The Vast Ripeness

The... Beginning?

There was a horrible wind in the hills this morning. Cold. Colder than it had been in years past. I have these weird tingling feelings all over my body. Little bumps. I should remember these from when I was a child, but I can't seem to remember much these days. The lack of food is killing us.

I hear a murmur from the corner of this small shed we have called home for the past month. I look over, "Good morning beautiful," I say.

"Wwwhhhhhyyyyy!!!"

"Well, after the nighttime always comes morning, my love."

"Ugh... That's not what I meant and you know it. I mean why are we here? Even the breeze is hurting my face."

"Darling," I say softly, "we have to keep moving. The days are getting much shorter and pretty soon the cold will be unbearable."

Gemma looks at me like I stabbed her in the knee. "This is what we were told about, right?" She eventually said. "Are you sure we are going in the right direction?"

"Of course," I reply.

We gather our things and our packs and take off. As the door creaks open, the light forms the suns slams into our eyes. I quickly avert my gaze over to Gemma. She has her pale hand up above her face as if she was trying to shade her eyes from the bright that was slashing into us. Her hair blowing behind her shoulders even though it was tied back. Her entire face was exposed, quickly getting red from the wind. My eyes, even brighter of an emerald green, now that the suns hit them.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" She demanded, hands on her hips.

"Uhh, there's not much else to look at right now, Gem." I stammer.

"Well, let's get going. You're the one so horny to get moving this morning."

"Yeah, we need to head north."

"How do you know which way is north?" She questioned.

"I've told you so many times Gem, it's a damn gift." I spit. I've told her this many times. She still doesn't think it's a real thing. No sense of direction. Must have been taken away when she became of Age.

"Why should I believe you?"

"It gets colder when you go north," I say reluctantly.

Time goes by slow today, must be the cold. We see some old buildings in the distance. The first sun has already set for now. I look over at Gemma, her sleek figure showing as her shadow grows longer and longer.

"Are we there yet?" She complained. "We have been walking forever.

She's not wrong. We have been walking for what feels like an eternity. I look down at my notched wristbands. "We've been walking for a total of 587 sunsets."

The buildings are getting bigger now that we are getting much closer. "Can we set up here for this darkness?" She asked.

"Yeah, let's just search these buildings for supplies." Not having eaten anything all day long, both of us are starving. "We need some food and hopefully something to get us through the darkness again."

"We can actually cuddle for warmth"

I snicker, "If you're lucky."

We go through each building, combing through debris, finally finding what we need for the night. We lay down, rubbing my neck on hers and we coo together. I rubbed her neck until she dozed off. My eyelids were slamming shut as well. I whisper, "love you Gem." Then I start to doze off.