Odd companions

Kesha woke from her long slumber, disoriented and unsure of her surroundings. As she moved slowly, she blinked her big green eyes and tried to focus. She felt odd, like something wasn’t normal and as she looked around in her room she began to remember. She had returned home from an adventure needing rest like her life depended on it. The adventure before that began to unfold in her mind and caused a tear to fall from her eye and hit the floor. She had met her true love and they had enjoyed a passionate, but short time together. They had been found by the king’s men and were chased, hunted and her love, Vallen had died protecting her. He begged her to leave, to save herself. She looked down at her bedding and saw the eggs she had laid. She remembered being so tired when she reached her home and had laid 3 eggs almost in her sleep. “Thank the creator” she thought as she stroked each one gently.

She suddenly realized how hungry she was and knew she had to leave to find food. The eggs would hatch soon enough, and she would not be able to leave once they did.

Kesha knew the forests around her had animals she could sustain herself with and cautiously left her home. Listening and watching for any movement, she found a few deer and was just gathering them up in her claws when she heard a sound.

“OOOOOhhh, big, big.” Kesha turned to see a tiny man child walking with very wobbly legs toward her. It’s hand outstretched to her.

Kesha’s first thought was to run. Surely other men were here too, and she wasn’t safe. She looked around, searching for them, but no sound, no movement. She turned back to the child and found it had disappeared. Relief washed over her. She grasped her catch and stretched her wings out and up she flew. She glided down into her home and dropped her catch in a corner.

“Weee, ooofff!” came a sound from the deer and Kesha was startled.

She peered down at the deer pile and realized the child had climbed up amongst the deer and now it was here in her home. Her cave was not where this child belonged.

“My eggs!” she thought and rushed to the soft-bedded nest. She coiled her tail around them and stood guard as she watched the child work its way to standing upright and then it wobbled on its little legs towards her. Kesha put her front leg out towards the child in hopes of deterring it from coming closer to her eggs. The child latched onto her leg and made a musical sound. Short notes that seemed to bubble up out of it. Its little fingers holding tight to her scales kind of tickled. Kesha tried to shake it free and it fell to the floor with a clunk. Then suddenly a cry, loud and ear piercing came from the child. It continued and Kesha tried to nudge the child with her foot to make it stop. It made no difference, the cry continued to echo about the cave. The child rubbed its little hands over its eyes and leaked fluid from its eyes, nose, and mouth. It was making Kesha very uncomfortable. She turned about and coiled around her eggs hoping to lessen the noise for them. She coiled her tail over her own ear holes in hopes to reduce the pain the noise was causing.

“Stop! Please!” she hissed. The child suddenly stopped and looked up at her with blinking eyes.

“Oh, thank you” she hissed

Then the child made a hissing noise that sounded backwards, not a word but more of a snort and hiss combined. It worked itself back up onto its wobbly legs and tipped side to side as it came closer to Kesha. As it reached her side it reached up toward her tail and she instinctively lowered her tail towards it.

“Ohhhh big, big.” It said as it put both arms around Kesha’s tail and rested its moist cheek against her scales.

“mmmm, buppy” it cooed.

“How do humans start out like this and end up so evil” Kesha thought as she watched the little child relax and snuggle in beside her still holding her tail.

Kesha looked at the eggs safely tucked in with her and realized the child was about the same size as just one of her eggs. Then her stomach gave a rumble and reminded her she still had not eaten. Seeing that the child had fallen asleep, she tried to reach her head over to the corner where the deer lay. She could just reach one by the hoof and pulled it quietly free from the tangled pile. She ate as quietly as she could and then settled down for a much-needed rest.

“Buppy, buppy, big buppy!” was the sound that woke Kesha. Then suddenly she heard other sounds she didn’t expect. The eggs had begun to hatch and two of her young had their heads free from the shells. The third trying hard to break free. The man-child was watching and cooing while padding its little hands together.

“Such an awkward species these humans are.” She thought.

Kesha and the child watched as her young freed themselves from the shells and moved about trying to stand. Kesha chewed on a deer and spat the food in each of her youngling’s mouths.

“Aahh aaa!” the man child was standing with its mouth wide.

Kesha looked at it, “Really?” she hissed in shock. “All right, why not?” And she proceeded to chew more and feed the little child.

At first the child was happy to receive nourishment but then as it began to try and swallow like the younglings had done it began to choke and cough. It fell to its hands and knees, still choking. Kesha could only think of getting the food out of its mouth and quickly grabbed a foot and lifted it upside down and gently shook the child up and down. It spat some of the food but was still coughing and so she shook a little harder.

Splat went the food on the floor and the bubbles of musical notes came flowing out of the child and continued until she placed it back down on the floor.

“uppy, uppy” it said and held its arms up.

Kesha turned to tend to her younglings and suddenly heard the child in a sharper tone.

“Uppy!” Kesha turned to see the child on its back on the floor. One leg up in the air.

“Enough.” She hissed and went back to her young. “What am I going to do with that thing? I can’t feed it and I can’t take it back with you three now hatched.” A smell suddenly rose from the floor and assaulted her senses. She turned to the child sitting on the floor with a red face, scrunched up in an odd way. “Oh no! Humans are so awkward, and difficult!”

As quickly as she could, she grabbed the child by the leg again and raised it off the floor. It gave a grunt, then the musical bubbles flowed freely. She walked, with it dangling upside down, and left the cave. The entrance was behind a waterfall and she was able to come and go without anyone ever finding her. The waterfall noise was perfect for hiding any noise that might come from the cave.

Kesha walked through the pool of water, carefully dipping the child’s face briefly. Then she placed the child on the far shore in a shallow rut away from the water’s reach. The child stood up and stumbled trying to get out of the rut to no avail. “That will do for now.” Kesha thought to herself and as she turned to go back to her cave, she heard a noise in the distance. Fear seized her heart, and she froze.

“Uppy!” came the call from the shore. “Buppy mama, uppy!”

“No, no, they’ll hear you.” She hissed and tried to wade back across quietly. “Maybe I can get behind the waterfall in time.” She could hear the calls of men coming closer. Just as she got behind the waterfall, she could hear a voice clearly.

“I can hear her! This way!” They had found her; she was in a panic. She would stand guard and not let them find her young. She would fight them with every ounce of strength she could muster. She braced herself for battle. She could just see through the waterfall the movements of a few men coming through the trees. Then she heard the child squeal and a muffle of many voices. Not one of the men she could see where looking anywhere near her. It was the child they had heard, and it was the child they had come for.

Kesha breathed a silent sigh of relief. Her young were safe for now.

Kesha could not hear the men’s words through the waterfall, but it did not matter to her.

“How the devil did this little one get all the way up here? It was so lucky we were hunting this area.”

“Fate, it was fate. My daughter is alive and well and I will be forever grateful.”

“Anyone happen to bring a nappy?”