Speculative Fiction, Enoli Lee
Ahuli sits, his bottom pressed to the hard earth, eyelashes fanned against his cheeks, legs crossed, his feet beginning to numb. He hums low in his throat, trying to steady his racing heart. He exhales slowly and softly, feeling himself start to drift away. His scalp tingles, spreading down through his nerves like ice in his veins, and he feels as if he could almost lift off of the ground.
He starts to take another deep inhale, but before he can finish, there’s a buzzing noise, and something catches in his nose. He jolts up to his feet, sputtering and barely resisting the urge to gag. He blows out through his nose sharply and the bug flies out.
“Eugh. Great Spirit, that’s gross.” He resists the urge to stomp on the bug, instead leaving it to recover in peace. He didn’t need that kind of bad medicine right before a big hunt.
He walks into his house, grabbing a leather tie from a table and tucking it into his mouth as he starts to work his hair into a braid.
“Osiyo!” He cries out and glances around the communal room, looking to see where his partners are. He had risen with the sun to meditate before leaving on his big hunt later in the day, and he wanted to spend as much time with his udalii’s before he had to head out.
A sharp whistle comes from the other end of the house in response, which meant Mohe was probably in his wood shop. Ahuli makes his way to him, glancing in the other rooms to see where the other two were.
He finds Agasga in her room typing furiously, brow furrowed, and occasionally stopping to push a lock of hair behind her ear with a growl. He smiles and notices an empty glass of water next to her desk. He would have to remind them to keep an eye on her while he was away. He was usually the one who kept his passionate udalii’s from getting lost in their projects and neglecting themselves. His other udalii Hialeah was probably currently in xier garden, tending to the plants and animals and probably getting xemself coated in all sorts of muck.
He took a moment to walk into the room, leaning over to kiss the top of her head, smiling fondly. He starts to walk away but she grabs his wrist and spins him around, pulling him into a deep kiss.
“Be safe out there,” Agasga mutters against his lips, and his heart squeezes with affection toward her.
He pulls back and tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, knowing it would soon slip free again. “I always will, for all of you.”
Ahuli makes his way out of the room and down toward the wood shop, listening to the sounds of Mohe carving and cursing on a level that was almost obscene, each time he made a mistake.
He couldn’t help but to stop in the doorway and watch him work: His deft fingers moving over the wood, his lips puckered as he blew away the sawdust, his brow crinkled in concentration. He was always beautiful, but there was something almost unparalleled about Mohe when he was working.
He could sit and watch either of his udalii’s work for days and never grow tired or bored, he loved to see them focus in, blocking out the entire world, for their projects. The way Hialeah loved to play music as xe fretted over every little weed or hint of a mark on xier animals. The way Mohe carved for hours, or even days at a single project until it was polished to perfection— or discarding it to start the process all over again. And the way Agasga typed until her fingers were numb, sometimes calling across the house for a word she needed.
But sadly he didn’t have the time to sit and watch them today. Ahuli needed to hurry his goodbyes along if he was going to get his horse tacked in time to leave for the hunt.
He tries to quickly make his way outside. He had flown through his goodbyes with Mohe, not wanting to distract the man too much, and knowing that he would get sucked into a million goodbye kisses if he did. And now he was hoping to catch Hialeah outside as he heads to the barn to get his horse ready.
He approaches the barn, with no sign of his udalii yet, and then stops in his tracks. His horse was hitched right at the entrance to the barn, fully tacked, with his bags already packed and strapped on her back. He couldn’t stop the slow, fond smile that spread across his face even if he wanted to.
It seemed that Haileah had risen early this morning to do xier daily tasks so that xe could also prep his things for him.
He feels a tap on his shoulder and spins around, grabbing xem by the waist and twirling xem around. He leans in for a deep kiss, feeling xem sigh against his lips.
“My heart, thank you,” he says as he sets Hialeah down.
Xe refuses to let him pull xem into any more kisses, insisting that he hurry along because “at the rate he was going it would be a miracle if he wasn’t left behind."
Xe hurries him onto his horse, practically shoving them both out of the barn. He laughs, his heart overflowing full of love for his udalii’s and he urges his horse into a trot down the path by his house.
He broke through the treeline within a few minutes, spotting his neighbor, and best friend since birth, Ama. She was perched on her behemoth of a horse she stubbornly called Daisy and constantly cooed at like he was a newborn foal.
She whistles at him, “About time you got your ass got out here! I was getting ready to barge into your house and pull you away from your udalii’s.” She chuckles at his answering groan, “Knowing you, you probably spent all morning canoodling them instead of getting ready.”
“Ahhh, you’re just jealous, cuz. You need to get you someone to canoodle and then you’ll understand.” He pulls his horse next to hers, avoiding her playful swat at his head.
“You know I’ve sworn off women since Dyani. I fear my heart will never recover from that woman.” She shivers in remembrance and then clicks her tongue at him, or her horse, he never knew which, and then they were on their way.
They trotted along the path for a few minutes before she slid him a sideways glance, urging her horse gradually faster and faster each time he caught up with her until they were almost at a gallop, laughing and casting snarky jabs at each other.
All too soon they arrived at the depot, quickly schooling their features into something more befitting of their ages at the sight of some elders sitting near the front stoop. They stopped, allowing their horses a few moments of rest and water before grabbing their tickets for the trains.
Ahuli couldn’t help but feel in awe of the trains each time he rode them. They were shiny and sleek electric trains. The depot had lines that held different models, some able to take you across multiple territories in a matter of hours, and some slower, easier on the animals if you were going on a hunt like he was.
They lead their horses to the animal compartment, passing them off to the caretaker before moving down the train to the compartment they would be riding in for the next hour or so. They cycled their hunting grounds every so often, making sure not to impact the natural population too much. For this hunting season, the grounds were on the very edge of their land. Today’s hunt would bring them almost close enough to kiss the land of one of their neighboring tribes.
Ama settles beside him with a loud grunt, shifting around beside him like a restless child. He reaches into his satchel, making sure to elbow her in the process and laughing at her answering groans before he pulls out a book he had watched Hialeah shove into his bag before he left. It was one of his favorites and had been read so much it was nearly falling apart. Over the years his udalii’s had left him notes and annotations on the pages and it was now one of his favorite mementos to bring on trips as a reminder of them.
He settles down in the plush chair, leaning his head back with his eyes closed as he clutches the book in his lap, feeling a bit like a child with their favorite toy. Ama continued to shuffle around beside him, never fond of long stationary rides. He knew she would much prefer to make the long trek on horseback than to sit still in a chair for more than a few minutes at a time.
He resists the urge to pull out some earplugs and instead tries to ignore her restlessness, attempting to calm his mind in preparation for the hunt ahead. He needed to be focused to make sure he made it back safely to his udalii’s, his beloved's. He sent a prayer out to the creator for his, and all the hunters, safe return and for a very good hunt.
Enoli Lee is a trans, reconnecting Tsalagi native. He is currently working on his debut novel and in his free time, he reads and buys more books than he has room for.
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