Shaynen danced around the fire as the plants he’d helped collect simmered in the cauldron for dinner. Shaynen and a few of the other kids were the only ones moving around. The rest were sitting around the fire and waiting for dinner.

“Foods up!” Called Crina as she started handing out bowls. Shaynen ran and dropped before the fire with his hands out. Crina placed a spoonful of stew into a bowl and put it into his hands.

“Thank you!” Shaynen said, taking a spoon from Reo walking around behind with the utensils. Shaynen happily hoisted an overflowing spoonful into his mouth. The unpleasant confusion of tastes brought him to a dead stop. It was sharp and sour, but also thick and pungent. He choked it down and looked around to see what other reactions there were.

Muted looks of disappointment and misery consumed the stew slowly. A rumble of hunger shook through Shaynen so hard that he began shoveling the food, regardless of the taste. In three bites, he’d drained the bowl. Leaving him still hungry. He stood up and went around to his parents, who were standing in the back with the wagon. They were holding their bowls but not eating, talking quietly instead.

“Mom, dad?” Shaynen asked.

“Yes?” They stopped talking and looked down at him.

“Can I have more, please?” He asked, holding his bowl out to them. His father sighed and looked at his mother, who was looking at her bowl.

“Sure, here.” His mother held out her half-full bowl.

“Thanks mom!” Shaynen grinned. She smiled and took his empty bowl. He ran back to the fireside as the sun had set and the nighttime cold dug into the desert rock. Leaving a thin blanket of frosty dew traveling along the landscape. Winds were blowing and whipping the fire’s flames up and around. The warm stew helped ward off the cold, as did the quilts and blankets. Shaynen pulled a blanket up and wrapped it around his shoulders. It wasn’t finished like the other quilts, but that left it the perfect size for him. He sat by the fire, huddled in his blanket, and finished the second bowl of soup. Occasionally peeking around the blanket to see his parents. Sharing his father’s bowl.

The night was chilly. Shaynen slept in the wagon with the bulk of the village. There was no night shift, only two people keeping the fire going and occasionally going around the camp. Shaynen tossed and turned. The night was bitter, and it didn’t sound right. Howls from wild animals Shaynen didn’t know would jolt him out of his sleep and keep him awake. Listening to the barks and howls as packs came closer to the camp. Aside from the howls, another sound would wake him. The sound of the stags uneasily waking and mulling about. Intimidated by the howling packs.

He could tell he wasn't the only one kept awake. From the tossing and turning of the other bodies to the interrupted breathing of those nearest to him. When he rolled over and opened his eyes, he'd occasionally catch the line of sight of someone else trying to sleep. They wouldn't keep eye contact long before whoever they'd make eye contact with would roll over again or close their eyes to try sleeping and Shaynen would do the same.

Morning came eventually. Far too soon for Shaynen’s liking. He woke up with the sun, not by choice. When the sky changed colors, the inhabitants of the wagon started moving about. Shaynen woke up easily as well. He jumped out of the wagon where the adults were mulling around.

The campfire had gone out long ago, with not even cinders clinging to life. Being one of the first out of the wagon, Shaynen spied one of the watch sleeping against the wagon but didn’t see the second. Behind him, others started jumping out of the wagon and noticed the same thing. Shaynen walked around the wagon to the stags.

The pair were already awake and grazing on what little grass there was. Shaynen idly pet the nearest one as he looked up at the mountain pass before them. Where the road changed from flat to a steep incline.

“Hey, we’re heading out.” His father whispered while hooking up the animals again. “Okay?”

“M’kay,” Shaynen climbed up onto the driver’s seat and waited patiently. “Where’s mom?”

“I’m letting her sleep in a bit,” His father said.

“No breakfast again?” Shaynen said, curling up against the morning chill.

“No, but Crina might find some things to snack on along the way.” His father hopped up onto the driver’s seat. “When she wakes up, I bet she’d love to have some extra hands.”

“Okay,” Shaynen shrugged and then yawned. He leaned against his father as the wagon got started. Still half asleep himself from the awful night. He dozed in and out of sleep for a bit before his mother startled him awake, climbing into the seat beside him. The sun hit him in the face hard as he tried to open his eyes.

“Good morning,” his mother said with a smile.

“We lost another last night,” his father said. Her smile vanished. She looked down at Shaynen and then back to his father.

“How?” she asked.

“Vanished,” his father said.

“Shaynen, why don’t you go find Crina?” His mother suggested. “I think she’s going to be foraging and could use some help.” Shaynen nodded and crawled back into the wagon. Jumping out the other side, running to keep up and find Crina with her basket. He caught up just in time to catch the end of her direction in what to look for. She explained that anyone looking shouldn’t wander too far from the wagon for fear of being left behind.

For the better half of the morning, Shaynen hunted around for anything that looked edible. The landscape changed from flatlands to rocks that shook the wagon. When the wheels hit the rocks, they would stop the wagon and the foragers would return to help push. More than once, the foraging party would stumble upon a snake or insect. Despite a few bites, there were no serious injuries.

The wagon hit another rock and stopped it in place. Shaynen stopped walking alongside it. The heat was settling down over the mountain. He looked around the rocky landscape. The road had started a slight incline, and the mountains loomed overhead. Taller than ever. As the wagon struggled to get started again, Shaynen looked back at the flat desert they’d crossed. He could almost make out the forest far in the distance. As he looked about the barren landscape, something glinted in the distance. He looked back at the wagon. It was stuck tight between a rut of rocks, with no give. Even with every adult pushing, it wasn’t moving at all.

Shaynen drifted back toward the glint. Gauging how long it would take to get the wagon back onto the road. Then gauging how far away the glimmer was. Finding it within the limit, he turned and ran for the glimmer. The heat was beating down on him, attempting to slow him down. However, the knowledge of possibly being left behind kept him at full speed.

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The air was impossibly thick. Breathing it was like breathing in water. When he reached the glimmer, his head was spinning. Shaynen doubled over with his hands on his knees to breathe. He shook the pounding out of his head and knelt down next to the plant with silver thorns and leaves. It had three giant purple blossoms with good sized black berries clustered together near its stalk. Shaynen marveled at the luck of finding a plant completely untouched by any creature.

He dug into the dirt to pull up its roots. Shoving all of it, and the berries shaken loose in the basket he had. He was wary of the thorns and the tiny needles that gave the leaves their silver glimmer. He looked back and saw the wagon jerk to a start in the distance.

“Hey!” He yelled as panic drove him into a run. His already pounding heart sped up into his throat. The ground felt harder and seemed like it was pushing him back. He ran back to the road. The wagon was moving down the road slowly in the distance. Shaynen choked to catch his breath before running forward again. Unable to keep up his top speed, he slowed to a jog. Panic kept him moving, terrified that he’d be left alone to find his own way.

He slowed to a walk as a figure laying beside the road. Shaynen sighed as the sun laid out a blanket of heat over him. He fought to breathe through the smothering heat. Approaching the body in the road. He swerved around the body in a large arc. Shuddering once he realized what it was. He looked the other direction, sick to his stomach. He chanced a quick look, unable to refrain as he passed by. Shaynen froze as the body was visibly breathing.

He ran to their side and dropped to his knees.

"Are you okay? I-" Shaynen looked at the wagon that was getting farther away. His shirt was seized, and he pulled Shaynen down.

"Don't… trust… him…"

Shaynen looked down as the grip on his shirt released, and he sat up.

“Who him?” He asked. But the person’s labored breathing was shuddering and taking longer pauses. Shaynen looked back at the wagon, the heat haze obscuring it.

“I’ll be back,” Shaynen said. He got up and started running again. The whispers trying to put together which he the person had meant. His first thought went straight to the strange doctor. However, the second thought was Ila’s father and his distrust of Shaynen’s parents. He swallowed hard, but the lack of any water or moisture in his mouth made his throat sticky. He quickly put it out of his head as he focused solely on catching up to the wagon.

The wagon stopped and Shaynen could gain ground. Catching up to the back of the group by the time they could dislodge the wheel from the rock. Shaynen jumped on to the back of the wagon and flopped, tossing the basket into the wagon.

"Where did you come from?" Crina asked, worriedly. Looking back into the desert.

"There's someone else back there that got left behind." Shaynen pointed. Crina swallowed with a look filled with dread.

"Why don't you stay in the wagon door a bit?" Crina said. She knelt down next to Shaynen. "And I wouldn't mention this whole thing to your parents. They're stressed enough as it is." Shaynen couldn't catch his breath enough to respond. Crina pat his knee briefly and hopped out of the wagon.

“Well done finding the silverleaf.” The doctor picked up the basket. “Absolutely one of the best specimens I’ve seen in a while. You should be proud of yourself.” Shaynen turned and got up onto his knees to look at the doctor.

“What’d you want it for?” He asked suspiciously.

“You taking an interest in medicinal arts?” The doctor smiled with all his teeth. Shaynen squirmed at the sight and implications of his tone. “Medicine is a very important part of any society. Knowing what plants are poisonous and which ones are medicinal is a necessity, but it doesn’t compare to an intimate knowledge of anatomy. Knowing where every tendon is and how it works. The placement of every muscle. The flow of every artery.”

“Nevermind, I don’t wanna know anymore.” Shaynen scrambled to his feet. If there had been anything in his stomach, he would have thrown up. He hopped out of the wagon and rounded the side of it. Hopping up onto the side and sitting in the sunlight instead.

The wagon slowed to a brief stop, looking up at the steep incline of the pass. Shaynen looked up at the impossible climb. Already aching from his run, the road taunted him. He slid along the side of the wagon to climb into the driver’s seat alongside his parents.

“Oh hey, haven’t seen you in a while.” His mother said while holding out her arms for him. “What have you been getting up to?” Shaynen shook his head and collapsed onto her shoulder.

“Oh! Ok?” she said in surprise. Looking up at his father, who shrugged.

“Must be the heat,” His father suggested. “Maybe we should fetch the doctor,”

“noooOOOO!” Shaynen yelled.

“Okay,” His mother said. “But if you start to feel off, let the doctor look you over. Okay?”

"No," he said. "He's weird," his mother sighed, but nodded. Deciding it wasn't worth arguing over. Shaynen turned to look at the road as the wagon started again. The wagon tilted as the stags started pulling it up the mountain. Desolate landscape was swapped for giant rocks that lined the well trod dirt roads with stones of every size trampled into the dirt of the road.

The mountains gave the smallest amount of shade that the wagons drove towards. Throughout the day, Shaynen bounced between consciousness and unconsciousness. Hearing his parents, between his dreams, talking about the dwindling water supply. Or the lack of scavenging returns. His mother kept insisting that they murmur. His father didn’t bother. Using the excuse that his mother couldn’t protect Shaynen forever and it was only going to hurt him in the long run.

When Shaynen woke up, he stayed still to listen to his parents arguing over him.

“I’m serious, Kiylla. You can’t keep babying him.” His father said.

“I’m not babying him. You can’t just drop the weight of all the worlds on a child.” His mother whispered.

“We’re not throwing him through space, we’re just not leaving him in the dark.” His father snapped.

“He’s five!” His mother harshly whispered.

“See? There you go again. Acting like he’s incapable.” His father huffed. “You’re teaching him helplessness!”

“Excuse me?!” His mother’s voice broke. “You just let him wander into any danger he pleases! All you taught him is ignorance!”

“Kiylla!”

Shaynen sat up and it silenced both of his parents. Saying nothing, he crawled over the driver’s seat and into the wagon.

“Shaynen-” His mother called after him but he didn’t turn. The incline of the road shifted the gravity, making it easier to crawl to the end of the wagon. Around the others, resting and to the edge. Shaynen was still too tired and hungry to jump out and walk, so he sat against the wall instead. Curled up with his face in his knees.

“Well now, why’re you moping on such a lucky day?” The doctor said. After rounding the wagon and noticing Shaynen.

“I’m not in the mood,” Shaynen said as stern as he could manage.

“Well now that sounds serious,” the doctor effortlessly sat on the edge of the wagon. “What is it that ails you, son?”

“You.” Shaynen snapped through his teeth. The doctor chuckled.

“I don’t think that’s true, I think you’re just striking out at whatever comes near cause you feel threatened.” the doctor said, taking a puff from his pipe. “Like a little snake that strikes when disturbed. You know infant snakes aren’t more venomous than their parents? They have smaller glands, so they can’t create as much venom. The rumors come from how infant snakes can’t regulate their venom like their parents yet. Meaning they over inject their venom when they bite.”

“So?” Shaynen huffed and buried his face deeper into his lap.

“So, you are injecting your venom everywhere instead of being selective about when and where you inject.” the doctor said, calm as ever. “A more direct form of advice is; don’t burn your every bridge cause you’re having a bad day.” The doctor hopped off the wagon and started walking along behind. Shaynen huffed and tightened himself into a ball.