Indeed, Lok had slept late this morning. All the excitement from yesterday, having been given a tour of his cousins’ favorite hang-outs at the center of town. The two had pulled him along, this way and that, to the arcade, to the malt shop and to the roller-rink. As much fun as he had had, Lok had exhausted himself out. Now, as he laid sleeping, snuggled under warm blankets, he heard his name being called from beyond his closed door. Groaning, he slit open his eyes and blinked himself awake in the harsh morning light.
“Who in heck gets up THIS early?” he complained, but he got up anyways and shuffled his feet downstairs. The smell of breakfast stirred his hunger. He sat down next to Gulnara and gave his Uncle Rinaar a sheepish grin, “Sorry Uncle Rinaar, all this excitement done pooped me out.”
He smiled at his Aunt Surja, “Something sure does smell wonderful, Aunt Surja! Boy am I famished! My mom says you’re a better cook than even our palace chef. I can’t wait to see if she was right! Give me a heaping double of whatever you’re cooking.”
He smiled wider, ignoring the mushy love stuff going on between his Aunt and Uncle in the kitchen.
Casting a glance at his cousin, he giggled, “My Mom and Dad do the same kissy thing. I’m used to it already. ”
After his Aunt fixed him breakfast, Lok dug in with enthusiasm. His luggage was already still packed, so there was nothing much for him to do except wait until they were underway. He insisted on sitting next to both cousins so they could entertain themselves with games along the long ride. He had brought a deck of cards and would show them how to play War, Go Fish, and Crazy Eights.
The smile in his eyes at seeing the delicious steaming hot plate of food was soon replaced by an expression of shock as it was shoved into his chest, instead of placed on the table in front of him. Before he had a chance to voice his dismay, his wife revealed her playful intentions with a light tone of, “got you”, following her clumsy actions. His daughter was laughing at the wide-eyed incredulous look that he wore on his face. Rinaar shut his hung open jaw and tilted his head down to examine the damage, began picking off chucks of spilled food and eating them, as if to not let the deliciously cooked breakfast meal go to waste. He shrugged as if it didn't bother him in the very least as Gulnara rescued him a second plate of food, which he ate with gusto.
“I just have a few prearrangement that need to be done before we hit the road.”, he said after unbuttoning and removing his food soiled shirt and bundling it up for the laundry.
“Where’s that cousin of yours?”, he asked of his daughter, “Tell him to get a move on. “
His nephew Lok had agreed to join them on this adventure. After the wedding of his brother, the son of his wife’s sister had accompanied the MoQcwu family back to Kazakhstan. They had not pressured Lok to help with chores around the house, giving him a chance to settle in and make himself more at home. Since he had not yet come down for breakfast, it was assumed that he had slept late.
Barechested, Rinaar gave Surja a hug and a kiss, wrapping his arms tenderly around her waist. He looked deep into her beautiful eyes and found himself lost there. His blood stirred, as did his maleness harden.
“I’m glad that we decided to invite nephew Lok to join us”, he smiled sexily at Surja, “Those three youngsters can entertain themselves and each other, while you and I spend some quality time in private together. It’ll be like a second honeymoon.”
Surja
looked forward to their trip to the mountains, the longing for the high peaks
and the beautiful scenery had never left her, in the mountains, she found a new
Surja and especially the love of her life. Yes Rinaar was right she had
romantic dreams that the family stayed overnight in caves and hunted for food.
She had for many years wished for her children to experience the place where
they found love. Rinaar`s careless way to describe their trip irritated her,
but as always he managed to save it. Typical. Surja felt like laughing, but
suppressed it while listening to his next words, it was absolutely incredible
with all the praise he expressed to rescue the situation.
It was
clear that he expected a mad face from her and yelling, but Surja acted as if
nothing was wrong when she slowly turned and smiled at him. In a hand she had
his breakfast on a plate “Darling here is your breakfast” She said with a sweet
voice while stepping closer towards him. Instead of placing it in front of him
at the table she smacked the filled plate on his chest “Ohh how clumsy of
me..darling” Laughing aloud she stared at him watching his breakfast slowly
running down along his chest “Got you”
Gulnara
started laughing while Surja fetched 2 new filled plates “I heard every word my
love, you are amazing..ohh and all your praising words..oh my gawd” At that
moment she could not help but laugh and laugh and she was close to lose the
filled plates in her hands. Gulnara quickly grabbed them to save what was left
while she turned her face first looking at her mom and then her dad. Her mom
bent down in laugh and her dad looked really funny, surprised was the word.
It was a familiar routine for mornings to be so hectic in the MoQcwu household. Now that the children were teenagers, breakfast was not much of a family gathering anymore. His wife Surja was more of a short order cook, catching Nurzhan before he rushed out the door with sloppily combed hair. She tossed him a paper bag meal prepared to meet his specific nutritional needs. Even as hungry as Rinaar was, he pacified himself with a brewed cup of coffee while he waited for his breakfast. Like clockwork, his son sped by with a cordial greeting and a dietary interception by his mother. Rinaar threw in a comment about the predicted weather, “The humidity is expected to be high today, so make careful sure that you stay hydrated, my son. Take my canteen along with you. It’s already refilled and hanging on a nail in the barn. ”
The mountain-man always made sure to refill his canteen with fresh water every evening. The cooler night air and insulation kept it refreshing. Next, he heard his daughter Gulnara quieting her dog, Lunar. Immediately, his wife began putting together a second paper bag meal. But instead of rushing outside, like her brother did, Gulnara surprised her Dad with a hug and then the pleasure of her company. She would eat breakfast sitting down, this time. Surja sensing this fact, and forego the bag to pull out a clean plate instead.
Rinaar appraised his pretty daughter through the steam of his coffee as he sipped slowly. He responded to her inquiry, “A journey, yes … but not entirely a vacation, at least not for me. The fur trade is becoming very competitive these days, and I need to venture off the beaten path of potential buyers. Your mother has romantic notions for an anniversary getaway, and I see an opportunity to expand my horizon of prospects. It’s like killing two birds with one stone, if I may be so blunt.”
Rinaar glanced worriedly at his wife, hoping that his analogy was not too offensive to her. She was in the process of setting down the hot plate of food in front of their daughter. Rinaar smiled, knowing that next was his turn for breakfast, and also as a hopeful peace offering to Surja for his earlier blunt comment.
“You two will get a chance to see where we met, and ultimately fell in love”, he added quickly with a wink at his daughter, “It wasn't your typical fairy-tale boy meets girl, and live happily ever after, like Prince Charming and Cinderella, but it was something just as special … at least for us.”
Rinaar reached to Surja’s hand and nestled his palm around the back knuckles of hers.
His stomach growled noisily. Rinaar grimaced, re-adjusting his posture, “We can go trout fishing too and have breakfast by an open campfire with fresh picked wild herbs. Your Mom is a fantastic cook, by the way, whether its inside a kitchen or outside in the wilderness."
Noise in
the kitchen, Gulnara crawled out of the bed and donned her morning robe, Nurz
was right she had to hear the words from her parents. She was still sleepy but
too excited to sleep it was not often she was up at dawn. Suddenly the sound of
a barking dog outside in the garden disturbed the morning silence, the bright
orange and yellow sun peeked out between the mountains in the distance. A sight
her mom would love. Irritated of the barking dog she opened the window and
yelled *Hush Lunar* Gulnara loved her dog, Lunar was just a puppy when Gulnara
bought her at the market, now she was a grown scary dog in her own eyes.
Wagging the
dog barked and ran to her and started to lick her hands *Good morning Lunar*
Gulnara yawned aloud while Lunar ran in circles around the garden *Yes morning
and hopefully a good day*
Gulnara stretched and opened the door, soon
after she entered the kitchen and saw her dad *Dad…good morning* Lovingly she
hugged him and pulled in a chair by the table *Dad I heard you and mom last
night, are we going on a trip..adventure?* Her eyes shone eagerly smiling at
him as she sat on the chair.
Nurzhan
snorted as he sat on the bed, "Do not look so innocent, you have certainly
ruined my day, the wolves will howl in derision at the sight of my tired eyes
and the bears will rejoice themselves that I am an easy prey, only because we
are going to the mountains "Grinning he kissed her cheek," Yes, I
forgive you sis, but let's just hear it from mom and dad before you look too
much for it .. ok sis "
He smiled
at her and rose from the bed, "My horse is waiting maybe we will know more
when I return" He bowed at her and swung his arm gallantly "Beautiful
princess of the Nunar Clan, may your day be great, I hear noise in the kitchen,
maybe mom or dad"
Nurzhan
left the room and greeted kindly at his dad when he entered the kitchen
"Morning dad, I'm going out on my morning ride"
A few minutes
later his horse galloped towards the Kazakh Steppes.
Terrified
Gulnara screamed and laughed at the same time. * NURZ STOP OHHH PLEASE STOP *
Out of breath, she sat up when he finally stopped the torture and rubbed her
tired eyes.
* Come sit
* Eager she knocked on the mattress and moved a little to the side to make room
for him *I am sorry * Giggling she stroked a hand through her long unruly hair
and looked innocently at him * We are going on an adventure, I heard mom and dad,
they were talking about it last night, I was so happy and it was hard to sleep.
I am sorry, please forgive me, I believe we are going to the mountains, mom
said something about visiting the village they stayed in many years ago…..ohh
Nurz….adventure* Gulnara laughed while throwing her arms around his neck *Do
you forgive me my grumpy bro?*
There was
no doubt about that Nurzhan loved his sis, nobody should ever hurt her, he
would kill for her, but oh my gawd she was annoying sometimes. That stupid girl
couldn`t stay in her bed for some reason.
He was in a grumpy mood this morning, the lack
of sleep irritated him, all night or almost he heard her talking, laughing and
her footsteps on the floor. Nurzhan was already dressed ready for his morning
ride at the steppes however that girl needed to be shaken. Angry he swallowed a
crust of bread and walked from the kitchen straight to her door knocking hard
with a fist, he didn`t wait for response and kicked the door open with a foot.
Really, he thought, could she sleep in the noise he made?
She was
sleeping like a baby, grinning aloud he pulled her blanket aside and yelled “
SIS may the gods forgive you, it was hard for me to sleep this night, what on
earth made you run back and forth?” He started tickle her “ Damn you sis”
Adventure!
Gulnara loved adventures, the whole family? Gulnara pulled the blanket aside
and rose from the bed. Slowly, with small steps she walked to the door that
stood slightly ajar, she had just heard that they were going on adventures. Mom
and dad spoke softly but she had heard every word. Gulnara peeked out to hear
the rest, her heart jumped of joy when mom suddenly said (I'm sure the kids
will love it, maybe we can visit the village we lived in when we were young)
Gulnara did not hear the rest of the conversation
between her parents, happiness filled her mind as she jumped towards the bed
and threw her body on it. It was hard to sleep and she kept talking to herself
and laughed, Gulnara with her 16 years of age had often been on long journeys
but never high up in the mountains. *Oh what a joy*She said as she turned and
turned her body until she exhausted fell asleep.
