Wuftoom by Mary G. Thompson

Author:Mary G. Thompson [Thompson, Mary G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: General Fiction, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9780547637242
Publisher: Graphia Books
Published: 2012-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

THEY SLID OUT into the larger pipe, but Evan still heard the scream and smelled the stink. He collapsed into the water and covered himself. It made no sense for him to loathe it and bathe in it at once, but Evan felt calmed as the water flowed over him, and his breathing returned.

Tret dived into the water, thrashed around for a few seconds, and jumped back up. He had rolled his belly into a pouch, like he was holding something in it. Evan looked sickly on as Tret let the flap of flesh go and caught a little, scaly, wriggling creature with a rolled-up arm. It wriggled and tried to jump, but Tret held it tight.

“The new one eats first. For a mission well accomplished!” Tret exclaimed. “Now, don’t drop it. Eat it quick before it gets away.” Tret passed the thing to Evan, who quickly rolled his arm over it and held on tight.

All of a sudden, he felt better. He felt its slimy body wriggle against his skin. It was so strong, it was all he could do not to open his arm up and let it go. Without looking at it, he opened his mouth and pushed the creature in. His fangs and teeth crunched down on its body, which was gooey soft inside. The skin was tough like leather, but it tasted pleasantly sweet. It stopped moving after his first bite, and he finished it in three quick swallows.

By the time he was done, Tret had risen up with another, which he shared between himself and Suzie.

Suddenly Evan felt guilty. “Are there no more?” he asked.

Tret shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re lucky we found two. They’re getting smarter all the time. The Vits don’t go in the water, but since they’ve been eating the land creatures, we’ve been taking too many. They know not to travel in groups now.”

“What are they?” Evan asked.

“Higgers,” Tret said.

“Do they talk?” Evan didn’t see how they could.

“They don’t talk. They play each other’s scales.”

Evan thought about this. What would it sound like? “Can you hear it?” he asked.

“No,” said Tret, “they only talk to each other underwater. The frogs can hear it, but they don’t understand.”

“Frogs?”

Suzie giggled. “They’re not really frogs. They probably call us worms, like you did.” If Evan were still human, he would have turned red with embarrassment, but Suzie didn’t seem upset. “They call themselves Orpas, and we call them frogs because they can live underwater for a long time and they hop. They have beady little eyes set way down on their heads and fur that looks like plastic. And their feet have sharp little claws.”

“And they just live down here, like you—us?”

“They burrow through the ground and have pools in the earth where they make their home. They come out here to feed on the tiniest creatures in the water.”

“And you eat them, too?”

“Yes.”

Evan was silent for a minute. The insides of the Higger had tasted salty and oily. It didn’t have as

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