Testing Alo
In which Alo faces his greatest challenge yet.
The following is the tenth installment of my serial novel, ALO & WYOME. If you missed chapter nine, you can read it here, or if you’re just starting out, you can read the first installment of ALO & WYOME here.
ALO LAY IN BEAD WITH A TERRIBLE SWEAT. Thoughts of death tossed him through the night. The men who abandoned their wives, either by choice or misfortune, haunted him. Asleep, he dreamed of wolves and festering wounds. Awake, he sat on the pallet he shared with Wyome and marveled that she slept despite his tossing and turning.
Alo stood from the bed and walked out the door to take in some cool air. The sky was at the point when it could either be very late at night or very early in the morning, but the air outside felt warm and did not refresh his sweaty skin.
Alo looked around. All was quiet in the hollow. He thought about the creek and its cool waters. The shallow bend he swam in yesterday lay just beyond the huts at the southern end of the hollow. He walked, then ran to the creek. The widows’ warning be damned. He wanted to cool off, and no one would be up to know he left the village.
He ran shirtless through the hollow, and when he came to the stream, he stripped down further. The cold water was shocking as he stepped in. He waded into the deepest part and submerged himself before his mind could protest. Air leaped from his lungs as soon as his head went under, but he remained below the surface for several breathless moments until his thoughts were clear. The widows and their dead husbands fled from his mind. When only pain and the desire for air were left, he succumbed to instinct and emerged gasping for life.
Many minutes passed, and Alo became cold, very cold, and shivered. His back was turned to the hollow, and he let his body suffer the bite from the breeze across his wet torso. As he turned to leave, a shadow moved before him on the bank. Every fear that had just evacuated from him came rushing back as he noticed the woman standing over his clothes, with a gray sky behind her.
“You are not supposed to be here,” said the shadow. “You’re not supposed to be anywhere without your bride.”
