Odymn leans
away from the heat
as she stirs the stew —
water and bits of slag-fern
in a folded crummnel.
The Slain
on the other side of the fire
sits upright,
but his eyes are closed.
Meditation or sleep
in the direction
of wellness.
Odymn adds
more nourishing
ingredients
to the stew.
The root of ransindyne,
excavated by Wen-le-gone.
Powdered grammid beans.
Ishlin, scraped
from a rock.
Odymn, vegan,
breathes in the scent of cinnamon
and wrinkles her nose.
Scoops a bit,
vegetables and broth,
into a banyan leaf.
Sets it aside.
Adds a strip
of shredded dried kotildi meat
from the pack of the Slain.
Holds her abdomen
to settle the bile.
"There's enough for you,"
Odymn says to Wen-le-gone.
Not surprised when
he shakes his head.
His trail diet
more creepy and crawly.
Odymn balances
the hot crummnel.
Touches the shoulder
of the Slain.
He opens his eyes,
already focused
on Odymn's blue.
He scans her clothing,
creases his brow.
She wears
his winter tunic.
"The blue tunic
was covered in your blood,"
says Odymn.
The Slain watches her eyes.
"Food," she says
and holds the crummnel
a centimetre or so
below his mouth.
He lays his hands on hers
to guide the container.
Recoils at the heat.
Blows a puff of air
at the hot stew.
Leans forward
and drinks.
Tastes the vegetables.
Spits out the slices of ransindyne.
"Not that,"
he says.
Finishes the broth.
Watches Odymn
as she sips
from the leaf of banyan.
YOU ARE READING
Meniscus: One Point Five - Forty Missing Days
Science FictionAfter the Slain is shot, Odymn and an Argenop elder work together to try and return him to good health. As they journey towards the Themble, survival is a challenge. Odymn must add to her foraging skills and survive an attack by the vicious kotildi...
