So be it

Dance

It was fun. Even I had to admit it was fun. The weather was turning colder and I had spent all day chopping wood for the winter that was certainly coming. But this night it was fun as people danced and sang around the three campfires.

Linda and her group had managed well in the hunt and not only was there meat smoking in the hut built for precisely that reason but we had all had a filling meal of roasted meat and some tubers Anita had discovered.

Someone had managed to rig a whistle of some sort and played songs that she remembered. The sound was a bit on the shrill side but having music was more important.

A part of me scoffed at the hours spent on the small instrument but I silenced it ruthlessly. Civilisation was a necessity as much as food, water and fuel for the coming winter. Surely we were not as prepared as I would like us to have been but nothing could be done about that.

Hopefully it would not mean death. I could only hope. Still the weather as it changed from summer to autumn reminded me more of Greece than England. So no heavy winters, or at least not as heavy as they could have been. Personally I would have preferred a place in the tropics. Well, if wishes were horses...

I watched couples of existing standing and new ones created of a night's good spirits dance around the campfires. As usual my eyes went to Jinx and Gloria. They were dancing out of rhythm but they were having fun. It was good to see them happy.

I was sitting in my habitual place, just outside my hut, enjoying the vibes. It felt almost like a bar and I could not help but smile. Another day I would find something to castigate myself about. That day I simply luxuriated in being a wallflower, just as I liked to be in the bars and clubs back when there were any to go to.

In truth, as far as I could tell, the bar feeling had been an intentional part of the game our still unknown hosts were playing. It had taken me a long while to realise, probably the last one in our camp, that the selection of abductees had been made on grounds more specific than gender.

It almost made me believe in the conspiracy theory option that some of the others were still stubbornly clinging to. I spared a thought for the community back on Earth. It would not be easy to have a good portion of the L part of the LGBTQ disappearing into thin air. Even if part of it had been largely not acknowledged. After all quite a few people in our campsite had been married or in the closet back on Earth.

As usual when my thoughts strayed in that direction, I could not help but wonder if we were the exception rather than the rule. Maybe it had just been chance that the group of women around me when I woke up were queer in some way or other. I shook my head. I could have believed in chance if only the ones that had stumbled into our campsite and adopted into our little community had not been queer too.

No, it seemed like our hosts had made a careful selection. I could not even begin to fathom why. Unless I succumbed to the lure of the conspiracy theory, there was no explanation that made sense to me. I shrugged quietly to myself. No point in wondering.

It made no difference truly. We still had to survive tomorrow and the winter coming. Wondering about reasons and conspiracies was only a waste of time. Still, I would like to know. Well, nothing to it. Better just sit back and enjoy the atmosphere. So be it.

Soft steps alerted me to someone coming. I wondered which of my hutmates would be the one to first retire. Living with two couples and four singles certainly made for interesting nights. I had amazed myself as to how I could fall asleep and sleep like a log as all sorts of stuff happened around me. I guessed long days and manual labour would that to you. So be it.

Surely it was one my hutmates. My eyes narrowed as Lil' Red came to sit beside me without even asking whether I wanted company. I shrugged to myself more than her. She had taken to doing that some nights.

Still I was surprised that she had not some eligible woman on her arm. Not that Lil usually did but the night had that feel. Even I was feeling it and I had been no better than a nun since the beginning.

"Teach?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hm..."

"Do you dance?"

"No..."

"Ah... alright."

I looked at Lil questioningly. Where had that come from? A couple of the others had come by earlier, asking pretty much the same. I merely shook my head at them. After three months, they should have known better.

I had heard the rumours. Hell, Anita had once come out and plain asked me whether I had a girlfriend back home or something. She had not gotten an answer, not that she should have even asked.

When Gloria had asked as we were fishing a few weeks ago, she had gotten a slightly better answer. After all I knew that she did not ask digging for gossip, she was merely concerned for some reason. She had nodded at my answer and did not speak of it further. I was grateful.

Still I would not have expected something like that from Lil.

If we were back home I could have the excuse of being drunk. Just then I had no other excuse than that my words got away from me.

"I'm sure Linda would love to dance..."

I blushed as soon as the words left my mouth. Earth, open up and swallow me now! What are you playing at, you stupido? You are no matchmaker. My internal voices started a chorus of castigation and I closed my eyes. So I had misspoken. Sue me!

"Not you too, Teach..." Lil' Red's soft voice censored me.

"Sorry..." Apologies did not come easily to me but I owed Lil one.

I stiffened when I felt her body slide next to mine, her head on my shoulder. She did not move further and after a few moments I forced my body to relax. Still it must have been obvious that I was uncomfortable.

She did not speak further and neither did I. It took a long time but finally I sort of forgot she was there and went back to my people-watching.

Chapter end 

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