; ; Our planet, Folly, is not like Earth. I don't know what Earth ; is like now, but I know what it was like when the original eight ; set out on their interstellar voyage. When, after twenty years of ; exploration, they discovered that they could never return to Earth, ; they had no choice but to convert their temporary camp into a ; permanent human colony. The new rule became: be fruitful and ; multiply.
; ; Our declining technology base has affected our way of life. ; The Originals all had proper coolsuit uniforms, had prefabricated ; habitats with air conditioning and all the electronic conveniences ; Earth's advanced technology could provide. However, power ; packs don't last forever, and humanity on Folly soon slipped into ; an almost neolithic lifestyle, not for lack of knowledge, but for ; lack of resources. My father is our blacksmith, but iron is scarce ; and hard to get, requiring a lot of charcoal to smelt.
; ; Now, none of the early settlers is alive, and, because of a ; high death rate, there are only 59 of my generation, 31 of us ; girls. We are all interrelated, descended from the original eight, ; and our parents have ruled that we cannot marry as we may wish; ; we must mate with those boys who are least related to us. There ; being an excess of girls, it will have to be decided by community ; vote who will marry a man of her parents' generation, become a ; second wife. Well, as you can see, it's not much like Earth ; anymore.
; ; Sometimes, I wish we observed the old ways, as on Earth. At ; about age ten, the boys go to the men's house, where they are ; schooled separately and have very little contact with females. We ; girls stay at home with our mothers, almost a necessity, as we have ; to help with the younger children and the housework, and tend the ; gardens. We have only minimal contact with our fathers, and that ; under formal rules and in the presence of our mother, or our ; father's current wife. We are not, of course, allowed near boys ; our own age. I got a real whipping for being caught talking to ; Nagem Douglas, and he was whipped, too.
; ; I am thirteen, and almost ready to marry. As soon as my ; breasts are big enough to hold up a twig placed in the crease at ; the bottom, I will have to become some man's wife. I will have no ; choice who I marry, and won't even have spoken to him before the ; wedding ceremony. Marital fidelity is very important, and so is ; the virginity of the bride. Before the wedding, some older woman, ; not my mother, will examine me and certify, or not, that I am a ; virgin. You can understand my problem.
; ; Five years ago, when I was younger and more foolish, I found ; a blot egg. The Originals were pleased that they had made contact ; with a sentient alien life form, and were pleased to have blots ; around the camp. The blots were a big help. Now, it is forbidden ; to have anything to do with blots, but, at age eight, I was foolish ; enough to ignore the rules.
; ; The egg was small and round and iridescent, and I carried it ; with me, under the waist of my skirt, until it hatched and ; imprinted on me, as if it thought I was its mother. I called ; him/her Malcolm, after a character in a "book," and we were great ; friends. Of course, I couldn't keep him at home, but, at night, ; when blots are active, we would meet in the forest and play ; together. Since it is lethal to work during the hottest part of ; the day, we do a lot of work at night. Even at age eight, ; particularly then, since I was not old enough to require ; supervision, I could sneak away and play with Malcolm.
; ; I suppose you know about blots. They are invertebrates, ; basically twelve armed bags which can grow to perhaps ten meters ; across, but they never lose their ability to deflate and squeeze ; into the smallest cracks. They can mimic most sounds and, in the ; days when there still was music, they would imitate a full ; symphony ; orchestra perfectly, after hearing a piece just once. Of course, ; there is no way to play the recordings anymore, and blots are ; forbidden, so I will never know what Beethoven and Verdi and ; Sousa ; sounded like.
; ; I don't know how intelligent blots are, by human standards. ; They are very clever and learn fast, much like the Earthly dolphins ; I have read about, I suppose. They can imitate speech, like a ; recorder, but they don't seem to think in grammatical paradigms, ; so ; they never learn to talk like a human. They may be able to say ; simple one-word things, but they're not inclined to talk. However, ; sometimes they understand very well, which is, I think, one of the ; reasons they were banished from our human settlement. They ; understand, now, that they are not welcome and are subject to ; attack, if they come near.
; ; As we grew up together, Malcolm and I had good times ; together. ; He would help me weed the garden, or gather firewood, and I ; could ; ride him to places, like the swamps, where I would never be ; allowed ; to go, if the adults knew. Malcolm never asked what I wanted. He ; always seemed to know.
; ; When I was whipped for talking to Nagem Douglas, I was very ; resentful. The first chance I could, I slipped into the forest and ; waited for Malcolm. He seemed to know I wanted him, and he ; deflated so I could climb on his back. Then he raised up on his ; tentacles and raced through the forest and the swamps. When the ; mud was too soft to support our weight on "tiptoe", he would ; writhe ; his tentacles like an Earthly sidewinder snake, and we could scoot ; across mud or water at an undiminished speed. With no command ; from ; me, he took me to "our" little island in the swamp.
; ; There is a spot that I think of as my nest, a little bowl in ; the midst of the trees, where the ferns and grasses are soft and I ; can stretch out. That's what I did, for I had a lot to think ; about. I took off my sweat-wet dress, and I lay on my stomach, ; because the whipping had really bruised my backside. I thought ; about the whipping, and, to my surprise, I felt Malcolm's tentacles ; gently tracing out the welts on my back and legs. I wondered what ; the future holds for me, who I will be married to and what it is ; like being married. I know about the cooking and cleaning and ; gardening and weaving clothes and things like that, but I was very ; uncertain about what it is that husbands and wives do together ; when ; they are alone. I know there were books about that, but not since ; the rules changed.
; ; Malcolm, I'm sure, sensed my unease. He wrapped me in his ; tentacles, as a mother might cuddle a crying child. A blot's ; tentacles are marvelous structures, covered with sense organs and ; as clever as the fingers of a human craftsman. As I noted, a blot ; is a big bag of air, actually many, many interconnected bags, and, ; just as one can emulate an organ, playing chords through its ; various openings, it can also inhale though any of hundreds of ; openings. Something small and flat, which I would have difficulty ; picking up with my fingers, a huge blot can pick up easily, by ; suction.
; ; I was not alarmed when Malcolm, who I had known from his ; egghood and often trusted with my life, caressed me with his ; tentacles. I was not alarmed when he touched my breasts, even ; sucked gently on them. It felt rather pleasant, as he sucked both ; nipples into one of his tentacles and simultaneously blew in my ; ears, stroked my legs, held my arms firmly, warmed me with his ; breath. I found myself getting sort of dreamy, almost as if my ; mind was wandering, almost, though I cannot see how that could ; be, ; as if my mind was joined with Malcolm's. I felt very strongly that ; he loved me and wanted me to feel loved and comforted.
; ; I do not know how long that went on, as I luxuriated in the ; loving comfort of Malcolm. He lifted me onto his bag-like body, ; soft, warm, full of air, and enfolded me in his tentacles. I ; remember wondering if that is what it would be like to be a baby ; in ; the womb, warm and comfortable and loved. All the soreness of ; my ; body was gone, all my apprehension just faded away. I lost track ; of time, as if it didn't matter. It may be I even slept.
; ; I remember becoming aware of my breasts, very much so. ; Malcolm's gentle suction was sending little thrills through my ; body. I felt him stroking my legs, my thighs, and I liked it. And ; then I felt his touch right up at the top of my thighs, where, the ; last year or so, short, curly hairs have been growing. Mother says ; I must never touch myself there, except during the ritual ; purification of my menses. Had anyone, even my mother, touched ; me there, I would have been alarmed, embarrassed, but Malcolm ; isn't anyone; he's a blot, and we have been soul mates for five ; years.
; ; I had never before realized how tender, how sensitive I was ; down there. As he stroked between my legs, I felt changes. The ; lips, through which I bleed, seemed to swell and became much ; more sensitive than I could remember. It seemed as if they ; became wet, also, though I did not connect the wetness with my ; own body. I just assumed that Malcolm was secreting something. ; It didn't concern me at all, and I felt a warmth, there between my ; legs, which seemed to spread though my lower body, while at the ; same time, the tingles in my breasts seemed to spread also, as if ; my nipples and my insides down there were sending messages ; back and forth. I had heard women, nursing their babies, mention ; something like that, and I wondered if I was learning what it's like ; to be a woman.
; ; As my lower lips became loose and slippery, Malcolm's ; tentacle slid between them, and it felt good. It particularly felt ; nice when he pressed or sucked or whatever he did right there, just ; below the bone, where I pee. I felt warm, excited, suddenly aware ; of my breathing, and I think I started squirming, moving my hips, ; though I was so wrapped up in Malcolm, literally wrapped in his ; body, that I'm not sure who was moving what. His tentacles ; moved over my body, stroking, sucking, tickling, but in a very ; nice, unique way, and all the time I felt this tremendous sense of ; love, as if Malcolm could plant that feeling deep in my brain ; without ever uttering a word.
; ; He spread my lower lips further, and I felt the very slender ; tip of a tentacle sliding between them, not up and down, but ; inward, probing into my body. Had anyone suggested pushing ; something into me down there, I would have screamed, "No!." ; Instead, I think I whispered,"Yes," or, at least, I thought it, I ; was so under Malcolm's spell. I did not know how far his tiny ; tentacle insinuated itself, for I only felt it as it slipped slowly ; past my slippery, wet lips.
; ; Suddenly Malcom's tentacle inflated, and I felt a twinge of ; pain, of stretching, but then a very pleasant feeling of fullness. ; His tentacle seemed to pulsate within me, while the same or ; another one sucked on the most sensitive place, sending waves of ; sensation through me. I felt my insides wanting to pulsate with ; Malcolm, and soon we were synchronized, as waves of pleasant ; sensation surged through me, as muscles I didn't know I had ; contracted, and his tentacle moved inside me, causing thrills to ; radiate through me. It was very strange, very pleasant.
; ; The effects grew stronger and stronger, until I was oblivious ; to everything except the fact that my body was doing the strangest, ; craziest, most pleasant things. I gasped, I'm sure, as shudders ; racked me, as if my heart was beating somewhere inside, below ; my navel, and Malcolm was beating too, and my brain was just out ; of control, and I don't know what I thought. I think I was ; incapable of thought.
; ; And suddenly it was over. I felt a profound sense of ; relaxation, of pleasant fuzziness, like the effect of ganda smoke, ; before it was forbidden to possess the herb.
; ; I stayed there, enfolded by Malcolm, feeling supremely ; content. And then he started again, caressing me. I had a strong ; feeling, almost like a telepathic message, that this is what it's ; supposed to be like between husband and wife, and it settled into ; my mental model of the world that I would look forward to my ; wedding. Pretty soon that thought was completely overwhelmed ; by the excitement of what was going on in my body, and this time ; I knew what to expect. The next little explosion was even better ; than the first, and then there was another, and another, until ; Malcolm sensed I was worn out and let me fall asleep on him, in ; him.
; ; So I don't think I am a virgin any more. The sun is coming ; up. They will miss me at home. I will get another whipping, on ; top of the bruises of the first, and maybe worse. And what will ; happen when the older woman examines me to certify my ; virginity? I am very apprehensive. If only I could figure out a way ; to not go home, to stay with Malcolm. After all, what can a ; husband offer me that would be better than I have experienced ; already?
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