Chapter Ten

After notifying the women their 'ancestors' were here, they went to the lake to pick up all of the feathers for their accessories for tonight's festival. Then had to get a lot of vegetables and eggs because today we couldn't eat me, only eggs that weren't even cooked all the way through. It was good to swallow the embryo.

When the women came with baskets filled with feathers and fluff, they and the men made each other's dress. Vuela had to leave and scatter wheat on the bank to feed the swans and when she came back, she found me sucking my finger.

"I have very clumsy hands."

"No, you have beautiful fingers for sewing, and I think you are cute how you seem like a young boy right now." Vuela said.

"If you say so. You must be great,"

"Well I've had years of practice."

She taught me how to sew feathers together to make a necklace and 'tail'. Cobpens wore it to look like the swans.

When Vuela felt she could leave me alone, she went to join the women who had started to do their hair. I had decided to make her a gift.


After picking the vegetables, the women started to cook the 'feast' together, the eggs that they picked from the hens were buried in the ashes of the fire to be roasted. Vuela simply supervised already wearing her tail. There were feathers tied in her hair and it seemed like the bottom half of her hair was dyed white. Feathers were tied around her forearmes and right thight, resembling a garter. Where I a Cobpen I would have married her tonight.

I walked up to her, my tail lightly banging on my buttocks, with the necklace I made for her. I used a lot of fluff and some pebbles, then dangled a feather between the rocks.

"Um…Vuela," I held it up for her to see.

"…for me?"

"Yeah,"

"It's beautiful!" I watched her tie it around her neck. I made it a bit long so it hung a little off the shoulders and stuck out like wings.

"Beautiful.I-It isn't out of place of me to make you something today right?"

"Not today, but the rest seem to think it wouldn't be a bad idea to see it as 'interest'." From what I understood they said we looked good together, all white. Vuela and I were the only light skinned ones here. But we couldn't get married.


As soon as the vegetables were cooked we started 'dancing', squating with out legs press together and dunking pour heads as if we were eating then, pretending we found food, we flapped our 'wing's, our arms, and made swans calls.

They children simply wanted to play today so they were done eating faster than the adults and were playing a form of tag around the fire while the adults ate their eggs.

"You know, speaking of names, your name sounds like 'Bella' in my language which means beautiful so your name means both 'fly' and beautiful like the swans themselves." I said, peeling my egg.

"Are you saying I'm more beautiful than the rest?"

"Indeed I am."

"What about Lorin or Yeka?"

"Oh, Lorin…I wouldn't dare, Lorent has taken care of us on the hunts."

"And Yeka?"

"She…reminds me of my ex-wife so no, I don't find her attractive at all but I'm sure she…" I struggled for words, I had to make up for catagorizing 'Jessica' with Tanya.

"I think she is perfect for Mika, but Mika doesn't see her. It hurts because she is my friend and she's suffering."

"But then if Mika marries Yeka…?"

"I HAVE to get married this year."

After eating our eggs, which wasn't awful it slid down my throat, we got up to dance. Couples acted they way swans did when they found their mate, extending their arms and showing off the wings, where as we teased the kids, pretending to peck at their heads. At some point our tails got stuck and the mothers, women who were already married, hurried to unstick us while everyone else teased US by saying according to the swans behavior, we have mated and Vuela might be pregnant already.

"It isn't true, one can't get married by simply touching." I told her. For the rest of the night, Vuela avoided me and went back to the hut before the rest of us.


The rest of the week went by fast and I hardly saw Vuela. She fed the swans and the guys and I were out hunting most days, sleeping in the woods. Thinking it was best, since I was leaving in a week, I stopped thinking about it and leth another week go by.

With our last day with a tribe a few days away, Vuela 'came back' and spent more time with us. Every now and then she patted their backs and allowed our arms touch when we grilled our food. Throwing care out the window I enjoyed my last days with her.

On the last night, I wanted to talk to her for a bit but she was already asleep. It hurt me but I couldn't wake her up. I had to sleep myself because we had to wake up early to make the long trek.

In the morning we packed up out sleeping bags and left the hut with as little noise as possible so as not to wake Vuela. Everyone was still asleep actually, except Lorent who would leads us through the jungle so we didn't get lost. Taking breaks in between hours of hiking, we made it to the river by dinner time.

"Take care," Lorent said.

"You too."

"Thanks a lot."

"Take care of Vuela, okay?" I asked him.

"…We will, we always hav-"

"ED-HEART! ED-HEART!"