out on the edge of forever

Levent Kartal · 04-17-2012, 11:05 AM

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“You know,” Wilson mewed, trotting along at his heels, “for wanting to explore the whole bloody region, you don’t move much.”

The brown luperci snorted at him, his hands trembling badly as he walked across the bridge. “I’m moving,” he complained as he glanced over the edge of the railing. The river was swollen, but the Princeville Footbridge was newly constructed about the time humanity fell, and he had hopes that it would hold for another minutes at least as they crossed. It might’ve been easier to go around the water or swim through it, but he more or less trusted the humans and the roads they built.

“The wrong way,” the cat replied. “Or do you want to go to Freetown? Again?”

He shrugged and grinned over his shoulder, although the toothy smile was a tremulous thing. “What can I say? The other merchants call to me.” He froze when the wind blew, one hand clamped on the rail and the other keeping his cloth from flying off his head. “And there’s supposed to be flourishing woods and good hunting on the other side of this bridge. Crops too, maybe, although everything’s flooded.” Truth be told, though, he really did want to visit Freetown once more. It was so much easier than dealing with the various personalities of Nova Scotia, where he wasn’t protected by the laws of the popular trading post.

But it didn’t further his personal journey, the journey that had brought him across the ocean in the first place.

Agonizing minutes passed before the pair finally reached the end of the bridge and stared at the fertile lands around them. Fir, spruce, pine, tamarack, and other coniferous trees dotted the forest in addition to newly-green birch, aspen, and poplar. When he inhaled, the odor of deer and waterfowl and smaller predators reached him.

“Fancy yourself a feast?” Levent asked the cat teasingly, and Wilson purred as he came to stand at his side, looking at the valley.

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