Siya

Siya wiped her forehead as she watched the sunset over the hills, she was exhausted and the heaviness of the basket that was tied around her waist did not help her feel any better. As always, she was the only person left in the coffee bean fields; the other workers had left hours ago but this did not bother her. She would stay as long as she had to until her basket was filled;. “Done” she whispered, standing and stretching her back. She looked over the endless rows of coffee bean fields that stretched over the land past what her eyes could see , “Feels like my dreams, they are as endless as the coffee bean fields.” She shook her head clearing her thoughts as she had to hurry home before it got too dark. She was grateful for the coolness of dirt against her feet as she made her way through the path. With each step she took deep breaths of air until it was no longer thick with the greenery of the fields, this meant that she was close to her home. The sound of a familiar cry in the distance caught her attention, Siya held on to the basket of coffee beans and picked up her pace almost running towards the sound.

After a few moments, Siya was out of breath but she had made it to her home, she pushed aside the long wool curtain that covered the entrance of her hut and stepped inside, “She’s been a little grouchy” Kee exclaimed. Kee was her neighbor and had become a very close friend to her, “Yes, yes she is probably hungry” Siya untied the basket from her waist letting it plop against the clay floor. She then took her baby gently from Kees’ arms, “Thank you for watching her Kee” Kee smiled, “ I must go tend my mother,” Kee exclaimed, Siya nodded watching as Kee hurriedly made her way out of her hut. “Shhhh, shhh” she whispered against the crying baby’s ear, “What to feed you?” Siya rocked the baby as she walked to the cluttered table of baby clothes, garden tools and scarves until she found one single orange. It was the only thing she had left, she breathed a sigh of relief as she grabbed her baby’s empty bottle, cut an opening in the orange and squeezed it until there was nothing left. The juice from the orange filled the bottle half way. “Better than nothing” she whispered, closing the cap of the bottle. She pressed the bottle against her baby's lips and her baby eagerly latched on and drinked until her eyes slanted sleepily. Siya smiled, rocking her baby until she finally fell asleep. She laid the baby gently on the bed of sheep wool, “Sleep well” she whispered. Siya frowned as her stomach growled from hunger,Just tough it out until tomorrow Siya she told herself. She nodded in agreement with herself, she was so eager to go to the market. She knew that they were closed , but she wanted to walk down there right now just so she could be the first to exchange her goods and finally be able to eat. She felt like she hadn't eaten in months but it had been three days and due to her only having enough food to feed her daughter, she wasn't eating enough to produce breast milk. Siya rolled on her back and stared at the ceiling, she hoped all the baskets of coffee beans would be enough to buy food that would last a full week. “God above,” she whispered, “Please, please let me make enough tomorrow ...at least enough to feed me and my daughter, please God.” Siya watched a shooting star in the sky through the large whole in her hut, “Please God” she whispered. Her eyelids were so heavy, she finally closed them and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

The morning sun casted a beautiful light upon the forest and the path that was towards the market. Siya was pulling her cart that contained five baskets of coffee beans that she had picked throughout the week. She was tired but was excited to finally exchange her coffee beans for pay, it was the only thing that was keeping her going as she walked along the path of the forest to the market. The market was where different countries came to buy or exchange goods for money or for other goods. It was an event that took place every day however, the person that purchased coffee beans only appeared once a week . The market was an event that her village relied on to make a living in the undeveloped parts of Indonesia. Siya felt like she had been walking through the dense path forever but it must be her hunger that was draining her strength.She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally came into the clearing of the market. The forest had been cleared for the large space that was lined with multiple stands of different goods on each side. There were numerous people scattered around throughout the market; most were pulling carts with different types of goods. The sounds of the people's voices filled her ears and the smell of different herbs and foods filled her nostrils, it was almost overwhelming as Siya was still not used to it after all these years. She twisted and turned through the crowd pulling her cart carefully to not bump into people, she made her way to Joe’s station. Joe was an American merchant who purchased hundreds of pounds of coffee beans each week from her country.

“Hey Siya!” Joe smiled warmly, “Hi Joe” Siya said shyly hauling up her cart full of coffee beans, “I have 5 pounds of coffee that I want to sell you” Joe raised his eyebrows “Can I take a look?” “Sure” Siya stuttered, she had been selling coffee beans to him for years and not once has he ever asked to take a look because it was the same product every time. Joe came from around his station bending down, he picked up a bean and closely examined it then put it down. He stood up and walked back around his station. “Siya, I have already purchased a surplus of coffee beans for the week.” “Wh...what do you mean” Siya asked shocked, “A large family came earlier and sold me 300 pounds of coffee beans, that is my cap for this country” Siya stared at him in disbelief, “Joe I really need the money, I have no food left at home to feed my daughter” Joe kept his eyes low, she could tell that there was nothing that she could say to change his mind, ‘I am sorry Siya, there is nothing else that I can do .” Siya could feel her heartbreak, she grabbed the end of her cart and pulled away from Joe's station as fast as she could. She kept her head low as her tears came down in streams as she made her way from the market to the path home. Once she was finally in the dense forest away from the market, she pulled her cart off the main path walking into the dense forest. The vines from the trees caught onto her clothing but Siya did not care. She stumbled through the forest until she got to a point where the forest became extremely dense and could no longer pull her cart. Siya let go of the cart letting the handle drop with a thump, she paced back and forth and let out a scream, she then kicked the cart knocking it over along with the baskets of coffee beans. Siya dropped to the ground feeling defeated, she pulled her knees to her chest and cried.

The sound of crickets and birds filled her ears, Siya slowly lifted her head up from her knees and gasped. The moonlight shined down onto the forest, she quickly stood up and wiped the dried tears that surrounded her eyes. I cried myself to sleep, she thought, her brain felt foggy and she couldn't remember why she had cried in the first place, she felt extremely hungry and exhausted. Siya looked around and spotted the basket of coffee beans that she had knocked over earlier. Everything came back to her as knots formed in her stomach, she could feel tears well in her eyes but fought them back , Crying is not going to get me anywhere and I know Kee is probably worried sick” Siya thought as she wiped her eyes and slowly picked up her cart. She made her way through the forest blindly stumbling over the vines. “Eeek!” She screamed jumping away, she had stepped on something that didn’t feel a part of the forest, it felt hard and cool underneath her foot. Siya looked down and saw something glimmer underneath the leaves, she dropped the cart pulley and slowly kneeled. Nervously she reached her hand out and pushed the leaves that revealed a small dark shiny notebook, Siya believed that the Americans referred to this dark color as black. Siya picked up the notebook cautiously, it was about the same size as her hand.The notebook was hard to the touch but the material of it felt of good quality , it had a string wrapped acrossed it as if to keep curious eyes from seeing its content. Siya felt a whisper against her ear, “Open it” it said, she looked around the forest and of course there was no one there but her and the small black notebook. Must be my hunger , she thought to herself. She stared at the notebook, she didn’t understand why she was so nervous , her palms were sweaty and her heart was beating fast. Siya held her breath as she opened it. In it, there was strange writing , it looked as if it was English and down beneath the writing was a handwritten map. Siya turned it sideways and gasped, it was a handwritten map to a path that no one went near. It was known as the Elephant Path because the elephants seemed to have marked the path as their territory and people feared being attacked. What do I have to lose? She thought, Siya swallowed down her fear , grabbed the end of the cart and followed the map.

Siya felt like she had been walking for hours, her whole body was aching, she was just about to give up until she saw the big oak tree that was marked in the map. Siiya let go of the cart handle and slowly walked under the oak tree. Now what? She wondered. Siya walked around the tree and stopped abruptly , there was an out of place pile of tree branches and leaves. Siya dropped to her knees and dug into the pile until a big brown sack came into view. Siya swallowed nervously pulling the sack from the pile; the sack was heavily soiled as if it had been through a thousand forest storms.Feeling the roughness of the material, she could tell that it had been there for years. Siya shook the brown sack in an attempt to knock some of the debris off, she sneezed from the dust and then covered her mouth taking a deep breath as she unfolded the brown sack . Her eyes widened in shock; the sack contained many american bills in it. Siya nervously pulled a bill from it, her hands shook uncontrollably and her heart was beating in her ears Money….Money? She looked up at the sky and wanted to cry , she was overjoyed at her discovery. Wait...wait , what if this is somebody else money ? Siya got up holding the sack close to her chest. She inspected the area thoroughly but she could not find any footprints that were human. Siya said a short prayer of protection as she pushed the sack of money underneath her shirt, grabbed her cart and hurried home.

Siya moved the heavy wool covering her hut and walked in, Kee instantly noticed her and ran over to her as she grabbed her into a tight hug, “Siya” she cried, I was worried sick!’ “I’m sorry Kee, it didn’t go well at the market…” “Siya look at you!” You look like you have been in a brawl with the elephants” Kee exclaimed , Siya looked at her and wanted to smile. Kee was so caring towards her and always helped her when she needed it , “Kee I am fine” Siya assured, patting some of the dirt off her body. Siya was nervous about telling Kee about the money but felt that it was the right thing to do . “Kee” Siya whispered nervously , Kee who was busy trying to help her get the dirt off her clothes stopped and looked up at her, “Yes Siya?” she asked worriedly, “I have something to show you” Siya said calmly even though her heart was stuck in her throat. Kee raised her eyebrows, Siya slowly pulled the brown sack from underneath her shirt and handed it to Kee. Kee grabbed the sack from Siya's hand with a confused face. “I don't understand..” “Open it “ said firmly cutting Kee off. Kee nodded it and opened the sack and gasped. “Si...Siya!” she stuttered, dropping the sack of money, “Where did you get this from?!” Kee backed away slowly “Siya please don’t tell me you stole it” Kee stared at her fear clearly in her eyes , “Of course not” Siya said pulling out the black the small black notebook from her pouch. “I found this in the forest and it led me to the money.” Kee stared at her in disbelief, “Take a look for yourself” Siya handed Kee the notebook . Kee took the string from across the book and opened it. Her eyes widen , “Its a map to the elephant’s path” Siya shook her head, “The sack was under the big oak tree under a pile of leaves and tree branches, I searched around the area and did not see no human footprints.It must have been out there for years Kee!” Siya exclaimed, “Are you sure Siya” Kee asked closing the book,” Siya nodded, “I am no American, but I can tell this is a lot of money Siya” Kee exclaimed, “Life changing money” Siya added staring at the sack of money on the floor.

“ I don't know Siya….this just seems too...” Siya cut her off with a wave of her hand , she could feel herself about to cry, “Kee, I am tired of struggling, tired of dreaming of eating food and waking up hungry” Siya whispered, she averted her eyes to the floor. She felt lightheaded and slowly shook her head,the fatigued was surging through her body. She was surprised that she could still hold herself up, “Kee…” Siya said “I don't want to be hungry anymore, I don’t want to worry about how to feed my daughter, I don't want to break my back picking coffee beans anymore...I prayed for this Kee” Siya paused letting her words sink in, “I prayed for this., I prayed to God and I believe that he sent me this” Siya gently grabbed the book from Kee’s hand and held it up, “He sent me this not only to help me but to help everyone in the village... I truly believe this.” Kee blinked holding back her tears, she had noticed that Siya was losing weight and seemed to become thinner every time she saw her. She hated watching her friend struggle but was helpless to do anything about it. She barely had enough to feed her own family since she worked during the night and kept Siya’s baby during the day. Kee was scared, but with one look into Siya’s dark brown eyes, she saw a worn soul that had silently cried a thousand nights ; the type of eyes that no one should have. “Okay” Kee stated exhaling, “Okay Siya, no more struggles.”

Siya took a deep breath and smiled, the sunset seemed more beautiful to her now every day she looked at it. It had been over a year since she had found the small black notebook that led her to a brown sack of money. It was worth $20,000 of American money and when people found out about it , they questioned her on how she came to possess such a large amount of money. Siya never gave an answer and only pointed to the sky and smiled eventually, people got tired of asking. With the money, she invested it into the community in which she, the villagers and a few Americans she had become acquainted with, built a community farm with gardens, cows, chickens, sheeps and pigs. She purchased a large amount of building materials to rebuild the huts around the villages that could withstand harsh weather . She also purchased sewing machines to make it easier to create clothing for villagers with the sheep wool when the temperatures drop. However, the most expensive thing that Siya had purchased was the community water wells. She wanted the villagers and everyone in the country to have access to clean drinking water that they did not have to walk miles for nor did they have to go through a painstakingly process to purify. Word spread throughout the country of Siya investments into the village, she became known as the “Savior of the land.”The ordeal was still a shock to her and through conversing with hundreds of different villagers, she realized that she was never alone in her struggles. There were others just like her who were in the same or a worse situation including her closest friend Kee. All of it seemed so surreal to her, she still had to pinch herself to make sure that she was awake. She carried the small black notebook close to her along with her bible to constantly remind herself to always give thanks. “I think he knew,” a voice behind her exclaimed,Siya turned around to find Kee holding her baby girl's hand, she still couldn’t believe that she was now able to walk. Siya smiled, “What do you mean?” She asked curiously, “I think..no I know , that God knew what he was doing when he allowed you to find the money,” Siya smiled turning to look up at sky to the setting sun, she took out the small black book and held it up to the sky, “Thank you” she whispered, “Thank you so much.” God not only changed her life but he gave her enough to change her whole country through the discovery of a little black notebook.