Red Berries - Izzy Konasine

Saturday Stroll

"Well sure, Africa seems like an interesting place," The man said as he lay the data sheets down on the table.

The piles of documents were enough to make a professor cry. There were tonnes of them, and all of them related to the same topic of the current on-goings of the world.

"Excellent, because you must go and find out as much about Africa as possible. You will be sent to South Africa. Apparently there has been a growth of alien plants, and you must remove them before.. Well, before any of the wildlife eats them." Another one replied as he sat opposing him at the mahogany desk.

The man who spoke first now looked at him while gulping thickly. He was obviously guilty for the growth of the extraordinary plantation, but wished not to tell the other man. All the data on those documents already showed the damage, so he didn't want to get the blame.

"Alright, I got'cha, this will be a piece of cake. I might even see Erin again, I know he lives there somewhere."

The man sat quietly in thought, his fingers now laced together, it had been a while since he'd seen his fantoccini friend, and a little reunion would be dandy in such dark times.

He didn't even realize the other man was speaking to him, as his monotonous voice seemed to have dragged around the grey office and blended in with the walls.

"Doctor, be careful. God knows what will happen if even Erin ate one of those." Is what he had heard, everything else was just unfocused until now, but it didn't seem important anyway.

"I will be safe, and I will also make sure Erin or anything else will not eat any of them. For the sake of humanity, flora, and fauna."

~

It was Saturday.

And it was hot.

The humid air was slamming down against the dry, cracked earth of the African lands. There was no clouds in the desolate, mustard sky that day. The soil had completely hardened and it would turn to sand with every footprint placed upon it.

Erin was walking through the blazing heat that day, and it was not pleasant for him. Let's take a look at how he is doing at the moment.

His hot fur was a blanket that just made everything seem hotter. His black lips were on the brink of cracking due to an unquenchable thirst. He had a rather wilted posture to him, as if he was a dying rose in need of a good watering.

He was on the brink burning, and he had stripped himself of his tailcoat and corset to try cool down. Who cared if he was shirtless anyway? At least he had enough dignity to keep his pants on. And either way, not many people were out in this heatwave.

Erin walked slowly, the soles of his feet unchanged from the insane temperature. His paws were thick and tough, as he was used to walking across the cruel, African lands.

He was an adventurous soul, and often would he be the one to walk to destinations. He hasn't even got his driver's licence, he doesn't feel the need for one.

Erin looked around, his glassy eyes scanning the horizon. He'd just walked for hours until he lost track of his home.

Well, he did know where it was, but just reckoned it would be extremely pointless to head back after walking all this way. After all, it was his idea to go out and have a walk alone. It's just his housemates got a bit much sometimes.

After a few minutes, he fixed his sight onto the baobab and thorn bush forest that was a couple kilometers away. It looked shady and pleasant. He smiled dryly and headed to the Savanna forest.

He approached the edge of the forest, looking at it in complete delight and relief. It was just as he was hoping; shady and cool.

He didn't need to walk on prickly, yellow grass, as here it was lush and pale green. The heat could rain down, but the leafy trees shielded against it.

Erin walked in, having a nice look around at the beautiful African forest. The bark of the baobab trees were honeycomb, and the leaves were pastel greens. There was vynbos and rooibos, flowers and proteas, shrubs and ferns, acacia and so much more. The place was bursting with plant life.

He smiled and settled down against a tree, his back pressing against the cool bark of a tree and he instantly relaxed.

"It's really pretty here," Erin mumbled to himself, gazing at the aesthetic surroundings, "Really, really pretty."

He began to close his eyes, the heat had certainly sucked the energy out of him, and he refused to use up any more. Plus, he needed a good rest because he felt as if he hadn't had sleep for days.

Within moments, his eyes rolled back and closed. His marionette body relaxing and giving him a more puppet-like look. He had fallen asleep entirely.

The sun was setting, the bronze sky quickly shifted into a magenta sky. The temperature was gradually cooling down to a more manageable temperature. The heatwave was over.

Erin jolted to life at the sound of his stomach roaring for food. He woke up dehydrated and starving. Erin, agitated and utterly pissed, got to his feet and looked around. No way was he just going to walk back home, likely that he would collapse on the way back anyway.

Plus, it was really nice here. He could just spend the night here.

He knows it's safe here, as he is the most predatory creature here, the most predatory of the other creatures are jackals or African dogs, but even those animals could be snacks if they try attack him. Erin isn't afraid of canines.

Erin spotted something red in his peripheral vision, and turned to look. There, hanging on black vines, were red, glowing berries.

Without second thoughts of their peculiar appearance, Erin walked over to inspect them. Their glow creating a dim, red shimmer on Erin's pupils.

He seemed really intrigued, and puzzled. He'd never seen a glowing fruit before. It was so beautiful, and according to Erin they were looking rather edible. They were small, the size of blueberries, but grew in clumps like grapes.

His first thought being; Can I eat it?

His stomach didn't seem to protest this thought, and worded its opinion rumbles and roars. Erin didn't have time to think twice, so he carefully picked and plucked the extraordinary glowing fruit, and popped a couple into his mouth.

He already knew the dangers of eating an uncharted fruit, but honestly who would not if they were on the brink of going phsyco because of their hunger? And really, who would care?

They had a very sour taste, but it seemed bearable. It was like eating those sour worm sweets; they made you pull a face, but afterwards would create a really large craving to have more.

As well as that, the berries just leaked, they were juicy, and the red glowing juice just leaked out from Erin's lips and stained his chin.

Erin couldn't resist, they were so delicious. He shoved a handful into his mouth and ate them, savouring the strange and unique taste in his mouth.

He reckoned that this would be enough. He hadn't stuffed himself, but he assumed that it would be enough to keep him going for a couple more hours.

Erin suddenly felt tipsy and stumbled. His vision blurred and went dark as he lost focus. A splitting headache made his head throb and he felt his temperature boil.

He staggered, and fell.