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"I had an idea..."
The Tale of the Mad Wizard of Imbroglio
By Pukaq
Chapter 7
I was awakened earlier than my body wanted to be - my thoughts and awareness were clawing and scrambling to bring me fully awake. What triggered this reaction, I could not recall, but when I looked around, Anniu was gone and for the first time since we had become bonded brothers, I could not raise my arm and point toward him. I got up slowly. My muscles, still exhausted from the previous two days' exertions, protested painfully as I began to move about. Involuntary groans escaped my lips.
Failing to find Anniu in or near the cave, I headed back to the bowl where I had found him the previous day, but the bowl was gone. Anniu stood at the edge of where it had been, his shoulders were slumped and his head hanging low. Where the bowl had been was now a leveled area surrounded by stone walls.
"What...? How...?" I could not complete the thoughts that were rushing through my brain. As I spoke, Anniu snored quietly then started awake.
"How'd I get here?" he asked. "Whoa... What happened?"
"I have no idea," was my reply.
We stared in wonder trying to figure out how any of this could have happened. Each thought trail we followed, though, dead-ended. Finally, having run out of ideas, I suggested we return home and Anniu agreed.
We returned to Anniu's cave, grabbed his gear and began the long walk back home. Repeated attempts to get Anniu to talk about anything were met with either distracted replies or silence.
Word of our approach to town preceded us. Looks of sympathy were on the faces of all we saw as we headed to my home. Expressions of shared sorrow were conveyed and Anniu seemed stoic throughout.
* * *
In short order, while I had been out looking for Anniu, my parents had been busy too. Having cleaned up as much of the damage as they could in and around the house, they then had gathered Anniu's belongings and brought them to my quarters. They had decided that Anniu would now live with us, which was fine with me. Anniu seemed not to care one way or the other.
The first few days, many visitors stopped by to express their feelings of sorrow - including Itilli and Aurora. Itilli walked right up to Anniu and wrapped her arms around him. Tears of sorrow and pain filled her eyes as she tried to comfort him, but he remained as unmoving as ever, not even returning the hug. Aurora and I exchanged glances over this: her confused expression and raised eyebrow silently asked, "What's going on with him?" I shrugged my shoulders to indicate I didn't know. She tilted her head toward the other room and we left them together.
Once apart from them, Aurora began asking about his reactions to the news and the events since. I replied that he had been kind of like the way he just reacted to Itilli. She expressed concern for Anniu and said she would talk to her parents.
The next day, Aurora saw me walking to the market and walked with me. She had spoken to her parents who also seemed not to be concerned. All people go through grieving processes in different ways and at different times. While there are many similarities to each person's grief, not all of them need necessarily be experienced. Aurora related that her parents had often observed people first try to deny the tragedy had taken place. Later or even at the same time, they could then become angry. At some point they might wish they could make a deal with the gods or anyone just to get a few more moments with their loved ones. Often, a deep, lasting and heavy sadness was observed before they could accept the facts about what had happened, however horrible.
I asked her what I could do - how I could help him. Her advice was to help him accept what has happened and get him to allow himself to experience the pain of the loss. Then she mentioned that I should help him adjust to his new location and encourage him to begin making plans for his own future.
As we went our separate ways, I pondered what Aurora had advised and before I knew it, I found myself at the market. A week had passed since the bodies of Anniu's parents had been discovered and buried. On this day, it was our custom to prepare large amounts of food and to accept visitors for a meal and a gathering to honor the memories of the lost. People would tell stories about them and share fond memories. These events were often jubilant and joyful one minute and then turn tearful the next, but in this way, we could find acceptance and begin to move on.
Some of the market vendors, knowing why I was there, put in extra and said they would stop by later. While shopping though, I suddenly paused. I felt like something was missing but couldn't put my finger on it, so I completed the shopping and returned home. Stepping in the door, though, I observed calamity.
Mother was upset. Anniu had been taking a nap; he seemed to do that a lot lately. He had come out and said he needed to eat something and not paying close attention had waved him toward a bowl of fruit. When she turned around, he had eaten almost all the fruit and had moved on to food she'd been preparing for the funeral feast. She couldn't get him to stop and was upset at the mess he was making.
I put the shopping down and went to him. He looked so strange. Tears were pouring from his eyes as handful after handful of food was brought to his face. His face itself, except for the tears, was covered with food that he had mashed against his face as he tried to get it into his mouth. The food that didn't make it fell onto his clothes and the floor around him.
"Anniu? What are you doing?" I asked.
Through his tears and around the food being pushed into his mouth he indicated that he couldn't stop. I put my arms around him and as gently as I could, moved him away from the table. At first he resisted, but then he came with me to my quarters. His shaking and sobbing continued as apology after apology escaped his lips. When his tremors and tears kept coming, thinking on what Aurora had said, I held onto him and let them flow. Finally, I thought, his grieving has begun.
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