Poem: "That Flash of a Moment"

This poem is spillover from the September 7, 2021 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "No such thing as "just" friends" square in my 9-1-21 card for the Platonic Love Fest Bingo. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Aquariana and Finn Family: Independent Steps threads of the Polychrome Heroics series.


"That Flash of a Moment"

[Thursday, June 16, 2016]

Faro had a busy life,
but it was a good one,
so he was happy with it.

He was the oldest of
four children, living
with their parents in
the Maafannu district
of Malé, all crammed
into a small apartment.

They often visited
his father's family on
Giraavaru Island too.

With so many people
to feed, some of whom
could not work, it was
hard to make ends meet.

Faro spent much of his time
gleaning what he could from
the ocean or uninhabited islands
where people could fish or pick
fruit that nobody was using.

Because he knew so much
about the plants and animals
of the Maldives, he also taught
classes about them to tourists
and newly-arrived immigrants.

Some might grumble about
the nature of those immigrants,
but Faro knew better than that.

The Giraavaru people had stories
about the power that sometimes
touched a person and took flesh
to walk the world for a time.

You did not dare mess with that.

At present, Faro had more than
enough other things to worry about.

He had plans to teach a class
about edible fruits later today on
Vihamanaafushi, but first he had to
stop by the West Park Fishing Spot.

For weeks he had been putting out
milk and tuna for a skinny mother cat,
Mango, and her five even skinnier kittens.

Today was the day when he finally
managed to coax all of them into a box
so he could take them somewhere better.

Well, maybe the lonely new immigrants
on Vihamanaafushi would appreciate
some fuzzy companions. At least
that island had more tree cover,
and an abundance of rodents.

Faro took himself and
his purring box off to
the other island, where
Kurumba Village offered
immigrants a new home.

There one of the local staff
gladly provided him with
a much bigger box for
the cat family, who were
easily occupied with dishes
of fresh fish and cool water.

For his class, Faro borrowed
the Fitness Pavilion, since
it wasn't in use at the time.

A quick walk around the area
turned up leaves and fruit from
guayabano, pond apple, guava,
mango, papaya, and wild plum.

He particularly made a point of
collecting both sweet orange
and its look-alike bitter orange.

Over a dozen people showed up
to learn about edible island plants.

A few of them were obvious tourists,
likely tagging along with local friends.

Two in the front row were clearly
Abd-Qadir. The man had just
arrived by teleporting. The girl
had the long sea-colored hair that
so often came with Water Powers,
and it was held back with a clip
made to look like a starfish.

On the far end, another girl
with blonde hair seemed to be
taking notes about his plants
before the class even started.

At the beginning of the class,
everyone introduced themselves.

The teal-haired girl was Velatida,
a refugee whose parents had
kicked her out when she
developed superpowers.

The teleporter was Brinco,
who moved to the Maldives
for the job opportunities and
now transported people from
Velana International Airport.

The blonde was Aida, who
was studying marine science
at Maldives National University
and wanted to learn everything
she could about her new home.

Those were the ones who
really stuck in Faro's mind.

He started by handing out
flyers that listed some of
the most common fruits
growing in the Maldives,
wild or in gardens, and
links to resource websites.

Then he listed the basics of
foraging, like making sure
someone knew where you
were and only picking things
you definitely recognized.

Faro held up each of the fruits
and asked who could name them.
Some everyone knew, others
only a few knew, and nobody
got the pond apple at all.

Next he held up the leaves
and asked if anyone could
match them to their fruits.

Only Aida and, surprisingly,
one of the tourists managed
to match the big papaya fruit with
its distinctive, palmately lobed leaves.

Faro matched up fruits to leaves, then
explained how to identify each tree
and tell when its fruit was ripe.

"Now here's where it gets interesting,"
he said. "We have many types of citrus
growing here including lemon, lime, and
citron. Oranges have multiple varieties --
this one is sweet and this one is bitter."

"Well, that explains yesterday's
disastrous attempt to make a jug
of orange juice," Brinco muttered.

Velatida laughed. "Oh, that happened
to me too! My housemother had
to show me the differences, and
she suggested that I take this class.

"They do look a lot alike, don't they?"
Faro said. "If you know that you
have citrus but aren't sure about
the exact type, taste the fruit. Even
the bitter or sour varieties make
good beverages, and you can
scrape the peel for flavoring."

"Marmalade," said the blonde girl.
"Our Italian friends bring us all kinds
of citrus, and there's one called chinotto
that makes great marmalade because
it has more flavor and pectin inside it
compared to regular sweet oranges."

"That's right," Faro said, raising
his eyebrows in surprise. "You can
use bitter oranges or citron to make
many things like marmalade, syrup,
and candied peel. Neroli oil is
also made from bitter orange."

"Are there other ways to tell
the difference?" Brinco asked.
"I'd rather not taste it again."

"Sweet oranges have skin that
is thin and smooth, although navels
are thicker and rougher," Faro said.
"Bitter oranges have thick skin
that tends to be pitted or warty."

They all took notes. They even
asked if they could come up and
take pictures of the table where
Faro had put the leaves and fruits.

"Let me label these first," he said,
then realized that he had neither
anything to write with nor write on.

Aida solved that problem by pulling
a marker and blank cards from her bag.

Faro made the labels, and then all of
the students could take pictures.

"Remember your handouts,"
he said. "They have lists
of plants, links to websites
with more information, and
some recommended books."

All three of his front-row students
immediately opened their flyers.

Aida started highlighting all the books.

Brinco raised his hand. "Are any
of these visual guides?" he asked.
"I'm better with images than words."

Faro was still trying to sort through that
when Aida said, "I don't know about these,
but I have another list of books about
the Maldives that my cousin can read.
He's a picture guy much like you are."

Brinco immediately leaned over
to write down Aida's list of books.

"Could I get a copy of that when
you're done?" Faro asked. "I'm sure
my future students would appreciate it."

"Here," Aida said, and let him copy
the list. It had quite a few books,
only some of which he recognized.

It was so nice to teach intelligent folks
who would actually follow his lead.

Sometimes he got stuck teaching
the kind of tourists who seemed
to substitute money for brains.

From there, the class rambled into
how to grow tropical fruits, which
most of the students knew nothing
about, coming from cooler lands.

Then Faro had to break up a squabble
between people who wanted to grow
whatever they possibly could here
and people who felt that nothing
should be added to an island that
hadn't actually evolved there.

"You know, we don't even know
that for many plants," he said.
"We know a few that evolved here.
We know others that have been
introduced in recent history. But
many 'tropical plants' have been put
wherever they can grow because
people found them so useful."

"I know," Aida groaned. "I'm
trying to sort out which is which
so I don't cause problems, and
I hardly know where to start!"

"I want to grow edible seaweed,"
said Velatida. "Is that a thing?
Can we do that, or only forage?"

"People do farm edible seaweed,
but not so much here," said Faro.
"It's not my specialty -- I only know
enough to glean what's useful for
food or crafts. Our neighbors in
Thalassia are farming a lot, though."

"I wonder if they've posted anything
about that yet," Aida said, poking
at her phone. "Drat, no, none of
it's public yet. I've sent a note.
Wait a week or two and try again."

"Well, I'm not picky," said Brinco.
"I'll grow whatever I can eat. I love
the work here, but I'm always hungry."

"You're not getting enough calories,"
Aida said, frowning. "That's often
an issue for high-burn metabolisms."

"Do you know what you run on?"
Faro asked Brinco. "Mango is high
in sugar. Coconut is high in fat.
Tuna is high in fat and protein."

"I have no idea what you people
are talking about," Brinco said.

"Go to a doctor or a nutritionist
who knows how to take care of
teleporters," said Faro. "They
can help you figure out what
kind of diet you need to eat."

Aida fished out a card from
her bag. "Look here too,"
she said. "Soup to Nuts has
some dietary information online
for people with superpowers."

"Thank you," said Brinco.
"The social workers over at
Immigration Services have
been helpful, but there's
so much to do, I haven't
gotten to half of it yet."

"Glad I don't live here,"
one of the tourists muttered,
earning a glare from Faro.

"It's okay, my housemother
says that it's normal to take
a while before you feel at home
in a new place," said Velatida. "I
walk around the island every day.
It doesn't feel like home yet, but
at least it's starting to feel familiar."

Faro, whose people have lived in
this area since before history, has
no idea what that must be like and
is deeply grateful for that lack,
even though it leaves him at a loss
how to help his students with it.

"Do you have a checklist?"
Aida asked. "I got some when
I moved in, but --" She laughed.
"-- I haven't gotten through half
of my lengthy to-do list either."

"Yeah, I got a whole packet of
stuff when I arrived," said Brinco.
"I haven't looked at it in a while.
I should pull it out again and
see what I might have missed."

The students continued talking,
sometimes about edible plants
and sometimes about other things.

Faro let them ramble; few classes
in the Maldives had rigid times.

The tourists wandered off,
along with some of the others,
but a handful of people stayed.

Then the box began meowing.

Faro realized that the cats
had probably been in there
long enough that they needed
to get out and scratch some sand.

He opened the box and tipped it
carefully onto its side to release them.

"Oh, kitties!" Velatida exclaimed
as she bounded toward them.

"Let them sniff around a bit first,"
Faro said. "They're new here too.
I found them on Malé, but they
weren't doing well there. So I
moved them in the hope that
they could find new homes, or
at least a better food supply."

Everyone watched as Mango
herded her kittens away from
the fitness pavilion and into
the patchy green underbrush,
instead of just trying to use
the pristine white sand of
the nearby path as a potty.

"Will they come back?"
Velatida said, anxiously
watching the bushes.

"Yeah, probably," said Faro.
"They associate me with food."

Not five minutes later, Mango
returned with her five kittens
trooping along behind her.

Faro crouched to pet her,
and she purred as she
rubbed against his hand.

"Would anyone like a pet?"
he said. "The calico's a girl.
"There's a solid orange girl,
an orange-and-white one,
and the other two are boys."

"I want the calico," Velatida said,
then slumped. "But I don't know
if I can. I live in an apartment,
what used to be staff housing."

"Ask someone," Faro suggested.
"They might say yes. Cats are
tidy pets and don't take much room."

Velatida whipped out her phone
to call her housemother and ask.

Brinco had crouched down to pet
the orange-and-white male whose fur
had broad swirls instead of fine stripes
like the other three orange kittens had.

"I like this little guy," said Brinco. "I've
got plenty of friends, but I live alone.
I could probably use the company."

"Cats are allowed!" Velatida crowed.
She picked up the calico kitten. "I
should go buy some kitty things."

"The island shop should have
a few things, but for some you
may need to visit a pet store
on Malé," Faro pointed out.

Brinco stood up. "Let's go see
what they have here, then make
a list of what we still need to get,"
he said. "I'll jump you over to Malé
and back, since I need to go too."

"Thank you sooo much," Velatida said
as she stood up to follow him out.

Faro turned to his last student, Aida,
who was petting the solid orange boy.

"What about you?" Faro said.
"Would you like a kitten too?"

"Thank you, but no," said Aida.
"I have college and a job, so I
wouldn't have time to take
proper care of a cat. Also,
I don't want to introduce
an exotic predator into
an island ecosystem."

"That's very responsible
of you," said Faro. "I only
take cats to islands that
already have them, and
also have rodents so that
the cats will be useful there."

"That makes sense," said Aida.
"Cats are efficient hunters."

"I'll do my best to find homes
for the others," Faro said, petting
Mango again. "So, you're new
to the Maldives as well?"

"Yes and no," said Aida.
"I've done two internships
in the Maldives before. I
just moved in for college."

"Do you know anyone on
Vihamanaafushi, at least?"
Faro said. "People can get
lonely when far from home."

"Some friends have villas here,"
Aida said. "I have my own island."

"Do you think they might like
a kitten?" Faro said hopefully.

"I'm afraid not," Aida said.
"Neither of them actually live
here all of the time, so they
wouldn't be able to keep a pet."

"Ah well, someone else will
probably want them," Faro said.
Kittens were cute, and the staff
had looked fondly on Mango too.

"I hope so," Aida said. "Everybody
deserves a home, even the cats
who like to walk by themselves."

Faro smiled. "I've heard that story."

"I'm not surprised, since the author
was born in India," said Aida.

"In any case, thank you for
sharing your resources with
the rest of my class," said Faro.

"I like teaching," said Aida. "It's
nice to find things in common."

"Then perhaps we'll cross paths
again," said Faro. "I'd like that.
I often work around this area."

"How rare and wonderful is
that flash of a moment when
we realize we have discovered
a friend," Aida said, smiling.

"Just friends," Faro emphasized.
You never knew what white people
would assume from a moment's talk.
"When I look for a wife, then she
will come from my own people."

"There's no such thing as
'just' friends," Aida said.
"However, I'm not looking
for a romantic partner either.
I have way too much to do."

"Then I look forward to seeing
you at future classes," said Faro.
"The islands have much to offer
the ones who pay attention to them."

"Yes," said Aida. "That's what I'm here for."

* * *

Notes:

This poem is long, so its character, location, and content notes will appear separately.