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A moralist conclusion to a space going romantic tragedy and the treachery of life. |
We resume the narrative with the accidental survival of our hero Christian Roy, who is now receiving first aid from a Bonnark. The story is mostly about Swope who in her search for love, romance and child rearing goes to an outrageousâŚOh just read it. ***** âIâm so sorry!â she cried as she smeared antiseptic over the puncture wounds in his back. âWe should take you to a veterinarian or something! You might need stitches.â âNo thatâs okay,â Roy winced as she applied bandages. âI guess you donât like me now! Oh, crap! Can I screw up tail wagging or what?â she began to cry, as the tip of her tail curled into a knot. âI guess I should just throw the minced larva away and go home!â âNo, no,â Roy replied soothingly. His conscience stepped up to the plate, did a moral one eighty, and smacked him. âWe should just go slower thatâs all.â She stopped and looked up. âYouâre not giving up?â âNoâŚI think youâre a sweet girlâŚsweet BonnarkâŚâ he replied. âItâs just that itâs been a long time for me and wellâŚ.You is a Bonnark. Youâre different from DeerwoodâŚâ he stopped himself there. âEverything is different from DeerwoodâŚWe need to slow it down.â âYou wouldnât mind having a Bonnark? I meanâŚâ she began to stutter and her tail uncurled. âWe make cheesy taco?â âShut up and kiss me you fool,â Roy laid on the charm. She didnât taste like a woman, he came up lacking in vocabulary to describe it, other than he enjoyed it. As for Swope, she realized she didnât know anything about human males but enjoyed finding out about this one. Both knew they found something in the other, neither sure what it was but it was worth looking for. What they didnât know is across the lake on the other beach by the estuary were two more Bonnark. Both watched the interaction between Christian Roy and Swope through binoculars. âMy god! Sister do you see that!â the larger fleshier of the two gaped. âYes sister I do!â her sister stuttered in shock. âThatâs Edoâs daughter! Somebody should tell her!â âYes somebody should!â the older and larger replied aghast. âThe tail wagging!â âThatâs not his tail sister!â the younger gaped and temporarily lowered her binoculars. âI came here to watch birds not to see smut! I know she was raised better than to be a grab bag!â âSo, your full name is Christian Roy?â Swope asked him as she smeared Icy Hot on his ankle. Both agreed to keep their hands off each other, well his hands off her and her paws off him once they fell off the picnic bench and he sprained his ankle. âSure isâŚâ he replied grateful they really didnât get past foreplay. Actual sex might kill him. âYou know youâre really prepared for everythingâŚâ âI read books,â she shrugged. âMakes up for a bad social life.â âBad social life?â Roy chirped. âFun girl like you?â âThatâs why I want a human,â she reminded herself. âHe doesnât know Iâm ugly and a klutz.â She then said, âPeople think Iâm a cheap tail wager because I work at the Golden PlumeâŚSort of makes things difficult.â âEverybody has to do something,â Roy shrugged. âWell you take what you can get. Whyâd you join the Navy?â she smiled and wiped her hands off. âSeems to me military service is for those lacking in ambition. Traveling the universal divide with particle cannons and vaporizing pirates anyone can do that.â âNothing else I can do,â he shrugged. âNo familyâŚNo education. The Navy is teaching me to be a pilot and I can fly for mining companies as a surveyor afterward. It was either that or work myself to death in a shipyard like my grandfather didâŚI want better.â âNo family? No mother? Father?â she seemed surprised. It didnât conform to the image of him she had in her head. She began to realize that she lived in books, and that wasnât all good. She also saw in him qualities she liked. âMy father I never knewâŚHe was lost in space right after I was born. Mother? She passed away when I was eight. I grew up with my grandparentsâŚâ he shrugged. âHad its points. You?â âMother, father,â she smiled. âIntact familyâŚI think maybe a sister or a brotherâŚâ she slipped. âYou think?â Roy chuckled. âMomâs tail is feathering with plume, golden fuzz on the edges,â she answered and realized he probably didnât know much about Bonnark. âItâs a pregnancy indicator.â âHow old are you?â Roy shot back in a panic. He saw himself going to jail. âIn people years or Bonnarkian years?â âYes,â he glared at her like a wounded puppy. âIâm thirteen in Bonnarkian yearsâŚâ she smiled. Then she made a joke. âYoung stuff!â Christian Roy did some fast math in his head. âThatâs nineteen in human yearsâŚOr so.â âYou?â âTwenty-two, in human yearsâ he laughed. âYou live around here?â âBack in town,â she answered. âYou come from earth or another planet?â âIâm ethnically LunarianâŚFrom earthâs moon. Grew up there with the grandparentsâŚâ âAre they still alive?â âNot for a couple of yearsâŚâ he answered her and played with her pointy ears. Her tail began to wag. âSo how long do you have here?â she smiled, making more plans in her head. âA week,â he answered. âNot much time to really get to know each other,â she answered. âIn human terms anyhowâŚâ âWeâll figure it out,â he smiled and made her tail wiggled. She smiled back, kissed him and then tripped over him as she tried feeding him the berry jelly mold **** âSo where is he now?â her father, Roo glared disapproving at his daughter. They sat in the living room with her mother in the kitchen clanging about. She tried to look sweet and innocent but couldnât pull it off. âOn his ship,â she replied. âHe only had a week hereâŚâ âAnd you let him grab your pouch like a cheap tail wager?â he glowered at her accusingly. He did it not to make her feel bad, but as to give her a sense of shame, not to be cruel. âItâs my pouch!â she sputtered. âItâs your pouch! Itâs The Cradle of Life! The Devine Inspiration gave it to you so you could carry on the meaning of the name Bonnark!â âAnd I want more than this!â she yelled. âI want more than a Bonnark that wants just what his supervisor gives him! More than a fifty-hour workweek on an assembly line! I want to see places! Carry my kit through the Emerald Forest of West Heaven so they want more!â âSpoken like a human,â he dejectedly replied. âItâs okay to want more, but not more for the sake of it! Thatâs what the human problem is. Not that they want more, but that they leap before they look. Itâs not the way of the Bonnark.â âBonnark smarnnark!â she yelped. âGet to know him! Heâs really a shy timid man once you get past the lack of body hair and his humanity!â âI know what Lorenzo the geologist saysâŚâ âWho?â âLorenzoâŚHeâs the quality control engineer at the plant. When I heard you were being a grab bag for a human I talked to him. ThisâŚâ âChristian RoyâŚâ âThis Christian Roy,â Roo went on. âHeâs a sailor. Heâs a human sailorâŚHeâll have a pouch or whatever human girls have at every portâŚWhich I suppose is a lot like what your mother has but in different placesâŚâ Roo thought about that for a moment and then went on. âYou wonât be special to him. You canât make him love you by having sex with him and you wonât keep him with a kit. Human males donât work like Bonnark. Itâs the way the Devine Inspiration made them to be.â âGive him a chance!â Swope jumped to her feet and stood on her hind legs. âHeâsâŚI know heâs a decent person. Yeah! Heâs not a Bonnark but heâs not an animal either! No more than we areâŚBesides he doesnâtâŚâ âDoesnât what?â her dad stared through her. He knew his daughter and knew what she was going to say before the conversation started. âHe doesnât know Iâm ugly,â she said quietly. âYouâre not ugly! Where did you get that idea?â Roo emphatically pleaded. He was angry that his daughter had such low self-esteem; he tried to raise her better than that. âMy tailâs too short and my pouch is too large,â she began to tear up a little. âI know youâre going to tell me itâs not but it isâŚIâm ugly with a loose pouchâŚHumanâs donât know what pretty is for Bonnark.â âThe Devine Inspiration doesnât make junkâŚYouâre not ugly!â he barked and tried to tone down. âIf you want to travel, you can! Be a geologist like LorenzoâŚGo to a human school and learn from the good they bring.â He then thought about it. âIf you still want to be this Christian Royâs house Bonnark thatâs fine too. The Devine Inspiration made them in her image also, but what Iâm saying is this if you do pair bond with that man, do it because you want him for him, not because youâre lonely and want a warm paw up you. Not because you want from life things that arenât for you, or because youâre too lazy to work for those things, but because this Christian Roy is like no other BonnarkâŚManâŚIn the universe.â She sat down and contemplated what her father said. âNow that this issue is settled,â he went on in his normal manner. âYouâre cousin Darll is home on leave. Heâs coming over with your Aunt Barballoopsie and Uncle KarfâŚHeâs back from special training on earth with the Bonnark Defense Force. He can tell you all about humansâŚIgnore your Aunty Barballoopsie...Sheâs a little off. Set the neighbor girl up with a human named Edwin. Iâd like to know how they get their namesâŚEdwinâŚSounds like a stomach disorder.â âA little off? Sheâs an artist, she supposed to be more than a little offâŚâ Swope replied. She then thought about it. âHey whatâs this about her setting that neighbor girl of hers up with this human named Edwin?â âAsk Chris they might know each otherâŚFrankly I canât tell them apart. Seen one human seen them allâŚJust because for me they do all look alike! How do you tell them apart?â âThey look different once youâre around them enough,â Swope shrugged. âAs far as Chris knowing EdwinâŚUnlikely, there are thousands of them passing through here every month and billions of them in the universe. I mean what are the odds of Aunty Barballoopsie fixing a Bonnark up with someone Chris would know?â âGood point,â Roo agreed as he mulled it over. âWhyâd she do it anyhow?â âHis mother was my sister, the one I donât talk about. See? It runs in the family,â Roo replied with a casual dismissal. âSo my sisters talked it over and figured heâd be a good match for this girl. Oh, her nameâs Enaj, you know her! Her left leg is shorter than her right by a few smecksâŚNeeds custom shoes or she walks on a slant.â âOh,â Swope gasped, stunned at the admission of the big family secret. She then decided to raid the refrigerator for larva. âIs mom procreating? Her tail is pluming and Iâm wondering if Iâm getting a siblingâŚâ âItâs either that or cold flashes,â he shrugged. âWeâre waiting on the Beetle Test.â âWell what do you want?â she yelled from the kitchen. âWhat ever I get!â âSpoken like a Bonnark!â she laughed. The house phone rang and her mom answered it. After a minute, she hung it up and yelled into the living room. âRoo! The beetle died! Youâre a father again!â âYes!â Roo yelled enthusiastically but didnât get up off his chair. âIâd jump around like I did with Swope but Iâm too old for that!â âToo old for that!â Swope stormed into the living room with larva dripping from her mouth. âWhen this kids out of the pouch Iâll be sixteen! Bonnark will think Iâm a single mother! And youâre worried about me looking like a grab bag!â âScrewâem if they canât take a joke,â Roo shrugged. âWell if I get sympathetic lactation itâs your fault!â she snarled as her tail leveled out. âGreat practice huh?â Roo retorted. *** After dinner, Roo, his brother in law Karf and Darll stood in the kitchen amongst the leftovers drinking fermented Og Leaf and generally socializing. The female Bonnark chattered up a storm in the living room over the impending new arrival. Plenty of tail wagging and pouch talk. âSo how was earth?â Roo asked Darll as he dropped three green Og Leafs into a fancy glass of liquor. âDifferent,â he replied. âAt least the part I was on. They do have deserts like Bonnarkia but also arctic wastelandsâŚSo cold that it doesnât rain but snowsâŚâ âSnow?â Roo asked sipping the Og Leaf. âSnowâŚâ Darll searched his mind for a description. âSolid water. When it gets so cold in the upper atmosphere the rain condenses into flakes and thatâs snow. When it freezes on the ground thatâs called iceâŚâ âHe says they have a dozen different words for itâŚâ Karf his father interjected. âLike we do for sandâŚâ Darll went on. âBlizzard, lake effect snow, snow storm, snow fall, dusting, glacial ice, ice berg, frozen overâŚMeans different things for them, but for me it means freezing my tail offâŚâ He then laughed. âThey have the same phraseâŚFreezing your tail off but for them itâs even funnier. They never had tails to freeze off to begin with but they have that phrase!â âWeird bunch huh?â Karf giggled. Roo laughed, he then asked Darll if he ever had a human female. âYeah, onceâŚâ Darll shrugged. He then repeated lines from the Book of Truths, âWhen in the mountains with Mountain Bonnark, do as the Mountain Bonnark do.â âYou jumped the species barrier?â Karf chocked. âSheâs a sweet girl,â Darll looked back astonished. He then remembered where he was standing. He then produced a wallet and showed them her hologram. âWe weâre lonely and we met at a slop chuteâŚâ âOkay,â Roo shrugged as he looked at her hologram. âI donât see the attraction.â âAre you two going to pair bond?â Karf paled. âItâs different for them. They have a conscious choice in itâŚMore than we do.â âI thought they had the same emotions as we doâŚâ Roo questioned and handed the hologram to Karf. He thought she had a face only her mother could love. âThey prioritize differentlyâŚIt has to do with their basic environment. When they lived as we did seventy-five years agoâŚOut in the wild, but for them it was about six thousand Bonnarkian years ago, earth was a hostile place. Did you know in their primitive times, they were a food source for wild animals?â âNo kidding?â Karf, his father interjected, quite surprised. âNo kiddingâŚâ Darll looked back. âSeriously. They keep the animals in cages that eat them like groceries at a place called a zoo. Tigers, lions, and bears, a whole slew of animals that eat people. So if they bonded as we do, they were at a disadvantageâŚYour mate is eaten by a tiger what then? Youâre either going to pair bond with another or die lonely. Thatâs why I think they want everything fast, and why they take without askingâŚThey know they're on somebodyâs menu.â âEver go to a zoo?â Karf asked him not really believing what his son told him. âIt was part of a tour in a place called Pittsburgh,â he shrugged. âThey had a lion there that I really think could eat a person easily. Big teeth and claws!â âBet they made the lion sick,â Karf laughed. âThatâs really out thereâŚâ Roo said thoughtfully. âCold with hard water and man eating animalsâŚNot Bonnarkia for sure.â âMakes you grateful to be us donât it?â Karf told him. âThe Devine Inspiration has a sense of humor huh?â âYeah she does,â Roo agreed. âSo about this human femaleâŚYou say she let you have pouch and it was just for entertainment?â âNot quite...â Darll answered thoughtfully. âItâs a temporary bonding. The circumstances we were in wouldnât let us stay together and humans need to be held like that or they get weird.â âSo whatâs it like? I hear it goes sidewaysâŚâ Roo asked his nephew and moved his hand laterally in the air. Darll chuckled. âYou just have to get use to them having nipples on their chests. Sally-Mae was a sweet girl, just lonely. Well, so was I and she was in seasonâŚâ âUh what would you have to say if Swope, your cousin had a human?â âBlastân!â Darll chirped. âIf she meets the right one heâll be with her for life! Assuming he doesnât go off and get his head shot offâŚI assume heâs a sailor?â âYes, you been around them and I was wondering. I work with a few at the plantâŚâ âThey work on a different time table than us,â Darll went on. âAs I said, for them itâs more choice, less instinct. The opposite of Bonnark. I have noted it is easier for the human male to bond with Bonnark than the human female. They expect more animal stupid from their males than they get from us a rule. Itâs about expectationsâŚâ Before anyone could say or ask anything else, Darllâs pocket phone rang. He stuck it to his ear and listened. He paled slightly before returning it into his pocket. âThat was Charge of Quarters at the base,â he exhaled and looked nervous. âThey cancelled all passes and leavesâŚThey said the Martians declared independence.â âBarballoopsie,â Karf yelled as he walked into the living room. âTurn on Inter-Space NewsâŚYour son just was activated!â âWhat happened?â Roo asked his nephew. âI havenât been following interplanetary eventsâŚGenerally donât.â âThe Martians want independence from the United Planetary ConfederacyâŚSomething over self-determination and taxation with representation, freedom of religion. Things we take for granted and as normal. This is how humans survive by taking what isnât theirs to takeâŚItâs their nature,â he exhaled and put on his saucer cap. âLook good in the uniform,â Roo said. âResponsibility before disgrace,â he replied. âStatus of Forces Agreement. They support us in peace, we support them in organize slaughter.ââ ***** âHey thanks for the kimono,â Swope told Chris as she posed for him in front of the video camera. He sent her a laptop computer and via real time chat, they conducted a long-term relationship. âSorry about the shoes, nobody makes dumbbell shaped slippers yet,â Chris laughed. âBig feet what can you do!â she chirped. She held a bare dumbbell shaped foot up to the screen. âWhat happened to the tail? Out of season early this quarter?â âItâs the stress youâve been putting me through!â she accused him. âJust how am I doing that?â âYouâre floating around Mars waiting for this insurrection thing to settle down and Iâm worried sickâŚâ âIâm worried enough for both of us,â he reassured her. He did it with such confidence she almost forgot he wasnât a Bonnark. âDonât worryâŚIâll be back on Bonnarkia before your next cycle startsâŚAnd Iâll be a free man.â âThen can we mate and marryâŚIn that order!â she giggled. She then picked up her detached tail and waived it at him. âSaving it for you and only you!â âYou better or Iâll just have to forgive you,â he laughed. âThanks for the hologramâŚI had it copied and stuck that to the instrument dash on my PB-80 Tiger SharkâŚâ âYou know I wished youâd get away from the combat arms bit.â âLooks good on a resume,â he told her. âGood plane.â âWell donât get yourself killed,â she admonished him. âHey I got every reason to stick around,â he told her and kissed the camera. âI swoped a Bonnark.â **** In the evening, two days later, Swopeâs dreams and world died. Two Navy men, both human, arrived at her residence. They sadly informed her that her betrothed, Lt. Christian Roy, didnât return from his first and only combat mission. They delivered the remainder of his worldly possessions, two sea bags and a chest to her, as there wasnât a body to recover. Once they left, she passed out on the living room floor. She spent the next week in bed, refusing to eat or drink. Her life ended there in a very real and profound manner. The fifteen-minute war on Mars, fifty-two light years away, it killed her too. Eventually, after much consoling from family and friends, she slowly resumed her life. Almost. She quit working at the Golden Plume and listlessly took one job after another. She avoided males, both Bonnark and human. She always wore the âDilooâ a plain cloth sack over her tail, a symbol of mourning when she went into season. Eventually, she became Sister I Bonnark, and entered a nunnery overlooking the Valley of Shadows Past. **** Eight months after Swope entered the nunnery, broken hearted; her Christian Roy recovered from his coma. At first, he had no memory of anything, not even himself. It took him time to recover, and a year after that he stood in the infirmary on Io and adjusted his uniform for the last time. As he looked in the mirror, he remembered what he did. He remembered nuking an industrial facility. He remembered being shot down on the way out. He knew he aced a half a million human beings and that killed him. He couldnât justify his actions to himself morally. As he rummaged through the final paper work and reviewed it for accuracy, the war killed again. He remembered Swope the Bonnark. They told him his head injury would do that. That his memory and his life would come back to him in pieces, a bit there and a bit here. It might take years, it might never happen. A very important piece just knifed him. The worst part was he couldnât feel much, that piece wasnât there yet. From what he read, when he was shot down, his bio-transponder stopped working and they assumed he was dead, not they exactly, the automated program in Personnel Accounts. When the transponder ceased to work, a sub-routine went into action, and that meant Swope thought he was dead. His insurance went to her, his belongings, his last will and testament bequeathed unto her. All because of an automated computerized sub-routine, somebody overlooked. He looked in the mirror and a crippled murderer looked back. âShe deserves better than me,â he thought. He decided to let her go, for he truly loved her. In that decision, he made a fatal error in judgment. He forgot she was a Bonnark. He moved on with his life as it were. Drifting aimlessly for years, he eventually acquired gainful employment with Luna Deep Space Incorporated as a pilot. He never returned to Bonnarkia. He too, earned his destiny, lost in space, lost in time. *** Forty-years later *** Swope leaning on her crutch walked the long trail in the Valley of Shadows Past, she slowly and methodically climbed to her sanctuary were a statue and monument to Christian Roy stood. The life size monument, beaten by time aged into the living rock they carved it. She sat on a stone bench carved from the mountain before it and placed what she assumed to be her last tail at its base. There were many, many dried and old tails there. She looked at his statue and remembered him with affection. âAunty Swope! Aunty Swope!â a childâs voice called out. She looked over to her right and smiled warmly as her two great-nieces ran up the trail. They dressed more in human fashion, by upbringing, than she ever did by choice. One played with a human baby doll. âWhat brings my favorite girls here? This place is for old dead Bonnark.â âDad wants you to come and stay with us, at least for the Holy DaysâŚâ the oldest chirped. âHe sent us to bring you home where you belong!â âThis is my homeâŚâ she nodded toward her monument. âHe lives in your heart of heartsâŚâ the youngest said. âYou still love him?â âI always love him,â she smiled sadly. âWe love you too,â the oldest said and hugged her. âCome home!â âIn a moment I have to say good bye, againâ she with a quiet sad smile and expertly held back a tear. âWhy? He lives in your heart of heartsâŚAlways!â the oldest reminded her. âThatâs what Bonnark meansâŚdevoted love!â In the fullness of time, Swope also passed away. As The Rite of Passage commemorated her, as the flames consumed her tails and smutted the monument to her only love in this world, the Devine Inspiration took note. In the celestial realm of her ancestors, she found the excellence of wholeness denied her by a trifling quest for a tear lost among raindrops. |