Chapter 2a

“Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” I asked, looking back and
forth from Sor to the group of people I had known my entire life.

Still, no one said anything. Instead, they acted like I was a stranger. I only
stood there until the wind blew, causing a few of the petals stuck to me to
flap in the wind. I picked at one that looked like it was about to fall off and
snatched it off my body.

I watched as it landed in the grass then looked where I’d pulled it.
Underneath were even more petals stuck to me. I tried to start on another
patch that was stuck to my arm.

“Sor, will you help me get these off?”

“Sure,” he said in a quiet voice as if he was afraid of letting anyone else hear
him answer.

“I’ll help, too,” Omry chimed in.

I felt like I was some kind of decoration slowly being taken down at the end
of the season, piece by piece, petal by petal, poppy by poppy.

I didn’t mind removing the top layers of the poppy petals; it was the ones
that clung on top of my skin that stuck to me the hardest. They were
stubborn, and for a second, I wondered if they were clinging onto me for
dear life.

It was when I ripped one in half that I realized that they didn’t want to come
off. If I didn’t get them off me soon, they would probably never come off.
Would I have to walk around covered in flowers for the rest of my life?
Chapter 2a

There were a few people walking by that stopped to see why everyone was
gathered around staring. I had become the spectacle today, and I’d
definitely be tomorrow’s gossip.

“Rabbit?” A familiar voice asked.

I looked up, and it my mother, a tall woman in a dyed woven dress that went
to her ankles.

“Mom?”

She dropped everything that she was carrying in her hands and ran to me.
People moved out of the way as she ran past them.

“Rabbit? Are you okay? Will you tell me what’s going on?” She asked,
hugging me tight before giving me a chance to answer her questions.

“I was on Cliff Deos with Sor and his little brother. At first, I was just looking
at the village from above, and then I just got a little curious,” I said, looking
at Sor. He stared at his bare feet. Even though it was him who suggested
that I look at the red poppies, I didn’t want to get him in trouble.

“Curious about what?” My mother asked, shaking me by the shoulders to

continue with my story.

“T-the poppies. I got curious about the poppies.”

“Oh, Rabbit. Why would you do that? You were never interested in our
village’s poppies before.” She squeezed my small body to hers as she
hugged me in an even stronger embrace. She seemed to be the only one
who wasn’t concerned that I was covered in poppy petals.
Chapter 2a

“I just wanted to get a look at them, just this once. I won’t go on Cliff Deos
again, I promise,” I said, shaking my head so she’d know that I’d meant
every word that I was saying. For some reason, tears began forming in my
eyes.

My mother put a warm hand on each side of my face and looked me straight
in the eye. It was comforting considering that the rest of me was cold and
dripping. “Don’t you worry about a thing, Rabbit. You’ll be just fine. Now,”
she said with a deep breath, “let’s get these things off you.”

With my mother’s strong hands, we got so much more done, and we finally
peeled away most of the layers of the poppies. They fell at my feet, and
some even landed in the lake, but none of them drifted away. They just
rotated in slow circles in place.

As we ripped the final petals off my skin, my mother spun me around to

make sure that we hadn’t missed anything. When my back was facing her,
she stifled a quiet gasp.

Looking over my shoulder, I asked, “What’s wrong? Didn’t we get them all?”

When no one said anything, I knew that something was wrong. I was pretty
sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that I had climbed Cliff Deos.

Everyone came closer to get a look at whatever my mother was staring at.
They formed a half circle and began whispering and staring.

“Melea!”

My mother turned around and said, “Paurus” as she embraced my father

that stood beside her.

“What’s going on with Rabbit?”

Chapter 2a

She didn’t answer; she just started crying. I’d never seen my mother cry
before. She was normally a strong woman. I thought she could do anything.
When my father got sick and couldn’t work, she took his place, tending to
crops and carrying water.

But now, she wasn’t the same person who could carry just as much bunches
of wheat as any man in the village, she was the woman crying into my
father’s shoulder. All I could see of her was her neck and the tightly pulled
back bun that she always kept her hair in.

My father stared at my back, and a look of shock came on his face similar to
that of my mother’s. He didn’t cry, but looked like he really wanted to.

The gossip came to an abrupt stop when the village elders Arates and Thies
arrived, walking slowly. The half circle parted to allow them to pass.

“This is a glorious day for our village of Matza Pira,” Arates said, a smile
adding additional wrinkles to her face.

“It is indeed,” Thies said. He had a habit of agreeing with whatever Arates
said.

Arates walked up to my back where a patch of my dress had been torn when
my mother, Sor, and Omry had a hard time removing the poppy petals. I
watched carefully as Arates brought her worn hand up to the back of my
shoulder and ran her fingertips over my shoulder.

I felt her trace something on my skin. It ticked a little, but I don’t think it
would have been appropriate to break out in laughter.

Arates smiled an even bigger, brighter smile. She stretched her lips so much
that her wrinkles were covering her eyes; it made her look like she was
squinting.
Chapter 2a

“What’s going on, Arates?” I finally gathered up the courage to ask. It

seemed like I was the only one who didn’t know.

“You have been chosen, my child,” Arates said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Arates didn’t answer me. Instead, she walked to my mother and father. My
mother looked up to face the elder.

“This is a great day, Melea. Do not lament.”

“You’re right,” My mother said, dabbing at her tears. She squeezed my

father’s hand and tried to look happy, but I knew that she was still worried.

Arates joined Thies and they began to talk among themselves. He nodded a
lot and then he began to address the crowd that was gathered in front of
him.

“This child has been chosen personally by the poppies,” Thies said, his hands
outstretched. “She has the insignia on the back of her shoulder.”

My eyes widened. Insignia? What insignia?

I looked over my shoulder and stared at the area that Arates had touched.
And right where Thies had mentioned was what he’d called an insignia. It
looked like it’d been stamped deep into my skin in black ink, and I was sure
that no amount of water would make it come off.
Chapter 2a

“Young Rabbit has been chosen to become our scapegoat. She is the EK2A.
She is our hope for the village and for the world.”

“Scapegoat? Hope? Hey, what’s that supposed to mean, Thies?”

He turned around and looked at me with a smile. His didn’t look as joyous as
Arates did. I was sure that there was something malicious or at least
mischievous in that smile. And I didn’t like it one bit.

“Mom, dad, what’s going on?” I asked as I put my hands on both, but they
wouldn’t answer me.

My father just shook his head and said, “It wasn’t supposed to be like this,
Rabbit. I’m sorry.”

I ran from them both and started going to different people, people I thought
would be able to help me, but they just backed away from me like I was
some sort of plague.

What did they mean by “scapegoat”? And what was an EK2A?

The people started to back away in waves. I couldn’t believe this. These
were people I thought I could trust, but when I need them, they just abandon
me.

I ran as far as I could until I looked over my shoulder and they became as
small as ants and then vanished from my sight. I sat in the grass for a
moment to think, exhausted. In my mind, all I could see was them all staring
at me, like I was an attraction or some marvelously hideous animal in
captivity.

I didn’t understand why there were treating me this way. I was the same
Rabbit that loved to skip doing chores so I could daydream and climb trees
Chapter 2a

early in the morning so I could watch the sun rise from the branches. There
wasn’t anything different about me, except—

Except I was red now.

I stared at my hands and feet amongst the bright green grass. The two
colors were so intense that they were starting to make me feel a little dizzy.

It must have happened when the poppy petals latched onto me while I was in
the water. That was how we dyed things here in Matza Pira, and I had been
dyed bright red like a piece of cloth.

I looked up, and the sun was about to set. It was then that I decided to head
back home. Maybe people had started to forget about all of this scapegoat
nonsense and finally gotten back to their lives.

When I got home, my family was having dinner around the little fire in our
clay hut.

“Rabbit, where were you?” My father asked. “I was about to go and look for
you.”

“I just needed a moment alone to do some thinking.”

“About what?”

My mother stared at my father and gave him a stern look. That was the
Melea I was used to seeing. Things felt back to normal. Almost.

“Have something to eat. I made all of your favorites,” she said as she fixed
me a bowl. “There’s fish soup, almond seed bread, and I made raspberry
tarts.”
Chapter 2a

“Really?”

Putting a bowl in front of me, she said, “Sure. We wanted to cheer you up.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“No, it’s fine,” my father said. “Just forget about everything that happened
today.”

“You mean you’re both okay with the fact that I went and climbed Cliff
Deos?”

They exchanged glances for a moment, and my mom said, “It’s done now.
There’s no point in us getting upset about it.”

“Eat your dinner, Rabbit, before it gets cold,” my father said with a pat on
my back.

I ate everything, and my mother even offered me seconds. She never let us
have seconds, not even for my father. She said that it was wasteful and
gluttonous for us to keep eating.

“Do we have something to drink?” I asked. The almond seeds were getting
stuck in my teeth, and the raspberry tarts, which were delicious, made me
thirsty.

“Have some coconut milk,” my father offered. He held out a large clay
container and poured the coconut milk into my empty bowl where I had
enjoyed two helpings of fish soup.
Chapter 2a

“But I thought the coconut milk was just for special occasions. Did you
change your mind, dad?”

He looked nervous when I asked him that, and he looked to my mother for a
quick answer. She had one ready as usual.

“It is a special occasion, Rabbit, now drink up.”

I drank the coconut milk in a few gulps, and it was sweeter than I
remembered the last time that we all drank coconut milk together.

“Would you like another?” My father asked, ready to pour more.

“No, I’m good, dad.” I chuckled.

“Something funny?” He asked.

“Not really. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to fatten me
up.”

“No, we just love you so much, Rabbit. That’s all,” my mother said as she
started to hug me. It was quiet for a while, and I thought that she would
start crying.

“That was really good, mom. Thank you.”

“Don’t give me all the credit. Your father helped, too. It was actually his
idea to make you this special dinner.”
Chapter 2a

I pulled away from my mother’s arms, and stared up at her face. The light of
the fire danced on her round, tan face. It looked like she was making faces
at me, but it was completely still.

“It was?”

She looked at my father and said, “It sure was.”

My father hugged us both, and I tried to remember the last time that we’d all
hugged like this.

“Does anyone want to hear a story?” My father asked.

“Sure,” I said.

“I could use a story.”

“Okay,” my father began, “I’ll tell the one about why your mother decided to
name you Rabbit.”

“Oh, that’s a lovely story, Paurus.”

My father looked at me as his face grew lively. He never looked this excited
unless he was telling us a story.

“Well, before your mother had you, all that she used to talk about was how
much she wanted a pet rabbit. She was even starting to have dreams about
a little rabbit running free in a large field. Then, when she found out that
she was with child, she said that she could feel that you were a girl.
Chapter 2a

“As she carried you inside of her stomach, she saw the rabbit in her dream
almost everyday, and the little rabbit told her that it wanted to go on
adventures. Your mother said that when you kicked, it was like a rabbit
running. When she finally gave birth to you, you were pale like snow, and
you reminded her of the little rabbit from her dreams.

“You looked so peaceful when you first opened your eyes, and she named
you Rabbit. To this day, she believes that it was you who visited her night
after night in her dreams telling her your desires,” my father said, looking
from me to my mother with a little smile on his face. Just as my eyes were
falling closed, I saw my father plant a kiss on my mother’s cheek.

***

I rolled over in my sleep, and I looked around to see if my parents were

sleeping. I was the only one in our hut. I felt around, but there was no one
there. My hand wandered into the area where the fire had been earlier, and I
felt the black ash cover my soft skin.

I looked up, and there was a tall woman standing over me. It wasn’t my
mother. With her strong hands, she latched onto my ankles with a tight grip
and yanked me from under my knit blanket, dragging me out of our hut.

I clawed at the tan dirt underneath me, but I was only successful at making
soft, thin lines in the earth. I clawed and scraped, but I was never able to get
a good grip. Dragging me past a tree, I was able to hold on, but she pried
my fingers loose, and I was left holding bark.

She hoisted me over her left shoulder and carried me to the middle of the
village where a lively fire burned, sending a large cloud of smoke into the
still dark sky. Everyone from the village, including my parents, was there
surrounding the bonfire like they were about to perform some sort of
sacrifice.
Chapter 2a

The large woman dumped my limp body on the hard earth like I was a sack
of potatoes and walked away, dusting herself off with an angry grunt. I
jumped up and started after her.

“Hey! Hey! Who do you think you are? You can’t just barge in someone’s
hut and drag them to the middle of the village. There are rules, and you
have to respect them!”

I was busy with beating the dust off my dress when Arates and Thies
approached me. The last time that I saw them, they made a big deal about
some strange markings on my shoulder, and then people looked at me like I
was a freak of nature.

I stared at the two of them and crossed my hands across my chest.

“All right, which one of you is going to tell me what’s going on?”

Thies licked his lips in that same dirty smile that he always made, but he
didn’t say anything. I should have known that I wasn’t going to get anything
out of him. I was still staring warily at him when Arates took my hand into
the two of hers.

“I suppose we do owe you an explanation, young Rabbit,” Arates said.