The Seal Stone

I was holding my two favorite things in my hand: blackberries and strawberries. I couldn't help but feel like I had to choose one. Did I like blackberries more or strawberries? First, I popped the strawberry from my palm into my mouth and took a satisfying bite. Then I ate the blackberry. I was seven years old now and should be able to decide what I liked and didn't like.

I hadn't wandered far from home, but I kept reminding myself that I had to go back before my grandfather returned. He didn't like me coming into the woods, but no one could keep me away from these strawberries and blackberries. I threw myself into the shade of a tree, hungrily eating the fruit in my hand while looking around for more blackberry bushes.

I turned around immediately when I heard a faint crackling sound behind me. Standing up, I headed in the direction of the noise, but there was no one in sight.

I have a feeling this curiosity will be the end of me.

Still, despite this vast forest, no one could scare me. I was a fearless girl. My grandfather always talked about how I looked like an Amazon woman and told stories about how strong and brave they were. I wanted to be one of them too, and now I had my chance to be an Amazon woman.

After walking a little further, I saw a thin boy about my height behind a tree. "There he is," I thought, "the friend I've been looking for!" He was wearing brown shorts and white suspenders. He had already seen me coming and stared without taking his eyes off me. I approached him with a smile, but he backed away.

"Hello!" I called out.

This time, the boy started approaching me. Even though it made me nervous, I couldn't help examining him. He had a large, old scar on his neck-I figured he had fallen and it left a mark. There was something in his hand that he was holding tightly, trying to hide. When he realized I was looking at his hands, he immediately hid them behind his back.

He looked around first, as if torn between speaking or remaining silent. I couldn't move at all as he slowly walked toward me. His eyes widened. "Are you a fairy?"

"Actually, I'm an Amazon woman. Grandpa always says so," I said, crossing my arms. Where did the fairy thing come from?

He took a few deep breaths, raising his nose as if sniffing me, and circled around me twice. "You're human," he whispered, his words showing how surprised he was. Why was he surprised? After all, everyone was human. Even my grandfather was human.

"Shall we play a game?" I said, reaching out to take him by the arm and lead him to the big tree where I had been sitting.

Instead, he pushed me to the ground with a growl and came toward me. My arm hit the sharp stones on the ground, and I couldn't hold it in anymore-I started to cry. I raised my arm and looked at it; the skin was scraped and bleeding, which made me cry even harder.

I tried to stand up to complain to my grandfather, but the boy stopped his wheezing and knelt beside me. He grabbed my arm and brought it closer to look at the wound, his earlier anger replaced by a compassionate expression.

When I saw the red stone he was squeezing in his other hand, I forgot all my pain. It was the most beautiful stone I had ever seen in my life. "What's that?" I asked, pointing at it.

He squeezed his hand again and hid it behind his back, as if he had accidentally shown something he shouldn't have.

"Can I have a look too?" I asked. I wanted to play with the red stone.

Although he hesitated, he brought his hidden hand back in front of my eyes, though his palm remained tightly shut. I raised my hand and touched his. As I slowly opened his fingers, the red stone shone in his palm.

When I tried to pick it up, he immediately pulled his hand back and stood up.

"Let's play with it," I sang out.

I got up and walked toward the tree, making sure to check if he was following me. I slapped my hand on the log beside me and gestured for him to come over. He seemed like a very shy kid, but I needed a friend after all, so I didn't want to scare him away.

"Can we be friends?" I asked.

The boy looked around as if thinking of something else. "I have to hide it," he said timidly-it was the first time I had heard his voice. He was pointing to the stone in his hand.

"Sure!" I said immediately. Like him, I looked around for a safe place to hide the red stone. It was tiny, but its vibrant color could easily give it away.

"From the wolves," he whispered.

This excited me. After all, I was a kid who ran from one adventure to another. I quickly got up and started searching, but I still couldn't find a good hiding spot.

"Who are we hiding it from?" I asked. After all, I needed to know our enemy.

The boy stood up beside me and grabbed my injured arm, staring at the scraped skin. "I think we can put the stone here," he said.

I looked at him like he was crazy. "It hurts," I said, pulling my arm from his grasp. Even though the stone was small, my wound ached and I didn't want anyone touching it.

"It's small," he said. "I think we can hide it inside. Then the wound will close, and no one will ever find the stone."

I looked at my wound, then quickly nodded. Both of our eyes shone with excitement. He gently pressed the stone onto my wound, and it sank right into my skin and disappeared. It was the most astonishing thing I had ever seen, and strangely, it didn't hurt at all. The boy started laughing, and I joined in.

"It's a secret!" he said knowingly. "You can't tell anyone. Just the two of us."

"Our secret," I whispered. It was my very first secret, and I wasn't going to tell a soul. Amazon woman's word.

We played games every day for a month, always meeting under the same tree. His name was Cesur. He constantly talked to me about wolves-they were the reason for the scar on his neck, though he insisted it didn't hurt much. He even promised to introduce me to them one day, claiming the wolves were his friends.

I don't know how many days I waited for Cesur under that tree, but he never came back. Even though I've lost track of the years, I'm still waiting for him deep down. I don't even know if I would recognize him if I saw him after all this time, and sometimes I even doubt whether he's still alive.

Our secret is still safe. I never dared to tell anyone about our mischief. We trusted each other, and I still do.

The wound on my arm has never healed. Some nights the pain is so intense that I've considered slicing it open to pull the stone out.

The only thing stopping me is the promise I made to Cesur.