Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sakhile stared out of the window at the pouring rain. He was used to a lot of rain…. daily in fact; but this was heavier than usual. Normally he could at least go out and play with his friends but not today. Today the skies poured waterfalls from the heavy clouds instead of the softer tears of the normal spring rains. Pouting, Sakhile crawled off the cushioned chair seat and stomped off, leaving the window open. He wanted to go out and play! But in this rain he knew his oban friends would not be willing to play. They were used to dry heat and the constant rain of the jungle was bad enough… but this downpour meant they wouldn’t venture out. And the Matori friends of his were busy with something… apparently a festival to a god or somesuch…. Private celebrations which meant he couldn’t join in! Booo!

He was soon dragged into cleaning with his mother; the instruments needed tending to! Unbeknownst to him and the rest of the family, the open window attracted animals seeking shelter. Small wriggling worms, glowing softly in the rain, came seeking shelter. The Illo loved moisture.. but this was too much! THey climbed from the forest floor up the trees to escape the water that filled their resting places and sought to drown them.

The room became filled with soft glows, slight differences in the pastel lights creating a small wonderland as they crawled all over the walls, ceiling, and furniture. Sakhile, once his chores were done came skipping back to the room, wanting to watch the rain some more... and hide from more chores. That’s enough being a responsible hero for now, he thought as he open the door.

The sight of the wriggling little worms all glowing over the room gave him pause… but being the eager boy he was, Sakhile quickly grinned and closed the door. He ran off to the kitchen to grab some jars. Gotta grab em afore momma sees them! He thought. Going to have to clean it up anyways... so may as well capture them!

His grandmother gave him a confused look as he scampered in, grabbed as many bottles as he could carry and scampered out with out a word; just this huge grin. Now what is that rascal up to? She wondered. But it was raining so he was inside and it wasn’t like he was the destructive sort, so she shrugged it off and went back to making dinner.

Sakhile sliped back intot he room and sat his jars down. He sat and watched the soft glows for a bit before starting to grab all the Illo he could reach. But the Illo were worms.. and had sticky feet.. He pouted when he found out he’d grabbed all the ones he could reach from standing on a chair.

“How’m I supposed to get those ones?” He asked himself, staring at the ceiling. He heard the door open and heard the shriek. Turning he gave his aunt Chantuer a glare.
“Why you scream aunty? They’re just bugs…” He said crossly as he set down his full jar of glowing wriggling worms. “And they glow! Pretty right?”
She gave him a disgusted look, slammed the door and ran off.
“Sheesh! Girls…” Sakhile muttered as he began to climb the shelves to get at those glowing bugs. “Come on lil wriggling friends! I’ll take care of you… Keep you out of the rain and away from the screecher!”

He was on the top of the shelf, perched precariously whnt he door opened again and his twin uncles looked in with grins.

“Oh! Chanti was right! There’s all over!” Kumea laughed as he walked over to take Sakhile off the shelf. “Come on down from there scamp…”

“Look at the cool things! Never seen so many in one place. Looks pretty.”

“Right?!” Sakhile beamed at his uncles; they knew it was cool! Girls were just weird in thinking these guys were gross or scary! “Gonna have a nightlight now!”
“Ah.. best to not do that, Jumea said amused as he took the bottles away from Sakhile. “They’ll die if you leave them in here.”

“Aww….” Sakhile pouted as they took his bugs away and released them out the window and finished clearing the room.

“I wanted to keep them…..”

Kumea laughed; “You know the Nondwa and Kipepwi?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, that’s what these guys grow up into.. you sure you want to cage them in a jar?”

Sakhie sighed and shook his head. “No…”