The food glistened in front of her eyes, but she didn’t have the strength to reach out.
“What is this? Did you pass out from hunger? If it’s the food you want, I’ll give you some since there’s so much.”
Instead of hitting her, the man said he’d give her some of his food. Freya, who was not familiar with the goodwill of others, stared at the big man through eyes of confusion. What is this smell? The meat smells so good. With her eyes closed and relaxed, and the wind blowing, the delicious smell seemed to beat her insides.
“Do you want me to give it to you?” The man stood up and walked over to Freya. He then placed some meat and bread next to her knees. “Eat. You’ll soon be crow’s food if you stay like that.”
“Thank you.” Casting her pride aside, Freya sat up and began to eat hastily. Her throat was so full of meat that she had to beat on her chest a few times to swallow the food, but that didn’t deter her from eating more.
“Here, drink this here.” The man threw her a sack of wine, and Freya carefully took a sip of it. The bitterness was oddly sweet. “I see that a little thing like you already knows a thing or two about life.” The man saw her savoring the wine and laughed again. But Freya wasn’t laughing with him. Instead, it seemed as if the sky was spinning, and just like that, Freya’s body collapsed onto the grass.
In the dream, her dearest friends took turns being in danger. Freya wanted to save those trapped in the blazing castle, but she couldn’t get to them, so all she could do was stomp her feet and shout, “Ruth, Lotty. That’s dangerous! Get out!”
Startled awake by her yelling, Freya opened her eyes and saw that she was riding on a rattling cart. Having no idea whose cart it was nor why her body was sprawled across a haystack, Freya grabbed the two rails on either side and hoisted herself up to get a better look. Her head spun as soon as she lifted it, and she felt nauseous, “Ugh.”
“Hey, it looks like the little brat is waking up.” The voice coming from the front of the cart was not unfamiliar to her. And Freya was sure that it was the man who’d fed her the day before. She shook her head violently with both hands, but she couldn’t remember a thing after drinking the wine yesterday.