Notes

Anahita stood in the center of the hallway, feeling surrounded. She thought the feeling justified, as she was surrounded: by adults covered with black garments and masks, by eastern-style furniture, replete with draping motifs, smooth and colorful, by plush pillows that lay on the polished pavement, craftly aligned in perfect squares.

The elder woman with two children at her side smiled genuinely at her. Anahita took one step forward, followed by one step back from the others. Everyone but the woman watched her with caution.

Anahita glanced over her shoulder to see that one of the men had grabbed the young children by the scruff of their neck, halting their entrance towards her.

The little boy squirmed and glared at the man. “Oi! Let me go!”

Anahita took her eyes off the children and scanned the faces of the crowd for the familiar man. He was not there.

“My son will arrive soon. While we wait for him why don’t you tell us about yourself.” The old woman’s tone determined, more so than pleasant.

Anahita’s mind Immediately flashed to Jeremiah, her little brother must be safe, he had to be!
“My name is Anahita Tavana, daughter of Amira and Ebrahim Tavana. I have a little brother who goes by the name Jeremiah, but due to unfortunate events, he has gone missing and now It is up to me to search for him.”
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suppressed the urge to run out the front door, leap into her own time again, and never come back. --

Anahita looked down at the gold digging ant that crawled over Omid’s feet. The brittle fur on it’s back reminded her of the desert sand. It's body smaller than a dog, bigger than a fox. She had never seen such an animal before, if not for Omid telling her what it was she would have thought it to be an ancestor of the beavers.

Slowly, Anahita sat down beside Omid, leaning closer to the animal.

“There’s a saying I heard once about ants, ‘Caution is not cowardice; even the ants march armed.’ I know they aren’t the same as the insects but I believe it could relate to these animals since they are in packs.”

Omid’s eyes jump to meet Anahita’s, sitting at the edge of the step, her cheeks flush. “Can you tell more?” She asked, leaning over to feed the animal a piece of _____.









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She flinched as his hand drew close again, and he fingered a lock of her hair as if turning a new thought over in his mind.
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