Monday, November 21, 2005

   Chapter 17: Pen's Herd (part 2)
When he awoke at the light of Arigato, Lucifer remembered little from the day before. He was laying beside Aurora, warming her with his body from the chilly morning air. He listened to her steady, calming, gentle heartbeat and allowed himself to become immersed in its comfort for a blissful moment. Then, he sat up and looked around himself.
Much of the Caravan—exhausted from the day before—was still sleeping. The children were curled up at the bellies of their Lethean mothers, looking more warm and relaxed than in a long time. A strange peace lay over the camp as kids and Letheans slept side-by-side; the atmosphere of family hung in the air.
“Hey, good morning!” exclaimed an unusually cheerful voice. Pen came over to him and pulled him to his feet. “We have no time to loose today.”
“Huh?” Lucifer asked, mesmerized. His head felt heavy and slow. Pen did not answer; he only dragged his friend a little ways into the forest, where they came upon the branches of a wild berry tree, piled together and heavy with ripe, red berries. Lucifer heard his stomach growl aggressively and was suddenly reminded of his hunger.
Pen chuckled softly and handed him one of the branches. “Here. I know it’s not much, but it might help keep your body from complaining a little.”
Lucifer gratefully accepted the food and began to eat, stripping the red berries off two at a time. They tasted sweet and—perhaps aided by his hunger—more delicious than any fruit he had ever eaten. “Wow! These are really good!” the black-winged angel exclaimed.
“I’m glad you like them. I was just starting to hand these out to the rest of the Caravan, but I figured that you could help yourself, since you were already awake,” Pen said. He picked up two branches in each hand.
“Do you want me to help you?” Lucifer asked. “I can eat while I do it.”
Pen shrugged. “If you want to.”
With his free hand, Lucifer gathered up two more branches and followed Pen back to the Caravan. They distributed the berries so that each child had two branches laying before them. Most of the Letheans had awakened already, so they snorted with satisfaction at the boys.
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