Chapter Ten

They all slept late the following morning, except for the guards. Atohmma awoke, staring at the ceiling with her hands on her chest. She looked across at the table and saw her journal. She reached for it and turned to the page where she drew an angry face. She went on to read with a twisted smile, noticing this one, was about a fight that she had one day with Venomma. Atohmma read further, where she wrote, "She makes me so angry, I should have taken something belonging to her. She had no right throwing my whistle into the lake. Ughhh! I hate her! She should lose her favorite blanket to the lake." Atohmma re-read that last line, despite the crooked handwriting she had at the time. She noticed something. She noticed the word 'blanket'. Atohmma sat up. She slapped closed the journal. She considered, how many years passed, since she wished that happened to Venomma, and only a few days ago she was furious about her blanket going missing. Atohmma sighed but didn't think it was possible, that her unspoken wish, could come through. She just got off the bed, placed the journal back onto the table, and headed to tidy up for the day.

Meanwhile, out in the mountains, the spiders were still sleeping. Some fell asleep where they were, others on each other and some found caves. The guards were changing shifts and some natives were busy with daily routines. It was as though life was happening as usual, despite the quiet atmosphere in the village.

Atohmma was outside, walking her pet pony. She usually played with it every day, but sometimes she is so busy, she doesn't seem to have the time. They all keep their pet ponies in a separate pasture stable, where they are taken care of, by a designated group of natives. The ponies play around most of the time. Atohmma cuddled and gently spoke to her pony as though it was her only friend in the world. She filled it in on the latest happenings and all the messages that she received about the alerts and the weather changes. She even told the pony about the stranger. It was almost as though the pony listened to her and understood. Over at the stable, she saw a young man going over to get his pony in the stable. He seemed to be nicely built, and she didn't recognize his face, but she observed the way he walked, and his pony was adorable. The colors of his pony were strange but beautiful. He was now heading her way, while Atohmma pretended she wasn't looking and continued with her pony. She then stood up and started strolling around without an objective. The young man couldn't help but notice her. He too seemed amazed, but he continued doing what he was doing. Atohmma's pony noticed his pony, standing close to him, and in pony language, called out to it, as they usually played together. The ponies got each other's attention. So they both had their owner's attention as well. The young man looked at his pony, then at Atohmma's s pony, Atohmma did the same, then they both looked at each other. "Hi there!" said the young man. "Hi!" responded Atohmma. "I see they seem to know each other well!" chuckled the young man, referring to the ponies. "Yes, they do and that's expected," replied Atohmma. The young man walked closer to them and said to Atohmma, "you don't come around here much, I haven't seen you before." Atohmma replied, "I am from the east village and usually busy most days. Where are you from?" "I am from the north village, and I come here often because I don't work far from here, and it's my way of having a little 'me time." said the young man. "My name is Nucamma," he introduced himself saying. "Mine is Atohmma, pleased to meet you!" said Atohmma, as she bowed her head with a smile.

It was a good excuse, for Atohmma to spend time with her pony, as she met with Nucamma every other day from that moment. They shared stories and grew to know more about each other with every meeting. They usually played along with their ponies, went walking, had picnics, and also took swims. Nucamma tasted her snacks and loved them. Atohmma didn't hesitate to show her tricks. She usually used blades of grass for it. All she knew, was that she seemed to have magical powers and when she played with the grass, whatever she imagined manifested, it just happened. Whatever she thought about, affected the grass, but she didn't realize her subtle powers. She just believed she was an illusionist and many were fascinated, whilst others thought she was just playing around with tricks. Nucamma on the other hand enjoyed seeing her do tricks and the way she turned each blade of grass into different colors and had them form bows and arrows and even made some appear to be braid. They had fun together and usually got along well.

Nucamma liked cartwheeling and standing on his head. He also liked to somersault in the air. He seemed to be very athletic by his physique.

Atohmma was fascinated, and as time went by, she grew to become more fond of him.

Now that Nucamma and Atohmma became friendly, he visited her at home. One night, he flew to the village and was at her door knocking, when he was disturbed by Venomma clearing her throat. He turned, saw her, said goodnight to her and she replied: "never thought I'd see you here at night." "I'm here to see Atohmma, we have a date tonight." Venomma shook her head and went back into her cave. Atohmma opened her door and came out prepared, as they had both planned to fly across to see the unicorns together. So they both flew off.

She told him about Windsong and what happened to her leg that day. He was also told about the night she tried to get the natives to believe her when she told them that Windsong spoke to her. Nucamma was amazed but, he also didn't believe it. He didn't say anything though, he just went along with her excitement.

She searched for Windsong, so she could show her off to Nucamma and introduce her new friend. There were so many, and most of them looked alike, but she could recognize Windsong among them. "There, there she is," Atohmma said, pointing in the direction where Windsong lay fat and probably resting. "Let's go to her," said Atohmma, and they both flew across. It was almost like Windsong was surprised to see Atohmma. "Wow, she is beautiful," said Nucamma, as he circled Windsong admiringly. While Atohmma said hello to Windsong hoping she will respond, Nucamma flew to see the others. Atohmma realized, Windsong just nodded at her and didn't speak. "Why won't you speak to me anymore Windsong?" asked Atohmma, as she fluttered. Windsong wagged her tail and touched Atohmma's forehead with her horn. Atohmma giggled, and told her, "at least you can understand me. " "I came to show you off to my friend and I wanted him to see that you can speak," said Atohmma as she spun around to whistle Nucamma back to where they were. Nucamma came closer and as he approached, he said, "this place is awesome!" I passed by a few times, but not long enough to scope out the place." Atohmma looked at him assuredly, nodded, and said " yes, it is and so are they," as she flew around them happily. Atohmma thought at that moment," If only Windsong will speak just once!" There and then, Windsong turned to Nucamma and said to him" it's nice meeting you, what is your name?" Nucamma, jumped back in surprise as he fluttered to maintain his balance but he was already off, so he fell to the ground. They both laughed at him." You do speak, just as Atohmma said, I cannot believe it, but it's cool... Do all the others speak?" asked Nucamma. "I don't think they do," and she looked at Atohmma and giggled. Atohmma was happy she had someone who believed her. She didn't mind much that the one to believe her was Nucamma. They both sat with Windsong, for a while longer, and then they flew back home.