Native+people+in+the+English+speaking+world

 Love at first sight
T//he wind blows gently through my long brown hair.// //My feet move quickly against the ground through the bushy forest.// //Branches make scratches on my skin and it starts to bleed. Red, warm blood falls downwards.// //I can’t feel the pain; my mind is too busy trying to shut out the horrible noises and sounds.//

Sometimes things can be so difficult. My mind is wondering around to all other places than it should have been. I can’t stop thinking about the boy I ran into yesterday. While I was out in the forest gathering wild herbs and roots, a boy I have never seen before passed by. He looked at me just a few seconds, but his eyes buried into my heart right away. It felt definitely like love at first sight. This strange feeling is making me crazy. However, I really have to concentrate on the food today. Making food is the women’s job in our tribe. We are about 10 young women, and every day we have to learn new cooking methods from my grandmother. She is the cooking expert in our tribe. Today is a really special day too, we are expecting important visitors from our neighbour tribe. Therefore we are making seafood, which is a great way of showing hospitality in our Maori traditions.

While the women and I are finishing the food, we can hear the visitors arrive. Loud, dark voice fills the area. We all get a bit nervous before we bring out the food because we know this is an important meeting for our tribe. Our tribal chief, Kaihautu, and his wife Miriama are trying to discuss some old conflicts between the neighbour tribe and us. When we bring out the food, I can feel the tension in the air. From the neighbour tribe I count five boys and men. Some of them lights a bit up when the food arrives, but most of them looks deadly serious. In the dark it is difficult to recognize the people, but suddenly I see two eyes that have been on my mind this entire day. Two dark, brown eyes with an unbelievable glow. Two eyes that melts into my eyes. Two eyes I have been dreaming of. It feels like the time stops for a minute, and we just stare against each other again. All of a sudden the eye contact between us gets interrupted by Kaihautu who clears his voice loudly and tells everyone to start eating. The boy smiles at me before the women and I hurry away to find a perfect place to spy at the meeting.

We have to be really quiet to be able to hear what they are talking about. It is very difficult to get any sense of the few words we actually hear, but it is easy to hear that their voices get more hostile every minute. I am too afraid to go closer, too afraid to go and look at the boy with the incredible eyes. The atmosphere is so intense that I feel they are about to start to fight with each other any minute now. Luckily I am wrong. After about one hour the meeting splits up, and the men from the neighbour tribe leaves in a rush. Carefully, without getting noticed, I sneak away from the other women. My heart tells me to see this boy again, and therefore I will. The women in my tribe will be furious at me; they always try to protect me since I am the youngest woman in the tribe. However, I have to see him again, otherwise I will not be able to sleep tonight. My feet starts to go faster and faster, and before I know it I am outside our tribe-area.

It takes me about fifteen minutes to catch up with the men. I don’t want to be seen, so I stay a couple of meters behind them. My stomach rumbles, this is really nerve wracking! What have I been thinking of? We have only seen each other twice, and we haven’t even talked together. Suddenly my body fills up with uncertainty and doubt. Nevertheless, I keep on following them. Unexpectedly all the men stops and turns towards my direction. I freeze and hold my breath. My heart feels like it’s about to force its way out of my chest. One of the men starts to walk towards here I am standing. He can see me now, and I can see him. It’s the boy with the eyes. He stops right in front of me. A loud voice shouts out to the other men that it was nothing. He says that there is only a young woman, and that there’s nothing to worry about. A chill falls down my spine while the other men continue on the way back to their tribe. Now it’s only the boy and I left.

We stood there and talked for several hours. In the beginning it was a bit awkward, but it didn’t take long before we couldn’t stop talking. He had been just as amazed by me as I was by him, only after the short eye contact. After a while he told me all sorts of things from his life. His name is Ruru, he is one of the greatest hunters in his tribe and he loves to write poems. He even made this beautiful poem for me: //Such a beautiful girl I have seen, I can’t get her out of my dream. Her eyes so beautiful and blue, My love for her will always be true.//

Now I’m telling him things from my life too. That my name is Kakama; I am the youngest woman in my tribe, and that every day I have to gather food and cook for my entire family. I love to tell Ruru about my life, and I don’t want this night to end. Therefore Ruru and I sneak in to their tribe to get some sleep. We have to be careful so that we don’t get noticed, because love between two from different tribes are not accepted in our traditions. Even though we are afraid to get caught, both of us fell asleep right next to each other right away.

Far, far away I can hear voices screaming. Slowly I open my eyes and try to gather my thoughts. After a little while I remember everything from yesterday. But where is Ruru? He is not lying beside me anymore. All of a sudden I hear the screaming again. And then I can see it. The entire tribe is sat on fire, and men are running back and forth with knives and weapons. Somebody has attacked the tribe, and that somebody is the warriors from my tribe! Clearly they didn’t find a disagreement yesterday. I try to look for Ruru, but I can’t see him anywhere. I can’t go looking for him; it is too dangerous. There is only one thing to do, and that is to run.

//The wind blows gently through my long brown hair. My feet move quickly against the ground through the bushy forest. Branches make scratches on my skin and it starts to bleed. Red, warm blood falls downwards. I can’t feel the pain; my mind is too busy trying to shut out the horrible noises and sounds. Tears fall down my cheek. I don’t know if I will be able to see Ruru again. Why is love so difficult? Why?//

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