Resting inside our newly assembled shelter, I took stock of our current condition. Mentally, I think we’re all doing amazingly well, considering the situation we’re in. Shadow acts like this whole adventure has been nothing but an endless run in the park for him, and he seems to be striving in it. I swear, he’s no longer the size of a normal Pekinese – instead, he’s about twice as large as usual. Fur, which is normally about six inches long, has thinned out in the heat, becoming about half as long and dense, and yet, he hasn’t lost any body mass at all. If Shadow’s lost three inches of fur, he’s picked up three inches of pure muscle!
And, he’s not the only one who’s really changed while trapped here for the last several months. I’ve grown a beard nearly a foot long now, and the receding hair on my forehead is gone. I’ve lost at least fifty pounds of fat, and probably gained fifty pounds of lean muscle. My stamina and energy levels are probably the highest they’ve ever been in my life – and I was an active person when I was younger – and my libido is that of a horny teen once more. My doctor told me a year or three back that sex would most probably kill me. I’d love to see him now, just to laugh in his face! I won’t claim to get my groove on daily with the girls, but it’s no exaggeration to say we get intimate four or five times a week, at least.
The longer I’m here, the younger I feel. I don’t know if it’s the food, environment, girls, or the struggle to survive, but this place has definitely changed my life. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble climbing the slope up to the top of the waterfall.
As for Alaina, I honestly think she’d have even less trouble than I would. I feel like I could tell her something completely unreasonable like, “Alaina, go fetch me a gloveful of water from the top of the waterfall,” and she’d simply salute, grab up a glove, and do fifty-seven monkey flips up the side of the cliff, fulfill my request, and then dive back down into the pool below, bringing it back to me. The damn girl isn’t normal at all with her strength, flexibility, and stamina! Honestly, I think she’s an Olympic-level athlete – and one who could compete equally with the males in the Olympics, and not just the women.
I have absolutely no doubts that Alaina can make it to the top. Out of all of us, I worry about her the least. As for Laulaia however…
I honestly don’t know.
She’s beautiful -- probably one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen – but she’s all softness, cushion, and pampered beauty. Honestly, I imagine the most work she’s ever did in her entire life has been here on this land, and most of what she’s done her is mainly just tying vines or gathering fruit. I’m not saying she hasn’t been an essential part of our survival here, but she’s had the easy parts to deal with. All the real physical labor, Alaina and I have done it.
I truly don’t think Laulaia will be able to make the ascent up the cliff without a lot of help. She just doesn’t have the stamina, nor the strength, to pull herself up it. Probably not to even pull herself up a tenth of that distance. And of course, Shadow – for all his growth – still isn’t a cat or a billy goat. He can’t make it up without being carried, or hauled someway either…
“What are you thinking about?” Snuggling her naked softness tight against mine, Laulaia gently nibbled on my chest and neck. Like usual, she’s the one to try and ignite my passion, and since I’ve taught her kissing, she’s became almost obsessive with practicing it.
“About you,” I told her, stretching the truth a little. I really was thinking about her, just not quite in the way she’s going to imagine I was.
“Ooohhh…” Laulaia blew softly in my face, and I tried to inhale her breath without being annoyed by it. If she can put up with my breast-fetish, I can put up with her face-puffing. “And what are you thinking about, in particular?”
“Ummm…” Taking a long breath, I gently leaned forward and slowly released it onto her lips and nostrils, to buy myself time to think. I sure as hell don’t want to tell her how I was thinking she was going to be a burden on us. “Ummm… I was… I was thinking of teaching you a way to make stronger children,” I finally told her, sounding stupid to my own ears.
“Stronger children?” Alaina perked up and leaned heavily on my other arm, suddenly interested as well.
“Yes,” Laulaia agreed. “Tell us this secret to stronger children.”
“Umm… I’m not sure if I should,” I lied, trying to buy time for my brain to think of something. “It’s a sacred ritual that only the most dedicated and life-bound should ever perform.” Why the hell is my mind going blank at a time like this?!
“We’re dedicated,” Alaina affirmed, sounding ever more enthusiastic.
“And your life is my life,” Laulaia stressed, getting just as excited as Alaina.
“Well, umm…” Think brain, think! “You girls both know the power of the Breath of Life, right?” Shit! Why do I feel like I’m just digging myself a deeper hole to die in?
“Certainly!” Alaina squirmed her naked body enthusiastically against mine.
“Do we gift breath to the children somehow?” Breathing softly in and out against my face, Laulaia’s eyes glittered like diamonds.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Umm…. Not quite,” I bluffed. “It has more to do with the Seed of Life.” As soon as the words left my mouth, an idea began to take shape in the back of my mind.
“Seed of Life?” Both girls said it at the same time, looking at each other in puzzlement.
“It’s what my people call a man’s seed,” I told them both, trying not to laugh now. The gears were quickly piecing together a story which I thought they both might fall for. The girls are strange whenever it comes to anything “holy”, in their eyes. I’ve just got to think of the proper way to word things to make it seem sacred and special to them.
“Man’s seed is The Seed of Life,” I bluffed again, “and a woman’s womb is The Garden of Life. A man plants his seed inside a woman’s garden, and new life is born. Right?” I learned a long time ago – the best way to sell a whole load of bullshit is to get the people you’re selling it to, to agree with facts they generally take for granted.
“I see,” Laulaia nodded, filing the terminology inter the deep recesses of her mind. I’ll have to be careful to do the same, so I won’t slip up and make stupid mistakes in the future. ‘Seed of Life’ and ‘Garden of Life’. I have to remember those terms!
Nodding, Alaina indicated she at least accepted Laulaia’s acceptance of what I was saying. So far, so good!
“Like all gardens,” I told them, trying to maintain all seriousness and not give myself away with a stray smirk or laugh, “you can fertilize them and make the soil stronger and the seed grow better and healthier.”
“That makes sense,” Laulaia mused. As a well-educated individual, she was open to the possibility of a lot of things. The more one knows, the more one is often open to new ideas and concepts. She was falling for what I was saying hook, line, and sinker, and she dragging Alaina along with her! Alaina was raised to take her cues from her lady, and if Laulaia believes something, she’s naturally predisposed to believe the same thing as well.
“The secret,” I half whispered, “is for a woman to take and consume the Seed of Life.”
“It is?” A voice of doubt oddly echoed in the far reaches of my mind. Strangely enough, my conscience seems to speak to me in a very gentle, extremely feminine voice.
“It is,” I confirmed, steeling my resolve to see this lie through. “If a woman uses her mouth upon a man’s loins, and consumes their Seed of Life, the life essence from that act will fertilize her Garden, making the children that grow there stronger.”
Raising an eyebrow doubtingly, Laulaia asked, “Why haven’t we ever been taught this before?”
Dammit! I almost had her hooked! Just a little push more is needed! “Because it’s both sacred and difficult to accomplish,” I told her, working hard not to sweat or break my poker face.
“Difficult?” Alaina asked. “Difficult, how?”
“Like any holy ritual, there’s certain rules and restrictions which surround it,” I explained to them both, in all seriousness. “For starters, it only works if a woman is dedicated to her partner. She has to keep them – and them alone – in her thoughts for the time of the whole ritual. Distractions, doubts, or other stray thoughts will corrupt the ritual and weaken the Soil, instead of strengthening it.
“A servant would have to truly be loyal to her lord and think about how best to serve him and praise the honor for getting to carry a child for her lord. A wife would have to think about how much she loves her partner, and of the future which she wants to have with her husband. If either have doubts, or any sort, such as if the wife secretly loves another and not her husband, the impurity will corrupt the ritual.”
“Of course,” I shrugged slightly to show I didn’t have all the answers, “my people also don’t have servant-wives – I told you that before. I don’t really know exactly what they’d need to do for the ritual to be successful,” I told them, feigning my ignorance.
“They’d need to think of their duty to their lord, and focus on their love and the future with their husband,” Laulaia answered. “It just makes sense.”
“You’re right,” I agreed, trying not to laugh. “It does make sense.” Anything can make sense to the person who imagines a new concept by themselves. “Of course, there’s a few other restrictions,” I added, almost as an afterthought.
“For example,” I explained, carefully, “the woman can’t be accepting any other man’s seed into her body, for the duration she’s performing the ritual. What happens if you plant your cantaloupe in the same row as your honeydew?”
“I don’t know,” Laulaia admitted. “I’m not a farmer.”
“They cross-pollinate and contaminate each other,” I told her, confidently. I’d grown up on a farm, and there’s nothing worse than a honeyloupe or a cantadew. YUCK!! “It’s the same thing if two men are planting seeds in the same woman’s Garden of Life. A Garden can’t be properly fertilized except by one man at a time. If a different man tries to plant his seeds in the Garden, they’ll grow weak in bad soil.”
“Think of it like a walnut tree,” I told them, suddenly hit by inspiration. “Walnuts drop their leaves and seeds into the ground, and it’s only after the ground has grown acidic enough, will they actually sprout and grow – and where walnuts grow, no other tree will. The soil has been fertilized to support the one tree in specific, and others won’t grow strong there anymore.”
“That’s why it’s such a sacred ritual, and not shared that often,” I finished. “Most women aren’t loyal enough, and can’t focus on their lord or husband enough, to consume their Seed of Life properly. Done improperly, they can weaken their children instead.”
“I see,” whispered my soft, womanly conscience, again.
“I’m loyal, and I won’t lose focus on my lord-husband,” Laulaia said confidently, starting to move herself down between my knees.
“Wait a moment!” Wrapping my fingers in her hair, I stopped her before she could get started. “You can’t bite, or draw blood,” I warned her. “That’ll ruin the ritual, and you can’t spit or cough out the Seed. You have to consume it, or else you’ll corrupt the process and end up weakening your Soil.”
“I’ll do it proper,” Laulaia promised, stubbornly. “Just tell me what I’ve got to do, and how to do it.”
“One more thing,” I warned her, unable to hide the smile that was beginning to leak from the corner of my mouth. “You have to perform the ritual at least once every week, to continue to fertilize your Soil, and it’s best if you do it at least twice that often. The good news is,” I encouraged her, “the longer you perform the ritual, the better your Soil will become for when you finally want to plant your partner’s Seed within it.”
“Then I’ll start now,” Laulaia promised, determination sparkling heavily in her eyes. “When my lord-husband is finally ready to plant his Seed in me, I want the best Soil possible for it to grow in.”
“Me as well,” Alaina nodded, sounding just as resolute.
“I’m interested in watching this as well,” my odd, feminine conscience whispered once again, in the back of my mind.
I didn’t pay it the slightest attention. I was too focused on receiving the world’s first Sacred Ritual of Seed and Soil!