AN: Hey there, I have updated at long last! This chapter's a bit longer,
but it's still mostly exposition. Next chapter (and no knowing when that
will be, or even if that will be, I'm evil that way) will have a conflict,
and perhaps an actual plot will emerge.
Just then, the older female bustled into the room carrying two cups on a tray.
"Oh, little Gabriel is asleep!" she cried, setting the tray on a table by the door. "Here, give him to me and I'll find Amy's old crib to put him in."
Jonas tightened his hold on the newchild. "I... I'm not sure I should..." he stuttered.
"I understand," said the female, smiling, "but you have to let go of him sometime." She reached out and smoothed Jonas' hair, pushing it out of his eyes. "Now, come on. I promise to be careful with him."
Reluctantly Jonas gave up his charge.
"There you go," she crooned, cradling Gabriel in her arms. She held him just as Jonas had seen his father hold newchildren. The thought of his father gave Jonas a pang deep inside his chest.
"I just realized I still haven't asked your name."
Jonas realized she was talking to him again.
"Oh, yes. I'm Jonas."
"Well, Jonas, you must call me Auntie."
"Thank you," he paused, testing the sound of the female's odd name on his lips. "Thank you, On-tee."
On-tee turned to the younger female sitting across from Jonas. "I'll bring you breakfast when it's ready. There's some chocolate on the tray for you to drink while you wait." She then left the room, swinging Gabriel gently from side to side.
Amy stood and walked to the table, taking both of the cups on the tray. She gave one to Jonas and sat down with the other.
The cup had straight, rounded sides, and the red clay of it warmed his hands. Jonas stared at the dark brown liquid inside. It's dark color didn't look particularly appealing. Amy, however, was taking long sips of her drink, and seemed to be enjoying it. He looked down at the cup again. A single curl of grey steam was rising from the liquid, twisting through the air. He raised the cup to his mouth, paused for a moment with the warm clay resting on his lip, and took a cautious sip.
Jonas was shocked straight as if he had been struck by lightning.
"Mmmm," he said, completely forgetting precision of language, "good."
"Grandmother does make wonderful cocoa."
Jonas slowly settled himself back into the soft cushions. He took another sip. The drink was just as good the second time.
"What is this called?" he asked.
"It's hot chocolate," said Amy, her hair gleaming in the firelight. "Didn't you have chocolate in the Grey Lands."
"No," he said, shaking his head firmly, "we had nothing like this."
Amy laughed a lovely, golden, burbling laugh. "Poor Jonas."
They sat in silence for a moment, sipping the wonderful brown stuff. Jonas finished his first.
"Is there any more?" he asked.
"Not right now," Amy said. "We can make some later, but you shouldn't have any more now or you'll turn into a big pig."
"What's a pig?"
Amy laughed again. Her laugh made Jonas made feel sort of funny, deep inside his stomach. Of course, that might have been an after effect of the hot chocolate.
"There must not have pigs where you come from, then. Wait here for a second while I go get something."
Amy got up and left the room through the door opposite the one On-tee had used. Jonas fidgeted impatiently as he waited for her to come back. When she finally returned, she was holding a book.
She sat down and handed the book to Jonas. It was thin, but had a large, hard, blue cover. The green words against the blue background read "Antelope to Zebra", and in smaller, yellow letters below this was "A Picture Book of Animals."
Amy watched him examine the book's cover. "You do know what this is, don't you?" she asked.
"Yes, of course I do, but in the community, I mean, the Grey Lands, most people only have three books in their dwelling, and this doesn't look like any of those. Unless... are you a Receiver of Dreams?"
"A what?"
"Never mind."
The puzzled didn't leave Amy's face, but she didn't pursue the question. Instead, she reached out and opened the book to a page a little after the middle. At the top was the word 'pig', with the 'P' larger than the other letters and in a different color. Beneath the writing was a picture of a fat, pink animal with a curly tail.
"See Jonas, that's a pig. Cool, huh?"
He didn't know quite what she meant by 'cool' but he nodded anyway, staring at the picture.
"Come on," urged Amy, "look through the rest of the book.
And so he did. He recognized some of the animals from memories, like the huge grey Elephant with its long nose and the brown and hairy Dog. Others were only vaguely familiar, like the speckled Horse with its mane and tail streaming in the wind and the fluffy, golden-eyed cat. He guessed that he had seen those animals in memories as well, but it was hard to tell. The memories were gone from his head, and what was left of them was growing fainter. But he realized that it didn't matter. He had real experiences now, his own experiences, not those of others, long since gone.
Suddenly, he turned a page and got a surprise. "We have these! We have these!" he cried excitedly.
Amy had been sitting back in her chair, watching Jonas and tilting her head to one side, which he noticed she did a lot. Now she leaned to forward to see what he was pointing to.
"Oh, so you have fish in the Grey Lands?"
"Yes, we do. Fish is one of my father's favorite foods."
"You have a father?" Amy seemed surprised.
"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"
"It's just that I assumed, since you were here alone, that, you know, your father was dead."
Jonas sighed and shook his head. "No, he's not dead, though he might as well be."
"Oh," said Amy shortly. "My father's dead. So's my mother."
Now it was his turn to say, "Oh." There was a moment's silence. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, you don't have to be. It was along time ago, so I can hardly remember them. I guess it's better to have dead parents than parents that are so bad that you have to run away from them."
"It's not that they were bad, exactly," Jonas assured her. "They weren't good, or bad, or anything else. Nobody there was. It's complicated."
To filled the awkward pause that followed this statement, Jonas turned his attention back to the picture of the fish in the book. It was a fat, browny-green fish, twisting in the air as it leapt from foam-skimmed grey water. He ran his fingers over the page, as if he could feel the rough texture of the scales and the wetness of the water. It looked like running water, too, like the river, not troughs like those they kept the hatchery fish in.
"I wish Lily could see this," he muttered.
"Who's Lily?"
Jonas jumped a bit in his seat. He had almost forgotten that Amy was there.
"She was my little sister."
"Why would she like to see the picture? Does she like fish too, like your father?"
He shook his head. "No, she doesn't like fish that much, but she did like drawing. It's not something that's encouraged, drawing I mean, so they never gave her paper to draw on, but she'd scratch out pictures in the dirt with a stick. She got in trouble a few times because she would forget to go somewhere or do something while she was drawing, or because she went off by herself during playtime to draw. You're not supposed to play by yourself, it's not good for your social skills. I'd love to give Lily some colors to draw with. Of course, she wouldn't be able to see the colors so I don't think she'd appreciate it much."
"Was she like you said the others were, not bad but not good either?"
"She was nothing. For a long time I was nothing too."
Amy slid off the edge of her chair and moved closer to him. "Please, Jonas. I know you said you don't remember what the Grey Lands are like, but you really do, I can tell. Tell me your story, Jonas, please. Tell me how you became something."
He looked at Amy, his mouth hanging open a little. Her intensity had stunned him.
"Please."
The word pulled Jonas back into himself. He glanced once at her eyes, green and glittering with curiosity. Slowly, he nodded and put the book aside, still open to the picture of the fish.
"It all began," he said, "with the Ceremony of the Twelves."
Just then, the older female bustled into the room carrying two cups on a tray.
"Oh, little Gabriel is asleep!" she cried, setting the tray on a table by the door. "Here, give him to me and I'll find Amy's old crib to put him in."
Jonas tightened his hold on the newchild. "I... I'm not sure I should..." he stuttered.
"I understand," said the female, smiling, "but you have to let go of him sometime." She reached out and smoothed Jonas' hair, pushing it out of his eyes. "Now, come on. I promise to be careful with him."
Reluctantly Jonas gave up his charge.
"There you go," she crooned, cradling Gabriel in her arms. She held him just as Jonas had seen his father hold newchildren. The thought of his father gave Jonas a pang deep inside his chest.
"I just realized I still haven't asked your name."
Jonas realized she was talking to him again.
"Oh, yes. I'm Jonas."
"Well, Jonas, you must call me Auntie."
"Thank you," he paused, testing the sound of the female's odd name on his lips. "Thank you, On-tee."
On-tee turned to the younger female sitting across from Jonas. "I'll bring you breakfast when it's ready. There's some chocolate on the tray for you to drink while you wait." She then left the room, swinging Gabriel gently from side to side.
Amy stood and walked to the table, taking both of the cups on the tray. She gave one to Jonas and sat down with the other.
The cup had straight, rounded sides, and the red clay of it warmed his hands. Jonas stared at the dark brown liquid inside. It's dark color didn't look particularly appealing. Amy, however, was taking long sips of her drink, and seemed to be enjoying it. He looked down at the cup again. A single curl of grey steam was rising from the liquid, twisting through the air. He raised the cup to his mouth, paused for a moment with the warm clay resting on his lip, and took a cautious sip.
Jonas was shocked straight as if he had been struck by lightning.
"Mmmm," he said, completely forgetting precision of language, "good."
"Grandmother does make wonderful cocoa."
Jonas slowly settled himself back into the soft cushions. He took another sip. The drink was just as good the second time.
"What is this called?" he asked.
"It's hot chocolate," said Amy, her hair gleaming in the firelight. "Didn't you have chocolate in the Grey Lands."
"No," he said, shaking his head firmly, "we had nothing like this."
Amy laughed a lovely, golden, burbling laugh. "Poor Jonas."
They sat in silence for a moment, sipping the wonderful brown stuff. Jonas finished his first.
"Is there any more?" he asked.
"Not right now," Amy said. "We can make some later, but you shouldn't have any more now or you'll turn into a big pig."
"What's a pig?"
Amy laughed again. Her laugh made Jonas made feel sort of funny, deep inside his stomach. Of course, that might have been an after effect of the hot chocolate.
"There must not have pigs where you come from, then. Wait here for a second while I go get something."
Amy got up and left the room through the door opposite the one On-tee had used. Jonas fidgeted impatiently as he waited for her to come back. When she finally returned, she was holding a book.
She sat down and handed the book to Jonas. It was thin, but had a large, hard, blue cover. The green words against the blue background read "Antelope to Zebra", and in smaller, yellow letters below this was "A Picture Book of Animals."
Amy watched him examine the book's cover. "You do know what this is, don't you?" she asked.
"Yes, of course I do, but in the community, I mean, the Grey Lands, most people only have three books in their dwelling, and this doesn't look like any of those. Unless... are you a Receiver of Dreams?"
"A what?"
"Never mind."
The puzzled didn't leave Amy's face, but she didn't pursue the question. Instead, she reached out and opened the book to a page a little after the middle. At the top was the word 'pig', with the 'P' larger than the other letters and in a different color. Beneath the writing was a picture of a fat, pink animal with a curly tail.
"See Jonas, that's a pig. Cool, huh?"
He didn't know quite what she meant by 'cool' but he nodded anyway, staring at the picture.
"Come on," urged Amy, "look through the rest of the book.
And so he did. He recognized some of the animals from memories, like the huge grey Elephant with its long nose and the brown and hairy Dog. Others were only vaguely familiar, like the speckled Horse with its mane and tail streaming in the wind and the fluffy, golden-eyed cat. He guessed that he had seen those animals in memories as well, but it was hard to tell. The memories were gone from his head, and what was left of them was growing fainter. But he realized that it didn't matter. He had real experiences now, his own experiences, not those of others, long since gone.
Suddenly, he turned a page and got a surprise. "We have these! We have these!" he cried excitedly.
Amy had been sitting back in her chair, watching Jonas and tilting her head to one side, which he noticed she did a lot. Now she leaned to forward to see what he was pointing to.
"Oh, so you have fish in the Grey Lands?"
"Yes, we do. Fish is one of my father's favorite foods."
"You have a father?" Amy seemed surprised.
"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I?"
"It's just that I assumed, since you were here alone, that, you know, your father was dead."
Jonas sighed and shook his head. "No, he's not dead, though he might as well be."
"Oh," said Amy shortly. "My father's dead. So's my mother."
Now it was his turn to say, "Oh." There was a moment's silence. "I'm sorry."
"Oh, you don't have to be. It was along time ago, so I can hardly remember them. I guess it's better to have dead parents than parents that are so bad that you have to run away from them."
"It's not that they were bad, exactly," Jonas assured her. "They weren't good, or bad, or anything else. Nobody there was. It's complicated."
To filled the awkward pause that followed this statement, Jonas turned his attention back to the picture of the fish in the book. It was a fat, browny-green fish, twisting in the air as it leapt from foam-skimmed grey water. He ran his fingers over the page, as if he could feel the rough texture of the scales and the wetness of the water. It looked like running water, too, like the river, not troughs like those they kept the hatchery fish in.
"I wish Lily could see this," he muttered.
"Who's Lily?"
Jonas jumped a bit in his seat. He had almost forgotten that Amy was there.
"She was my little sister."
"Why would she like to see the picture? Does she like fish too, like your father?"
He shook his head. "No, she doesn't like fish that much, but she did like drawing. It's not something that's encouraged, drawing I mean, so they never gave her paper to draw on, but she'd scratch out pictures in the dirt with a stick. She got in trouble a few times because she would forget to go somewhere or do something while she was drawing, or because she went off by herself during playtime to draw. You're not supposed to play by yourself, it's not good for your social skills. I'd love to give Lily some colors to draw with. Of course, she wouldn't be able to see the colors so I don't think she'd appreciate it much."
"Was she like you said the others were, not bad but not good either?"
"She was nothing. For a long time I was nothing too."
Amy slid off the edge of her chair and moved closer to him. "Please, Jonas. I know you said you don't remember what the Grey Lands are like, but you really do, I can tell. Tell me your story, Jonas, please. Tell me how you became something."
He looked at Amy, his mouth hanging open a little. Her intensity had stunned him.
"Please."
The word pulled Jonas back into himself. He glanced once at her eyes, green and glittering with curiosity. Slowly, he nodded and put the book aside, still open to the picture of the fish.
"It all began," he said, "with the Ceremony of the Twelves."