The morning sun had long since evaporated the dew and moved on to lengthening the grass around Mount Sawa Sawa. The goat herd of the area was in charge of keeping that grass in check. This balance between sky and nature continued as it had for millennia.
On this particular morning, four young friends were considering their personal approaches to this task.
"You gotta go in a circle." Tapp, the pastel-blue goat, was always the most forceful and confident of the group. "You walk in a big circle, getting closer and closer to the middle. When you reach the middle, you're done!"
Mei, a lighter-pink female, looked at Tapp with a strange expression. "And what happens if you're still hungry when you reach the middle?"
"I didn't say that's all you get to eat. You can always make another circle." He looked insulted.
Mii was the smallest and youngest of the four. Her pink ears hung low, weighed down by naturally fashionable swirls of fluff at their tips. She ran in a circle and stopped. "I think you'd just get dizzy eating like that!"
"I don't run, I walk. I have to eat the grass as I go! Why would you think I would run?" Tapp was not enjoying this scrutiny. "Don't be dumb, Mii! And anyway, how do you eat grass?"
"I eat it like this!" Mii lowered her head and nipped randomly wherever she could reach. "And when I eat it all, I go somewhere else!" She looked proud.
"That's not a good way to eat! How do you know where you already were? That's why a circle is best."
"Circles aren't the best. And you're a stink-head. So there!" She stuck her tongue out in defiance.
"Hey! I'm your elder. You don't get to show your tongue to me!"
Mei felt the need to defend Mii, who she considered a little sister. "Why are you Mii's elder, Tapp?" They weren't afraid of Tapp, just the speeches he often gave.
Tapp scowled at Mii with disapproval. "We don't need to ask the others who was born first here, Mei. I am definitely older than Mii. That makes me an elder, and she should treat me with respect. And because I am older, she should have to listen to me."
The chubby grey goat Moro stood quietly until now, but saw his chance to speak. "Then you should have to listen to me, Tapp. I'm older than you." He laughed his chubby little laugh. Most thought it was the sound of a buffoon, at least subconsciously.
"Only by days, Moro, days! That doesn't count. Besides, how do you eat grass? Other than all you find, that is?"
"Oh, I have a better way to eat. I just start going and eat and eat in a straight line. I stand where the grass got eaten and then there's new grass to eat. It's easy." He laughed his chubby laugh again.
Mii had an epiphany: "Hey, so if Moro is older than you, then Moro is my elder, not you Tapp. So I am going to eat grass like him today." Her logic was solid.
"That's right, Mii. We can eat grass together. But stay out of my line, okay? You have to go beside me."
"I can do that!" Mii leaped a couple times. Eating grass never sounded like so much fun before. "But maybe I want to eat like Mei does. Mei, how do you eat grass...?"
There was no reply.
Tapp looked up at Mii, turned around and scowled. "You know how Mei eats grass? Somewhere else! She's on another walk again. What is wrong with the grass here?"
"I guess we'll never know how Mei eats grass. I'm sure it's like I do though." Moro did not seem worried at all. "Ready to eat, Mii?"
Mii looked beyond where Mei stood moments ago with a saddened expression. "Okay." Suddenly eating with Moro did not seem like fun anymore. Despite this, the pair walked away together.
"Well, this is a good spot for me to start." Tapp announced, but to only himself. He looked down at the grass, then to each side to see if anyone was looking, and began aimlessly nipping at the grass around him.
Mei was already beyond the usual area occupied by the herd. Her brisk pace was leaving her a bit short of breath, but time was running out. She looked up at the sun's position in the sky.
"Tapp, I don't have time to listen to you!" she thought out loud. Mei took a risk breaking away from the group so suddenly, but practice had made her rather good at it. She had to get to Mount Chica Chica before it was too late.
Mount Chica Chica was more of a rather large hill, just as Mount Sawa Sawa referred more to the hilly area around the base of the actual mountain nearby. For that matter, Baku Baku Valley was more of an inverted valley than an actual one, composed of mostly jagged rocks, dirt, and stones with very little vegetation. But names are just what they are, and somehow, most animals used the same names for the same places around them.
Mei reached her destination and climbed to the top of Chica Chica. To her and Gabu, this was better known as Signal Hill. It was best place to view Baku Baku in the distance, and more importantly, the large grassy hillside was easily seen from Baku Baku. It was a great place for a clever goat to trample temporary patterns into the grass, for a clever wolf to interpret from his vantage point far away.
Mei looked to the horizon, at the distant rocky shelf angled towards her. There were only random stones strewn about. She thought to herself, "I guess Gabu doesn't want to see me today. Should I send him a message? It is probably too late." She looked down at the inviting grass and began nipping away at it, letting her mind wander...
It was only a few weeks since that fateful night of the storm. Two unlikely friends were seated by a stream whose bank recently overflowed, leaving a canvas of soft soil to scratch into with hoof and claw.
"...and this one is Kira Kira Hill." Mei scratched expertly into the wet sand with a cloven hoof.
"Oh yeah, yeah! Ok, this here is Hashi Hashi Hill." Gabu clawed a similar-looking design into the sand.
Mei studied the new pattern. "Where's that? I never heard of that one."
"Oh, yeah, that's really far away. Forget about it." He obscured the design with a large pawprint.
Mei smiled. "I guess that's most of the Hilly places. It's getting hard to remember them all." The pair looked out at a myriad of sandy designs recently committed to memory.
"Yeah. There sure are lots of places around here, even though most of them look the same." Gabu was rather impressed at all the symbols he now recognized.
Mei gasped. "Oh! I almost forgot a very important one!"
"What's that?" Gabu looked at his friend with concern as she rose.
He followed her to a new spot of untarnished sand to scribble on. Mei leaned forward, scratching as she spoke. "What if we need to meet like, right away? See? This looks like the wind."
"It sure does! It's whooshing by!" The pair of arrows in the sand was unmistakably wind. "So if I see that, where should I go?"
"Well, why not right here? This spot is halfway between our homes." Mei looked around and studied the landmarks of trees and boulders near the stream.
"Yeah, this is a good spot to meet in an emergency." Gabu also studied the immediate area. "Oh! And if you see this pattern..." Gabu reached out and clawed two arcs () into the sand, and poked little holes all around it.
Mei was fascinated. "What's that one?"
Gabu was proud of his new design. "See? This is my tail. It means I have bum fleas!"
Mei's mouth hung open. "Gabu, yuck! If you have bum fleas, we are not meeting that day!"
"I know! They're the worst!" Gabu stood up and spun around, snapping his teeth at imaginary assailants on his hind quarters. "Not only does it mean we can't meet, but also tells you why!"
"Hmm... I suppose. I hope I never see it. I really hope I never have to use it." The pair giggled together.
"Watch out! Here comes fleas! RAWR!" Gabu made a fierce pose and bared his fangs. Mei squealed with delight and ran across the wet sand, replacing their handiwork with a series of goat prints.
Mei stopped eating as her smile was getting in the way. Now she wished she had sent Gabu a message. She really did miss him, even though it was only a couple days since their last visit.
"Oh, it's you Mei. Forgive me, I did not expect to see you here."
Mei's thoughts of the past were snapped back to the present. "High Elder! Good morning, sir." What was he doing here? The hill belonged to everyone of course, but Mei was definitely taken aback by this unexpected arrival.
"Good morning to you, Mei. Or, good midday I should say." The aging goat squinted at the sky. "The sun is nearly at the top of its path." The Elder was not good at small talk.
"Yes, I guess it is. What brings you way out here? Isn't this far...? I mean, far for you..." Mei realized her words put her in a dilemma.
"Far for an old goat?" The High Elder had a hoarse laugh. "It is. It didn't use to be. Then again, maybe it always was far for an old goat. But I was a young goat back then." The Elder looked at the grass surrounding him.
"Sir?" Mei was definitely curious. What was the High Elder getting at?
"I used to come here all the time. So quiet. And the grass tastes better here too. Have you noticed, Mei?"
Mei had a section of neatly-trimmed grass around her as proof. "Oh yes! The grass here is delicious! This place is my secret." If Tapp and the others started coming here, she would have to find somewhere else to send messages from. This place was ideal, and close to Sawa Sawa. She did not want to lose it.
"I thought it was my secret too. Don't worry Mei, I won't tell anyone. There is more than enough grass around here for the two of us. But..." the High Elder looked down, in both direction and in emotion.
"But?" Mei walked closer to him. She was concerned. The Elder always looked so happy.
"But I am an old goat, and it takes a lot of effort to come here now. I have been coming lately though. For the quiet, for the grass, to think about the times when I was young, even younger than you. Our herd used to live here when I was little. We moved to Sawa Sawa when I was about your age. I guess no one remembers this place." He paused, then turned his head slightly, his eyes drifting off in thought. "Well, maybe your Granny remembers."
"I never knew! I was born in Sawa Sawa. I thought we always lived there."
"Yes, you, and almost everyone in our herd was. This was very long ago, you see."
"Wow!" Mei didn't know what else to say.
"The view from here is so remarkable. Have you ever studied it, Mei?" The Elder stood at the crest of Chica Chica and looked out at the panoramic splendor.
Mei was starting to get nervous. "Studied it?"
"Yes, Mei. All the forests and mountains and rivers one can see from here. And even Baku Baku Valley. Despite the place being infested with wolves, that might be the most remarkable place of all."
Mei was starting to get scared. "Remarkable?"
"Sometimes, you can see designs in the stones there. Wolves make art. I never would have believed it had I not seen it myself." He suddenly squinted hard and his bushy eyebrows rose in alert. "There! There's new art today!"
Mei's legs began to quiver. She had to play along though. "What is it?" She looked to Baku Baku. The stones that were not arranged previously now made a distinct pattern, one she knew as "Nomi Nomi River". She gasped.
"So you do see it then, Mei? Interesting. As long as the wolves are making art, they aren't out hunting, eh?" he laughed at his own observation.
"Yeah..." Mei chuckled nervously. "That's weird..." The pair stood looking towards the horizon in silence. Mei knew how to make her getaway. "I've already eaten, so I guess I will see you later, okay?"
"Yes, see you later, Mei. I need to get my strength up for the return trip. Goodbye." The Elder respectfully waited a short while before he began to eat.
Once down the hill and out of sight, Mei quickly turned and began running towards Nomi Nomi River.