JPF Home Page Forums Creative Arts Forums Creative Writing Forum "One Night In Paradise"

16. BLUE BLOOD BERRIES: Blind Man; No Bluff!
'Neh' = 'Yes'.

In the night I awake. Eenunh is sitting up, her face turned up at the moon, directly above us, shining down through the opening in the trees. I don't need to see the moon. I need to see that face.

I look out around the forest, eerie in the moonlight. I am not afraid. I feel for the handle of my corn-knife, find it. I am not afraid.

She doesn't speak, reaches, touches my cheek. We sit there a long time. The chirp and answer insects have quieted. There's one sound, something making one constant tone. I perceive that it is not one creature, one insect, but many that hum together, some continuing as others quit. Tinunh sits up, leaning on her hands. I see her brush her hair back, look over her shoulder at Eenunh. Eenunh pulls Tinunh's hair off the right side of her face, strokes her back beneath the blanket. She settles back down. Eenunh adjusts their blanket, pulls it, tucks it around her.

"Sleep," she whispers, tapping at me. I lay down, pull my sleeping bag over me, zip it up a little, not all the way, so I can get out quickly if... I place my corn-knife sheath back under my right thigh, practice pressing the sheath against the ground, pulling the knife out.

When I settle down, Eenunh moves over, kisses me on the mouth, once, twice, again. She whispers, "Stop it!" I laugh. She lies back, rolls over to spoon against Tinunh. I reach, tuck the blanket around her neck, shoulder.

I lie awake a long time, the moonlight in my eyes. I cover my eyes with my right forearm, thinking staring at the moonlight might make it harder to see if I suddenly need to see in the darkness here on the ground. I roll on my side, adjust my pack-bag pillow. The tools grind together under the leathers.

The mind fills with things in the night, doesn't it? This... situation. I... want this woman, this green woman, in my life. I'd rather live out my life here with her than go back to Earth, rather than travel with this mining company for... what... the rest of my life? If they make me go... can I ask Eenunh to bring her daughter and go with me? We'd have to figure out life on Earth. Could we be hunters there? Work in a factory? Be a circus freak? Would humans be as accepting of her and Tinunh... as the Emoilihn have been of me? I don't think so. The racists, the uneducated, the idle intolerant with their ready opinions would be vocal, demonstrating against us at the grocery store, the neighborhood. The media would smell blood. Could Tinunh... go to school... go out to play... grow up there? Thinking of the work we've done, the life we're living, I know my girls can do anything they have to do. I don't want them to have to do that, on Earth.

Can I even ask Eenunh to come away if I have to go? I can't ask her to subject Tinunh to the madness of Earthmen. I can't stand the thought of them... there.
I have to figure out the ideology of what Sodaensus has already told the Koob, the Koobahbahnnh. She talked about family, and keeping them together. She emphasized it, repeating reference to family a couple more times. It's not some radical... new... idea. Family... love... respect... is a principle of Emoilihn philosophy, ideology, culture.

We've formed a family. I never thought that deeply about it. But now, with... our sex life... she's my... my woman. Tinunh is her daughter. I love her like I think I would a child of my own. She seems very fond of me. We're... a family. We have to keep our family together! They... the Koobs... should... respect that! Surely... they will.

The thoughts go on into the night. I don't know when I finally sleep. Then, it's morning.

The girls are up. I see their blankets are rolled, laying atop their pack-bags. I hear their voices, quietly conversing. When I look they're standing over under the trees. They're dressed in leathers! Uh oh! Eenunh notices I'm awake. She comes to me, kneels, probes into my pack-bag under my head. I sit up. She pulls out the leathers, and searches, comes out with the two knives, the straight razor one and the serrated one. Gloves. Two little white canvas bags I'd forgotten were in there.

"Greenies?" I say, interrogative tone. She doesn't answer. She turns, pulling at my hand, lets go, goes back to Tinunh. They begin to walk into the forest. I strap on my corn-knife, follow. The pine trees give out and there are deciduous... I think... trees. There are leaves on the ground, brown ones, a few red and yellow, green leaves in the trees, some red and yellow up there too.

Tinunh is pointing up into a tree. Eenunh is saying, "Neh. Neh." "Yes. Yes."

Tinunh begins climbing the tree. Eenunh speaks to Tinunh, telling her to, "Cut a sprig. Toss it down so I can show him." Show me?

Tinunh continues to climb. The leaves are nearer the top, a canopy. I can see light all around this tree, its foliage stopping where it comes close to that of other trees. Inside the tree I can see limbs, all the way to the canopy. Tinunh seems to find limbs to grasp and step on, going continuously up. There on a limb, too high for a child to be climbing on, Tinunh pulls her knife out of her pants, loops it on her wrist, and saws at something. It's like a cluster of light green, different than the chlorophyll green of the tree leaves. There's just one growth like it in the tree. Eenunh points to the ground to the right of the tree trunk. Tinunh tosses it. It falls in the leaf litter. I step toward it, start to reach for it. Eenunh stops me, urgently! Eenunh puts on her gloves, picks it up. She points to the canvas bag in my hand. I open it. She shows me the stuff, pale green succulent petal-like leaves on whitish stems, and plucks off little whitish berries. A blue liquid runs where the berry was attached to the sprig. The blue stains Eenunh's glove. I reach for it but she pulls it away.

She says,
"Boo Radley! Poison!" She plucks the rest of the berries, large white ones, not small green ones, drops them into the bag. There aren't many on the small sprig. She tugs at my gloves out from my corn-knife belt, bids me put them on. I do. She hands me the bag, hangs the sprig on a shag of tree bark. She walks to another tree, points up. I see the growth up there, like a parasite I think, like mistletoe. There's only one.

"Just pick. Don't cut," she says. "Just pick. Don't get blue blood on you. Careful be." She demonstrates picking, fingers and thumb bunched together. "Just pick. Big white ones. Big white ones."

I climb. It doesn't feel as easy as Tinunh made it look. She's stronger than I am. I pick every berry I can. I drop some. My gloves get little blue marks on them. I try to be careful and avoid touching where the blue 'blood' leaks out, even with my gloves.

Climbing down I see Tinunh going up another tree. Eenunh has been up one, is looking for another one, finds it, begins to climb. I go across the forest floor, find one, climb up. The Sunstar crosses the sky. Up in my third tree my bag is nearly full and there are still berries in the growth. I pull the drawstring. I think a few more will fit and still enable me to tie the bag. I fill it, pull the drawstring. I tie the drawstring around my corn-knife belt. I climb down. Tinunh is on the ground, looking up. I stand beside her, see Eenunh up a tree pulling berries. I look down at Tinunh, show her my bag is full. She raises hers up, looking full too.

I hear Eenunh screech!

Looking up I see she's hugging the tree trunk!

I don't know what's happening! I set my bag on the ground!

Eenunh stays still there. Suddenly I see movement on the other side of the trunk! There's... something there! I see reddish fur! Tinunh has dropped her bag, begun to climb. I do the same, climb. I keep looking up. Tinunh is above me, crosses over towards the furry thing! Bark falls in my face! I sputter it out of my mouth. I can't see! I can't see! I stop where I am. Tinunh's back down beside me! I feel her take my corn-knife! She climbs again. I can only feel my way and climb down!

I hear them crying out, back and forth! Eenunh calling Tinunh's name! Tinunh doesn't answer!

There's a 'Thwack!', a strange shriek, another 'Thwack'!

Something falls, slapping on branches on the way down! It's not one of them! I'm on the ground. It flops onto the ground near me! I can't see!

I hear the girls, their feet on the limbs, their voices, both voices, closer, closer, coming down. I pull off my gloves, try not to touch the blue stained fingers. I'm bent over, feel stuff grinding on my cheeks, against the backs of my hands. I touch my eyes with my finger tips, feel stuff fall away. It's in my eyes!

Eenunh is at my side, footsteps crunching in the leaves. She's running her thumb gently over my eyes. I feel stuff fall away. I bend over. I blink. I can't blink! It hurts. There's stuff still there, in my lashes, in my eyes. It hurts like hell!

Eenunh says, "Stay!", runs away through the leaves! Tinunh takes hold of my left arm. She lets go.

There's another 'thwack'! I hear Tinunh's footsteps in the leaves. Tinunh is talking; she takes my hand, leads me slowly over the uneven ground. Not far. I hear Eenunh coming back. They're talking. "Water," someone says. Tinunh has gotten behind me, bumps her knees into the back of mine, making them buckle. I go down on my knees. I have to laugh! Eenunh is twisting my head sideways. I feel water splash on the right side of my head! I hear the canteen slosh. It washes out my right eye. It still hurts. I can't see. She turns my head gently to the other side, splashes the water. I hang my head face down, blink a couple times. There's more in my right eye. I turn my head, point. Water splashes. I'm clear. My eyes hurt. But I don't feel any grit in them.

She pulls my head up by my chin. Beautiful golden irises flicker, focus, flicker. Great concern eases, she smiles. She kisses me. I'm numb. I don't kiss back, but gladly receive her kiss. My damned eyes hurt!

Tinunh calls from a distance. Rising to my feet I see her holding the bushy tail of what looks like a squirrel, but it's the size of a house-cat! She holds it against the tree, whacks, and the head comes off, rolls through the leaves.

That night we build a fire in a low, rocky place off in the woods, away from our camp, and cook a... looks like a squirrel! We pass the blue bottle around. Tinunh takes little sips, makes a sneery face, but takes the bottle when it comes around. Full of delicious meat I watch the fire die down, look at my girls in the firelight, love their faces. They converse. I don't intrude. Eenunh goes away, comes back with the sample sprig from the berry bush, tosses it in the fire. I think it is toxic and she doesn't leave it out there for some creature to find out the hard way. I think, 'She's good people!', laugh to myself. She grins at me, irises a'flicker.

We scatter the coals in the fireplace, snug up the stones around it. Tinunh buries it a little with loose yellow shale. We hike back to camp, make our beds on the hill, on the pine needles. The million stars. My girls asleep at my side. My corn-knife ready for any night-roaming killer squirrels. Sleep tries me. I resist. Sleep wins.