sanpit
an excerpt

“Do not fear, strong ones. The Noi keep you until we meet again.” The words sounded familiar, almost a repeat of what she’d heard from their host. “Rest, children. Tomorrow is a long day.” He gestured each of them to a bed, and she found her eyes crossing with the boy’s again, his dainty face set hard and sharp against the dark.

The door was closed again, and the dark settled tight and cool on her skin. She shivered, goosebumps prickling across her skin and raising the hair at the back of her neck. She waited as she heard the breathing of each even out into sleep, an unfamiliar nervousness in her stomach at being in such an open room, surrounded by strangers.

“Are you awake?” a soft voice called from the other side of the room. She swallowed thickly, unsure of whether she wanted to answer. “I’m Dannaii. I just wanted to…” he paused for a long time, making her think he’d fallen back to sleep. “I just didn’t want to be alone,” he said finally, as the silence fell long between them.

She trembled in her bunk, limbs locked in upright position. She could see him there, the bed across from her own, watching the dark unseeingly. She watched him for a long time, barely daring to breathe, let alone speak. Finally, he lay his head down, giving up on hearing anything from the opposite side of the room.

As he fell asleep, he heard her speak, and a smile crossed his face sleepily. “You are not alone, Dannaii.”