“Please Luke, I just wanna talk?” Aisell’s face took up the entire southern wall of the clear human terrarium. She had a hopeful but worn smile across her thin lips, her eyes told the tale of her exhaustion. She had spent a majority of the last three weeks attempting to make Luke’s life as comfortable and fulfilling as possible.

Luke had said hardly two words to her the whole time.

When there was no reply Aisell carefully stood, so as not to jostle the terrarium. She sent Luke, who was curled up on his bed facing away from her with his arms crossed lazily over his chest, one last sorrow filled look before she slowly made her way into the kitchen.

Lezah Maris was holding the body of some sort of large flightless bird by the feet, its feathers, head, and other skin had been removed. She flopped it onto a wooden cutting board and dug through the kitchen drawer for a large knife, turning slightly to greet Aisell as she entered.

“Aezhay called. She missed the shuttle, but she should arrive when she catches the next one this afternoon.” There was a worn sigh in Lezah’s voice.

“Oh.” Aisell was only half listening. She watched as her sister removed the bird’s long meatless legs, tossing them into the sink.

The elder sister made short work of the bird, cutting it into manageable chunks along the breast line. She removed the short wings and thighs. As she did a distinct ‘ploop’ sound was heard when she dropped each piece into a large stewing pot atop the stove.

“Scatter brained Aezhay…I told her to get there early. Always right on time that one and you know what happens when you’re ‘right on time’.” Lezah winced slightly as some boiling water splashed onto her hand. She turned back to the counter and continued to cut up the rest of the bird.

“On time is late…” Aisell droned out, her mind was elsewhere.

Lezah pushed past Aisell’s issue, she hadn’t the time nor the patience to deal with whatever it was Aisell was mulling over. Not unless she had to, and not unless Aisell brought it up directly. It wasn’t that Lezah didn’t care what her siblings were going through; on the contrary it was perhaps the first…maybe the second thing on her mind at most other times. But there were a great number of things that took precedence over that at the moment, such as the state of their financial affairs, the future of their farm, and their lives.

“She isn’t happy with me. She didn’t want to come back. I think there were a hundred different places she wanted to spend her midterm break.” Lezah sighed, she dropped the last chunk of bird into the water, quickly she began to chop up a large root vegetable with a dry husky skin that had a strong aroma that wafted through the kitchen as the knife sliced into it.

“Yea…” Aisell sat down at the table, more so flopped down, letting herself drop into the chair with no resistance. She immediately crossed her arms on the table and let her head flop down onto her arms, like it weighted a whole unit on its own.

“I think she had her heart set on the Hills of Demora Province…” Lezah rolled her eyes behind Aisell’s back, she really didn’t feel like dealing with this, perhaps if she just kept talking, maybe if she just pretended she was cheerful and stupid Aisell would move on.

“I don’t know what to do Lez!” Aisell erupted, her voice sore, weak and exhausted.

Lezah made a clawing ‘why me’ motion with her hands and looked up to the ceiling. However her voice, soft and supportive was the only thing Aisell could sense from her mood.

“Okay, what’s eaten ya pup?” Lezah lifted the cutting board and slid the vegetables into the boiling pot. Her eyes softened as she looked over to Aisell, who was slumped over in her chair head in her arms sulking miserably. Her heart broke at the sight.

“It’s Luke!” Aisell poured out, without need for further encouragement or pressing.

Lezah mouthed the words as Aisell spoke them, she knew very well what was wrong, but felt it better to let Aisell tell her. Neither Aisell nor Aezhay liked it very much when she assumed to read their minds, even though the two of them were about as hard to read as open books.

Lezah turned her immediate attention to a stock of hard purplish vegetables; she began to chop them into fine pieces with her knife, glancing over to Aisell from time to time. “And what about Luke?” She asked knowingly.

“He’s miserable!” Aisell was close to tears, partly because of how terrible she felt, and a little from the strain of her exhaustion. “I haven’t been able to sleep, eat…it’s all I can think about! I’ve done everything I can think of and he just sits there! It’s been three weeks…that’s like…I don’t know… forever for a human!”

Lezah was quiet for a while; the only sound that broke their silence was the chopping sound from the knife against the wooden board. “Have you tried letting him out of that box?” Lezah offered, with a bit of a grin.

“I can’t!” Aisell snapped. “He’ll try to hurt himself, or run off, or do something that is likely to get himself killed!” Aisell sat up, rubbing her red eyes with the palms of her hands.

“And who are you to stop him?” Lezah slid the veggies into the pot and reached for a cylinder that contained a few spices.

“His friend!” Aisell defended.

“Right, so then why are you keeping him locked up in a plastic box day in day out?” Lezah threw the question right back in her sisters face.

“I already told you….”

“Yea yea yea, big deal…well all I know is I’d be mighty sore with you if I was locked up in some box with nothing to look at but a wall and your ugly mug all day!” Lezah spoke with a soft voice, but it was laced with sarcasm.

“Very funny….” Aisell glowered.

“Where’s the trust in that? Where’s the ‘friendship’ there. “

“But….”

“But nothing, if you really want him to be more than just a pet in a box then treat him like more than a pet in a box. Humans don’t like being alone, they don’t like being ignored and they don’t like being caged.” After spicing the pot Lezah put a large heavy lid on it and turned the heat down on the stove, taking her hands to the sink she began to wash them.

“It’s not that simple.” Aisell sulked.

“Sure it is. Let him out of the cage. See, simple!” Lezah gave her wet hands a shake and dried them against her apron.

“But what if he does something….”

“Then he does something stupid…and he made that choice himself. You pick up the pieces like a good friend, or you sit back and let him get burned. Those are your choices. But keeping him like that? Aisell that’s no kind of life, not for me, not for you…not even for a human.” There was a soft tenderness to Lezah’s voice.

“I just feel so responsible for all of this…for him…it’s one big mess and I don’t know how I’m gonna climb out of it….” Aisell sulked, near ready to cry.

“Look, if you let him go and he runs away, you did your best! Maybe if that happens, he wasn’t meant to be with you in the first place. If you let him out and he runs away, he was never REALLY yours to begin with…right?” Lezah approached the table, taking the seat next to her sister; she edged closer, setting her hands on Aisell’s shoulders.

“I guess.” Aisell half smiled, wiping a stray tear which had escaped her best efforts to suppress it.

“You don’t mind…if I let him wander around?” Aisell asked hopefully.

Lezah smiled and shook her head. “Naw, go ahead. We used to have all kinds of humans running around when we were kids, remember? It might be fun. Just make sure he stays out of my bedroom and out of the bathroom and we’re good.”

***

Aisell shoved the bedroom door open with her hip, and closed it with her foot, her arms were full. She carried a small tray with both hands. On the tray was a bowl, a glass filled with a red liquid, and a smaller bowl of fruit. She set the tray on her night stand, and turned her attention to the small clear terrarium on her vanity.

“Hey Luke.” She spoke softly, there was no response. With a sigh, she gathered her courage and went on. “I brought lunch…figured we could eat lunch together today.” There was silence. “Lez’ made soup, fresh and warm just like it should be! And I picked some fruit from out back…”

There was silence.

Luke was sitting on the end of his bed simply looking at the wall.

Aisell let out another sigh and carefully lifted the terrarium up, setting it on her bed. She lowered herself to her knees and leant on her arms against the mattress. “Please talk to me Luke.” Aisell spoke, her voice pained.

Luke simply looked over to Aisell. There was no hate in his eyes, no anger. He was just there, an emotionless feeling of simple existence. He had no lust to do anything, to say anything, he had no drive. He was on auto pilot. He looked as if he was about to say something, Aisell’s eyes lit up, but he simply looked away once more.

Aisell sulked and let her head hit the mattress, part of her wanted to grab him and shake some sense into him! But she held back, she still felt terribly guilty for what she had done…and as long as she felt that way she couldn’t be hard on Luke. She was putty in his hands.

“Ok, I brought lunch…and I figured we could eat together…c..can I lift you up?” She asked nervously. She had hardly touched him since they’d been home.

“Yea.” Luke whispered, his voice was dry and unseasoned.

Carefully Aisell unlocked the latches and set the lid aside, she reached into the terrarium and carefully lifted Luke out, as if he were a glass egg. She set him down on the small silver tray next to the large steaming bowl of soup. Then stood and took the terrarium away, setting it back on her vanity. When she returned she knelt down, Luke had not moved.

“So, I think were done with that.” She nodded, speaking as if walking on glass.

Luke’s attention shifted, he looked at her, a spark of life however faint. “What?” He spoke softly.

“You don’t deserve to be in there…and I’m sorry.” Aisell spoke, holding her breath. He could flip out on her, he could scream and tell her how she was right and he didn’t deserve that. She deserved to hear it from him! She wanted to, she hoped he would.

“Ok.” Was all he said, turning back to look at the stuff on the tray.

Aisell let out a breath, she was trembling, and not out of anger. “Luke! I mean it. No more cage, no more captivity. I told you that you wouldn’t be a pet and I meant it.” Aisell added, hopefully.

“Ok.” Luke said once more, the same dry tone.

“I only kept you there because I was worried. I was afraid you’d try to run away, or try to hurt yourself. I just wanted to keep you safe Luke….”

Luke didn’t speak, but he turned to face Aisell, which silenced her. For a moment he looked angry, a spark was lighting in his belly and he almost let loose on her. But he didn’t have the energy, or the will, and he deflated, sitting down against the bowl he leant against it. It was warm, and that felt good. It…felt like SOMETHING, and that was rare.

“So…as long as you promise not to try and hurt yourself…or that you won’t try to run away…because Luke there are a lot of mean things out there on this farm that make that Scilith look cuddly.” Aisell cringed at the memory.

“Aisell, I won’t do anything dumb…I won’t go anywhere.” Luke spoke, softly. His eyes downcast, he turned to face her, without looking at her. “And don’t worry…when I make a promise…I keep it.” He spat, showing the first real bit of emotion he had in three weeks.

Aisell nearly fell back. His words hit her like a brick to the face. She carefully stood, she was fighting the panic that was struggling to overcome her. She looked down to Luke, her composure was failing. She looked torn, broken, like she had just been kicked in the stomach. She was ready to throw up.

“Ok.” She whispered, she couldn’t stay, not after what he had just said, not after how he had just said it. Aisell backed away, a terrified look on her face, like she was looking at a jeering crowd of angry farmers with pitch forks and torches. Aisell gave her head a shake vigorously, gripped the sides of her head in shame and ran out of the room.

***

Lezah ran her bare arm along her brow as she idly moved along, dropping grain into the various troughs. The small yellow and red birds wobbled over from their coop to the feed and began to peck and scratch at the ground as they ate. Lezah half smiled as she moved along. Her work was a pleasant distraction, despite the fact that she had specifically asked Aisell and Aezhay home to help her with the busy season.

Aisell had been home going on three weeks, and she had barely lifted a finger to help. It left a sour taste in Lezah’s mouth. “Gorram pup is so concerned about hurting feelings. Well if we don’t have a roof over our heads he sure won’t have one over his.” Lezah sighed as the birds devoured their scratch.

Lezah Maris wasn’t the sort to hold a grudge, and she wasn’t the type to get bitter. But things were not like they once were. Farm equipment was expensive, hired help was expensive, and the types of crops they could grow were not the most profitable. Modern technology made farming mostly an automated procedure. Small time farm’s generally struggled to stay afloat. The Maris farm was no exception.

“If she would just tear herself away from that human for a few hours I wouldn’t have to do everything myself.” Lezah sighed, throwing some extra scratch from the bottom of the bucket in for the animals. These were the sort of things she often thought, but would never say aloud to anyone…well anyone who could answer back that is.

Out of the corner of her eyes she noticed a scraggly brown and grey Shaar darting after something that was out of its reach behind a board by one of the barns.

With mild interest she watched, keeping her distance. There were dozens of stray Shaar around the farm. They kept the rodent population in check. She wasn’t particularly fond of the whip tailed creatures, but as long as they served their purpose, she could tolerate them.

“Heh.” Lezah shrugged and went back to her business. A short time passed and she heard a very distinct, loud series of yipping howls, followed by some intense and sharp gekkering. Her attention snapped towards the source of the sound, but it was coming from a distance, and it was hard to pinpoint. Movement caught her eye and the same scraggly shaar which had been pawing at something under the barn went darting away, pushing itself through a gap in the fence and off like a jet.

“That damn Kipp again.” Lezah narrowed her eyes. The kipp was not an animal farmers were fond of. They fed on small wildlife and dug holes all over crop land.

She often heard kipp calls, but was never fast enough to spot the culprit herself. Furthermore she never had a problem with missing fowl, nor did she ever see very many holes.

The loud call’s continued for a short time, a few more Shaar went darting away from the barn. Moments later there was silence. Lezah shrugged and chuckled softly as she went back to her work.

“Gotta remember to set some traps for that gorram thing.” She muttered softly.