Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 91775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91775 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“Issa ise-berg,” she says. “Big ice.”
Ice is the water that falls from the sky, and I realize what she is saying. My eyes go wide and I stare at her incredulously. “That fell from the sky?”
Her lips twitch and she fights a giggle. “No, no. Watch.” She crouches on the sands and I crouch next to her, paying close attention. Tia picks up a handful of sand and lets it drift down to the ground. “Ice, yes?”
“That is sand.”
She makes a face at me. “Ice.” She flicks it out, mimicking that it falls on the ground once more. “Ice.” Then she picks up another handful and pours it over one spot. “Ice.” Another handful, over the same spot. “Ice.” When she repeats this with two more handfuls, she has a little pile in front of her.
She points at it. “Big ice.” Then she points at the floating one. “Big ice.”
Aaaah. “So it did not fall from the sky. It is made up of a pile of the smaller bits?” When she nods excitedly, I shake my head. “That is quite a pile.”
The expression of agreement she makes is adorable.
I lean in toward her. “We do not have ice, big or small.”
Tia clutches her heart, staggering, and it takes me a moment to realize she is teasing me. She is feigning shock at the very obvious thing I have just told her.
I mock-scowl, though I like her playfulness. It reminds me not to be so serious. “Can we look around? I wish to see more of the ice and your great water.”
She holds the sharpened bone tool up and gives me a sly look. “Weer gonnagit lunsh.”
I hold my stick up in agreement, though I do not know what exactly I am agreeing to.
“Comon,” Tia tells me with a laugh, and drags me down the beach.
We explore. We walk up and down the long length of beach, and when we are at the far end, where the tall cliffs block us off, we turn and look at their village. It is sheltered here, with the mountains and cliffs cupping it like a pair of hands, and the sea on the other side. From this view, it seems almost…cozy.
It also makes me wonder just how big the world is above. It is not something I ever considered before, but the vastness of it seems alarming now. Perhaps I am not as brave as I imagine myself, because right now, I feel like one of those grains of sand. Unimportant and lost in a vast sea of chaos.
But Tia stays by my side, pointing out things she thinks I will appreciate. We pick up things called shells which are hard and delicate, and wash up from the rolling waters. Many of them are broken, and some have beautiful, iridescent insides. When we find a particularly large one, Tia takes it and stuffs it into her bag.
She shows me that the water is not drinkable. Instead of sweet, clean water, it tastes of salt and more salt. I make a face and spit it out, much to Tia’s amusement. “Fishpiss,” she agrees. “Sohmuch fishpiss.”
How strange to have such a big water surrounding your encampment and not being able to drink any of it. I point this out to her and she shrugs.
Then, she shows me things that the vast waters do have. We find hard little creatures called “krahbs” that scuttle around on the sands, in and out of the waves. We find a smaller pool with fish trapped in it, and a cluster of dark shells she calls “muss-el” that she uses her bone to pry off, and puts them in the bag. Then she shows me spots to dig in the sands. Wherever there is a tiny hole amidst the smooth sands, she uses her bone to dig and up comes a larger shell, whole and with a strange, jelly-like occupant inside.
“Lunsh,” she tells me again happily.
“So you stay here because the food is abundant,” I muse, and it makes sense. When the warmth leaves a garden cavern, all of the plants inside die off. I cannot imagine that they can grow the mushrooms and mosses that our people are dependent upon. Her people eat the things from the strange, salty waters.
And the cave full of fruit…that my people cleaned out. I am uneasy about that realization. We were selfish, all because Kin’far spoke his poison to my father and said the fruits should be ours.
We dig up more of the lunsh from beneath the sands as we walk, and I forget that it is so bitter cold after a while. Sunlight pushes through the clouds, blindingly bright, and then the water glitters and it is a beautiful sight. I pause to look at it and a winged creature soars far overhead, dipping down to the waters to skim its beak against the surface. I point it out to Tia.