Ethan Asher, Evan Everett, Dylan Smith, Connor James.
“What will you name your child, Florica?” Brishen asked.
“I have not yet decided.”
“It has been an entire day! Surely you plan to name your child!” Beti added.
“I will go speak to Dukker. He will help me.” Florica said calmly.
I was one day old and I already knew my mother’s voice. Her voice was so pure. When she spoke, it sounded like a stream escaped her mouth, so calm and even.
“Dukker, may I speak to you? I would like to name my child but I am not sure what to name her.”
“Bring her to me. I will see what I can do.” Dukker said.
My mother carried me to Dukker and when he looked at me, he gasped and started reciting something.
Under the stars, she was born. To the world of the unknown. She will travel for her life, never knowing where to go. Who to love, who to trust. All she knows is that she will find safety with outsiders. Hardships is what she will face, many times will she face death, yes death itself. Many will love her, many will hate her, she will feel alone. She will be loved by two. Only one will be with her forever. She will have to choose between her brother and the outsider. Only when she chooses will she find rest. Thus ends the tale of the Lady.
Dukker blinked and collapsed. Days went by, and then weeks, still Dukker wouldn’t wake up. The leader was to announce him dead when he shot up like a wooden plank that was stepped on and announced my name. He didn’t say it directly but he did give my mother a clue.
“Lady. She shall be named Lady.”
Florica pondered this. My mother wasn’t the type to name her children Lady or something as plain so she went to the book of names that they carried and looked up alternate meanings for the name Lady.
“YES!” she screamed.
Florica ran out of the tent and yelled, “I know what I’m going to name her! Rawnie. Her name will be Rawnie Aleta. Her name means Lady Wanderer. Suits her doesn’t it? It’s just like Dukker said, she will wander but she will be a lady.”
That’s how I got my name. Rawnie Aleta. The Lady Wanderer. Such a great name isn’t it…
It’s probably very confusing to you about who I am. Well I am a gypsy. I live with a band of them meaning, a group of gypsies. I was the last one to be born in that band until they all died. I’m going to start with before everyone died.
“Rawnie! Come on! Let’s go play in the river! We’re leaving here tomorrow!” Jal yelled.
I stretched and yawned as I sat up in my tree. I was the only one in the band that slept in trees at night. It was a habit. I lazily climbed down the tree and walked over to my mother, Florica.
“Good morning sweetie! Have some breakfast and then you can go play with Jal.”
I sat down in front of her and I ate breakfast while she brushed my hair. She sang softly as she combed through the curly snarls at the end of my hair. My hair was straight on the top but slowly went into corkscrew curls. It was uncommon for my band. Most of them had either straight hair or curly hair, never a mix of them but my father had curly hair while my mother had straight hair so I got the mix! Many of the girls in my band were jealous of my hair but I didn’t mind, I loved my hair.
“I’m all done, Mama.” I said.
“ Go! Have fun, it’s your birthday. You are now sixteen. Start looking for a man!” she said.
It was in our custom to get married young but I didn’t want any of the men in the band. I grew up with all of them and I didn’t love them in a romantic way, just as a brotherly way. If I had to choose one though, I would choose Jal because he was the closest to my age, older than me by a few years and he was very handsome. He was very strong and had a nice body. He had muscles but not so big that he looked like a gorilla when he walked and his golden hair shined every time it was in the sun. I walked over to Jal and he picked me up and gave me a huge hug.
“Happy birthday, Rawnie.”
“Thanks, Jal. Let’s go to the river.”
We walked to the river, chatting the entire way about the different places we stayed at. We are gypsies. We travel from place to place mainly because the outsiders don’t like us. They usually chase us away so we move before they can find us. We sat down by the river and continued talking. It was getting close to lunch so we stood up, getting ready to head back to the camp when I fell. I slipped on a rock that was still wet from the morning dew and fell into the river. The river was so strong; I couldn’t find my way out of the water. I just held my breath as long as I could until I blacked out.
“Wake up. Please. Don’t die,” a voice said.
I felt pressure on my chest and then air was being forced down my throat. I coughed a few times and then turned and threw up. After I finished throwing up, I lay back down and started at the sky, catching my breath.
“Thank goodness!” the voice said.
I turned my head and found myself staring at the most beautiful male in the world. He had chocolate brown hair and clear blue eyes that I would never forget.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Thank you for saving me.”
“No problem! I don’t mean to sound rude but what are you? You dress very strangely.”
“Oh. I’m a gypsy. But not any gypsy, a gypsy dancer. That’s why I dress differently than the rest of the gypsy bands.” I explained.
“That’s cool! What’s your favorite color?”
“Red.”
“Red? I thought that all girls liked pink?”
“I hate pink.”
“But isn’t pink a shade of red?”
“NO!” I said defiantly. “Red and pink are completely two different colors!”
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry I asked. What’s your favorite flower?”
“Roses. Deep red colored roses.”
This is what we did for about an hour. He asked questions I answered. I asked him questions, he answered them.
“Rawnie? Rawnie?”
“I better get going, the band is probably looking for me. Will you be here tomorrow?”
“No, actually I’m leaving for my home tomorrow, I’m at my friend’s summer house right now.”
“Oh. Okay. Come to my show! It’s at 3:00 p.m. ” I suggested
“Show?”
“Yea! I’m in a show that my gypsy band does to get money. Here are five tickets. Don’t be late!”
“RAWNIE!” someone yelled in the distance.
“I have to go, but I have a feeling that we will see each other after the show. I’m not sure when but we will and we won’t be able to recognize each other, but we will see each other again, and in this lifetime.”
“Okay. I’ll see you then, Rawnie. Here, take this, ” he said.
He put something in my hands. I opened up my hands and in my palm was a necklace. It had a star on it with many diamonds on it and then it went deeper in the center, and there were more diamonds.
“What?” I asked, bewildered that he would give me something this beautiful.
“My girlfriend broke up with me today, and I was going to give this to her, but I never got the chance, that’s why I came to the river, it calmed my thoughts. But you take it, I’ll know it’s you when we see each other if you wear this necklace. It’s the only one in the world made exactly like this.”
“Thank you, it’s beautiful.”
I spotted Jal coming through the trees and ran, waving at the man. I stopped and turned around, forgetting to ask for his name, but he was already gone. I stood there, rooted to the spot, staring at the place where I met the handsome young man, my hair blowing in my face, whipping across my face and then flying backwards.
“Rawnie! Are you alright? Whose jacket is this?” Jal asked a relieving tone in his voice.
“I’m fine and I just found this jacket lying on a rock. I left a note for the person, explaining that I’m borrowing it.”
Jal wrapped his hands around me and walked me back to camp.
“Look who I found!” he announced.
My mother rushed forward and embraced me, almost crushing me.
“I was so worried!”
“It’s okay Mom, I fell into a river and someone pulled me out and gave me this jacket.” I explained. “Actually, he left it on a rock, and I took it, but I left a note saying that I’m borrowing it.”
“Come, clean up, it’s time for the evening dance.”
I walked to my tent and changed into my favorite outfit. It was red with orange, yellow and gold in it. It was absolutely beautiful. I went out to the makeup and design tent and there, the artist painted a flame design from my stomach up to under my breasts. The abdomen area of the human body. She designed my face, putting orange and yellow swirls around the eyes. After the upper body was done, she moved on to my thigh and legs. My outfit was just a top that covered my breasts and a short skirt with built in shorts underneath. I walked out and practiced my act. We weren’t gypsy dancers that just danced in the band but we actually had a show that people pay to see.
“Welcome to the Water and Fire Gypsy Show! Our dancers are very talented and their designers and makeup artists are very talented at showing the water and fire. So please, enjoy.”
At that, the water group walked up, all calmly and well, water like. They danced around to calming music. All of them were blue or some shade of blue or color that represented water. Suddenly, the music changed to a very upbeat song and I knew that’s when I had to head out.
I leaped out onto the stage and felt the spotlights on my skin, hoping that the sparkles that the makeup artist put on showed. I danced with all my might, bending in all directions, leaping across the stage, and finally found my way to the fire group. The fire was on one side while the water was on the other. We danced back and forth, one going, then the next, it was like a fight to see who would last longer, the fire or the water. When it was close to the ending, we all mixed with each other and then up when steam. As the steam mixed into the air, everyone left except for me and the water leader. It was me and my rival, Roxanna. We just stared at each other while circling around the stage. Then we lunged at each other and tackled each other to ground. We kept at the acting, pushing, shoving, and throwing and finally we ran towards each other and the steam came up again and we ran out, the show was over.
“How was that ladies and gentlemen? Give it up to our dancers!” the ringmaster announced to the audience who were thundering us with applause. “Roxanne and Rawnie! Come on out!”
We walked out and stood on each side of the ringmaster. We waved to the crowd, blowing kisses in every direction.
“Rawnie here has a beautiful voice. Sing a song for us.”
“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly.”I said, modestly.
“Come on! Your voice is beautiful, it’s so…angelic,” he said.
I took the microphone and the spot light came on. I cleared my throat and started singing. I was singing Think of Me from the Phantom of the Opera. It was my favorite song. I absolutely loved it.
“…think of me.” I sang.
I bowed and was immediately greeted by a thunderous applause. Flowers started flying onto stage and I was startled. Nobody ever threw flowers at one of our shows. I was surprised even more when one of the flowers landed in my palm and a note was attached.
“Great job! Great job! Rawnie, you were amazing!” the ringmaster praised.
I bowed and walked out of the stage and into the dressing rooms and gulped down a bottle of water.
“I want to thank you all for coming tonight, and please, spread the word about us!” I said, with a gleaming smile. “We will be outside signing autographs and taking pictures.”
The lights turned on and the audience started leaving. I tossed the microphone to the technician and ran outside to sign autographs and take pictures. I walked out and there were so many flashing lights, I turned to see who they were taking a picture of. Roxanne.
“Has the competition already started, Roxi?”I asked.
“It’s always been on, Rawnie. Always and this time, I will beat you.”
“Whatever you say, Roxi.” I dismissed.
I got to my stand and instantly, about fifty people showed up. I greeted each person with a warm smile and signed their books and took a picture with them.
“Hey, Rawnie. I got some really cute guys next. What about you?” Roxanne taunted.
I finished a picture and looked at the guys. One of them was the male I saw earlier today. He looked up and smiled and walked over to me, his buddies tagging along.
“Hey, Roxanne. Now I got the cute guys. What about you?” I asked back in the same tone she used to me.
“Hello again,” he said. “You have a beautiful voice.”
“Thank you. Autograph and picture?” I asked.
“Sure.”
We smiled at the camera and I signed his paper.
“So your name is Rawnie Atela?” he asked.
“Yes, it means Lady Wanderer. Fits me, doesn’t it? What’s your name?
“Ethan Asher. It means strong and happy.”
I heard the bell ring and I knew that the carnival was over. I glanced back and saw the other members crowded in circles, nobody was going to mind if I was a little late to the group meeting.
“Nice name. Well, I have to go. See you whenever!” I said.
Ethan did something unexpected. I was expecting just a casual good-bye but what Ethan did was…astonishing! He bent down, him being at least six feet and me being the wonderful height of five feet five inches, and kissed me. I just stood there, fully shocked. I couldn’t move an inch, I couldn’t even blink, my mouth still in the position that it was before he kissed me.
“Rawnie? Are you okay?” he asked.
“What was that for?” I gasped.
“Well, I figured that we weren’t going to see each other soon so it’s just a good-bye kiss. Plus the next time we meet and I don’t remember you; I’ll just give you a kiss. I know what your lips feel like. They are very…unique. Well, I don’t want to hold you any longer. Good-bye, Rawnie,” he sighed.
He jogged off to his group of friends, his brown hair bouncing with each step he took. He turned around and waved his hand madly over his head and I returned the wave with a small wave and a smile.
“Come on, Rawnie. It’s time for dinner.” Jal said.
I walked over to the meal tent and I sat down, still in the fire outfit with all the makeup on my body.
“Congratulations to everyone, especially Rawnie! Who knew she had a voice like that?!” the ringmaster announced.
Everyone clapped but I was too tired to lift my hands. I excused myself from the table and asked for my makeup artist to remove all of the designs. I fell asleep for a little bit while the makeup artist removed all of the body art.
“You’re clean, Rawnie,” she announced.
“Thanks.” I managed to mumble.
I slowly walked to the tree I was sleeping in and climbed up the trunk and settled myself in its branches. It wasn’t all that difficult to fall asleep. I was pooped.
