Chapter 3

A note for those who did not read the author bio or the story info: this is not a story. It is a look behind the scenes as I work on a story that is in progress. Each chapter will be the same as the last, but with corrections, modifications, and additions. It may entertain, cause mental anguish, or madness. Read at your own peril!

Anything before this is now fairly well set, so I won’t be making any more changes for now.

As I have continued with my explorations, I have yet to find any indication of other beings with a measure of intelligence superior to that of a non-sentient animal. So, for all intents and purposes, we are Adam and Eve here in New Eden. This is both welcome and unwelcome. It is good to know we are not in conflict with others over resources and what not. On the other hand, that means that it is just the two of us, which is sure to become a problem over time. We are humans, and as such, we are social creatures. Two is not enough.

It has been a week since she was dropped here on NE with me. Finally, Joan has begun opening up and speaking with me. She’s still wary of me, but at least we’re talking, and she’s learning about this new place we have found ourselves in. I’ve given her the invoice to see what we have been provided with, and I am hopeful that her skills will cover areas of knowledge that I am not so well versed in.

Joan, it turns out, has experience as a farmer. That’s a big plus for both of us. She is also a skilled cook and seamstress. She knows how to handle a bow, skin a carcass, spin yarn, and thread, and even how to use a loom. Well, that’s great because we have a loom, though it is not assembled. It’s almost unimaginable how much you can fit into a 12m long shipping container when you use all the space properly.

For the last two days, I have been assisting her as she has begun to measure out where we will be placing our fields for crops. We’ve discussed how much we should plant of each and from that she’s determined the amount of land needed to be turned and prepared for planting. The tubers, onions, and garlic will be some of the easiest to grow. They’re nearly seed and forget. Additionally, she has me making a raised bed for herbs.

We’re into the middle of the third month. The weather is warmer, but not hot, and it rains often enough to encourage growth, but not enough to cause flooding where we are.

We have managed to get three furrows of corn planted, five each of wheat, oats, and rye, for starters. There are more, but how much and what isn’t that important to my journal. What is important is that between the two of us, we have a good start and it all looks to be growing well.

It would seem that we’re going to have to build barriers around the fields. We’ve experienced a significant loss of crops to local herbivores. I may have to see about using Rex to take care of that. I’m not sure if it is male, female, or what. I just know that it is accepting food from my hand now and seems more amenable to both Jane and me.

I may be out of my gourd, but I took Rex off the run today and used the rope around its neck to walk it around the property we have claimed as our own. It’s almost as if Rex knows what I am thinking and acts upon it. The most terrifying thing that happened was when its feathers all suddenly went flat, it laid its body parallel to the ground and then sprinted off in a burst of speed I was barely able to follow. Soon after, Rex returned with one of the beasties that have been ravaging our crops.

I expected Rex to tear into it and eat it. Instead, Rex placed it at my feet and looked up at me as if expecting something. I thought about it for a moment and pulled out a cube of pemmican and fed it to Rex. The damned thing purred! Without thinking, I reached out and began stroking its head. It pushed back into my hand, and the purring got louder. I guess that Rex has decided it is part of our family. It has grown on me these last weeks, and I feel a connection to it that I didn’t notice before.

Joan isn’t so happy about Rex being off its run, but when I told her about what had happened, she became interested. She pulled out a chunk of pemmican and offered it to Rex, who trotted over to her and opened up its beak and waited for her to toss it. When Joan gently threw it underhanded Rex jumped up and snatched it from the air and then moved close to her and began rubbing her beak against her thigh. Encouraged, Joan started to carefully rub its head, which led to the same purring I experienced earlier. I swear I could feel the contentment radiating off of Rex.

Now, we just need to find another one and so that we have a breeding pair. It wasn’t something I was going to worry about, but it was on my mind.

Rex seems to know exactly where we consider to be our property boundaries to be. I no longer bother keeping it on a leash of any kind. It follows either of as we go about our business each day, often rushing off and bringing back another of the pests that were ruining our crops, which are doing much better now. It seems that Rex is the reason behind that. We are both so glad to have Rex as part of our family.

Apparently, Joan feels a connection to Rex, too. It came up the other night when we were talking after darkness fell. I’ve built a doorway with a swinging panel, like a pet door back home, for Rex to enter the workshop at will. It has made a bed in there and sleeps in there most nights. I haven’t seen it in there, but I know that’s where it rests at night, just like I know when it is disturbed and leaves in a rush only to come back later with a fresh kill. I never thought ESP was real, but I’m beginning to believe it is possible to some degree.

I suppose I should give a better description of Rex. Imagine a Sun Conure that is close to a meter tall. Instead of wings, it has arms with feathers and three clawed hands that can grasp, cut, and hold quite firmly. Strong legs that propel it faster than you can sprint and higher than you can jump. Its feet are bird-like with four talons (much like any parrot’s), and it can climb and hang upside down with them, and in addition to all of that, it has a prehensile tail. Its plumage is such that it is capable of nearly disappearing in the brush and woods, though its head is covered in iridescent green feathers. As I have mentioned, it has a beak. I’ve seen it use that beak to shear through the carcasses that it brings back, bone and all.

Our crops are well, and Joan is teaching me everything she can about farming. She’s also teaching me how to sew and to be a better cook.

Rex is definitely part of the family and tries to get into everything with us. At times it is hilarious, while at others, I just shake my head at it and say, “No.” I was amazed at first when Rex responded by stopping what it was doing. Now, it is just a normal part of how things are around here.

It has taken nearly a month, but Joan has come to accept that we are here for the duration, however long that will be. She’s also admitted that I am as much a victim as she is and has warmed up to me. This is expected. We, humans, are social creature, after all.