Page 72 of Wild Life

Let the winds be and the stars shine.

In your dream, your hand will find mine.

The splendor we’ll see.

Sleep, my boy, and fly free with me.”

The song always made me feel connected to Ma, like she was listening to me somewhere out there. I hoped she was proud of me. Proud of the partner I was to Maris.

By the time I had finished the last verse, Maris had fallen asleep.

The hammock swayed gently in the breeze as I sang another round of the lullaby with my girlfriend asleep on top of me.

Chapter 32

First to Walk Away

Maris

“When you said a decent walk, you didn’t mention that we’d be hiking Mt. Everest!” I huffed out.

We had been walking for what felt like hours in the dark, aiming to reach the caves before dawn. If we camped outside, we could catch the bats returning home to sleep during the day. However, if none showed up, we’d know they definitely weren’t roosting there.

“It would have been an easier trip if we weren’t carrying everything we own,” Aleki replied as he led the way.

I was struggling to lug my two baskets, one on my hip and the other on my shoulder. Meanwhile, Aleki had four stacked on top of each other with the ease of a fancy waiter serving a tray of petit fours at high tea.

He glanced back to check that I was keeping up, but caught my wide grin instead.

“What’s the smile for?” he asked.

“You saidwe.”

Confusion marked his face in the light of the lantern he had fashioned out of an old jar with a candle stuffed inside and a wire handle wrapped around the opening. “We, what?”

“‘Everythingweown.’ I like the sound of it.”

He laughed. “I didn’t realize I said it, but I like the sound of it, too.”

“Good. Now carry me.”

His eyes bounced from me to his full arms. “With which hand?”

I stomped my feet in a pouty tantrum. “You promised you’d carry me if I couldn’t make the whole way.”

“That was before you decided to pack like we were moving out of the hut.”

“Ugh, fine. I’ll walk. You know, of all the random things you’ve collected over the years, you would think there’d be a pair of shoes…or at least one shoe.” One covered foot up a thorny hill would’ve been good enough. At least I could have switched off every so often.

“Walking on different types of terrain will strengthen your feet. Give it time. You’ll develop calluses soon for protection.”

“Ugh, gross. I had pretty feet once, you know.” My feet had turned into a cesspool of blisters. Every day, something random would lodge itself in one of my soles and I’d have to dig it out with blunt rocks. Somewhere back home, a pedicurist in a fancy spa was crying at my shoddy work.

“You still have pretty feet.” Aleki’s voice carried a lustful tone. The man worshipped every part of me, including my ugly feet. “I would spend the whole night kissing them if we weren’t pretending to be bat hunters.”

“We’re not hunting them!” I scolded. I wasn’t a vegan or a vegetarian, but I didn’t like harming animals unnecessarily. Though I had joked about cooking Poaka on occasion, I never meant it. It did bother me that Aleki had to hunt and fish for us, but it was how we managed to feed ourselves. It was part of the circle of life. As long as we didn’t waste any of it, I could support hunting.

“No, we’restalkingthe bats.”

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