the hidden quirkless Village

a week later

A week later:

The big kids are trying to build a fort or something so we can have shelter. They say we are lucky we were put here in summer, so we don't freeze. They were now making one we can all share since there aren't a lot of us. We found 8 more people, so in total, we now have 22 people, most of whom are 12-15 years old. The youngest of them we found was 7 years old.

Us little kids, plus Henisha went to gather some more food as there were more of us, and we were running out. The big kids would get some more food when we were sleeping to both protect us and let us have more than fruits, veggies, and herbs. Thankfully, the 15 year olds knew how to start a safe fire to cook over. They made sure us little kids didn't hurt ourselves when getting food or helping cook.

We walked around for a bit, just gathering fruits, veggies, and herbs for dinner tonight as we just ate lunch. A good thing is that we are getting better at telling what plants and things are safe to eat without the book, which we still had, and put them in the basket. Henisha was holding it and found it getting easier to carry from doing this more than once.

We got enough for dinner and some for breakfast tomorrow. Henisha looked at us and said, "ok, little ones, time for a rest before we head back to the valley." We all nodded and sat down to rest for a bit. Henisha sat by us keeping an eye out for dangers or others like us. The dangers being wild animals that could hurt us, and the quirked, he kept an eye out. All of us kept an eye out for the quirked.

After a bit and having one fruit each for a snack, we headed back to the valley. When we got there, the big kids were taking a break from building a shelter for us as we didn't want to get wet from the rain and catch a cold. We did have a place for food away from the animals, the big kids could reach it, but we couldn't.

Another thing is that it was Asami's birthday today, so the big kids are going to try and cook something good tonight because of that. Asami is now 5 years old, I now have a notebook of names, ages, genders, and birthdays of all of us. I know I won't always remember the date, but we will try to keep track of the date. So far, we are keeping track of the date, but we might not always do that. I hope that we don't forget the date soon, as I would like to celebrate the other birthdays at least once.

I watched closely as the big kids made dinner. The other little kids were having fun while Henisha watched them. Us little kids have started to call Henisha 'papa' because he is the one that helps us and watches over us the most. And he helps us sleep and just acts like a papa to us. He said he liked it when we did, so we just kept calling him Papa.

After a while, the other little kids started to sit by me, and they were tired from playing, and dinner was almost done. We had what we did, plus a little spices added to it to give it flavor. It was just some rabbit meat, even if that upset us we knew we had to have meat in our diet, and some fruit and veggies, not all of the ones we gathered today, just enough for everyone to have some. Henisha helped encourage some of us who didn't want to eat something to at least try it and said, "The food is to help us get strong, ok? We need the food, so please have at least some of it." That got most of us to eat the food, as we wanted to get bigger and stronger to help the big kids.

After we ate, the big kids put the leftover food where it needed to go to keep from animals. We had a decent shelter by this time as the big kids took turns building for a time before giving the job to another one. We all managed to fit comfortably. We had our body heat to keep warm. And just like every other night, I listened. I listened to the birds chirping in the sky. I listened to the crickets, letting themselves be known in the night. I listened to the owls calling in the dark. I listened to the world around me. It was very calming.

The others fell asleep fast to those sounds alone, getting used to them and finding them calming to listen to. I stayed up for a bit longer. The big kids were talking now. Making plans on homes for all of us and the future. One of the 15 year olds, a girl, spoke, "This shelter is just temporary, right? Until we get more people and have to make a different type of building style for them?" Papa answered her. "For now, yes. But we have to keep the buildings from drawing attention to the quirked. We don't want them to find us." That seemed smart, and from the sounds of it, the other big kids agreed.

Then another one, a boy this time, asked, "Who was the one who found this place?" I felt Papa put a hand in my hair. "Izu found this place. He was the one who showed us the valley." I was happy with the nickname Papa gave me. It made me feel happy.

And with that, their conversation was over, and Papa started to hum the song again. He added to the song over time. I listened to him quietly sing, "Sleep now, little ones, soon we'll be safe. I shall protect you from the dangers of the world. I know you will be big and strong. You will be smart and kind. I know in my mind and heart that you will live a full and happy life" as I fell asleep finally.