EARTH PLAN by David Sloma

breasts for a taste. But she wouldn't let him get much of one, swatting him away and laughing. He grinned at that, happy that they seemed to be getting along. She was attractive, and he found himself looking forward to the time when they could try and mate together.
    The growling in his belly brought his mind back to the present. He was a bit thirsty too, but not as bad; there had been several streams they had drank out off. Still, it was a hot day, and he got thirsty easily. At the next stream he stopped and drank more.
    After he was done, he got up, and looked around. He pointed to a thick stand of trees, with their branches making a sort of shelter on the ground. He picked up a thick stick and gave it to the woman. She understood and went to sit under the boughs with the child, holding the stick for defense. The man, satisfied that she would be alright for a short time, took his own stick and went towards the clearing.
    He knelt just before he left the shade of the trees and watched, waiting. He wanted to see what sorts of animals might be there before he walked out into the open. A few minutes passed. He didn't see anything but birds and insects.
    Cautiously, he got up and walked into the sunlight, knowing that a big animal could easily be waiting in the tall grass to pounce on him as he walked by. He held his stick up in front and wiped the sweat from his forehead. His naked skin was getting a bit red from all of the sun exposure that day. He just wasn't used to it anymore; all that time on the ship had caused his skin to go very pale. It would take some time to build up to his formerly tanned and toughened skin, and until then he'd be more susceptible to the heat and insect bites.
    He walked through the field, liking the feel of the grass on his feet and the soil under it. It had not been the same on the ship, though it had been close. He looked up and saw the open sky, the blue and the clouds, and he felt happy. Then he saw something that made him stop in his tracks.
    There was a large tree with many yellow apples hanging from its heavy branches and scattered all around it on the ground. His heart sped up. He knew what these were, and they were delicious! They would take his hunger away, and he could carry some back to the woman.
    Carefully, he stepped over the rotting apples on the ground that were being crawled over by wasps, flies, and bees. There were some branches with apples that he could reach, and he stretched for a big, round one. The apple pulled off easily, and he bit into it at once. It was so good, just like he used to remember. He ate the first one quickly, throwing away the core when it was done and then yanking another apple from the tree. He looked at how far the sun had gone in the sky, and it was moving lower; the day didn't have much longer to go, maybe a few hours.
    He ate his fill, then gathered as many apples as he could in his arms and quickly made his way back to the woman and child, not wanting to leave them alone for too long.
    She was delighted to see him and amazed to see the apples. She too, had not tasted one in a long time and biting into it brought back memories of how things used to be and where they used to live.
    After she had eaten some apples and nursed the baby, the man led them on, looking for a more secure place to sleep for the night. He had used large leaves to wrap the remaining apples in, as he remembered they would stay fresher that way. They carried the apples wrapped in the leaves with them. He walked ahead a few paces with his stick in hand, making sure the woman carried her stick, too.
    He led them on until they came to a river, and they drank their fill. It had been a couple of hours of walking without a drink, so they were thirsty. He could see the sun only touching the tops of the highest trees now and knew the night was coming, soon.
    He hastily signaled for the woman to follow him along the river bank where it was more clear of undergrowth. Sometimes he walked in