Garnet's Mesopotamia Story

    “Come on, Kammani! Fetch some water for me, will you?”

“Alright, Mother,” said Kammani as she rushed down to the river.

Iltani watched her daughter run down to the river, wishing she was a male, knowing she was on the brink of death. Iltani was furious for her husband for treating her like this.

It is a known fact that women do work for their husband, and are not to resist. For if your husband accuses you, there is very little chance that the wife will win if it is taken to court.

But Iltani’s husband was doing much worse than using her to do his work. He was starving her and her child Kammani.

Iltani thought that she might be able to win if she took it to court. He was starving her! He is starving me, she thought.

If she didn’t take it to court she could die of hunger, but if she did she could be thrown into a fire, or a river, or - even worse - get her leg cut off. Now I am really stuck, she thought. But she know there was only one way she could have any chance to keep her life. It’s either starve to death, or take it to  court.

Even though she knew either one would probably get her killed, there was only one that didn’t garuntee death. I will at least try to knock some since into him first, she decided.

Iltani turned her head as she heard a scream from the direction of the river. It was Kammani. Iltani ran to the river as fast as she could, tripping on reeds along the way. She fell and half rolled, half slid the rest of the way. She could barely stop herself from falling in the river.

Finally she stood up, dizzy and bleeding from a cut on the top of her head. Once she was able to focus her eyes on things, she noticed a splayed out, soaked, crying shape by the riverbed.

As Iltani stumbled closer, she dreaded that Kammani had fallen into the river. She tripped again and slid the rest of the way to Kammani.

“Kammani!” she screamed, as loud as her shaky voice could. Iltani shook her, much harder than you should do to a damaged person, and screamed her name again.

“Mother,” Kammani replied in a shaky voice. “What happened to you?”

“What happened to me!” Iltani said, astounded. “What happened to you?”

“I tripped, and the water in my bucket spilled on me. I feel too bad to get up.”

Iltani noticed how frail her daughter was, how she was uncontrollably shivering in the end of summer.

She doesn’t have enough fat in her body for her to stay warm, even when the weather is, she thought. I must change this.

Later that night when Kammani was dry, but was still shivering from time to time, and Iltani was preparing dinner, she decided to warn her husband what she was going to do.

“Hammun-Dak, come here," she called. A few moments later he appeared in the kitchen.

“What?” he said. Iltani paused, stirring her soup.

“I have something I need to tell you." Her husband looked at her questioningly. “I am going to go to court and ask to divorce you, on the act you have been starving me and my child.”

Hammun-Dak’s jaw dropped and a shocked look took his face. Then it was replaced by a very cold anger, and he looked as if he was going to fight Iltani. Instead, his face turned threatening and he said in a voice that sounded as evil as the gods Egypt believed in, “You know that is very dangerous."

Iltani was about to reply, but he cut her off. “I am a great man and you are nothing but a peasant woman! I will win if you take this to court! You will be thrown into the river! This will kill you and you know that. I know you are not serious, you are just trying to make me give your child a soft life. I won’t, and that is that!” He looked at Iltani, waiting for her reaction.

“I know,” she said solemnly. “I am going to court tomorrow morning, with Kammani. I shall pack our things and go.”

Hammun-Dak now knew this was not a threat. If Iltani lied to him like that, she would be punished by death. “No, you shall not,” he said. “I know a friend that is in need of a slave. According to law, I am allowed to sell you and your child to him. I am also in need of money for food. You do not need to take this to court because it is already determined by law. I shall go talk to my friend and settle the price. You will work for him for three years and then regain your freedom.”

Then he walked out the door, leaving Iltani and Kammani alone. Iltani sank to the ground, weeping. She had failed her and her child. Because of her actions, Kammani would suffer. Her poor eight year old daughter was going to be a slave for the next three years of her life. Possibly more if Hammun-Dak could convince the court.

Kammani was going to live the point in her life when she realized important things about the world and decided what she wanted to do with her life as a slave.

She would probably know nothing but that when she regained her freedom.

Two years later, there was only one year until Iltani and Kammani regained their freedom. Iltani had reminded Kammani every day what freedom was like.

For the first year or so, Kammani had cried every night before she went to bed. As time passed she never forgot what her life used to be like, but started to dream of what her life would be like after the three years.

When she regained her freedom she would be free of two curses, Hammun-Dak and slavery. She would enter a new life. A life she had never had before. A luxury only granted to few.

But as Kammani gained strength, Iltani seemed to lose more and more. Soon it was Kammani reminding Iltani what freedom was like, but there was nothing she could do. Iltani was crumbling into a drepression no words could heal. She would stare at nothing all day, and forced all her energy into eating for Kammani.

Their owner, who they called master, was angered, but Kammani promised to work twice as hard and do all of Iltani’s jobs, which she did very well, until Master was satisfied.

Soon the day came, when Iltani’s job in life was done. She had come into a state where she couldn’t eat or drink anymore. When she took her last breath Kammani screamed and cried, but knew that if she didn’t obey Master, she wouldn’t get her chance to avenge her mom’s death, if any.

She worked harder than ever until her last day as a slave came. Then she was free from all curses faced in the past, ready for new to come upon her. But she knew life would not be all happy and cheery now, it would probably be harder than ever.

She had nowhere to go, no food to eat, and nobody to talk to. She thought she had been alone the last few months, but now she was truly on her own. Kammani hadn’t relized it but she had actually grown a small liking to Master, and Master liked her. She felt a small gratitude for him filling her belly as Hammun-Dak had never done.

He was like a second father to her. Maybe not a second father but a sort of uncle. They had a sort of love, hate relationship.

As with her father, which she refused to ever call by the name “Father”, their relationship was based purely off of hate.

After days past living on her own, Kammani’s stomach shrunk, but she would drink the water from the river. Every now and then she would find a under-ripe pomagranite in an abandoned orchard she had found, overgrown with weeds, but never anything more than a few bites. Still she found it better than living as a slave.

One night sleeping under a weed and reed blanket she had made, that was actually quite warm, in the abandoned orchared she heard footsteps awakening her from her slumber. She had seen people around before, but stayed a reasonable distance away from the city.

She sat up and put her hands up in a sign of peace, because if she didn’t she could be accused of hiding from something or someone that she stole from, and she wasn’t ready to be a slave again.

The footsteps came closer, and soon a dark figure came into view. As the figure came closer she saw that it was a young male, probably five years older than she was.

“Hello?” he asked. “Who are you?”

“I am Kammani,” she replied. “I am ten years old, without a home, and will not bother you, and do not wish to be bothered with.”

“Why are you here?” he asked cautiously.

“This is where I’ve been sleeping,” Kammani said steadily. “If this is your property, I will move immediatly.”

“This isn’t my property,” the man said. “But I do like coming here a lot. You look cold; would you like to come to my house for tea?”

Kammani knew she shouldn’t, but couldn’t resist the thought of warmth and tea.

“Alright,” she said cautiously. She stood up, gathered her few belongings, and followed the man into the city. She was scared, and when she tripped and he offered her a hand, she didn’t resist.

Once they were there, Kammani realized this wasn’t a house but a mansion. “Oh,” she gasped. Going here would be the most dangerous thing she could do right now.

Had she made a mistake? Been lured into a trap? She didn’t know what to do. If she turned to run she could be called a thief, but if she didn’t - what?

Once they were inside the man ordered some tea from a slave, walked over to a table, and pulled out a chair.

Kammani flinched at the sight of a slave, but sat down in the chair calmly. The man, who she realized was now a boy roughly her age, told her his name was Damion.

He said that when he couldn’t sleep he liked to take walks in the orchard, and had been looking for some company who wouldn’t grovel to him for being a prince.

As soon as Kammani found out he was a prince she said, “Oh my, I am so sorry, Your Highness, for not treating you with more respect!”

“No don’t grovel,” he said dismissively. “That’s what I liked you for.”

“Alright,” she said. She drank her tea, and after they talked a little longer he offered her a place to sleep. Of course she said yes, though she was still reluctant to know a person so close to the court, something that was not her favorite subject.

Gradually the two got to know each other better and became friends. He always let her have a place to sleep, and eventually Kammani felt comfortable enough to go into town. After a year Damion asked if they wanted to be in a more serious relationship and Kammani said yes.

She had finally found a place in her life where she could be happy, something she never had before. She was still a woman, and being in a relationship with Damion meant work, but not as before.

After two more years, she decided to share her past with Damion, a very risky thing, but something she had to get off her shoulders. Damion was enraged for what her father had done to her and went to court, accusing him of starving a child.

Kammani was terrified, but of course Damion won and Humman-Dak was to be thrown in the river. Kammani was happy to see her father never resurface from the water.

Kammani knew that she had a very dark past and used to be going in the direction of a very dark future. What happened to her was extremely unlucky, and she knew she had to be extremely grateful.

One day she got married to Damion and had a child. They weren’t to become king and queen, because Damion had an older brother.

Kammani knew she should have been dead by now, and that only the worst of the worst had brought her the best of the best. There was one thing she reminded her child every day. It was that even though life may bring the worst things upon you, never give up on it. There is always something good in bad and bad in good. This was something she knew in all her heart,but found hard to pass to others. Something she did do, though, was ensure her child never had to go through the pain she did.