Baby

a foot of sort, but it wobbled when she moved it. Was it broken? The creature did not appear to feel any pain when she wiggled it. She examined its head noticing it wiggled like the foot. She gently turned its body to the side to examine underneath. As she did so, she noticed the creature’s head turning to follow. And turn and turn . That cannot be. It is a physical impossibility. Looking closer, she found the creature simply had a different type of bone structure, allowing its head to rotate around the body, as its feet probably could too. On the creatures back, she found herself amazed by a crumpled structure that almost appeared to be tiny leathery wings; the poor thing. She wondered what unfortunate fate came knocking at the creature’s door. She picked up the creature’s lovely tail. Since they left the woods, a subtle sheen colored its crinkled leathery skin, fine golden hairs sprouting. Its abdomen was round and gold, firm to the touch. The striking similarity between its hands and that of great apes from the dark continent of Africa entranced her. The differences jumped out at her. She wanted to touch the very fragile and elongated fingers with itty, bitty fingernails just like hers. Turning them over she could make out tiny swirls that actually looked like they meant to be a device for suction. Interesting …
    Taking the creature’s head in her hands, she stroked what looked like golden fuzz on its head, stopping at the point where two glittery antlers emerged from the rear of its head, growing forward and twining together like a crown. They almost looked like they were made of glass. How could that be? As the creature suddenly smiled at her, she felt her bruised and withered heart miss a beat. Continuing the exam, she decided it sure looked like an odd and improbable creature. Well, she was an odd creature herself, wasn’t she?
    But it must have a name. In the back of Netty’s mind she was mulling over the idea of keeping the creature. It suddenly smiled again. The smile transformed Netty’s loneliness for a brief moment. She didn’t know where it came from or what it was but she already loved it.
    That settled the matter. She felt desperately lonely and this poor creature needed her. It was probably a baby. She needed a baby. So it was settled. She would call it Baby. In the back of her head she heard the echo, “Bay-bee,” a whisper of golden colors, like an aura. Netty shook her head, cursing her sleepiness.
    She hurriedly spooned up some vegetable broth from her cooking kettle over the fire, swallowing quickly. She placed a bowl of water at the side of the straw mat for Baby and took herself off to bed after first banking the fire and making sure the door to the cabin was firmly shut. Tomorrow would bring plenty of chores to catch up on.
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    Baby lay quietly on the straw mat. He found himself quite comfortable. The tall Sister’s behavior had been non-threatening. He wondered what he was to do with the bowl she left next to the mat. Was it for him? He sat up, spilling the liquid inside on the floor. He realized how unsteady he still was. Ignoring the spilt liquid he put the bowl on his head, hooking it over his crown of antlers.
    He decided to stay and observe the Sister and see where this relationship would go. He had no idea as to his offspring’s whereabouts. The urgency of his mission began to slowly fade. Perhaps if he had been a Sister, his recovery since landing would have been different. But he was here now and he knew he needed the tall Sister’s hand on him again until he found a new energy source. As he recovered, he would hear her in his mind more fully. Fleetingly, he wondered how much longer he would live until his expiration.
    Looking around the small room, he wondered where Sister disappeared to. Spotting the door to Netty’s bedroom, he hopped up off the straw mat, and worked at the door handle with his long thin fingers. His feet made soft plunks as he wobbled his way over to the jumbled platform she rested on. Placing one foot on the bed frame, he swiveled his entire body to a perpendicular level as his hands griped the covers, placing his other foot higher on the frame until he swiveled to the top of the bed. Carefully burrowing under the blanket into the curve of Netty’s belly, he promptly went to sleep.
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    Netty woke, feeling the best she had since, well, since she was a young girl, working on the farm with her mama and papa. The memory warmed her and she