seventy), but other than her…
they looked like athletes. They were all vegans like me, as far as I could
tell, and women and men alike were dusty and dirty from farming all day, which
would keep anyone in shape. At least the facial tattoos and dyed teeth
definitely seemed to be a male only thing.
Sensei seemed to be old friends with almost everyone. People
kept coming over to toast her return with glasses of ambrosia, and fill her in
on things she had missed in the years she’d been on Earth. They listened,
enraptured, to Sensei’s tales of Earth weather and her increasingly
embarrassing stories of life on Earth and, specifically, of me.
Dinner conversation moved on to talking about the apparent
drop in haratchi numbers in the past few years. My ears perked up. Sensei had
told me so much about these bird-pests, I couldn’t wait to see them in person.
Unfortunately, all I ended up finding out was that even here, adults could suck
the fun out of any topic.
And then - they decided to draw me into the
conversation. “So, Veridian,” one woman began, “what was it like growing up on
Earth?”
“Um,” I hedged. Did she really expect me to sum up my entire
childhood for a bunch of strangers? “Um, snowy? No really, there’s lots of snow
in Colorado,” I finally replied and pretended interest in my food.
“Well, what was your favorite thing about Earth?” someone
else asked.
Feeling stuck in a spotlight, I made myself smile and gave
the first answer that came to mind. “Parasailing in Hawaii was fun. I’d love to
do that again.” I tried to keep my answer just long enough not to be too rude.
A few inane adult questions later and my new Great-Aunt Nico
asked the best one by far.
“So Sah-nee,” she said. “You prefer to be called Sah-nee,
yes?” I nodded. Close enough, and she was the only one besides Ethem who had
bothered so far. “Sensei here mentioned that you had boyfriends on Earth.”
I squinted at her in surprise. “If you mean friends that are
boys, then yes. I mean, I guess so.” I nodded warily.
She waved one hand as if brushing an annoying bug aside. “So
what’s the holdup then? Why do you have no daughters yet to carry on the Katje
line?”
What? Was this daft old woman asking why I wasn’t a teen
mother?
“Aunt Nico!” my mother reproached while I stared at her,
dumbfounded. “You know we don’t encourage our girls to have children so early
anymore!”
“And why not?” she demanded. “It was good enough for this
family when I was a girl; it’s darn well good enough now.” She turned back to
me. “Why, by the time I was your age, I’d already brought one strong girl into
this Kindred and given the warrior yell of our ancestors.” She pounded a fist
against her flabby chest. Even in old age, she had that kind of physique that
you could tell used to be muscular.
“I had a dozen virile young men at my beck and call.”
I had to cover my mouth as I almost giggled at the word "virile”. Her
scowl in my direction was ruined by the ridiculousness of her claims. The woman
was no Sophia Loren. No, she was more Roseanne Barr plus thirty years of
wrinkles.
“Be that as it may, Aunt Nico, you know it’s been found to
be better for a woman if she waits until she’s older before she becomes a
mother.”
“Ridiculous, I say!” Nico banged her fist on the table. “We
need our young warriors at their best, and you’re not even encouraging the one
thing that will make them get the job done and come home. I should have known
that you would lead us all down the path to ruin when you selfishly refused to
have even one child. Instead you ran off to Earth, almost not coming back in
time to help the Kindred in our most dire hour!”
My mother looked calm up until then, but then I saw
something I’d experienced myself, but never seen before. A ring of pure
silver flashed outward from the edge of her pupils and in its wake, what
remained was wheat-fields-in-August gold. She
they looked like athletes. They were all vegans like me, as far as I could
tell, and women and men alike were dusty and dirty from farming all day, which
would keep anyone in shape. At least the facial tattoos and dyed teeth
definitely seemed to be a male only thing.
Sensei seemed to be old friends with almost everyone. People
kept coming over to toast her return with glasses of ambrosia, and fill her in
on things she had missed in the years she’d been on Earth. They listened,
enraptured, to Sensei’s tales of Earth weather and her increasingly
embarrassing stories of life on Earth and, specifically, of me.
Dinner conversation moved on to talking about the apparent
drop in haratchi numbers in the past few years. My ears perked up. Sensei had
told me so much about these bird-pests, I couldn’t wait to see them in person.
Unfortunately, all I ended up finding out was that even here, adults could suck
the fun out of any topic.
And then - they decided to draw me into the
conversation. “So, Veridian,” one woman began, “what was it like growing up on
Earth?”
“Um,” I hedged. Did she really expect me to sum up my entire
childhood for a bunch of strangers? “Um, snowy? No really, there’s lots of snow
in Colorado,” I finally replied and pretended interest in my food.
“Well, what was your favorite thing about Earth?” someone
else asked.
Feeling stuck in a spotlight, I made myself smile and gave
the first answer that came to mind. “Parasailing in Hawaii was fun. I’d love to
do that again.” I tried to keep my answer just long enough not to be too rude.
A few inane adult questions later and my new Great-Aunt Nico
asked the best one by far.
“So Sah-nee,” she said. “You prefer to be called Sah-nee,
yes?” I nodded. Close enough, and she was the only one besides Ethem who had
bothered so far. “Sensei here mentioned that you had boyfriends on Earth.”
I squinted at her in surprise. “If you mean friends that are
boys, then yes. I mean, I guess so.” I nodded warily.
She waved one hand as if brushing an annoying bug aside. “So
what’s the holdup then? Why do you have no daughters yet to carry on the Katje
line?”
What? Was this daft old woman asking why I wasn’t a teen
mother?
“Aunt Nico!” my mother reproached while I stared at her,
dumbfounded. “You know we don’t encourage our girls to have children so early
anymore!”
“And why not?” she demanded. “It was good enough for this
family when I was a girl; it’s darn well good enough now.” She turned back to
me. “Why, by the time I was your age, I’d already brought one strong girl into
this Kindred and given the warrior yell of our ancestors.” She pounded a fist
against her flabby chest. Even in old age, she had that kind of physique that
you could tell used to be muscular.
“I had a dozen virile young men at my beck and call.”
I had to cover my mouth as I almost giggled at the word "virile”. Her
scowl in my direction was ruined by the ridiculousness of her claims. The woman
was no Sophia Loren. No, she was more Roseanne Barr plus thirty years of
wrinkles.
“Be that as it may, Aunt Nico, you know it’s been found to
be better for a woman if she waits until she’s older before she becomes a
mother.”
“Ridiculous, I say!” Nico banged her fist on the table. “We
need our young warriors at their best, and you’re not even encouraging the one
thing that will make them get the job done and come home. I should have known
that you would lead us all down the path to ruin when you selfishly refused to
have even one child. Instead you ran off to Earth, almost not coming back in
time to help the Kindred in our most dire hour!”
My mother looked calm up until then, but then I saw
something I’d experienced myself, but never seen before. A ring of pure
silver flashed outward from the edge of her pupils and in its wake, what
remained was wheat-fields-in-August gold. She
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