Echo

felt his stomach turn inside out, queasiness ready to explode. And, a little something new; a nger . The kind of anger that festers and simmers beneath the surface, cooking in its own poison while it twists the mind with bitterness. Picking up the remains of the cake, he threw it at his father who just laughed at him, calling him a crybaby and a little turd. He wasn’t a turd. Sobbing, he ran out the door, up the hill and into the woods. He just kept running, past all his favorite spots, into the deep woods, his sobs turning to anger, magnified by the resentment of his afflictions.
    Slowing down, he dropped to the ground, leaning up against a hillside unfamiliar to him. He tried to block the memory of his daddy’s belittling taunting tone and the damaged look on his mom’s face. Restlessly, he wandered along the hillside until he turned a corner, stepping back in surprise.
    Before him stood a massive granite boulder. He eyeballed the massive rock, wondering how he dare claim it for his own. He noticed handholds, seemingly carved into the side of the rock. Hmm, could he pull himself up? Approaching the rock, he struggled with the handholds, finally reaching the top. What a great spot for a fort . Curling up in a depression, he felt the warmth from the sun seep from the rock into his body. His drowsy eyes slowly closed over his tear stained cheeks and he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
    ###
    The creature roused herself from a deep slumber, feeling the presence of a large life form. She sensed its closeness, but noted it was not yet in the deep quiet cavern of the Hive. She called the Hive home, her safety well assured for over a century. Sadly, she coped with constant loneliness. Her only companions were the occasional woodland creatures that found their way into the cavern. Periodically, she would venture out of the cavern to observe the behavior of the human creatures of this planet, caution an imperative.
    The trauma witnessed over a century ago still smoldered sharply in her mind; the guilt, just as fresh. She could have intervened when she became suspicious of her birth Brother’s mental and physical damage during her emergence. Or perhaps it happened during the Womb’s entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Maybe the Womb failed to properly care for Brother, although it certainly cared for her without complaint. She often suspected the Womb deliberately allowed the incident to escalate just so it could study the outcome. How else could the Womb learn how to interpret the actions of the humans? She agreed they merited study but her sensibilities cringed as the slaughter transpired. Most of the time the Womb took a hands off policy, not wanting to interfere with the culture of any species; unless the species became catastrophically aggressive to others, of course. But this was a minion, the Womb’s chosen. She remembered back a full century to the time she last laid eyes on the doomed Sister. She considered making contact without her Brother’s knowledge when the Sister suddenly appeared one day at the rock that disguised the entrance to the cavern.
    As it turned out, an evil human Brother stalked the Sister. He captured her and participated in a brutal murder. She knew how bloodthirsty the evil species behaved on this planet, observing firsthand what happened to the Sister and her birth Brother and his own little furry pet from the safety of the hilltop near the forest edge. She remembered with pain, her birth Brother’s golden life force splashed on the unyielding ground. She bitterly remembered the look of astonishment then disgust, as the evil Brother that murdered him wiped the sacred life force off the heels of his boots.
    The shock numbed her as the mesmerizing golden light and vital thought projections faded from Brother’s disfigured eyes. She actually felt the genetic mental connection shared by all of her species being brutally severed. Running back through the woods, she vowed never to leave the Hive until she could assure her own safety.
    She watched from her hidden position in the forest as the Sister first discovered her birth Brother and carried him away from the Hive. She didn’t understand why Brother did not object. Confusion ruled as she tried to puzzle out why her birth Brother neglected to begin his mission. Instead, he involved himself intimately in the Sister’s life, apparently satisfied with the tiny part of his mission that he did manage to accomplish; creating two new Elders