Louisa’s POV
"Little rascal. What are you doing up on an elephant’s head?"
I heard a familiar voice.
I couldn’t believe what I heard.
"Uma?! Is that you?!" I cried out and tried to get down.
The mother elephant used her trunk to wrap me again.
She carried me and put me down next to a blurry figure.
I struggled to get up, but I could only lift my body up with one arm.
A pair of warm and gentle hands were placed on my waist and lifted me up.
Then, I smelt it. The fragrance of thyme and hypericum.
"Uma… It’s really you! I’m not dreaming! You’re here with me. You aren’t dead!" I cried in her arms.
Her skin was soft and tender.
"I know. I know. Little rascal. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left you alone." she said.
I lifted my hands to touch her face.
Her eyebrows, her nose, her lips and her chin.
It was really her!
"Uma, Lucian said that you were dead…" I cried, "He said you bit your own tongue and you were burnt in the fire…"
"I am here, you little rascal." She lowered her head and kissed my hair.
"I was taken away, but now I’m taken to you." she said, "Listen to me, don’t cry. Open your eyes and let me take a look at your eyes."
She lifted up my chin and I opened my eyes.
"Ah, cataracts. You should stay away from the red cobra, little rascal." she said, "Let me treat your eyes first."
I heard the clank of bottles and vials. Then, she said, "Now I’m going to put some droplets in your eyes. They will melt the cataracts on your eyes. It will be hurt, but you can’t blink. Can you do that?"
I nodded my head and bit my lips.
The big black wolf came forward and pushed me up. He lay down behind me on his stomach, so I could lean against his belly.
His giant tail wrapped around my legs.
My eyelids were splayed out to the maximum.
Then, a few drops of liquid got onto my eyeballs.
I felt the burning sensation immediately, but the big black wolf kept me still.
More droplets got into my eyes.
"Now close your eyes for a while and roll your eyeballs." Uma said.
I did as told.
"Now open your eyes very slowly." she said.
I opened both of my eyes.
Tears couldn’t stop coming out of my eyes, but I could see now.
Uma’s face, the big black wolf, and the elephants.
They were all surrounding me.
I felt overwhelmed.
"Don’t cry, little rascal. We’re all here." Uma held me in her arms and said.
I pressed my head against her chest and choked on my own tears.
"I thought I would never see you again." I trembled.
She kissed me again on my forehead.
"I’ve brought you some clothes. Put them on now, so you don’t look like a savage girl." she said.
She then took out some clothes from the baggage and helped me to put them on.
"Your body is still half-paralyzed, but it’s OK. Give it some time, you’ll be fully recovered." Uma said.
I nodded.
She gently lifted me up and put me on the back of the black wolf.
"Before that, the big guy will carry you around." she said.
The big black wolf snorted and turned his head.
I didn’t think he wanted to be anyone’s ride.
So I drew closer to his ears.
"Thank you, big paw, for saving me and bringing Uma back to me." I said.
His ears flicked and he didn’t look back.
I was a bit surprised.
He didn’t look happy and clearly was being bothered by something.
"You’d better spend the night at the clearing in the forest. The spiders will come back as soon as we’ve gone." the mother elephant said. She looked ten times older than I had pictured in my mind.
"Mommy will take you there." the girl elephant sniffed me with her trunk and said.
Her trunk was tickling, so I giggled and patted it.
"She likes to be sniffed, mommy." the girl elephant said with excitement.
Her mother tapped her head with her trunk and said, "She’s just being polite. Follow me."
She turned and slowly walked out of the cave with other elephants.
The small elephant sniffed Uma and said, "You could ride on my back if you want."
Uma smiled at her and nodded.
She used her trunk and lifted Uma to her back.
Uma’s burst into laughter.
"Let’s go, little rascal." she turned back and smiled at me.
Then, the girl elephant quickly moved out of the cave.
The big wolf picked up the baggage on the ground and handed it to me.
"Where did you find Uma, big paw?" I whispered to his ears.
I kept my voice low, so only he could hear it.
He grunted in low voice and strode out of the cave.
I sensed the awkwardness in his muffled voice.
The Moon was slowly cruising in the night sky, where a whole galaxy stretched in the background.
The cloud moved with the gentle night breeze, like giant waves of the night ocean, occasionally submerged the Moon.
As the moonlight was switched on and off, my heart sank.
I looked at the back of Uma, who was riding on the small elephant.
She looked tall, lean and beautiful, like the Goddess walking out of a Norse Saga.
She looked like a beautiful dream.
"Big paw, I had a dream last night and I dreamed about my mom." I said, "I have never met her before and I don’t even recognize her face. But last night, when I dreamed about her, I saw a beautiful lady, as elegant as the Moon Goddess. I didn’t know why, but I knew immediately she was my mom. She smiled at me and held me in her arms. I felt I was melting in her arms. At that time, I told myself that if it was a dream, I still wouldn’t want to wake up. If I died in this dream, I would live in the rest of the infinity with the warmth and gentleness of my mom."
The big wolf looked back at me and licked my face.
I paused, looked into his eyes and said, "That woman on the elephant… You know she isn’t Uma, right?"