Tribe Aging

The kids had all snuggled into their beds in the little hut they shared.

Alys dreamt of when she would have her own room in her own house, never thinking how soon her dreams would come true.

During the night, Isley began to wail. Kadee rose to find Alys and Rowan yelling at him.

This made Kadee worry about her childrens attitude towards the new baby, and if Alys was ready to take over the tribe.

Kadee took Isley to the main house to calm him, and continued her thoughts.

She had noticed the lines of age on her and Apari's faces, and the growing aches in their bones.

She prayed her children matured soon, and retired to bed.

At dawn howls rang out, and wild dogs ran across the plains, all the way to the tribal stone...

...And into the huts.

It was a warm and inviting change from the night air, and they made themselves right at home.

A drawback to having no doors and open windows.

Apari soon awoke at the noises, and was shocked to see the wild animals.

But he's not one to let sleeping dogs lie.

He introduced himself cautiously, and determined if they were a threat or not.

They were friendly enough, but wouldn't let anyone pet them.

Upon investigation, Apari found one to be pregnant!

That was enough for him to decide - the dogs were welcome in their home.

So the canine mates were adopted!

The dark one was a male, to be named Gidja Durda.

The lighter one was the female, named Alinga Dingo.

They worried how the new pets would get on with the children, especially now that Isley was toddling.

But, perhaps due to the expectation of puppies, they were gentle.

And life goes on, albeit somewhat differently.

Kadee returned to, and completed, her aspiration of learning every recipe!

Now if only she knew how to cook...

Apari tended to her neglected plants, while neglecting his own aquarium.

Yet he frets Kadee might be angry if her plants wilt.

Rowan was lucky enough to get a bed time story from his always busy mother.

Kadee had an interesting choice of book - perhaps she was killing two birds with one stone.

Alys was growing into a typical teenager, gabbing on the phone to a boy.

"Like, oh my gawd, Roberto!" - she had picked up modern mannerisms easily enough.

Early one morning, Alinga had her litter of puppies, which was luckily a small one - the huts were full enough as was.

The cute little things came into the world with scrunched up eyes and tiny whimpers.

But they were up and running - and making a mess - soon enough!

When Keli and Kara grow bigger, Puppy HQ may have to be outside.

It came time for the school prom, and Alys was so excited!

She had no date, of course, but she bravely went solo.

At the prom, one of her friends confessed his feelings for her...

But ignored her the rest of the night.

Then, strangely enough, Alys was crowned Prom Queen!

She came home exhausted, but over all pleased with her experiences.

That very same night, Rowan was awoken by a peculiar feeling.

He discovered hair in special places and felt like quite the man.

The next morning, Kadee lifted her little boy in the air, "my little snow bunny!"

Thinking of Rowan, now her moody teenager, she felt a strange sadness.

Like she wouldn't be able to do this for much longer.

Alys invited a friend from school over - "Take that, Roberto!" she thought.

Hopefully this boy wasn't a snob that would ignore her.

After an afternoon of chatting, she said goodbye to Pedro.

She pet the dog on the way to bed.

Outside the hut, she found an escape artist!

"Isley! What are you doing out here?"

She sat down with him and chatted, teaching him a few new words.

Then she picked him up with a snuggle, and put him in his cot next to her bed.

Kadee and Apari saw these things with pride, and thought their daughter had finally become a woman.

Their time was almost over, and looking around at their entire family, they felt perfectly happy.

Content in their beliefs that Alys could nurture and occasionally rein in her brothers, they let themselves grow old.