Notes - (final) Grandma 16 / (final) Pouch 16

         Late evening. Homemade chili for supper and you watched the news and the Beatles Tribute from earlier this week. Earlier you napped most of the morning, saw the doctor (sinus infection not the flu), more napping after a Subway picnic styled lunch watching the cars moving along Cox Road across from the VOA Shopping Centre. More napping until supper.

         2155 hours. Carol has a routine appointment at Bethesda Hospital in Montgomery. I’ll drop her off and wait at the McD’s on Montgomery Road near the I-275 exit. I’ll see what I can do here before Carol is ready for bed.

         2214 hours. I completed the revision of Grandma 16 and it is not exactly what I expected.

         That is because you have an inkling of what faery dust was back in the old days. Add and post. – Amorella

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(final) Grandma’s Story 16 ©2014 rho GMG.One

Queen Saraid, King Conaire II and young Prince Corbred were walking along a forest path, happy to be alone for a change, when the king saw a strange mushroom on the right side of the path. It was ivory with brown spokes like those of a Roman chariot, the spokes of our enemy. “What is this?” he asked.

“Shall I pull it for a snack?” replied the queen.

“No, no. This may be an omen.” The king glanced up. “Where is Corbred?”

“Oh, he is fine. I saw him walk on ahead, but he will not go far without me.”

King Conaire II stood with a slight concern and scrutinized the trail. “I don’t see him.”

“That little boy,” critiqued Saraid. “He has never run off before. He is usually tugging on my dress.”

Meanwhile little Corbred was on a trail of his own. I’m not afraid of anything, thought Corbred to himself. The fox is a menace and I will chase him until he tires and bring him home by his tail. Everyone will see how marvelous I am.

Corbred’s eyes focused on the tail end of the fox. The boy did not realize it was an animal path not a people path.

“The boy’s your responsibility,” noted the king in his clearly royal voice.

“Yes, m’lord,” replied the queen with no further comment.

"The mushroom was a bad omen. I think the Faeries are behind this, said the King nervously thinking of Faeries as they are in the real world.

“What can we do?” asked Queen Saraid. “Will the Faeries want to bargain for our son?” Or worse, she wondered, steal his soul?

Corbred heard a great horned owl hoot once near the top of the old tree. “Whoo,” said the owl.

Corbred, not sure what he had heard answered, “Prince Corbred”

“Whoo,” replied the owl.

“I am Corbred, and I want my mother.”

The old owl didn’t like the annoying and screeching sounds of the boy and he flew off.

Exhausted from the hunt the boy lay on the worn animal trail and into a deep sleep. He had a dream encased in sharp teeth. Here is little lost Corbred’s dream:

“Hello, little boy, this is your Grandmother. What sharp front teeth you have. I will have one of those.” She reached in his mouth and pulled it out.

When Corbred awoke his left front tooth was missing.

Suddenly in late mid-morning he heard his mother’s voice and turned towards her in a run. “Corbred!” she exclaimed, “I knew I would find you.”

“I was hunting a fox, Mother, See, there is its den.”

            “How did you know to find me here?”

            “This was the only animal trail we hadn’t yet search.”

            “I didn’t notice,” he said, “I kept my eyes on the red tail because I knew the fox’s head was at the other end.”

            “You sound just like your uncle,” laughed his mother. “What happened to your tooth?” she asked. “I didn’t know it was loose.”

            “Grandmother came by in the night and took it out.”

            “Grandmother? Your grandmothers are dead, Corbred. You know that.”

            “Well someone took it,” he said indigently.

            She sighed then she politely said, “He’ll say a faery took your tooth.”

            Suddenly Corbred turned white as a sheet. “Faeries take your soul, not your teeth,” he replied. “I never thought of the faeries in my dream. I thought of Grandmother.”

            “Don’t bother with it, son,” she said, “It’s just old men’s talk.”

            “What’s the matter, Corbred?” said the queen. "See, the main trail is right over here.”

            “My front tooth left an opening in my mouth, Mother, and it is making me faery afraid.”

            She laughed softly and motherly, “Don’t worry, you are safe.”

            Corbred thought to keep his mouth shut so no one could see the gap in his teeth. People might mind the Faerie's gap. Immediately he thought, A lost tooth is better than a lost soul.

That is what got him to thinking, putting tooth and soul together in the same sentence. He was never the same boy after. As he matured he became known as Corbred the Silent.

            Grandma chuckled and slid like a soul sliding between the toes of her nearest reader. She nestles there still, between the billions of toes whenever they touch the bare earth. She smiles and says, “Everyone thinks sheorhe knows the difference between a soul and a tooth by the hole it leaves behind.”

            A whisper from afar, “I know the difference,” says the still small lost child in Corbred’s well-worn nearly extinguished spirit.”

            Grandma relinquished her chuckle in an added wink says, “One has to be careful about what sheorhe thinks sheorhe knows for sure.”

***

          2237 hours. Carol is finishing up her book. We have to leave here by 0840 hours to make it to her appointment. I am tired but it is mostly my neck and throat. I don’t have much cough medicine left and I’ll have to get more tomorrow. I hate these bouts of hacking cough. I would just as soon be done with it.

         Interesting that you found a place to insert giving Jadah a belly rub in Pouch Sixteen. – Amorella

         I don’t know how a marsupial’s pouch might feel but rubbing Jadah’s belly for a short time can put us both to sleep. 

         Add and post. – Amorella

***

(final) Diplomatic Pouch 16 ©2014, rho GMG.One

            Arriving at the room a little late Justin and Hartolite are already seated and semi-relaxed but Justin suddenly focused at the figurine sitting on the drink stand to Hartolite's right. He asked, "What is that on the table?"

            "The finger-cup-with-a-top? It is filled with sacred water from home."

            "It looks empty. I thought it was a vase to put a single flower in, except it is not quite tall enough."

            She smiled contentedly, "When I am homesick I put it in my pouch when I go to sleep. It is comforting."

            "Pardon?"

            "I put it in my pouch for comfort. She picked it up and quickly handed it to him."

            He took it with self-consciousness, "It's soft. I thought it was glass." A nasty thought hit and he tried to dismiss it. His cheeks reddened. 

            Hartolite showed an immediate concern, "Are you embarrassed? I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. What is embarrassing? I mean, if I may ask. I will try to rectify it."

            "No, no." He looked for a place to put the object. "I'll set it down here." He was in the process of putting the relic down and observed Hartolite about to stand.

             Hartolite quickly stood and reached for the relic as he was about to spill the contents and said, "I'll take it, Dr. Justin.”

            "Call me Justin, Hartolite. PhD’s are not medical doctors."

            "That would be rude. It would be impolite for us foreigners to be presumptuous. Earthlings are all titled that's what we are taught."

            "We are more equal than titled, that's what we believe, that is what are laws say."

            "Saying and being are two different things."

            "See," brightened Justin, "We agree on that."

            "I am happy that you consider us equal. May I ask you an equal question?"

            "Is having sex fun?"

            "Do you mean foreplay or intercourse?"

            Hartolite laughed as casually as he had ever yet seen her, "No, I meant 'Isn't sex fun?'"

            Justin laughed at the thought but was immediately anxious, which under the circumstances made him even more anxious. He finally and quietly said, "Our species thinks so, but, uh, affairs are not looked highly upon in our culture."

            "Then why are there so many?"

            "I don't know." What about your culture? Our social rules are complicated. How do you dispense justice?" He meant to say marriage.

            "That's an easy question. We have three judges then after the hearing the pronounce the person not guilty or guilty."

            "No jury?"

            "Why would you want to complicate the justice?"

            "It is like your supreme court only it is an equal court," said Hartolite matter-of-factly. Then a quick change of subject, "Since we are equal would you like to see my pouch?"

            "Isn't that a bit intimate?"

            "No. We marsupial humanoid women are built to share our pouches." She stood and dropped her outer pants slowly. "See, here it is." I would never show my pouch to a primate at home. He might attack me."

            Justin stood politely and curiosity took charge. He became medical doctor-like, "There is a brownish ridge like an old scar."

            "You can touch it."

            He did. "It is rubbery."

            You can put your hand in if you like. Our men always put their hand in the pouch whenever they can. Usually when we are alone in the apartment as we are now."

            "It is soft and slightly moist. My goodness. This is very calming, very pleasurable - I feel like I have just been given a full body massage." Odd, he thought, this is similar to giving an under belly rub to a cat. He thought of a pet in his childhood. Jadah, my black and white short hair was good for a belly rub most any time. I think she relaxed me as much as I calmed her to sleep at nap time.

            "That's why the men like it. It is the same for us women too. When I put my hand in my pouch or in Friendly's pouch we become very relaxed, like we were crawlbabes in a sleep."

            Justin slowly pulled his right hand out and politely stepped back while she adjusted her outer pants. "I don't know what to say."

            "Neither do our men. Isn't that funny?"

            Both laughed together and more intimately than before. Hartolite was sure this was a good sign that the two species were indeed equal just as Justin had said.

***