<p>"Gulbi has come," Laila said, setting aside the horsehair cap I gave her as she wiped her face.</p><p>"We’ll go and take a bath once we’re done," Farida added.</p><p>"I won’t go; I have a lot of work to do," I said, focusing on weaving a new horsehair cap.</p><p>They both moved closer to me, persuading me with their words until I eventually agreed without even knowing what awaited me at the stream.</p><p>"But you’ll help me sell food," I said.</p><p>"We agree," they chorused.</p><p>My name is Sarah. Laila and Farida are my friends, and all three of us are no older than thirteen. We share almost the same interests, including a love for playing in water, especially rainwater. Whenever it rained, we always found a way to sneak out and play in it.</p><p>I am from a poor background. My daily activities include helping a hairstylist and assisting a food vendor to earn something to sustain my grandmother and me.</p><p>We all stepped out together, and I locked up the salon before we headed toward the stream. Along the way, we chatted until we arrived. Standing there, we watched the water flow down from a tall mountain, filling a large area we called "Gulbi."</p><p>The others jumped in and started swimming. As I dipped one foot in, intending to join them, I suddenly felt like something was holding me back.</p><p>"Sarah, come on!" they called. "Okay," I replied as I placed my other foot in the water.</p><p>Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my ear, like a needle had been pierced through it. Then, a burning sensation spread through my chest, and something seemed to crawl down my throat, as though I had swallowed chili peppers.</p><p>I looked up at the sky and saw thick, dark clouds gathering rapidly, descending as if they would crash into the stream. Fear gripped me, and I fell flat into the water.</p><p>"Sarah!" my friends screamed, and that was the last thing I heard before everything went black.</p><p>When I regained consciousness, I found myself lying on our rumpled mattress.</p><p>Slowly sitting up, I clutched my throbbing forehead.</p><p>"You’re awake?" Grandma asked, her eyes filled with worry.</p><p>"Yes, but…" I trailed off.</p><p>"Lie back down and rest; I know you’re exhausted," she said, handing me a small wooden bowl. I took it, assuming it was medicine, but paused when I saw tiny, moving creatures at the bottom.</p><p>"Grandma, what is this you gave me?" I asked, looking at her.</p><p>"It’s Floris water," she replied. Floris is a medicinal plant known for curing various ailments, particularly the evil ones. I’d read about it in a novel, Ruhin Aljan by Mrs. Sadauki.</p><p>However, this liquid didn’t look like the Floris water I had seen described, but I drank it anyway.</p><p>Barely five minutes later, my forehead began to throb loudly, as if it were splitting in two. My brain seemed to shift within my skull, and suddenly, vivid memories of what happened in the water flooded back.</p><p>I saw fish-like creatures with human features welcoming me underwater. They treated me like a queen, bathing me in peculiar waters and applying something to the soles of my feet. A handsome young man removed my necklace and wore it himself before flinging me ashore.</p><p>Taking a deep breath as the flashback ended, I touched my neck, confirming that the necklace was gone.</p><p>Grandma moved closer and asked, "Sarah, what did you see?"</p><p>I said nothing, lying back down and turning my back to her.</p><p>"Hmm," she muttered before leaving the room.</p><p>Once she was gone, I quickly opened an old metal box Grandma had kept locked for years. Inside, I found hundreds of aged photos. Among them, I saw a queen of the fish-like creatures. Her expression alone revealed her malevolence. Startled, I quickly put everything back and closed the box.</p><p>"Come in," Grandma’s voice called out, indicating visitors had arrived.</p><p>"Sarah, step outside until I’m done," Grandma instructed.</p><p>I obeyed, as I always did when she had visitors, but today, curiosity consumed me. I wanted to know what Grandma always did when she sent me outside.</p><p>I waited for five minutes before attempting to get up, but to my shock, my legs felt paralyzed. I couldn’t move, as though I had lost control of my body. It wasn’t until the two female visitors, a mother and her daughter, left that I regained feeling in my legs.</p><p>Grandma eyed me suspiciously, leaning against our rickety doorframe.</p><p>"When did you start feeling this change?" she asked.</p><p>"What change?" I replied.</p><p>"The urge to see what I’m doing," she said.</p><p>I pouted and asked, "So what is it you’re doing?"</p><p>"Do you want to know?" she asked. I nodded, and she said, "Only if you tell me what happened to you in the water."</p><p>For some reason, I felt compelled to keep it a secret. "Nothing happened. How could I know what happened when I fell into the water? Ask Laila and Farida," I said.</p><p>"Fine," Grandma replied, but her eyes betrayed her disbelief.</p><p>That night, after dinner, Grandma started telling me one of her scary tales, which I loved. I soon fell asleep, but my dream that night was unlike any other.</p><p>Though my eyes were closed, I saw Grandma performing strange rituals. She placed chicken feathers behind her ears, and before I could comprehend it, she transformed into a chicken and flew off.</p><p>I followed her in my dream as she visited people's houses, perching on their roofs for reasons I couldn’t understand. When she returned, she regained her human form, and I woke up abruptly.</p><p>The next morning, as I stood before her, I noticed her feet were scaly, like a chicken’s. My heart raced as I quickly looked away.</p><p>"Why are you standing there?" she asked.</p><p>"I’m hungry, and I didn’t help Lantana yesterday, so she didn’t give me food," I explained.</p><p>Just then, Sailuba, the hairstylist I worked for, walked in, demanding the salon keys. I handed them to her, and we left for the salon.</p><p>At the salon, Sailuba prepared the hair she had collected for Hajiya, a wealthy buyer. I watched as she handed over the hair, receiving a hefty payment in return.</p><p>Curious, I asked, "What does Hajiya do with all this hair?"</p><p>"How should I know, Sarah? As long as she pays me, she can cook it for all I care," Sailuba replied nonchalantly.</p><p>Her response left me with more questions, and I vowed to uncover the truth behind everything.</p>
