For no reason at all, Annabell burst into tears, crying her head off.
Papa had reprimanded him and told him not to be rude.
Benjere wanted to tell Papa that he didn't know everything, but Benjere kept it back. He knew when he was looking at a paddling on the butt and when he wasn't.
Looking at the weird moons, Benjere told them, "Papa doesn't know everything, and one day when I grow up, I'll prove that.
When he looked back at the garden, wondering if he should eat another carrot, he saw that he had made a mess of the rows. He accidentally stepped on one of the tuber plants crushing it, and he stomped a couple of leaves from the pumpkin plant, pulled up half a row of carrots and some beets. It hadn't been on purpose. It was an accident. But Mama was fussy about her garden, and she wouldn't see it that way. He knew he was going to get in trouble. Big trouble because he was outside at night.
Mama pig oinked at him.
She looked like she wanted in that garden. It wouldn't be the first time. The bottom slat on the fence was loose and Papa had repaired it twice already. Mama pig minded her manners, but if something spooked her or made her angry, she knew just which fence slat was loose and where to put pressure on it. Papa meant to fix it, but something more pressing for him to do always came up. Benjere told Papa he'd glue it.
Papa told him that shortcuts fixed nothing.
Benjere didn’t see how that was a shortcut at all, it seemed like the smart thing to do—just squirt glue in there and it would hold good. Papa hadn't fixed it yet, and it gave Benjere an idea. He went over to the fence and pulled the bottom off, dashing quickly around the corner of the barn to see what the pig would do.
Stupid pig didn't do anything.
Picking up some rocks near the wall of the barn. He threw one at Mama pig. "Stupid pig, fat pig, aren't you still hungry? Don't you want some carrots? Don't you want some food? Fresh food is better than that soft we give you, better than leftovers."
The pig snorted louder, pawing the ground of her pen. But she didn't seem inclined to bust through the fence to get to the garden so she could dig it up and hide the evidence of what he had done. He threw another rock and missed and grabbed up three more, positioned closer to his target right in front of the garden. He was close enough to give the pig some wallop now.
The third one hit ole’ fatty Mama pig hard enough to make her squeal, lower her head and break through the fence. She was faster than Benjere ever expected, more furious than hungry. Now she wasn't just a big, Mama pig—suddenly she became an angry monster, tusks caught the red of the moon, and that rule on her chin looked like blood. She ran straight at Benjere, out to gore his belly.
There was yelling, Benjere looked over and saw Papa running towards him. Somehow it all turned against him. It wasn't his fault, but he was going to be blamed for everything. Papa was yelling, trying to stop the pig, who just kept charging.
Teeth clenched, her whole being in denial when Annabell opened her mouth to scream.
The hungries buzzed in a wild frenzy, rushing inside of her, filling her up. That memory had come from them. She did not know how, or why, or the strange magic chemistry of it. But the memory was real. She felt it and lived it.
Filling her up, they poured in with her agony and tasted like cool, perfect water, but she knew it wasn't. There was too much of it, going in, down her throat, in her belly, filling her up.
There was much too much of it.
*
She opened her eyes while floating in the stars. They were strange stars, blue instead of white. Maybe she was underwater and this is what that world looks like. Pinpoints of light above her and all around. Annabelle didn't know where she was or how she had gotten here. It was like no place she'd ever seen. She lay flat and naked on a soft surface. But she wasn't cold. And she couldn't move. She could twitch her fingers, move her hands, and curl her toes, but there was a resistance to sitting up or to moving her arms and legs.
"Hello, Annabelle. I am Eid. It is nice to meet you. Welcome to Home World One," a calm female voice said.
"Anna. My redress Anna."
Annabelle stared at the creature hovering next to her. He was big, at least seven-foot tall, maybe more, with muscles everywhere packed under white skin. Despite the powerful muscles, his body had an appearance of lean strength that made her think of a spear, sharp, and elegant. His skin was white all over. A pure, beautiful white like snow, clean and cold. Even his eyes were white, with thin black rims and solid black pupils. He had a roundish head, ears that pointed at the tip, and two elongated teeth like tusks coming out of his mouth.
Her brother thought Mama pig looked like an Orki. Was this an Orki? He put his hand on her stomach. Not cold, but warm. Infused with heat, his eyes were full of tenderness and anxiety.
"Anna not leave her Doku-nini-orki-ror-ess," the Orki said.
"Annabelle Roe, you did almost leave us. The poison was spreading through your body and you would not open your mouth. This is a common occurrence with the consort hungries poison. I am not sure what causes the lockjaw, however. There is not a medical reason for it. Do you remember why you would not open your mouth? I would like that information for the log."
Annabelle wasn't sure she could speak. Confusion swamped her. Where was this woman standing? Able to turn her head from side to side, she could see the Orki, even lift her head. No other people shared the room with them.
"Pardon me, Annabelle. While flushing and rehydration with the antidote is complete, you have been unconscious for several days. Are you thirsty?"
She heard a quiet, snick sound before the big white male leaned down and pulled a hose to where she could see it. "Water, Anna?"
There was no well to provide the water, no lamp to provide the light, nothing she could see that would create blue stationary points of illumination all around. She wasn't in Righteous Way. It looked like a picture in a book or on a screen in the schoolhouse.
