He signed, "Have you not now seen one leave the body of this poor deer?"
"I did see it."
"We are all connected," he told her in sign, bringing his two hands together, linking them as though in brotherhood. "We all live and enjoy the thrill of life, and we all die. All life must depend upon animal or plant life, or sometimes both, to become food so all may live. Plants do the same, taking what they need from our Mother, the Earth. All life must do the same as we do. Simply because we must eat does not mean we must divorce ourselves from the life that is all around us and pretend it is not also alive and lives much the same as we do."
Still feeling as if her eyes were mirroring her incredulity, she remarked, "Should I not eat meat, then? Perhaps I should change my diet so I am eating no meat at all?"
"Do you ask this question because you think plants do not have a spirit that, like us, desires to live?"
"Of course a plant doesn't have a spirit. It is only a plant, after all."
He smiled at her and reached out to take her hand in his, bringing it to his lips. Then, releasing her hand, he signed, "Come, let us finish skinning this deer and putting its meat over the fire, and I will introduce you to the plants, for all things are connected and all things on this earth are alive. And, if it is alive and if it is on this earth, it is, like us, spiritual. When the body dies, that which makes the plant or animal aware it lives, is released. We of the Blackfoot Nation at least try to guide its spirit up to the sky and to Sun, the Creator."
Laylah frowned. Even though she had "seen" the spiritual entity leave its body and float upward, this was too new and too different a viewpoint for her to readily accept as true. But, it did cause her to wonder if she had really been truly living before she'd met this man. Wolves who, when asked, came to her aid; a deer as a spiritual being; the love of the Little People and now plants, too? They, like human beings, were alive and possessed a spiritual quality about them? She swallowed hard before asking, "What is the yellow dust you sprinkle over the animal?"
"Pollen."
She nodded.
"Come," he signed, "let us finish this task and then, if you will follow me, we should go and talk to the plants."
And, Laylah did, indeed, help him finish the task, knowing they would do exactly as he said they might do. And, before they sat down to enjoy their supper, she found herself silently conversing with the flowers that graced a beautiful and colorful meadow....
****
"I...LOVE YOU...ALWAYS."
"And, I will always love you, my husband. How do you say those words exactly in Blackfeet? As you know, I am trying to learn your language."
"And, you are learning it faster than I have acquired your language,” he signed.
"I don't think so. You are already talking to me in English, and I can barely string together a thought in Blackfeet."
"You are kind," he signed, then said in English, "What...you wish?" He grinned at her. "You want...me...tell you I...always love you?"
"Yes, of course, but no! I want you to tell me how I say that to you, not how you say it to me."
"Soka'pii.You...say...'always, husband...will I...love you.'"
She laughed. "I know how to say it in English. I want to know how to say it Blackfeet."
He grinned at her."Ha'ayaa.You say ‘Inaapiim, kitsiiká komimmo.’"
"Say it slowly."
"In-aapiim, kits-iiká ko-mimmo."
"In-aapiim, kits-iiká ko-mimmo,"she repeated. "I think your idea of us learning to speak each other's language—and to speak it well—is a good idea. Perhaps we might devote a little more time to doing this in the evening."
He nodded. "Soka'pii, good. I would speak English...good. Here...come close."
She laughed. "I don't know how I could get any closer to you. We are both of us naked, I am lying on my side right next to you and my leg and my arm are all over you, trapping you against me, while my head is resting on your shoulder."
"Trapped...am I?"
She giggled.
"Know...I how...get we...closer."
