LiTTLE CHERiNE Book 02 - post238

I wanted it said clearly. “Majid, at first you intended killing John, because you saw him as an abomination - or was it because you feared his difference?”

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1306

Majid frowned and then admitted, “I had not realised, it was both.” There was a muttering among the other men and I sensed they felt the same way.

I shook my head, “Okay, I can, maybe, understand why your attitude would change with respect to Feizal…and even John. Why would you be willing to sacrifice yourselves for my family and for me? You sensed how strong Cherine is, didn’t it frighten you?”

“If we had not faced war with the organisation, we would have thought in different ways and perhaps not all of us would have been willing to help. Learning of evil men with powers, it served to make it clear for us that as with normal people, some are bad and some are good. By the time we started helping you, we were desperate to help Feizal grow his number of allies, for once they had placed the trigger in his mind, we felt we were losing the war and were failing him.” He looked at Feizal as he told me, “Feizal would meet with us as often as he could, even from the first days, talking to us openly about the dangers. He answered our questions so often that what had sounded magical became almost ordinary.”

I was very tempted to ask them the most important to me question, (I wanted to invite them to become Cherinians), but without understanding why, I felt it is not the right time. I prefer to go with my gut feel at such times, so I asked Ordinx to continue with his tale.

“As I’ve overheard from certain comments among yourselves, there is a certain lack of understanding when I quote Geeta, saying they had not identified sexual differences between the individuals of the Teacher and Happy species. By the time our species departed for returning to our planet, the question had been answered in detail, but I thought that since Geeta wrote in the manner of her current knowledge as the story unfolds, I should report it in the same manner. Time lived in each stage is mentioned in number of days, but the days are more than twice as long as Terran days are and years are shorter, about one hundred and sixty days. The tilt of the planet is much smaller and therefore the seasons only have small variations - mainly to do with the amount of rainfall. The strongest climate variations are caused by the elliptical orbit, with the temperature rising and falling at the times they are closest, at perihelion (περιέλιον), and furthest, at aphelion (απέλιον), from their sun.

There may also be other awkward problems or differences which do not sound logical to many of you. Please keep in mind that even the way Terrans think is not uniform; in other lands their people have their own customs and some of them seem to be very strange to you. Imagine then just how different peoples from different planets and solar systems can be. They did not come into existence in the same manner as your species did, nor did they face exactly the same dangers, so their instincts are bound to vary - just as I know that those of my people do…and those of the Sparklers are unbelievably different from every species I have ever heard of.

If you wish to try an easy formula for creating a different species with very strange ways of seeing the universe, just imagine a solar system with advanced lifeforms, but, they are situated far deeper within our galaxy and the stars are so many and so bright that they can be seen even during the daytime. As you have stories about your moon and the milky way, so will they have their own stories. Try and make up such a story for your own amusement and you’ll be forced to understand just how the differences accumulate - even some that do not make sense. Imagine you live in small towns and villages, that there are no large cities, as it was on Earth until the last thousand years. How important would names be? Would a description of the individual be of greater use, such as, a man who works metal, a smithy, and he has a son, would the son be known as Smithson?” There were a few titters, even from my loves as John pulled a face.

“Our scientists have questioned how it is possible, but the people of Teacher, over all the inhabited parts of their planet, speak the same language, with only very minor variations. This can only be possible if they, as a species, do not like making up new words. The species of Teacher never saw a need for a species name, after all, they think of themselves as the equivalent of human. Their sun does not have a name, it is just the sun. Their two moons are called brightface and skyparasite. Their equivalent name for stars is the twinkles. In other words, their language did not evolve beyond the descriptive (περιγραφικό).

My people are named the Anadir, and yet if translated, it just means the same as you mean when you call yourselves Mankind. The name of the Teacher species, if not translated, would be difficult for my species and yours to pronounce, so I offer a simplified version of their word - we will speak of them as being the To-woow-wiho.

1307

Let’s return to the subject of personal names for the To-woow-wiho. Teacher is named Teacher by Geeta, but there is a name used by others who know Teacher. It is what you, well, Robert, would call a pet name. In other words, it is a descriptive name used by those who love Teacher. Fawaya - and it means, crooked legs. It is a name of endearment and must not be thought of as an insult.

There is no recorded instance, in our Anadir books, of one To-woow-wiho using an insulting word against another. They do fight, but if they want to say something bad about you, it will have to do with your traits; for instance, that you are dishonest, or greedy…and so on. Despite what I just said, I admit to a preference for the name provided by Geeta - Teacher.

Okay…the matter of sex. For most of the story, Teacher is mainly a male, but when he is a Tirrta, and only for that stage, he is more female than male. It is true for the entire range of species, they do not have females who are only female. It is joked among my people that the To-woow-wiho are the only species who are safe from Robert, should he ever visit them…”

Ordinx was forced to pause because of my loves, at first, then all Cherinians…and then all the locals, laughing so loudly. Since I was grinning back at him, he was free to enjoy the success of his sally and I bet all the Anadir Worlds will be filled with laughter tonight. I can see that Solomon will also report the joke and I wonder how much it will mean to the Sparklers. A thought just occurred to me - this is the first time I’ve been the butt of a joke about my loving females and it was funny without making any specific reference to my preference for the young ones.

“Female Anadir do not tend to tear at their souls, but us males sometimes do, especially those dedicated to the arts - and in particular, our poets. Perhaps having to deal with the male Anadir in an understanding way helped Geeta through those years with Teacher. I shall continue quoting her:

Next Post 239

I hope you enjoy reading this story of fantasy, adventure and love.

Αλέξανδρος Ζήνον Ευσταθίου

(Alexander Zenon Eustace)
^{12th May, 2019}

* posted on Steemit: 12th May, 2019



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