Sometimes They Listen, 133

Kulo Seeri, autumn, 133

Anyu z.Avira is 37; Lilac z.Avei is 36; Vedrafe z.Avei is 14; Kanith, Kamiya and Zayash z.Avei are 1

Vedrafe had had just about enough.

She was starting to feel completely alone - the pain of losing her siblings Karatla and Kifsina, even after a year, hadn't seemed to ease. Her brother Ganyalis and best friends Aralata and Kitira had all moved to Lluza, and she'd stayed behind to help her parents with the triplets and continue her apprenticeship with Serendipity. The only other Sims her age were a pair of new arrivals who were constantly running round after younger siblings, just like she was.

Rats had infested the food stores, and although the cats were helping to get rid of them, her father was always on the lookout for ones they hadn't eaten.

The two cats he and Zareb had brought back from Appaloosa Plains in SimNation had kittens now, a few more mouths to feed in addition to the babies.

It didn't help that her mother had been ill lately, and was wondering if she was pregnant again. The sooner Serendipity showed her how to make those brews that helped prevent pregnancy, the better, in Vedrafe's opinion. They could barely stay on top of everything with the triplets.

At least she'd got a chance to hunt with her father like they'd done before the babies arrived. A couple of bears had broken into the village the other day, but Vedrafe and Anyu had taken care of the situation, and Lilac certainly appreciated the extra meat. She seemed to be eating for at least four or five again (oh, Sena Yuleng, please no!)

But still, it was all getting to be too much.

Vedrafe slipped out of the village just before sunset, taking her fishing spear so that everyone would assume she was heading for the river.

Instead, she made her way up to the mountainside where the shaman's forge and ritual circle were. She wasn't supposed to be up there at all - it was forbidden to anyone who hadn't been initiated - but she just felt she had to speak to the ancestors now.

As she stepped up to the shrine, the blue mist that constantly surrounded it glowing brightly in the evening light, all she could think about was her brother and sister, somewhere in the spirit world. At least, she hoped Karatla was in the spirit world and the demon had left her alone in death.

Just like they'd left her. It wasn't fair at all. Vedrafe wanted the ancestors to know that. If she was struck by lightning, so be it.

No answer came. No lightning, either.

Why weren't the ancestors listening to her?

**********

Not even bothering to retrieve her spear, Vedrafe returned to the village. A couple of the southerner kids came up to her, asking if she caught anything. She ignored them, heading straight for her family's huts.

Her parents were already in bed, catching what little sleep they could before one of the triplets started crying. Rather than joining them, she just sat on the grass, looking up at the sky. No stars were visible - just an endless stretch of darkness - but then Vedrafe noticed a small light moving across the sky. As it got closer, she realised it wasn't a shooting star, but some kind of blue mist like the stuff surrounding the shrine. And it was pulling her towards it.

Sometimes, the ancestors do listen.