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 Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:32 pm
Totchli listened intently when his brother began to babble. He suspected that Lepus was trying to teach him so that he could be more independent. Lepus was always doing things like that. Or maybe Lepus just didn’t like the silence. Totchli had never been bothered by the lack of noise, often enjoying moments of quiet here and there, but he had noticed that Lepus liked to be moving. He liked noise. He liked talking… that was fine. Totchli liked listening to his brother. Lepus had a pleasing voice, rather like their mother. Not that Totchli would ever tell Lepus that he thought his brother sounded like their mother.
Lepus continued on, unaware of the comparisons his brother was making, until they had gathered as much food as they could possibly carry. “That’s enough,” he declared. “Let’s get this stuff back to the cave and eat something. We can come back and get another load later.” He double checked to make sure that he had everything he had gathered, then nudged his brother back toward their home. For now, the cave was as good a place as any for them to stay,. They had food. Now he just needed to wait for Totchli to give up on their mother returning. During that time, he could always explore some more and find another, safer place for them.
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:29 pm
Totchli followed his brother’s lead once again. This set the pattern for the next few days. The two foals weren’t very big, and as a result they could only carry enough food to last them a day. So, every morning, they went out to the patch of plants and gathered enough food to last them through their day. Then they would return to the cave where Totchli would wait for their mother and Lepus fussed about. Totchli could tell that his brother was getting restless. He was beginning to grow more and more worried as well. It was when they were gathering food for the fourth day that he voiced his concerns, “What if something happened to her?”
Lepus glanced over at his brother, startled by the question. It took him a few seconds before he realized that Totchli was likely talking about their mother. He really should have guessed it sooner. Totchli didn’t talk of much else these past few days. Despite Lepus’s hopes, Totchli hadn’t given up on their mother. And now, apparently, he thought that she was in some kind of danger. Any arguments that Lepus had made to the contrary had fallen on deaf ears. Still, he tried again, “I doubt anything happened to her. If she was in some kind of danger, don’t you think she would have left her stuff behind?” He kept going back to that. The only reason their mother would have taken her things was if she had no intention of ever returning again. But Totchli couldn’t seem to make that connection. Or maybe he simply didn’t want to. Totchli cared for their mother, after all…
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:33 pm
“Maybe she was forced to,” Totchli suggested. “Maybe one of her boyfriends threatened her or something. Or maybe he threatened us. Maybe she left to protect us.” It was possible. That was what good mothers did, wasn’t it? At least, that was what Lepus said good mothers did. And their mother was a good mother, so it was possible that she had done that… At least, that make sense to Totchli.
“Don’t you think that we would have noticed if someone was threatening her?” Lepus asked, skeptically. He still thought that Totchli was giving their mother far too much credit. He had heard stories about other families from the various sea creatures that wandered by. He had passed those stories on to Totchli, trying to show him the difference between the good mothers in the tales and theirs, but somehow Totchli had always missed the point. Lepus had given up on that line of attack ages ago… but now he realized that his stories had sunk into Totchli’s head only to come back and bite him in the tail at the worst possible time.
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:53 am
“Maybe not,” Totchli argued. He kicked at a pebble, having trouble looking up at his brother. He knew how Lepus felt, but he couldn’t agree. “Maybe she kept it from us so we wouldn’t worry about her.” That was another thing a good mother would do, wasn’t it? Try to protect her children from the bad things so they could be happy?
Lepus snorted before he could stop himself. Their mother had never kept anything from her children before. Though… now that he thought about it, HE had put himself between Totchli and her worst temper tantrums. Maybe Totchli’s polished view of their mother was his fault. If he had let Totchli handle their mother without any interference, then Totchli would know the same mare that Lepus did. But then again… Totchli had always been the sweeter, gentler one. Lepus couldn’t see a single scenario where bearing the brunt of their mother’s temper would have left Totchli as anything but shattered. His baby brother wasn’t strong enough to handle that… which was why Lepus had always shielded him. And it was also why he was having so much trouble breaking Totchli out of his illusions now. Part of Lepus wanted to let Totchli keep dreaming. “She wouldn’t have kept anything from us,” he argued, instead. “She always told us the truth… remember?”
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:58 am
That was true. Their mother was a strong believer in being honest with her boys… though not necessarily the males she was courting. Totchli frowned. But that didn’t explain why she would just take up and leave. “That’s exactly why she has to be in trouble,” he said. He felt like he’d made this argument before. Maybe he had. He and Lepus had argued about this so often over the past few days that they were probably chasing themselves in circles. “If she was going to leave, she would have said so. So something must have happened to her… we should… I don’t know… go look for her… or… something…”
They were definitely arguing themselves around in circles. Lepus could almost predict exactly what Totchli would say if he tried to point out that their mother might not want to be found. Instead, he tried to think of an argument he hadn’t made yet. It was hard. It took him the entire time they were gathering food and the time it took them to get back to the cave to think of something. Finally, he sighed. “What if we go look for her?” he asked his brother. “She could be anywhere… do you really want to go out there?” He knew how scared Totchli was of new things.
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Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:30 am
Totchli winced a bit. Lepus was right. He didn’t much like the idea of going out into the strange world. Their mother had always made it sound so scary and mean out there. They were better off in their cave, nice and safe. He had no way of knowing, really, that their mother had just wanted to keep them out of sight and out of the way. He’d have Lepus with him, though, so it might not be as scary as he expected… on the other hoof… “What if she comes back here?” he asked, uncertainly. How would they leave a message telling her where they were going if they didn’t know themselves? Where would they even start looking?
Lepus watched the indecision flit across his younger brother’s face and settled down to think about it himself. He had heard the same stories as his baby brother. Unlike Totchli, however, he had also listened to tales told by the other creatures of the sea, such as the sea otters, octopi, and turtles. They didn’t always realize he was listening, he was very good at hiding in the weeds or reefs. Some of the stories he’d heard he’d told his baby brother. Others, the scary ones, he kept to himself. He didn’t want to scare poor Totchli any more than their mother had. But he couldn’t deny that leaving their cave might not be safe. Maybe he shouldn’t be encouraging Totchli to leave just yet… at least not until he could protect his baby brother. “What if you stay,” he suggested, slowly, “and wait for her. And I’ll go look for her…”
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Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:39 am
Totchli looked at his brother with wide eyes, feeling the awe and admiration he often felt toward Lepus swelling a bit. He had always known his brother was brave, but he hadn’t realized just how brave. “Are you sure?” he asked. “It’s dangerous… and what if she needs help? Would you be able to save her on your own?” Would he even want to? No, Lepus would save their mother. As much as Totchli loved their mother, he admired his brother. Lepus had always been the brave and responsible one. If their mother needed help, Lepus would find a way. And Totchli could stay at the cave and wait for both of them, so that they don’t miss one another. This plan could work.
“I’ll figure something out,” Lepus assured his baby brother. He always managed to figure something out. This would work out for the best, he decided. He’d go out and find their mother. Once he did, he’d drag her back home and make her tell Totchli the truth, that she had abandoned them. Then Totchli would understand and give up on waiting for her, and the brothers could move on with their lives. And if Totchli was right about their mother, then Lepus would help her and bring her home, and all three of them could move on with their lives. This would be for the best… He was sure of it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:42 am
Totchli insisted that they plan for at least a few more hours. He helped his brother pack up some food, just in case he needed it, and then he saw Lepus to the exit of their cave and watched until Lepus was completely out of sight. Neither young foal realized that it would be the last time either saw one another. Neither of them fully understood the daunting task that Lepus had decided to undertake. Lepus didn’t stop to wonder what would happen to his baby brother if he didn’t return… the young idealistic children thought the journey would be quick. Neither realized just how quickly they would have to grow up.
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