《Odyssey of Life》Chapter Three
Advertisement
The fall was heralded by a sweep of different colors over the hills. It was a beautiful sight, the grass changing hues as the tree leaves did. It added a layer of dimension to the rolling hills, in contrast to the highest parts of the summer where the beating sun had colored the hills with a bright yellow.
The small differences in this world, such as the changing color of the grass and the Mirroring Moons have become magical to me. I breathed in, enjoying the sight.
Over the past two weeks, Matre lost a dramatic amount of weight. She had been a thin woman before, and now she was skeletal. She had taken a sharp turn for the worse, and was very weak. It was clear to all that the end was near. It was hard to be angry or sad about it, when Matre herself was accepting of it.
“I have a life well lived, with few regrets. That is more than many can say.” Trying to add a levity to her words, she added with a wink, “if there is one bigger regret, it is that I will not see the joining of you and Inparem.” I shyly ducked my head at that, giving her the reaction that she wanted. Truthfully, I was too much of a relationship veteran to be embarrassed by a gentle tease like that.
Inparem’s visits have become frequent. He would help with whatever needed to be done, and then head back to his home, three hours away. We had fallen into a comfortable rhythm of silence, often working together. I understood now that his awkwardness when he had first met was also from shyness, and an unfamiliarity with new people.
I stood at the threshold of the trees surrounding the village, waiting for him now. Ava would keep an eye on Matre, while Inparem and I went on an excursion, to search for Dog Stalks. It was a rare plant that grew only in the forest, properly prepared it gave the consumer a boost of vitality.
We were hoping to feed some to Matre, before tying the knot, which the ceremony included literally. It had been my idea. Her words had been meant as a joke, but I had taken the idea seriously. Despite only being a few months together, I felt a deep sense of loyalty towards her and Inparem. If there was anything at all I could do to make her passing more joyful, I would.
Inparem had been happy when I brought it up, he agreed to both doing the ceremony and my terms. I had told Inparem that this was a fast development for me, and that I wished to be joined in name only and allow things to grow naturally. He had become a part of my home here, but marriage was a big step, that as a daughter of a divorced one, was suspicious to me.
Half a year ago I would never have considered it, but I had implicit trust in Inparem. He had saved me, seen me at one of my lowest points, and helped me through it. We worked well together, and were kind to one another. Some marriages were built on less. Only in my darkest moments, when buzzing thoughts kept me up at night, would a little voice come out, saying that the real reason was that I was afraid to be alone in this world and Inparem was my shield to that.
On the background cast of red, yellow and brown I saw a walking figure in the distance with his distinct limp, I waved and headed towards him. He saw me and waved back.
Advertisement
This journey was also our honeymoon of sorts. It was one of our last chances to be together before an expected busy time. After this, I would focus on taking care of Matre as well as the harvest and soon, Inparems fur-hunting season would begin. Fall and early winter were the best seasons for it, because that is when the animals' fur were thickest and healthiest.
That is another shift I had in my thinking. In my old world, before The River, I was staunchly against fur. I had been vegetarian most of my life, and had only recently begun eating a little meat before The River. Eating little meat has continued here, as that was the way of life in the village. With only primitive farming tools, the villagers were dependent on every harvest, year in and year out. If there was a bad harvest, people would starve. It was as simple as that.
Inparem’s fur hunting was a buffer against that. A struggle against the poverty the village was living in. That I could respect. I had wondered aloud once, why not more people did it. Ava, Porco’s wife, had answered me bluntly. Putting aside the most coveted furs were that of predators, and hunting them was dangerous in itself, but more alarmingly just being present in the Walker’s Forest was forbidden and punishable by death.
That is another reason I had insisted on picking the Dog Stalks together. I would not put Inparem in any danger that I was not willing to be in myself. It was a matter of equality to me. He had been reluctant, but had then laughed at my stubborn insistence, saying that we are already playing the married couple.
I longed to do more, to somehow use the technology of my world to miraculously improve the lives around me. But what did I really know about farming machines or even the technology from home? To build something, anything useful completely from scratch? Ashamedly nothing. Even a simple pump was beyond me, especially without batteries. Light that came as easy as a switch, water that didn’t need to be fetched from a well, and easy access to information were daydreams of times past for me.
Reaching each other broke my musings, with a shy kiss of greeting we headed our way. In a basket I carried a skin of water and two small loaves of rock bread from the village, the same sort as what had first broken my fast, months ago. I learned that it was covered in a substance that made it hard, but enabled it to be stored for longer without molding and discouraged bugs and animals from nibbling at it. I privately suspected that any such substance was likely a light poison, but the villagers relied on this method for storing bread safely, especially throughout winter. Without a better method or proof, it didn’t try speaking out. Everyone seemed healthy enough, and it was a method used for generations. Inparem had his customary hammock swung over his shoulder, tied into a shoulder bag.
This would be my first time in the forest. Inparems’s home was built a good distance away from the edge, and the village was even further. The weather was clear and brisk. We walked hand in hand, in our familiar comfortable silence we often had. It was one of the many things I had come to appreciate being with him.
Slowly, the rolling hills began to flatten and more trees dotted the horizon. Shortly before nightfall, we reached the edge of the forest. Entering the forest, there was a clear and sudden change, the trees were older and larger. It was much darker too, the sky above us covered by the interlocking branches high above. Even the sounds around us were different, muffled by the fallen leaves. Before we entered deeper into the forest, we split the loaf, sat and ate. I looked up, searching for a patch of sky.
Advertisement
“Want to tell me a story?” I asked. Inparem was used to it, it was through this way that I was learning of the customs and legends of this place. Sometimes we would take turns, and I would tell stories from my own world.
“Legend has it of a giant tree in the Old Forest-”
I shifted, interrupting him as smoothly as I could. “I think I heard that one before.”
“Have I told you the story of the Mirroring Moons and the Dual River?” Inparem asked.
“No,” I smiled, “I would like to hear that one.”
“Once, it was only one moon and the river, it wasn’t the Dual River then. Any names it had were given to it by the animals who lived and drank from it. The moon loved the river, looking down upon it every night, moving and dancing along the light the moon shone. However the moon grew jealous that the river had another light that danced with it, the sun.
Every evening and every morning, the moon would try to catch the sun, to become the only light for the river. The moon was never fast enough, until one day the moon started to cry. It’s face began to blacken, it’s light started to go out. Out of fear for the moon’s life, the stars gathered around the moon.
‘We cannot make you faster than the light of the sun,’ they sang as one. ‘But we can make you brighter and lighter than you are now.’
‘At a cost,’ the youngest star whispered.
‘If I can’t catch the sun, I will be better than it!’ The moon declared and accepted the deal.
The stars made way for their rulers, the cluster of the brightest and oldest stars. With one cleave of an axe, that they wielded together, the moon was split almost perfectly in two. Only a small part broke off and fell screaming. From there the third piece saw what from above it could not. On each side of the river, the very nature of the forest living on either side of the river had been split in half by it. On one side, the Warring Forest, which is today the Walker’s Forest, and on the other the Old Forest.
The river laughed, ‘now we truly are fit for one another, each of us thrice faced, light and lovely.’ As the river said this, it shone the light of the moon mockingly back at it, dancing it along the moon’s face as the moon had often done to the river. The silvery sliver of the moon that had fallen in the river, had given it some of its power.
In pain, the two in the sky cried. ‘Fix me!’
‘I cannot make whole from two that which is three’ said the rulers.
‘Fix me!’ They cried again. The third had already been swiftly hidden by the river.
By then the first sun rays of the morning had come. They reached across the sky to the two halves of the moons, and healed them. The moon waxes and wanes crying for the third piece of itself hidden in the river until today.”
As if a part of the story, the end of Inparem’s tale was punctuated by the howl of an animal.
“We should not stay here like this. It is dangerous at night.”
I knew what Inparem meant by this, we had talked about it before, and although we had practiced on smaller trees before coming, I was nervous. We headed deeper into the forest, to find a tree that would fit for tonight.
“That one looks easy to climb,” he pointed to one on his left.
It looked the same as the others to me. An old tree with a long trunk, branches starting up high. He took my basket to carry himself, comically putting the large handle over his head to leave it hanging like a necklace around his neck, the hold of the basket towards his back. I climbed up the trunk slowly, using every crevice I could to get a hold of to drag myself up. With a rope connecting us, Inparem climbed above me. After finally making it to the lowest branch, we sat there as I caught my breath. What had taken me slow excruciatingly long minutes of climbing, Inparem could have done gracefully in one or two. Climbing to him was more natural than walking.
“We need to go higher, there are still predators that can reach the lower branches.” And so, higher we went, until the branches were so thin they were creaking from our weight and we dared only to step at the base of the branch, where it connected to the trunk. Through the branches I could again see the sky, a spread of stars above us. Only then, Inparem declared us safe. He untied his shoulder sling bag, unfolded it to his hammock, and for stability tied the ends almost vertically across different branches around the same places we stood, as close to the trunk as possible.
I shivered, grateful to be stepping into the hammock. In the summer the nights had been warm, but now it was getting colder with nightfall and being high up in the trees added to it. Building a fire and staying on the ground was not safe. There were animals who were attracted to the fire, and anyways, leaving traces of a fire inside or on the edges of the forest could spark a manhunt from the Walkers who owned and lived in the forest.
Our journey had been a quick decision, and there was no time to weave or piece together a second hammock. It was a given for Inparem that I would be the one to sleep in it. He had learned from me, and had agreed to us doing this trip together with terms of his own. One of them was that I slept in the hammock. Inparem undid the rope around us.
“Here,” he gave it to me. I tied it outside the hammock around my waist. That way something would hold me in the hammock, while I slept. If I slept. I wasn’t sure that I could sleep like this, even if wrapped in it, it was slightly warmer than before. Inparem curled up on a branch under me.
“Do you think the story has something to do with how I came here?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The river having a part of the moon.”
“It is just a legend.”
“But the river having a hidden power must be true, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“Perhaps it is you that has a hidden power? Or the place you came from?”
“I think it has to have been the river.”
“Why?”
“Back then, the river seemed like a living thing around me.” Besides, if it had been me, wouldn’t I have felt it?
“Who knows? Every forest, animal and hill around here has a legend, but they are just stories, made up to pass-“ Inparem sneezed, “the time.”
“Are you cold?” I asked, although I already knew the answer to the question. Even wrapped as I was like a cocoon in the layers of the hammock, being here on the tops of the trees, it was cold.
“No, it is a warm night.”
“I think you are.”
“No.”
A few minutes later, I heard another sneeze. I sighed fondly, he could be stubborn.
“Well I am cold.”
Inparem stood up and looked at me. “You’re cold?”
“Yes, very. If we share the hammock we will both be warmer.” Now that I could see him, I was happy I had said something. His nose and eyes were beginning to be red and puffy.
I undid the rope around my waist and tied it around us both. We shared the hammock, sleeping face to face, in each other’s arms. I truly could sleep, no longer afraid of slipping out of the hammock in Inparem’s arms. The night became progressively colder, but through it there was a heat shared between us that kept me warm.
Advertisement
Monarch Of Solitude: Daily Quest System
Waking up with grave dirt in his mouth, his new life started with death.
8 188Fate
Both of them were just looking for sex until feelings got involved, secrets unfolded, and unconditional love was thrown into their whirlwind of violence, trust issues, and revenge. No matter the circumstances, the two were drawn together like magnets; the attraction between them was undeniable. There's just two problems: he has a fiancé and she's the type to hit it and quit it. Dallas Jacobs goes through hell and back to keep Milani Ross in his life. Every time, shit gets sweet there's always someone lurking in the shadows, waiting to get their revenge. His friendships and relationships are put to the test when he's threatened by having his deepest, darkest secrets exposed. Just when he has it all, he loses it within the blink of an eye. He quickly learns a valuable life lesson: "An eye for an eye mentality doesn't solve anything. It just makes the whole world blind." ****-Urban Romance❤️-18+DISCLAIMER: The images used in this book are not mine. They are used for the sole purpose of portraying characters and will not be used by me, outside of wattpad. The information in this book is fictional and is not affiliated with any of the face claims in this book. In other words, the information is about the fictional characters in the book, NOT about the face claims that are portraying the characters.
8 198Their my life (sequel to he's my mate)
Read He's my mate first if you don't you might not understand many things. It's been a couple of months since the war started and things haven't changed. No one has gained anything from the fighting. Not a good description but please read both books.
8 155Bonded | Kylo Ren x Reader |
Read Warnings: Ever since Luke Skywalker took you to train at his Jedi Temple, you have become close to a particular young man by the name of Ben Solo. One night, tragedy strikes and you are thrown into an unknown world all alone. That is, until the Force bonds you to a masked stranger. Warnings:LanguageHeavy/Intense SmutViolenceSexual SituationsThe rest is TBD
8 630Until I Really Do
(Highest ranking #1 in historical)"I volunteer. I will be your wife..." When he rose a brow, she covered the distance between them, her jaw set. "In name only."He seemed to consider her words for a few seconds. "No," He finally said."What?!" Her pitch rose a notch, disappointment lacing her voice.Taking a step that brought him face to face with her, "If you must be my wife, Blondie, then you must truly be my wife -in name, and in body." He leaned forward, his warm breath tickling her skin as his eyes ran down the length of her. "Frankly," He raised his eyes back to her. "I want all of you. All, or nothing."____________________________________Sharon Annabella Freelance is the only daughter of George Freelance, the town's drunk gambler. Not only has he gambled everything away, but he has managed to gamble his daughter away also. Left with no other choice, Sharon must marry and learn to live with the man her father lost a bet to. Well, he can have her but he will never possess her heart. That, he can bloody bet on! __________________________________Mathew Steiner, in a desperate attempt to be independent, leaves the comfort of his father's wealth, moves to a small town, and buys a mansion he cannot fully afford yet. When Mathew's only hope of paying fully for the house is dashed, he is faced with two options; return to his father, a failure or, get his hands on his inheritance left by his grandfather. There is only one problem with option two; he must find a wife to do so. Copyright © 2016-2017 Lily OrevbaAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
8 220Wei Sama, Let's Stuff Them With Dog Food[1]
Qi Le An, a young actor who died a horrible death in his last life, without anyone collecting his body. His parts were stolen, he was framed up by his best friend, he had endured the various ills of life. Those people who had hurt him were indelibly imprinted on his mind. He swore he would wreak vengeance and redress hatred.As luck would have it, Qi Le An reincarnated five years ago when he was a trainee in the entertainment company. And on top of that, he is blessed with Nightmare System! He is able to control and fabricate other people's dreams... ...'Great! I want to say a thank you to that special someone! And people who have hurt me, prepare for your worst nightmare! I won't allow you to steal anything from me now that I'm given a second chance in life!'
8 159