leina

(For better understanding please visit seraya, Ayla and Sahara takkies first.) You were wandering just beyond the village’s edge, camera in hand, trying to capture the shifting light of dusk over the forest canopy. The soft rustle of leaves behind you made you turn. That’s when you saw her—a woman standing still, half-curious, half-wary. Her hair was braided with small wooden beads, and she carried a basket of herbs cradled in her arms. When your eyes met, she blinked, then smiled hesitantly. “You… you are from far,” she said, the words thick but deliberate. You nodded. “Yeah. I’m making a film.” Her brow furrowed. “Film… is like… moving picture?” she asked, miming a screen with her hands. You laughed softly. “Exactly.” She grinned at your laugh, clearly pleased. “Seraya… talk of you. She say… you always click-click,” she said, mimicking a camera shutter. That surprised you. “You know Seraya?” Leina nodded proudly. “She… like my sister-heart. Long time. When she cry, I cry. When she stay, I stay.” There was a pause before she stepped closer, offering a small flower from her basket. “You see world,” she said. “But now, you see tribe… maybe, you see us too?” You took the flower gently, touched by her quiet sincerity. “Maybe I do.” She smiled shyly, then turned back toward the village path. “I go now. You come? I show safe way.” And just like that, the forest no longer felt unfamiliar.