Trail Mix: Amoeba

by Piers Anthony

  He carried her out the door. Then he thought of something. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to try just one more thing.”

  She nodded again, amenable to whatever he had in mind. He carried her around the house, into the alley.

  She became ghostlike, then faded entirely. Hastily he backtracked, and she reappeared, gaining weight. She existed here only in the ambiance of the trail, which must partly infuse his house, but did not extend beyond it. They were both creatures of the trail, in their fashion, able to interact with each other, but not with anyone else. Not in this world.

  He marched on to the trail, took a few more steps to be certain, then set her down, keeping his hands on her to be sure she was steady. She was now reassuringly solid, though still shivering. It was not cold here, but she clearly was suffering. She did not seem to be running a fever, but her body must be making the effort. “I’ll be right back,” he said.

  “I’ll wait,” she agreed.

  “We’re speaking to each other again!” he exclaimed.

  “Yes!”

  He enfolded her and kissed her on the mouth. She met his lips firmly, with no pretense of shyness or reluctance. Then almost immediately he withdrew. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. I just—the relief—”

  “You desire me,” she said.

  “No! I mean, not that way. I just—”

  “I understand. I kissed you back. We’re both relieved.”

  “Yes. Now I’ll fetch some stuff to get you warm, here.”

  “Thank you.”

  Tod returned to his house, picked up the blanket, then rummaged to find a small one-person tent he used for camping. He brought both out to the trail. He wrapped the blanket around Veee, noting that now it did relate to her, then went to work setting up the tent. He had her crawl into it and lie wrapped in the blanket.

  Still she shivered. More was needed. Could he light a fire? He doubted that was wise; the city was visible beyond the edge of the trail, and he couldn’t be sure the blaze would be invisible.

  “I can bring out more blankets,” he said.

  “Please, warm me,” she said.

  “I’m trying to!”

  “In my country we share warmth, when we need to.”

  “Body warmth,” he agreed. “But you’re a woman.”

  “I will give you what you want, for the warmth.” Her lips were blue. She was desperate.

  “All I want is to help you,” he said. Then he stripped back down to his trunks and got into the tent with her. She opened her jacket and shirt, and drew off her trousers. She had remarkably healthy limbs.

  He clasped her closely, their two nearly bare bodies pressed together from neck to knees. They managed to wrap the two of them up snugly in the blanket.

  “Thank you,” she breathed.

  Now he became aware of several things. She was indeed cold, not feverish; her body felt as if she had just emerged from a chill swim. She was well endowed, better than he had first thought, with large breasts pressing against his chest and solid thighs against his legs. She was muscular, yes, but also lean elsewhere; there was no flab on her, and her waist and neck were small.

  All of which had an effect on his mindless body. He was getting an erection. It swelled urgently between them, impossible for her to miss.

  “I will give you,” she repeated, understanding.

  “No. I’m a man; I can’t help reacting. But I am trying to warm you, not seduce you.”

  “Don’t seduce me; just take me.”

  “I wouldn’t do that!”

  “Why not?”

  “It—it is more of a commitment than I wish to give. When a man has sex with a woman, he is generally thinking of marrying her, or at least a serious relationship. Not always, not with some men, but with me, yes. I hardly know you; our association is sheer coincidence. I would not force casual sex on you.”

  “In my land, a man takes a woman when he wants her. What she wants does not matter. In any event, it is soon over, and he leaves her alone until the urge comes on him again.”

  “In my land, we call that rape.”

  She paused. “I think I grasp your term, thanks to this unusual compatibility of language we have here on the trail, but it does not exist in my land. A woman has no power to refuse, so cannot be forced. If she does not wish it, she must avoid the man, if she can, or associate with a stronger man who will reserve her to himself. I have had no protector; I have been taken many times. Sometimes I liked it. Always I pretended pleasure, so I would not get beaten.”

  Tod suffered a small revelation. “Is that why you left your land?”

  She smiled against his cheek. “In part. There was also my shame. Mostly, I was curious where the path led.”

  Her shame? He decided not to inquire about that, yet. “Me too.”

  “We are kindred, in that respect.”

  “So it seems,” he agreed.

  “You seem to be a nice man.” The way she said it made it seem like an extreme rarity. Her culture must be a rough one.

  “I try to be.”

  “I am warming.” Indeed, her torso felt less cold. “Now that you know me better, do you wish it? It is not of special value to me, and it will not demean me if you take it. I am long past that.”

  Tod was tempted. His erection remained uncomfortably hard. She was not his idea of the perfect pinup, but his proximity to her solidly female torso made his body get ideas regardless of his preference. It had been some time since he had been intimate with a woman. If she truly didn’t mind...Still did not seem right. “If it is not something you want, then I don’t want it either.” Though his stiff penis was giving away the lie.

  “You are warm. Your warmth inside me would heat me better.”

  What a rationale! “But do you want it?”

  “I want to please you, so you will keep me warm.”

  “That was not my question.”

  “I have not been asked that question before. I must consider an answer.”

  Tod had an idea. “While you do, do you mind if I play my music?” Because this might help take his mind off his member, and enable him to be more objective about this whole situation.

  “Music?”

  He fumbled in the pocket of his pants where they lay beside the tent and fetched the ocarina. He brought it to his mouth, separated his hands from her body, and played the simplest of melodies.

  Her whole body stiffened against him.

  Tod stopped. “I’m sorry. I did not mean to upset you.”

  She relaxed. “I am amazed, not upset. I think that is the loveliest sound I have ever heard. I could not believe it came from you.”

  Oh. She had not encountered this kind of musical instrument before. “It’s an ocarina. A small closed woodwind. I blow in it, and cover the holes, and make the notes. Do you wish to try it?”

  “You will allow me to touch it? In my village, only the shaman plays the whistle, and he is not nearly as good as you.”

  “You may touch it,” he said. “In my world we have many such instruments. They are not remarkable or magic.”

  “Yes, I will.” She threaded her arms up so she could take the instrument. She blew into the mouthpiece. A thin erratic whistle sounded. “Oh, it doesn’t like me!”

  “Like this,” Tod said. He set her hands on it more properly, fingers firmly over the holes, his own fingers over hers to guide them. “Now blow.”

  She did. This time there was a steady note. “Oh!” she repeated, this time delighted.

  “Now lift only your smallest right finger.”

  She did, and blew. A slightly higher note sounded.

  “Now lift also your second smallest finger on the right hand.”

  She did. Another note sounded. Soon he had her playing a mini scale up and down. She was an apt learner, especially considering that she had never encountered such an instrument before.

  She returned the ocarina to him, and he returned it to his trouser pocket. Then she put her arms about
him and kissed him almost savagely. “I nearly want it.”

  But it would be taking advantage of her in her excitement. “When you are sure. Not before.”

  “You are unlike any man I have known.”

  “Thank you, I think. Maybe now we can sleep. There’s not much else to do.” He found he did not mind being pressed so close to her, apart from the awkwardness of his reaction; she was comfortable physically, and to an increasing extent, mentally and emotionally. She knew he was sexually excited, and was comfortable with it and ready to accommodate it whenever the time was right; that made a considerable difference.

  “Yes.”

  He sighed. “We live in interesting times.”

  “I do not understand.”

  “It’s a saying we have. Actually it’s a curse, because interesting times are generally times of upheaval, famine, and war. It’s better to live in dull times.”

  “Maybe. My times are dull, but I think I prefer your interesting ones.”

  “Even being pressed against a man whose hunger for your body is manifest, but who won’t indulge it?”

  “Yes,” she repeated seriously.

  They relaxed, still pressed together, and to his surprise Tod did sleep. He dreamed, of course, of sex.

  He woke in the night, relieved in a way that night existed here on the trail. He needed to urinate.

  He started to unwrap himself. That woke Veee. “You are going?”

  “I must pee.”

  She chuckled. “So must I. My gut is empty, but I did drink water.”

  “Let’s do it, then return to our sleep.”

  “Yes.”

  They got free of the blanket and the tent. The sky was bright with stars, but the familiar constellations were not there. “Do you want privacy?” he asked her.

  “I am warming, but I remain weak. Please hold me in place.”

  They moved into the brush. The light was dim, but it was possible to see their way. She found a suitable spot and squatted, and he put his hands on her shoulders to hold her steady. He heard the rush of her urine striking the ground. Then she stood, and he faced a bush and tried to urinate, but his penis remained somewhat thickened and it was difficult. Finally he managed to get it started, and then it flowed, albeit somewhat thinly.

  They returned to the tent and embraced, face to face, as before. “I will give you,” she said again.

  “Do you want it?” he asked again.

  “I have pondered, and concluded that I can’t answer that question.”

  “Why not? It’s an answer I need to have.”

  “Because if I tell you I do not want it, then when you want it, it will be difficult for me to pretend. So I can’t tell you that.”

  “I think you have answered me, though. You don’t want it.”

  “I did not say that.”

  “Of course. But it’s true.”

  “I think I must give you a larger part of an answer. You are a decent man, and I want to please you, and to that extent I want it. But I will like it better if I come to want it for myself alone, as I think you want me to, and I am not there yet. I am capable of liking it when I like the man. As you said, we are relative strangers to each other.”

  “That’s a good answer.”

  “It is difficult, because I know you do desire me, and I want so much to make you happy.” His turgid member against her belly could hardly be mistaken. “Would you settle for a kiss?”

  “Yes!” Because he was coming to like her, apart from the sexual passion, and that was part of the way he wanted her.

  They squeezed each other and kissed. She melted into him, and his liking for her increased.

  “It is so close,” she murmured. “Are you sure—?”

  “I am sure it is not yet time,” he said regretfully.

  They kissed again, and settled down for the rest of the night. And of course Tod couldn’t sleep, and not just because of his erection. There were so many mysteries here!

  “I have disturbed you,” Veee said. “I should have found a better answer.”

  “Your answer was fine. What you want is love.”

  “Love?” It seemed that concept was new to her.

  Tod explained it as well as he could: that passion man and woman felt for each other that went well beyond sex. “So you see, I have had sex with women, but never love. Some of those women were paid; they were whores. It is true romantic love I crave. For a woman to truly desire me. If you wanted me that way, then I’d love to have sex with you.”

  “I know men can love women, but I know of no women loving a man. Not the way you describe. She only accommodates him.”

  “Maybe you can be the first to love, some day,” he said, laughing.

  “Is love like this?” She kissed him lingeringly. There was a new quality to it.

  “Yes,” he agreed as he recovered. “Only because you truly feel that way, not because you are acting.”

  “Maybe some day I will not need to act.”

  “Some day,” he agreed. Then, still conscious of his hard member pressing against her, he fell asleep.

  In the morning they got up and shared the staples he had in his pack. They were strange to Veee, but she ate them with increasing relish. “My gut is better now,” she said. “My strength is recovering, thanks to you.”

  “Thanks to my body warmth,” he agreed.

  “Thanks to your understanding and caring. And your music. I have not before encountered that in a man.”

  Tod laughed. “Welcome to it, Veee.”

  Her smock was not yet dry, so she dressed again in his clothing. “You are very kind to lend me this,” she said. “I have no way to repay you in kind. Maybe I should—”

  “No,” he said gently.

  Impulsively, she kissed him again. “I think it will not be long before I truly want it.”

  “I look forward to that,” he said gallantly.

  “Now that I am mending, we must decide: should we return to our own realms, as we can not share each other’s realms?”

  Tod considered. Veee’s problem had diverted him from his exploration of the trail. “I want to see where the trail goes. I am curious by nature. And—I must be honest here—I have some hope that in time you will—want it. You are the only woman who has expressed any real interest in me, and I—I value that.”

  “I want to see the trail’s end too. You are the only man who has given me a choice. Who has seen me as a person. I hope too that soon I will want it in the way you wish, so that you will have no further reticence.”

  “But you have to understand that since we can’t go into each other’s worlds, we can have no permanent association. Whatever we feel and do is only on the trail.”

  She nodded. “We are temporary friends.”

  “Possibly temporary lovers.”

  She was quick to agree. “Temporary lovers.”

  “Then I think we are agreed,” he said, relieved. “We travel on.”

  “We are agreed,” she agreed.

  Chapter 2:

  Bem

  Tod returned to his house to amend his knapsack supplies. He added a folding canvas bucket, and several cans of fire mix in case they had to cook, together with lighters. Then, as an afterthought, a pistol and ammunition, for hunting or defense. His food was limited, and they did not care to risk more poisonous berries. It was mostly chance that Tod had not sampled any himself. So he shared his trail mix with Veee, and she was hungry and had no trouble with it. He did not mention the gun to her, not because of any distrust of her, but because he doubted she would understand, or like it if she did. Women could be extremely wary of guns.

  “But you know,” he said as they moved out. “My food will not last long. We need to be able to forage from the trail.” He had started slow, in case her weakness remained, but she seemed to have recovered and had no trouble matching his pace.

  “Yes. Otherwise we can’t stay long.”

  “It doesn’t make sense to me that the trail should seek
us out, then try to poison us. There must be some misunderstanding.”

  “I had not thought of that,” she said. “There must be good berries and bad berries. I thought the blue ones were good. They tasted good.”

  Tod paused, looking at the berries. “Would it bother you if I tried some, carefully?”

  “Not the blue ones!”

  “Not the blue ones,” he agreed, with a faint shudder. “How about the red ones?”

  “Let me taste first. I think I will know soon if they will sicken me. I learn quickly about poisons.”

  That made sense. “But carefully. Very carefully.”

  She picked a single red berry and barely touched it to her teeth, evoking a spot of red juice. She savored that. “I think it is good.”

  “I’ll try it, then.”

  She stayed his hand. “Not yet. It takes a bit for the effect to start. I had time to eat many before I felt it.” She chewed and swallowed the berry.

  They waited apprehensively for the reaction, but none came. She ate another berry, then a third.

  Tod was satisfied. “I think it’s safe.”

  “Not yet,” she said. “Let me wait the time it took for me to sicken before. Then we will be sure.”

  That made sense. They waited.

  To pass the time, Tod brought out his ocarina. “My I play?”

  “Oh, do!” she agreed rapturously.

  This time he played fancier melodies, enjoying them. Veee watched and listened, smiling. She truly appreciated the music, and that was a fulfillment of Tod’s secret dream: to have someone care about his art. The trail was fulfilling more of his ambition, in quiet ways.

  The time came, and she remained well. “It is safe.” She fell to and began eating red berries rapidly.

  Tod ate also, but more cautiously. He ate one red berry, and it was juicy and delicious. He ate another, savoring it similarly. He ate a third.

  “Stop there,” Veee recommended. “Just in case.”

  He obeyed. He played more melodies on his ocarina, basking in the adoration of the music that Veee evinced. He knew she wasn’t pretending; it was transporting her. That pleased him; he appreciated her appreciation.