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SUMMER
If I wasn’t completely wiped out, I’d gallop down the hill and race to the trees. Their broad leaves would give us shade. Even if there was no water, I could sit underneath them and take a break. And beyond them? I spied taller hills. Maybe we were leaving the desert and a better world waited.
It didn’t take us long to reach the trees. Like I’d envisioned, I lowered myself onto the ground in the sparse shade of one of the bristly trees and sighed.
Tumbles snuggled against my leg, and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t too hot for affection. Still, I stroked his flattened fur.
Adone joined me and grinned. “Wait here?”
“I don’t think anything could pry my ass out of the shade.” I waved my hand to release him to do whatever he pleased in case he didn’t understand what I meant. “Don’t go far?”
“I will not.” He strolled among the trees, and I counted about thirty of them, clustered together in the middle of the desert.
Tumbles bristled and rolled over to watch Adone, as did the monitors. They must be offering the audience more excitement than me.
Stooping down, Adone dug into the sand, scooping it out until he was buried to his shoulders. He used the rock to help scrape away at the thick sand.
Tumbles cooed and yipped encouragement, staying well away from the hole.
With a grunt, Adone straightened and sighed.
“No water, I assume.” Actually, if there had been, we could’ve covered it again and called that making it disappear. When you thought about it, there were many ways we could make it disappear. It would be harder with a big body of water, but frankly, even a cup of it tossed out onto the sand would evaporate in seconds.
“No,” he said shortly. He rose and walked around each tree, peering up, Tumbles rolling behind him. “There are leaves.” Jumping, he grabbed one and tugged it down to the ground. “Dry, yet it contains some moisture.”
“Enough to squeeze out onto the sand?”
“A wonderful way to make it disappear, but no. They do not feel that wet. But...” He hauled the leaf down and broke it off, placing it on the ground. After he’d collected a small pile, he brought them over and sat beside me, lowering his rock beside his thigh.
Tumbles scooted behind him, dragging one of the leaves in his tiny teeth.
The monitors must be bored, because they floated up above the trees, hovering near enough to watch us be ripped apart by predators if it should happen, but far enough away I’d probably forget they were there. Something I actually wanted to do. It wasn’t fun being a reality star. I wanted to hang out with Adone. Outside the Game, that is, though that wasn’t an option.
Putting them from my mind, I admired the leaves that were about the length of my thigh, wishing they were soaked with moisture. Adone tore them into thick strips and began to weave them, crafting them into what looked like a square mat.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He grunted. “You will see.”
I leaned against him, savoring his presence. “When I met you, I felt like I’d known you forever.”
His fingers stilled before he started weaving again, connecting each crafted square in a way that impressed me. I’d never be able to replicate it. “When one mates in your world, is it forever?”
“For some.” I wasn’t sure where he was going with this. I explained how people often divorce after marrying.
“Why would they wish to be with someone they could not love forever?” he asked, still not looking my way. His mat had grown larger, to almost three feet in length. I wasn’t sure what he planned to do with it, but he was smart. It would have some use.
“I think many people are impulsive,” I said. “Hopeful. And they truly believe they’ll care for this person forever. Some probably get married—that’s like mating, I guess—for convenience. Money.”
“Who would do such a thing for wealth?”
“I assume because they don’t have enough money to buy what they need.”
“Your society doesn’t take care of everyone’s needs?”
“They should, but those with wealth and power prefer to hold onto it for themselves.”
“To buy others.”
