Raven's View

Many Moons

“I miss grandma,” said Bree, “your grandma, I mean.”
“I miss her too,” said her mom. “But she did have a pretty long and exciting life. She was almost 50 when the ship landed, 33 as we count the years now. She worked tirelessly those first few years, overseeing the colony, and had just started to slow down when she got pregnant.”
“Tell me again,” said Bree. “Why was she so old before she was a mommy?”
“She'd never got around to it, hun. Always busy with planning the mission, then the long sleep here, and all the work once they landed.”
“Didn't she want you, mommy?”
“Oh she did, once she got pregnant. I was a big surprise to her, that was all. Most of the women wanted babies, but after several years, with everyone trying to get pregnant and no one succeeding, they started to get worried.”
“We don't have to try all the time, do we,” said Bree.
“No, it's different now,” said her mom. “Remember the talk we had about eggs and babies?”
Bree nodded. “You used to have eggs all the time and now we don't.”
“That's right,” said her mom. “We'd been here for five years when the Changes came, and we suddenly all got pregnant.”
“Even your grandma,” said Bree.
“Yes, even my grandma. We were worried at first that the colony would have problems with all those babies all at once. We set up a big day care centre for them all, and it was actually easier, because then most of the women were free to focus on the colony again. Simplified our lives..”
“And the daddies helped too.”
“Yes, we all worked together, everyone helped,” said her mom. “In fact, the daddies seemed to focus even more on helping – we had less arguments, less fighting. We got a lot of work done over the next few years.”
“And you figured out why you got babies,” said Bree.
“Yes we did,” said her mother. It was the moons, the Three Ladies. Luna, Aphrodite, and Enyo.”
“But they're always up there,” said Bree.
“Yes, we always see at least on of the ladies up there. Their paths across the sky do weave an interesting pattern.”
“Like my loom,” said Bree. “I used to worry the moons would get too close and bump into each other,” said Bree. “When I was seven, not now.”
Her mom ruffled her hair. “Lots of the other kids did too – you were all seven so had a lot of things in common. But sometimes those threads in the sky come together.”
“Like a knot?”
“Yes,” said her mother. “Every eleven years, eleven months and eleven days the Three Ladies line up for a few days.”
“And we can make babies,” said Bree.
“Yes we can.”
And the men all want to make babies too,” said Bree.
“They most certainly do.” Her mother smiled.
“Will my dad come again to see you?” said Bree.
“He might,” said her mom. “He's moved to the other village, but is here sometimes for the trading. The Three Ladies are very close to each other now, but if he's here by the weekend it will be in time.”
“He's nice,” said Bree. “Brian isn't, he's a jerk. He used to be my friend but I don't like him now, he's really been mean lately.”
“It's the Changes,” said her mom. “Brian is almost twelve, just like all your other friends. Some of us react differently, the Changes bring out some things inside us from our distant past, some not so nice things”
“Like with Brian's grandpa,” said Bree.
Her mom sighed. “We didn't know the dangers at first, all that competitiveness and agression compressed into a few days. We lost a lot of people in the fighting that first time. Brian's grandpa seemed ok, then last time he changed too much, got too wild – we had to act fast.”
The evening light was starting to fade and there was a chill to the air. Bree heard a howl, back in the woods.
“Is that a wolf?” she said. “Maybe just a dog, right?”
“I hope so dear,” said her mom. “Enough talk for now, time for your lessons. First we'll review the house defence systems and new codes, then do some weapons drill.”
“Can I use the laser this time, mom?” she said.
“Yes, you're a big girl now.”