LANGUAGE BARRIERS
By
Anubis (Lisa Kohles)
Timeline: Time Unknown
Author's E-Mail: anubis@lump.mindwell.com
Language Barriers
by Lisa KohlesHumans were such peculiar animals. Confusing. The Grendler watched as the humans hustled like little kobas about their camp, setting up their light portable caves. The Grendler wondered briefly if he should try to get his hands on one. It would be so nice to carry his cave on his back.
One of the humans caught his eye, a slight male with long, dark hair, and a nervous gait.
Cocking his head curiously, he watched as the human disappeared into the trees, glancing furtively about before vanishing from sight. The native found this activity, and the man's very demeanor, strange and suspicious, so he pushed up from the boulder that had served as his perch, and shuffled quickly down the slope that led into the trees. Perhaps the human had something of value, and that was why it acted so strange.
He found the creature by the smell of it. That was another thing. The pale animals stuck awfully, really smelled terrible. He didn't understand how the things could even stand near each other.
He found the animal in the middle of a clearing, sitting on a tree stump. Its hands were moving up and down quickly, as if it were striking something, but it hit nothing but empty air. The faint blue light from the contraption it wore illuminated its strange oddly-formed face. The Grendler wondered briefly how its mate could stand to look at it. Ugly creatures.
It was the device it wore on its head that became the center of the Grendler's attention. It fit perfectly on the human's head, and apparently the man knew how to operate it, for the Grendler had five similiar contraptions, but he had never been able to make his glow like that. Or perhaps this one was special.
Intent on owning this special piece of glowing equipment, the Grendler shuffled unnoticed into the clearing, ambling to a stop in front of the human, who continued beating away with its hands. After a moment, the Grendler reached out to tentatively touch the device. The human jumped, stumbling backwards as the device dropped from its head, hitting the soft grass with a gentle thump.
The Grendler smiled, greeting the human in a calm voice, and asked the human if it would like to trade for the still-glowing mechanism.
The animal did not respond, but instead flapped its arms and made unintelligible gurgling sounds.
Oh yes. Definitely an inferior species. Resorting to primitive communication, the Grendler motioned to the fallen device, then pulled a trinket out of his clothes, offering the treasure to the human, who did nothing but gurgle.
The Grendler moved forward, and the animal backed away. Setting his trinket on the ground, the native squatted on his haunches and picked up the glowing bounty, then turned and shuffled off into the trees, his prize clutched protectively in his hands.
Peculiar creatures. Very strange, indeed.
-The End-
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.