[Trade] Fun in the Sun

The duo of Moo and Brisket had grown to a trio, now that Liiah was with them. To Brisket’s relief, the two high-energy anteos balanced each other out, rather than exponentially increasing their trouble-making. Having a partner to bounce ideas off of (at least, one that was as eager as they were, unlike Brisket) gave them a chance to pause before jumping straight into whatever scheme they’d come up with. They could talk each other out of their most ridiculous ideas, or give Brisket more time to do so herself. But more often than not, they actually had good ideas, like when Liiah and Moo figured out how to work together to corner rabbits. Brisket adored the taste of rabbit, which only made them more excited whenever they spotted a warren.

It began to feel like Liiah wasn’t a new addition at all, as if she’d been with them from the start. Brisket could feel herself changing, too, a bit more patient with her friends’ antics and letting them take the lead sometimes. As tiring as Moo and Liiah could be, she couldn’t imagine traveling without them.

As the summer sun beat down on the trio, they moved forward with one goal in mind: finding the ocean. They were on an island, and from what they’d been able to grasp, as long as they kept a consistent direction, they’d find an edge eventually.

What they were going to do when they got to the ocean was another matter entirely. Moo wanted to dip her toes into the churning water, but that was as far as the plan went. Brisket was willing to wait and see what happened. If the beach was half as fun as Moo made it out to be, she was sure they’d find ways to keep themselves entertained. Maybe Brisket could catch one of the “crabs” she’d heard so much about.

“Do you think we’re almost there, Liiah?” Moo asked as they trailed some distance behind Brisket. Brisket had caught a strange scent on the air that morning, and had led them with even more vigor than usual.

“It can’t be much farther, can it?” Liiah said, pausing to scratch behind her nonexistent ear. “An island can’t go on forever. Probably.”

Moo tilted her head, like she was trying to shake a good thought out of it. “If it didn’t, then how would anyone know what an ocean is?”

“Maybe they’re just something that someone made up when they were bored, like camels.”

“I still think that oviraptor was telling the truth.”

“Come on, Moo! A big cow with a long neck and a hump full of water on its back? There’s no way they’re real! If a mosquito landed on one, it would pop like a balloon!”

“That’s true….”

“Guys!”

They snapped to attention at the sound of Brisket’s voice. She’d made it to the edge of a cliff, her gaze fixed on the ground below. They ran to her side, to see what she was so interested in…

“Oh, wow!” Moo said.

“It’s beautiful!” said Liiah.

White gulls soared overhead, their calls filling the air, accompanied by the gentle waves of the water below. Golden sand sparkled, littered with shells and sand dollars… Brisket saw some of them scuttling around—those must be the crabs! And spreading out across the horizon was an endless expanse of salty blue, nearly indistinguishable from the bright sky. They’d finally made it to the ocean.

“We still have to find a way down there,” Brisket said. The cliff they stood on was too high and steep to jump down right away. “But we’re so close now!” Even she, reserved as she was, couldn’t keep the wag out of her tail. Just a few more steps and they’d be on the sand!

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Liiah hopped back from the edge, ready to find her own way down. “Let’s get going!” The other two were quick to follow her.

#

Brisket officially made it to the beach when she felt hot sand against her paws. The consistency was so strange… When she stepped on it, it was solid and firm, but she could easily scoop up grains of it with her claws.

“Wow, it feels so much warmer now that we’re down here,” Liiah said.

“I guess the sand gets hotter than dirt.”

“And the water’s so cold!” Moo squealed as the sea lapped at her toes. She’d run straight for the water, just as she always said she would. She played chase with the tide as it ebbed and flowed, laughing loudly, having as much fun and she’d dreamed she’d have.

“Really?” Liiah gasped. “Let me try!”

Brisket didn’t want to miss out on the fruit of their journey, so she ran to join Moo, too. Even though Moo had warned her, she couldn’t stop the shiver that flew down her spine when the frigid water soaked her legs. How could it be so cold when the air and the ground was so hot? Beaches were proving to be very contradictory. Soon enough, they were all knees-deep in the shallows.

“Hey, Brisket!” Liiah called, a paw suspiciously raised.

“Wh-”

As soon as she looked over, Liiah swiped at the water, shooting spray at Brisket’s face. Liiah and Moo laughed as Brisket sputtered.

“Hey!” Brisket protested with no real heat behind it. “This stuff tastes gross, you know!”

“Wait, really?” Moo immediately took a gulp of the seawater.

“Don’t drink so much of it!” Brisket cried. “It’s not worth it!”

“Bleh! You’re right, it’s not!”

“Well, now that everyone’s had some, I need to try, too…” Liiah took a tentative sip. “Hey, it’s not that bad! You guys are so overdramatic.”

“Are you serious?” Brisket said. “I can’t believe you’re saying that. This stuff is nasty.”

“Very nasty,” Moo agreed.

“Maybe you two need to broaden your horizons.”

“You just reminded me!” Brisket waded out of the water, damp sand sticking to the soles of her paws. “I wanted to try and eat a crab. Maybe that’ll be something new that actually taste good!”

“Think they’ll be better than rabbit?” Moo asked.

“There’s only one way to find out.”

#

It took a few tries to successfully catch their first crab. They were fast, but not any faster than the rabbits they’d been hunting; they discovered in their first attempt that the real trouble was the claws.

“Ow!” Moo yelped, dropping the crab she’d caught in her jaws. “He pinched my nose!”

Brisket scrambled to grab it, but her teeth snapped around empty air as it scuttled into the safety of the sea. She watched its red shell shimmer and disappear beneath the frothing waves. “It was a good first try, Moo. We need to watch out for the pincers next time.”

That sort of thing was easier said than done, but they’d made it all the way to the beach, and they weren’t going to give up until they caught a crab. In the end, Moo chased it out of hiding (she didn’t want to get too close to the pincers again), Briskey flipped it onto its back as it fled, and Liiah dealt the final blow. The three cheered and huddled around it.

Of course, for nearly-grown anteos, a crab wasn’t very much of a meal; once the hard armor was shucked off, a crab was a bite-sized snack. For all of their excitement, they would need to catch more if they all wanted a taste, and they were pretty worn-out after hunting, and their day of traveling on top of that.

“Here, Brisket.” Liiah nudged the dead crab towards her. “You were the one who wanted to have crab, so you can be the first to try it out!”

“Are you sure?”

“Very sure!” said Moo. “There’s plenty of crabs to go around… once they come out of the water again.”

Liiah nodded. “It’s getting late, anyway. We’ll have some for breakfast in the morning!”

“Thanks, guys.”

Brisket gave the crab meat an experiential lick. Even though the shell was hard and durable, the meat hidden inside was soft and slimy. She took the whole piece into her mouth and chewed—it was so chewey! And the taste was rich and salty, but not overwhelmingly so like the ocean’s water.

“How is it?” Moo asked.

“Delicious. Thanks for helping me catch one.”

“Well, it was my idea to come out here in the first place,” Moo said. “It’s only fair that we help you out!”

#

The sun was setting, casting the ocean with a warm, orange glow, like a match had been lit under the sea. They found a small, dry alcove to spend the night.

If they could make it to the ocean, they could go anywhere. Maybe Brisket would take them to the mountains next, or the savanna, or into the labs she’d heard whispers about, where the first dinosaurs were born.

But for now, she enjoyed the hiss of the waves against the sand, and her two friends sleeping soundly beside her.