Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 21341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21341 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 107(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Kae isn't satisfied with my answer. She always has to know everything. She raises her hand and when Claire comes over, whispers to her. "What is it we're carving?"
"Oh, anything you like!" Erevair's mom touches her shoulder, beaming. "Back home they were jack-o’-lanterns with faces, but it doesn't matter. Just make whatever you like."
And she wanders away again.
I look at Kae. "That clear it up for you?"
"No." She sighs. "But I guess I can put a face on it? This is a weird custom."
"Humans are weird," I agree. They love all kinds of strange things.
"You're half human," Kae reminds me as she studies her not-potato diligently. Then she takes it into her lap and starts shaving down pieces around the top of it. "Maybe I can whittle this part down to make a brow and some ears."
I ignore her comments, because I'm not much interested in carving. Maybe Kae is because her dad likes to carve, but mine is a hunter and I want to be like him and hunting, not sitting around putting a face on a vegetable. Even now, Father is out hunting and I'm stuck here with the other kits when I'd rather be with him, checking traps. I eye my mother, and she's got my littlest sister in-between her legs, holding a knife as she helps Shae cut a smile into what's probably going to be tonight's dinner.
Vekka wanders over to where we're seated. She has a doll tucked under her arm but no vegetable with her. My ears get hot as she stares down at my barely carved root, as if she's judging it.
"I'm not done yet," I say hotly.
Vekka gives me a startled look, then tosses one of her curly ponytails. "I didn't say anything!"
"You were thinking it," I mutter. I carve another chunk out of my vegetable just so it looks like I'm busy. The other day, Talie said I talked too much and Vekka giggled, and now I'm trying to talk less because I don't want to prove them right. Girls are stupid anyhow. I'm not going to mate one when I get older, I decide. No matter what Analay says. I'm going to get a dvisti like Holvek and Farli, and mine will be fast and strong and I'll ride on its back and explore the entire planet and no girls are allowed to come with me.
So there.
I stab another chunk free of my not-potato.
"Whatcha making?" Vekka asks. Guess she's still here.
I don't look at her. Just hack another chunk free. What am I making? I have no idea. I look over at Kae, who's busy with her knife, shaving off pieces of the root here and there.
Instead of getting the hint and leaving, Vekka plops down next to me and Kae. She watches with interest as I hack another large sliver away and my not-potato looks...decidedly less vegetable like. "Are you making a moon?"
I scoff, though a moon was a good idea. I wish I'd thought of it. "If I tell you what it is, it ruins the surprise."
"I like surprises," Vekka offers, watching my hands as I work. "What are you gonna be for Treat Day?"
"Treat Day? What's Treat Day?"
"That's what my mom's calling our holiday," Vekka says, settling her doll in her lap. "Miss Claire wanted Fall Day but Momma said that she didn't want people getting ideas. So it's gonna be Treat Day."
"Your mom's not in charge," I say in a sulky voice, and stab my not-potato again. Half of it falls over and tumbles to my feet, and I act like I meant that to happen.
Vekka gives a disapproving sniff at my carving and then looks over at Kae's creation and gasps. "Holy dungchips! That looks just like my doll!"
"Language," Claire calls from nearby.
"Sorry, Miss Claire," Vekka singsongs out, her gaze rapt as she watches Kae work. Her voice lowers and she looks at Kae in awe. "You're amazing."
"Does it look like a head?" Kae asks, shaving a bit more away from the base. "I'm trying to make a neck but it's going to have to be a really short one or else I'm going to lose the structure of the jaw."
It does look like a head, at least to me. She hasn't done the face part yet, but she's cut away enough of the rounded not-potato that there's a vague shape of a jaw and a brow. As I stare, she deftly lops away a chunk under the brow, and suddenly there's an eye socket.
I eye the pile of not-potato in front of me. It just looks like a mess. This is a stupid game and I don't want to play. I sure don't want to watch Vekka give admiring looks to Kae's work. I should be out hunting with Father. There aren't any hunters sitting here carving, just me and a bunch of babies. Sure, Pacy and Holvek and the older boys are here, but I'm a better hunter than any of them. I jump to my feet, determined to tell my mother that this is dumb and I don't want to do it anymore. Brushing my leggings off, I toss the bits of my not-potato into the bowl.