One and Done

One and Done

The air was light in the mountains. And the breeze was cold against his face. His hair waved with the gentle wind, making it gracefully dance across his brow; carefully revealing his blue eyes from underneath the bronze of his mane.

In the distance, beyond some rolling hills, he saw a cluster of flowers.

“Looks like no one’s been here for years… decades maybe… even centuries. I may be the first person to have ever seen this place,” he thought to himself.

He approached the flowers. They grew tall, probably about five feet by his estimation, with six white pedals surrounding a golden orb in the center. These flowers smelled so sweet to him.

“What’s the harm,” he said to himself, and he gently extracted one of the golden orbs. They smelled so sweet, irresistible really.

He closed his eyes and took a small bite.

He opened his eyes with joy at the taste of this delicious orb. “I must tell them,” he uttered in the quiet valley of the mountains. And he sprang into action, racing back home.

But the more he ran the more he became disoriented. Things seemed strange, out of place. Perhaps he is misremembering. Perhaps that tree wasn’t there at all, perhaps it was farther down than he thought.

He raced on faster, and faster, frantically faster now. Nothing was right. Everything was wrong. Now he recognized nothing, nothing but the way he came from that quietly deafening valley in the mountains.

Which made him slightly less than completely lost. He was grateful for that. He could always find that delicious flower again, if he chose.

He reached a lookout point that potentially seemed similar to one that he would use to gaze upon his home and the surrounding area… Nothing. Nothing but scattered forests, grass, dirt, and a relatively small stream. The area was completely undeveloped.

How could he have made such a wrong turn that he saw nothing from here? This doesn’t make sense.

He ran farther. If he had to, he would run until his body gave out. He was determined to find someone, anyone at this point. Even that half-wit that always made bad jokes at his expense.

“What was his name?”, he thought to himself, “Who gives a shit.”

He ran on and on. He felt like he ran for hours on end. And still, he saw no evidence of any civilization.

Finally, after three days he saw something in the distance. It appeared to be huts. Large huts made of straw or local plant-life for the roofs. “A tribe?” he thought.

He was exhausted. He hadn’t eaten anything since that one bite of that golden orb three days ago. He dared not take another bite; in case it was sending him on some kind of bad psychedelic trip.

And he was parched. Barely able to walk now. But he still worked his way towards those archaic huts.

Thirty more feet and he collapsed. Everything went dark.

He awoke to some Aboriginals standing over him. The light harshly crawling into his eyes. He tried to shield his eyes from his and turned away from the light. He heard voices speaking a language he didn’t know. Sounded like something you would here in another country.

As strange as they sounded, they took pretty decent care of him in his unconscious state. His lips weren’t cracked from dehydration. He actually felt pretty good. Perhaps a little too well rested though. Awaking from a deep slumber always made his body stiff. Though it did feel less stiff, he supposed.

He noticed he had only some kind of cloth draped over his mid-section, and started to look for his clothes.

He heard a female voice. She spoke that language he didn’t know.

He looked over. How could he not notice her before? True perfection, she was. Her skin was beautifully tan. She wore some clothing that was dyed almost burgundy, but the hut he was in did alter the light some; he was certain of that. Her hair was long and black. Her eyes an incredible hazel. She smiled when she saw him looking.

“Dear god, you are beautiful,” he said.

She stared at him for a moment, continuing to smile. The she pointed at something. It was his clothes. They didn’t seem how clothes should look after wearing them for three days and no shower. He picked them up. They didn’t smell like it either.

“Did you wash these?” he asked her.

She spoke in that language he didn’t know and giggled and shrugged.

“That must mean I have no idea what you’re saying in your language,” he said and smiled back at her.

She said something else and pointed at his clothes and took her exit.

Wow, her ass was exquisite. It was a full round ass. It curved out nicely from her tone legs below and her tight waist above. Her skin was so amazing. He was mesmerized.

He put his clothes back on and then made his way to the exit.

Creeping out, the light blinded him for a second, and then his eyes adjusted.

He could see about 20 people going about their lives, barely taking note of him, except to smile and say something in that language he didn’t know again.

Then he saw her. She was talking to another woman. Watching her exist in her element was intoxicating. Perhaps even more so than that flower he ate days ago. Where was that delicious golden orb of his anyway?

She noticed him and started to make her way over. As she approached, he tried to figure out how to ask her about that delicious flower orb. He tried to imitate the satchel that he had over his shoulder. He probably stuck the orb in there. In the chaos, he wasn’t too sure what he had done with it.

She exclaimed something in her language and nodded. She called out something, a name perhaps? A small boy approached, with the bag in tow heaved up over his shoulder. The boy was smiling. He must’ve been excited to see the stranger up close.

He reached inside the bag and smirked. The orb was there. He wanted another bite badly. But he wanted to spend time with her more.

She took him by the hand and led him away. The small boy dismissed himself and resumed, what he assumed was playing some game with other children.

She took him to another hut. There was food and fruit in this one.

“The dining hut,” he said as he smiled and his stomach dared to growl once more.

She laughed and pointed at his stomach, touched it gently and pointed at a place for him to sit. They had tables but no chairs really. Looked like everyone simply sat on the ground while they ate. The tables simply were used for a place to put the food.

She brought him some food and he devoured it. The nourishment was so needed that anything would’ve tasted good, but this food was amazing. She seemed amused at how much he could eat.

They gave him a place to sleep, and he began taking on projects and contributing to the tribe. The two of them spent many days together. Then those days turned to months. And the months to years.

After days, he understood a word or two of her language. She was doing her best to teach him. After months he could almost get full sentences. And after years he was almost fluent. He was diligent in his studies.

Life was good. There was very little to worry about. No wars. No disease. No famine. No draught. Her name was Kailiniti, or Kailin. She allowed him to shorten it at least. She thought it was cute.

Oh Kailin, sweet sweet Kailin. She had all of his attention for years now. They grew very close. They would sleep together often. By his standards, they were an item. They just never had sex, or they hadn’t had sex yet anyway. Though he wanted to. He wondered if she wanted to also.

He loved how his name would exit her mouth also, “Treeint.”… Trent.

He had forgotten all about that orb. He had even forgotten the way to that valley. But he remembered every curve of her body, well he imagined what he hadn’t seen yet. Though what they wore around here didn’t leave much to the imagination.

The orb hadn’t shriveled at all in his satchel, over all these years. It was still full and appeared ripe.

“What do I do with this thing?” he thought to himself.

If he left it here, then someone might eat it on accident. And they might not be as lucky as he was to find this tribe. Even Kailin might eat it, then he might lose her forever.

No, this is no good. He told Kailin that he had to take it back to where he got it from and that it must remain a secret. He explained to her what happened and did his best to express time travel to her. She didn’t understand. But she understood enough. She understood that he would be back and that was all that mattered to her.

He searched for days, working his way back through vague memories of what he saw. He finally reached the lookout point. He knew he was headed the right direction then. All he had to do was keep going and he should be there in minutes.

He walked.

And he walked.

Then he finally saw the valley. He hadn’t noticed before. After he took that bite for the first time, he must’ve been quite distracted to not notice this.

There were no flowers here.

But this was the place. He was certain of it.

He looked at the orb. It almost appeared to glow.

“If I don’t plant this here, then I’ll never come here to begin with and I’ll never meet Kailin,” he thought.

He found a good spot and dug up some dirt. He could not plant the orb. He could never lose his old life. This life was better though. And this life had Kailin.

So he planted the orb in the near center point of where he believed those flowers were growing, in the future, and he returned to the village.

He spent the remainder of his days with Kailin. They did get married, or as near to it as you could get. There was a ceremony of sorts.

They had children. Their children had children. Their children’s children had children. One morning, Trent awoke to Kailin void of life.

He thought of seeing if he could use that fruit to go back in time to see her smile again, to hold her one more time.

But then he thought to himself, “No, it was perfect the first time.”

And he kissed her lips goodbye.

One last time.