“A Fireside Guest”
Prompt: Eat, Drink, and Be Merry!
The teenage human astronaut huddled in her cloak, excitedly curious. Her captors? Rescuers? She didn’t know what to call them, finished adjustments to her disguise. The young cheetah and flying squirrel were about her age in their respective animal years, if she had to guess. They had pulled her from her wrecked shuttlecraft in primitive, homemade spacesuits, and she had saved them from a killer tree on the way to town, but she was still unsure of her fate. They had treated her wounds, feeding and sheltering her. But they made every attempt to hide her from their families and neighbors.
Despite the language barrier, they conveyed to her the basics of events. She was invited to a festival, but couldn’t go outside as she was. The reasoning was unclear, but she guessed it concerned her being a literal alien to their world. It wouldn’t do to cause town-wide panic.
The costume was a hooded patchwork of dyed, fur-like wool, with the cloak covering it, along with face paint and candle wax prosthetics. The teen looked like a strange ape when facing the mirror, which she supposed was the closest thing they could compare her to. She had seen no other humans from the giant hollow tree that was their apartment. The valley’s other inhabitants were also these recognizable yet sapient animals, both predator and prey.
The cheetah and squirrel, satisfied with their work, lead her through moonlit shadows cast by other massive tree-buildings and past burrows to the town center. Bonfires blazed, reflecting fiery hues of autumn leaves. Food and drink were laid out; wines, ciders, meads, and meat from odd plant-sheep she had spied in the fields, among more familiar dishes. Children sat spellbound by stories, while others burned small offerings. Townsfolk danced to energetic music, and several whirled flaming objects in dazzling displays of skill.
The human stared in disbelief. The fire was alive! Fire-creatures danced with the townsfolk all night. At dawn, the elemental spirits were coaxed into firepots, carried indoors against winter. She now knew why families shared food with their hearth fires every meal.
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