Cierra closed her eyes for a second, enjoying the sun rays as she felt the breeze softly shuffle her hair. Her hands soaking in the river’s water; the day was not so bad, at least the good days were back. Unfortunately the pleasant breeze also brought the gossip to her ears, the news started to go around that she and Elias couldn’t manage to have kids on their own. Wasn’t it a shame, living on the lands of the weaver and not being able to bear a healthy child. There was no mockery in the women's whispers, but it didn’t make it any better. The pity in their eyes made it even more difficult to support their not so sneaky glances. At least with mockery she would have a reason to be angry at them.
She concentrated again on the task at hand, cleaning the laundry with vigor until her hands hurt. The fresh water turned cold but physical pain kept the bad thoughts at bay. Finally, she finished her basket which made her feel a bit better. Manual tasks had this effect on her, it calmed her mind.
She picked up her basket of washed laundry and started to make her way back, stopping one last time to fully enjoy the sun; the cover of the trees could be a bit too protective sometimes.
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As she started walking again she heard a gasp coming from the women still working by the river. Looking at the startled women she could see their hands pointing up the river. There were three 4 small baskets slowly making their way toward them. Following the flow of the river like they were where they should be, it almost seemed natural, like they belonged here.
The stillness of this absurd situation was broken when a cry emerged from one of the baskets. Like a signal for the other babies floating lazily on the river, they all started crying.
Cierra let her basket fall and started to run toward those poor souls. With the help of the other women they managed to retrieve the baskets to find 4 newborns swaddled in some white cloth.
Three of them were crying. The last one was letting his amber eyes wander on all those new faces.
When Cierra took him in her arms, the baby’s eyes focused on her and a small smile appeared on his chubby face. A lonely tear made its way on her face while she got lost in his gaze.
Walking back toward her home, and hopefully the baby’s future home, she stopped one last time to look at the sky and she muttered a quiet:
“Thank you.”