Post by Fish on Apr 9, 2016 2:40:40 GMT
Yesterday was awful. Your friend Anchela said he would help you fix your favorite shirt, but he never showed up. He promised to come, but instead he went hunting. Now everyone, even your cousin Litaatnu, is all proud of him for catching a big deer.
Then, it started raining. Again. You went to explain your grievances with Anchela, but he yelled at you, and you had to walk home in the rain all alone and got super soggy. You had just changed out of your clothes when your father came and asked you to help repair the boats. Ugh. Pine sap is the worst. And you'd already helped your mother put up a fence the day before! You're a good person, but he started yelling at you, and you just gave up. You went to your bed and tried to ignore him, pretended to sleep.
And then woke up, stomach growling, in the middle of the night. The rain had stopped. You could hear your mother and father snoring, so you got up and took all the food you could find. You took a bunch of other stuff, too. Then you took it out to your father's skiff, unhooked the rope, and floated through the darkness down the river. You know the river like the back of your hand, but it changes every day, so you used the big pole to feel the bottom. You passed Old Wakamppo's house, the furthest one north and still lit up with lamps even in the dead of night. You passed the great old cottonwood where the herons nested, its silhouette barely visible against the lightening horizon. And after hauling the skiff around the whitened bulk of this year's log jam, you were the furthest downstream you'd ever been.
After a few hours of poling your boat through the river, the sky began pissing again. You hate the rain. And you were a little nervous about the forest ahead. They used to tell you stories about witch-people hiding in the green, waiting to eat wayward travelers. And beyond the forest, they said there was a great ravine, and that anyone who tried to float too far north would fall over the edge. And you wanted to leave your options open, in case you forgot something at home. You don't believe the stories, of course, and you don't think you'll be going back, but because of the damn rain you decided to find a place to wait out the storm.
Usually in the forest, there's a few hollowed-out logs that provide some good shelter. You were looking for one of these when you spotted a weirdly shaped mound of earth, with a dark hole in the end closest to the river. You beached the skiff and went ashore.
Underneath the ferns, vines, and grasses, the earth was the grayish-red of most riverland soils. But below this was something hard - what looked like river cobbles, but organized and somehow stacked. Inside the hole, you could see a few stones scattered. Maybe someone had built this, but it was broken into? You didn't see much river silt in the structure, so maybe it was built recently. Your cousin's annoying friend Phoyaa would know.
This was the best shelter, probably for miles, so you dropped your gear inside and climbed in after. The structure made a kind of arch, like a split reed if you laid the cut side on the ground. The far end of the structure was dark, so you made light in a torch. The place seemed empty, but it was tall enough for you to walk in, and was maybe a dozen meters long. At the far end of the structure was a wall much like the one near the river, but not broken, and with a single stone slab in the center. You tried to push the slab, but it wouldn't budge. You were pretty tired from all the poling, though. You went back to your stuff and ate a breakfast of mashed nuts and fruit, then rolled out your bed and took a nap.
Some time later, you woke up. You slept long enough to have a dream, but you can never remember your dreams. Something about yelling. Wait, no, there really was yelling!
You stand up and look out of the hole in the structure. Someone is swimming across the river - no, two people are swimming across the river, about five meters from the opposite shore. One of them is holding onto the other, who is managing a haphazard breast stroke. You can't make out the faces in the rain, but you see a familiar head of scruffy black hair. Your cousin, come after you to try and bring you back? As you watch, the duo make it to the center of the river. Then, suddenly, they go under.
> Enter command.
Then, it started raining. Again. You went to explain your grievances with Anchela, but he yelled at you, and you had to walk home in the rain all alone and got super soggy. You had just changed out of your clothes when your father came and asked you to help repair the boats. Ugh. Pine sap is the worst. And you'd already helped your mother put up a fence the day before! You're a good person, but he started yelling at you, and you just gave up. You went to your bed and tried to ignore him, pretended to sleep.
And then woke up, stomach growling, in the middle of the night. The rain had stopped. You could hear your mother and father snoring, so you got up and took all the food you could find. You took a bunch of other stuff, too. Then you took it out to your father's skiff, unhooked the rope, and floated through the darkness down the river. You know the river like the back of your hand, but it changes every day, so you used the big pole to feel the bottom. You passed Old Wakamppo's house, the furthest one north and still lit up with lamps even in the dead of night. You passed the great old cottonwood where the herons nested, its silhouette barely visible against the lightening horizon. And after hauling the skiff around the whitened bulk of this year's log jam, you were the furthest downstream you'd ever been.
After a few hours of poling your boat through the river, the sky began pissing again. You hate the rain. And you were a little nervous about the forest ahead. They used to tell you stories about witch-people hiding in the green, waiting to eat wayward travelers. And beyond the forest, they said there was a great ravine, and that anyone who tried to float too far north would fall over the edge. And you wanted to leave your options open, in case you forgot something at home. You don't believe the stories, of course, and you don't think you'll be going back, but because of the damn rain you decided to find a place to wait out the storm.
Usually in the forest, there's a few hollowed-out logs that provide some good shelter. You were looking for one of these when you spotted a weirdly shaped mound of earth, with a dark hole in the end closest to the river. You beached the skiff and went ashore.
Underneath the ferns, vines, and grasses, the earth was the grayish-red of most riverland soils. But below this was something hard - what looked like river cobbles, but organized and somehow stacked. Inside the hole, you could see a few stones scattered. Maybe someone had built this, but it was broken into? You didn't see much river silt in the structure, so maybe it was built recently. Your cousin's annoying friend Phoyaa would know.
This was the best shelter, probably for miles, so you dropped your gear inside and climbed in after. The structure made a kind of arch, like a split reed if you laid the cut side on the ground. The far end of the structure was dark, so you made light in a torch. The place seemed empty, but it was tall enough for you to walk in, and was maybe a dozen meters long. At the far end of the structure was a wall much like the one near the river, but not broken, and with a single stone slab in the center. You tried to push the slab, but it wouldn't budge. You were pretty tired from all the poling, though. You went back to your stuff and ate a breakfast of mashed nuts and fruit, then rolled out your bed and took a nap.
Some time later, you woke up. You slept long enough to have a dream, but you can never remember your dreams. Something about yelling. Wait, no, there really was yelling!
You stand up and look out of the hole in the structure. Someone is swimming across the river - no, two people are swimming across the river, about five meters from the opposite shore. One of them is holding onto the other, who is managing a haphazard breast stroke. You can't make out the faces in the rain, but you see a familiar head of scruffy black hair. Your cousin, come after you to try and bring you back? As you watch, the duo make it to the center of the river. Then, suddenly, they go under.
> Enter command.
