Avian grasped air through his nose and mouth while trying to keep up with his elder brother, who had made a quick trip back to their house, returned, and was still ahead of him. That's just how fast he was.
Leon was tall and athletic. His face was softer than you would expect for a boy who regularly engaged in sports, labor, and other manly affairs. In a dull village like theirs, he was a talent that was treasured.
"Should we slow down?" he asked with a hint of concern.
Avian shook his head, not wanting to waste his breath.
It was necessary for them to reach the fields before anyone else noticed the grass and the word spread around. Although it would have been hard to notice the strand of grass from afar, the issue was that the animals would sense it from a distance and make a ruckus.
Avian tried to gather his thoughts and think of a plan. The people who usually went that way were the old man Shanji and his buffaloes, Granny Shuulja who used that route to cut across her own field, and Avian. Both of these characters were aged and hence went about their daily chores later than Avian, but sometimes Granny Shuulja would send her granddaughters instead, and that could be a problem as it was about time they usually went to their fields.
The well near the field also gathered women and girls who came to fetch water.
The wild dogs' behavior would definitely attract their attention.
It would only take one person to spread the word of the grass and a single look for others to confirm.
The family that was supposed to come tomorrow lived in the nearby village and had relatives within a family in Ruya itself. This was how the arrangement for the marriage had been made. It also meant that if word of the grass spread, it would reach their ears very quickly.
If they could divert the village's attention for two days, they would win.
Well, if the marriage was confirmed, then they would have to drag the secret a little longer, but they couldn't hide it forever. They would then have to reveal this affair to the family. But that was a matter for the future, and Papa would probably handle it all by himself at that point.
Avian thought of every point and concluded that the strategy they had developed could work.
"Did you get it?" Avian asked his brother.
"Yeah," Leon answered, handing him the big cloth pouch.
"Mumma was confused, and Talisha kept poking me about why I wanted it. I kept my mouth shut, of course, to annoy her," Leon said, laughing to himself. Avian managed a laugh despite the lack of air.
"Ok, it's time to split up, Avi. Be careful. I will be there soon."
And so the two brothers parted ways.
Avian was still heading towards the fields as fast as he could. He was tired, and the big pouch made it harder to run. It contained several dung cakes. Now that he was out of his brother's sight, he halted and tried to catch his breath.
His pride couldn't afford him to look weak in front of his brother.
"Just three more breaths, and then I run again. I can't let this stupid grass affect the marriage."
His sister had already rejected many suitors in the past month due to varying reasons. She was a woman of faith, and if the grass disturbed tomorrow's proceedings, she would take it as her own misfortune. Marking herself as the problem, she would then agree to marry the next suitor—whoever it was—even if he wasn't to her liking, just to free the family from her burden. Hence, to avoid that, Avian wanted tomorrow's meeting to go as smoothly as possible.
One. Two. Three. Go!
He muttered a small prayer to himself and started running again.
........
The wind brushed away the little sweat that had gathered on Leon's face, like a mother wiping her son's face. He made his way through the village, where the festival preparations were being set up. His job was to go to the house of the old man to persuade him not to go to the fields today and then look for Granny.
He also needed to pick up some stuff along the way. This route to the field was much longer, so it made sense for the faster of the two brothers to take it.
He hurried to the market, and his eyes darted around, trying to locate someone specific. They soon found what they were looking for.
"Papa." He found his father at a food stall.
"What are you doing here?"
Jatan was a man of peculiar appearance, who looked younger than his age and yet seemed as if time had bruised him in a brutal way. With a patch of black hair that seemed to recede further back every year, and a hint of beard and moustache, he had managed to keep the white strands at bay throughout his long years. He carried a slow energy around himself, paired with an easy and happy expression that comforted people. And hence Leon's shoulders eased up.
"This your boy?"
"Yeah, the big one," his father answered the shopkeeper. The stall owner was a merchant from another village. The village had never seen so many new faces; the festival was to be thanked.
"Why are you in such a hurry?" Jatan turned back to his son, who lacked the slightest hint of exhaustion.
"There are snakes in our field!"
Leon announced in a voice that was purposely too loud, making it easy for the bystanders to catch a piece of the news.
The crowd started gossiping immediately.
"Hey, you can't go there all by yourself? Come on, I will come too, let's go!" Jatan was energetic.
"No need, Papa! I'll handle it. I just need your flint ring."
Jatan quickly realized what he might be up to. He was also suspicious that little Avi was involved in this and had confidence in them to be able to handle this.
"Alright. You can have it. Here, take it—and take this too," he handed him a small cloth pouch.
"This has some jaggery in it. Take it to your mother when you get back and tell her I'll be late."
The last sentence marked a change in the boy's face.
Jatan patted his son on the shoulders. "Be careful now," and signaled him to go forward.
Leon slipped the ring on his finger and resumed his mission.
........
When Avian arrived at the scene, there was a woman drawing water from the well while another waited for her turn. They seemed to have just noticed the strange way the dogs were barking toward the field.
He took in a large gulp of air and released it all in the loudest voice.
"Give way! There are snakes over there!"
The women panicked instantly, dropping their earthen pots.
Avian was now between them.
"I found snakes today in our field. It's not safe here."
But the women were already on their way before hearing the full warning. They muttered blessings to the boy and headed back.
Avian blew a sigh of relief and then went to the grass.
He started digging a hole an arm's length from the Tusha.
He filled it with some wild grass and then the dung cakes.
Then he started searching for the stone.
His search had just ended when he heard the footsteps of his brother. "So quick!" he exclaimed in his head.
"Sorry I am late. Did you find the stone?"
"Yes," the answer was energetic.
Leon looked at the hole and nodded to himself approvingly. He then took the stone from Avian.
"I saw Granny at home, but the buffaloes weren't there. It seems the girls are on their way here."
He struck his ring against the stone, and sparks emerged. Soon, a fire emerged in the pit.
The smoke spread to blind the eyes.
Now that the fire was up, it just needed to burn till evening. Some more women came to the village well and were left undisturbed in their affairs by the brothers. When they asked questions, the brothers narrated their tales.
To the villagers, the fire was to smoke out the snakes, but in reality, it was a veil to hide the grass.
Avian turned to Leon and asked him to cut the end of the well's rope for him, while he was catching some rodents.
"What do you need a mouse for?" Leon asked.
"Precaution," Avian answered. It was not hard to catch a mouse while the black smoke pushed them out of their holes.
The Shuulja girls had gone on their way without trouble, offering nothing more than a wave to the siblings.
Although Avian knew these courtesies were meant for his brother and not for him.
Leon was tall, handsome, famous, and could run fast. Avian was short, messy, loud, and breathed too hard after a sprint. Despite the differences, there was no jealousy between the brothers, just appreciation.
Avian had finally managed to put a mouse in the pouch they had brought the dung cakes in.
When the girls returned from their duty, they made their way to the boys.
This was bad. It wasn't too hard to see the grass from close up, and the fire was nearing its end.
Leon hurried to greet them.
"We're smoking out snakes. It's dangerous here. You should go home."
"Are you worried about us?"
The elder sister, Laya, had a thin smile. The younger sister, Liya, had a broad one. They both had red cheeks.
"Stop flirting with my brother. He doesn't like you. We're worried about anyone who passed this place without notice," Avian invited himself into the conversation with his hands behind his back. He had the posture of an old man.
"We aren't flirting! Where are your manners?"
Liya was red, either with anger or embarrassment.
Leon had grown up and couldn't be rude to the girls. Avian had no such problem.
"You've got a big mouth for your height," Liya said.
"Still couldn't fit teeth as big as yours."
Avian did not hold back. The girl's face shrunk in embarrassment. Her lips shut themselves to curtain the aforementioned teeth.
"Don't be rude, little brother," Leon said with a failed effort to conceal his laughter upon hearing the joke.
"We're just here to help."
"We can help. Snakes don't scare us."
The sisters were synchronized and unrelenting in their refusal to head back.
They pushed forward to help, slightly in the direction of the elder brother, when something was thrown at them.
"Alright then, help me with this?"
The pouch that Avian threw at them had the contour of a reptile—and it wiggled unnaturally in the air.
The pouch was still in the air when the girls realized the terror of what was happening and ran home, screaming and crying.
Avian felt a little remorse for them as their figures vanished into the horizon.
"What's this—"
Leon hadn't finished his question when the pouch hit the ground and a mouse escaped from it.
"Precaution," Avian answered with a brimming smile.
Leon no longer needed to hide his laughter as he pulled the rope out of the pouch.