Forlorn Hope

Chapter Two

Bear was the eldest of his generation. He was the first child born in a place his elders called 'Montana.' His parents, and the rest of the community he lived in, were a conflux of old and new. His elders clung to the old traditions of The People and his generation embraced new ideas. He was a child of two civilizations – two worlds. He spoke the ancient language of The People and the language of their new home. He and the other children spoke English as their primary language.

It was customary for children to select their own name when they reached ten years of age. They all had selected words difficult to pronounce by their elders. They were English names, stealing words from flora and fauna previously native to Montana. They had formed their own clique – a clique of youth. Their elders seemed stuck in the past, archaic traditions best left behind. The children looked to the future – and there they were, in the shared experience of the present looking hopefully towards the future. The old ways of The People did have advantages – the communal raising of children and a devout belief in the sanctity of knowledge. Bear spent so much time studying and learning, mischief was simply not possible.

He considered the other youths in his community his siblings – regardless of their actual biological origins. He had heard the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child." This was true and in their case completely literal. Monogamy was not a concept welcomed by their elders, but he and his siblings appreciated the ease of one pair mating for life and casting off the complications of multiple partners.

His current interest was a tall female named Willow. Her beautiful dark eyes penetrated the width and depth of his being. She made him want to be a better person. Stolen glances, flirting and seduction – how wondrous it all was when one was interested, especially when one saw the other was interested. His heart raced every time he saw her. His studies had suffered as of late; she occupied his thoughts constantly and he found he was distracted most of the time. He didn't know if it was pheromones or some kind of female voodoo, but he hungered for her presence. This hunger kept him awake part of every night, though he slept so deeply in the hours before dawn he always awoke refreshed with that hunger gnawing his soul. How could he possibly feel this way about another? He could barely handle one partner, let alone several.

This morning he had woken, body drenched in sweat. He had had a disturbing dream and thinking about it competed with the hunger he felt for Willow. Exiting his domicile, he cast the dream from his mind when he saw her walking down the street. His gaze locked on her approaching figure, the prospect of satiating that hunger triggered a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. It gnawed from within, faintness, getting more severe and unpleasant as the distance between them decreased.

"Bear!" Willow waved her long elegant arm to get his attention.

She was tall, over two meters. He reached two meters himself when he stood straight up and willed himself taller. Females were always slightly taller than the males and Bear was proud to be the tallest of all his male siblings. Willow was one of the shortest females, but it didn't matter - her height seemed to compliment his perfectly. He quickened his pace, his hunger compelling him forward.

Willow's eyes gleamed with mischief, "Bear! Where the hell have you been?"

His siblings embraced this speech deemed profane by their elders. Bear enjoyed swearing - after all, talking without swear words seemed as bland as food without pepper or Tabasco.

He grinned and responded in kind, "Baby, I've been searching the heavens and fuckin' Earth for you!"

"You are such a spaz! Walk with me to class?"

It was phrased as a question, but Bear knew it was not. "Hell yeah, I wanted to talk to you anyway."

Willow's face was unreadable. It wasn't that she was hiding her feelings; their environment was so cold, their exposed skin was stiff to protect them from the elements. Currently in the summer months, the weather was getting colder as time marched on towards the freezing winter. Many of their siblings used chemicals to soften their facial epidermis, but not Willow. She firmly believed thick skin was a right of passage indicating her learned and eldest status. They saw their elders as fossils, but age did have its status – even among the youth.

The tough skin on their faces and hands made lovemaking wondrous. The rest of their body parts were so soft, protected from everything by layers of clothing outdoors and ultraviolet treated glass indoors. Bear yearned for their next encounter - lost in thought he was unaware Willow was speaking to him.

"Huh?" he said absently.

"You were kilometers away just there, what's up?"

"I was thinking of us." It wasn't exactly a lie, but close enough to be true. "We are graduating next week and I want to leave this place."

Her eyes, so soft and warm, were cold now. Her lips pressed into a thin line. "You mean out of Montana?"

"Yeah, think of the possibilities!"

"You know it's forbidden to leave; are you fuckin' crazy?"

"Swearing is forbidden too, but we still do it!"

"Swearing is transcendent. It's profane, dirty and it's exciting. Besides, pissing off a few fossils is one thing, but you risk excommunication even talking about leaving Montana! Don't you want a future here with me?"

"Of course I want a future with you," he gestured wildly with his arms encompassing their sprawling village, "just not here."

The walk ended at the door to their classroom. "Look, we're here, let's talk about this later..."

He sighed. "Fine, later." He hoped her mood would improve later. He saw his chances of a liaison tonight with Willow dwindling. He followed her into the building knowing he would have to work extra hard to focus on the activities of the day. He also needed to convince her to accompany him on the journey he knew he was destined to make.