A Short Story Of Shamey A Hero's Journey

Shameya sat cross-legged on the soft grass, her gluteal-globes molding the soft earth, creating rounded depressions fitted perfectly to her form. For about the 98th time she repeated the self-admonition that she should have brought a ruglet or even a blanket to her duty shift. No matter, the shifts were not arduous, and hers was the last one today. The sun was drifting toward the horizon and the danger increased rapidly the closer it got. She must soon return to the castle, to safety, to the room she shared with her sisters, where she can wash herself of any grass stains or soil before evening feast. Sitting on the bare ground was not a hardship.

It must soon be time for the Beasts to roam. The Beasts roam ever earlier in the day, and it is not safe to be out of doors. When she was a child, the Beasts dared not appear while the sky held light. Monsters are bolder now.

Peering intently at the Threshold of Worlds, she wondered if she might someday soon be lucky enough to see it open. Few had seen that miracle. The miracle happens most when no one is looking. She was quite certain she was looking in the right place, although she had never actually seen the Threshold herself. She had heard the tales of the Threshold opening and the Smooth ones stepping into the world as she might step through a doorway. She very much hoped to see the

miracle for herself. She took every watch she could, determined to be present when the Smoothies again visited.
She remembered fondly when the Smooth one called Fitz had spent an evening with Shameya and a dozen of her sisters. Several now had beautiful sons owing to his generosity, but she had been too young then. He had treated her wonderfully, made her feel welcome, warm and excited, but though she was eager and desirous, she was not yet ripe. Heartbroken though eager, he refused her, insisting he must only give his blessing to those who were ready. She could not blame him for hoarding his limited resource. She supposed it was too rare and precious to waste. Though she had been denied then, she was sure that now she was ready, her body was ripe, and she prayed he would again visit before she turned so quickly old and barren as so many before her already had. She fervently wanted a beautiful son too.
It was not however merely prurient curiosity or a juvenile infatuation that prompted her focus and attention on the Threshold. While she desperately wished to be the first to greet Fitz, fervently hoped she too would be granted his boon, her present vigil is not about fertility. Her vigil is in fact her contribution to the Project. Although she very much wanted to be present when the legendary ones again appeared, greeting Fitz, or any other Smooth one was not her mission. Her mission was merely to observe the Threshold, and record anything she might observe for the Mathematician. Information was desperately needed for important calculations, calculations that would, the Mathematician hoped, unlock the secrets of the Threshold.
She had eavesdropped on many conversations among the Smoothies, listening shamelessly as had many of her sisters.

She understood that the Threshold opens according to it's own whims, and not the desires of any person. The Smoothies alone possess the secret of knowing when it will open. Though they know the when of it, they cannot themselves command it. The mystery of the Threshold remains theirs for now, but the Mathematician was determined to change that, to learn the secret for the People. It is Shameya's duty to watch the Threshold as much as possible, with her sisters, recording and reporting anything that might add to the

calculating.
The Threshold has long existed, a strange doorway between the familiar world and the mysterious Smoothie realm. For many generations before Shameya, before her mother, before her grandmother, and even before HER mother, the Smooth ones have frequently stepped into the world from beyond. They bring nothing with them, nothing that one might carry, but they do bring knowledge, sometimes just odd but useful ways of doing things, sometimes ideas and more. They are also full of stories and songs.
They bring other things too. The boon of babies. There once was a time when the People did not need the boon of the Smooth ones, when fertility was easy and there were males enough. Her mother had once told her that in her own grandmother's time, many castles had as many as three or four males. Males had proven very fragile. Despite the best of care, many families have none at all now, and of those that do, many are no longer able to grant. Those that can grant a boon rarely grant infant males.
Her own castle possesses a male. His name is Pugiya and he is aged and frail. It has been more than a decade since his last boon. But for Fitz, there would be no babies in this house. Thanks to his boon, the family now has more than a dozen infants, all to be Males when they are grown. The family is very proud to have so many fine Males in the offing. Neighboring families with none at all will pay a heavy fee for the boon of such as these. The very scarcity they would alleviate will make them and their family quite wealthy.
Learning the secrets of the Threshold is an important goal. Shameya is but one member of the watch-group devoting much attention to the project. From mid-morning until late afternoon, she and her fellow watchers take turns sitting in this very spot, watching intently. She would happily do so through the night as well, save that she had no wish to be a Beast's dinner!
Monsters prowl from dusk to dawn, only the thick stone walls keep them at bay. Being outside at night is certain death!
Mastering the Threshold is more than curiosity by the People. The Monsters had ceased confining themselves strictly to the hours of night! For many generations the People had a sort of quiet detente with the great beasts. They would walk and forage at night while the People hid behind great stone walls. The beasts would then hide during the day. The beasts were now violating that truce!
Mid-day still seemed to be safe enough, but the beasts had been spotted an hour or more before dusk, and nearly an hour after dawn. It is feared that they are becoming more and more willing to walk in the daylight.
People had been caught outside before dusk and fallen prey to their horrible appetite before this violation was well recognized, and now considerable effort must be spent tracking the wakeful beasts. Any sighting is automatically top of the list of all the Criers in the land, with much banging of the Crier's drum whenever a beast is heard in the daylight. Thankfully sightings remain rare, but when a day-Monster is seen or heard near a castle, People who live therein hide most of the day behind the great walls of stone.
The Crier often intoned the warning, “Do not prowl the woods when the Beasts are up, for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.”
Being caught outside by a Beast, night or day, is death. There is no defense. They are impervious to the swift fired hunter's arrow. Only a Hero's bow might pierce such hide, and yet no mortal such a bow may draw. It is the fervent hope that the Smoothies might kill such beasts, or show the People how.
That is the reason Shameya sits in the meadow, making globular depressions in the soil, staring at a spot in mid air. The People desire to reach out, to reach through the portal and demand help to kill a Dinosaur!
Busily staring at the reported location of the Threshold, and musing about the dangers of the big beasts, Shameya was startled to hear something approaching along the forest trail. She is a nervous, high-strung girl, given to easily panic at the slightest provocation. For a full two heartbeats she considered bolting, despite knowing full well that if it actually was a Beast approaching she was already dead. It is simply not possible for a human to outrun the creatures. Not even Fitz himself could begin to approach their speed!
She rose to her feet and was about to bolt in panic when she heard a familiar voice call out. It was her sister Williya. Shameya calmed her racing pulse and turned to greet her sibling. Williya stepped into the clearing, baby cuddled in her arms, suckling at her breast.
“Hey Sis,” she called out, “Don't you think you should be getting behind stone soon? It's getting late.”
“Aww, how's little Fitz today?” She grabbed the infant and made cooing noises. The child giggled and gurgled at his auntie, and then turned back to his sustenance, greedy to continue his meal.
“I was about to head back in a minute. It's not so very late, and besides, the last Crier had said no Beasts had been sighted near our area.”
“I don't care, Sis, you know how Mama worries. Besides just because the last sighting was not near, does not mean the next one won't be! Those Crier reports are mostly just guesses anyway! Don't bet your life on them.
Unless you want to run as hard as you can all the way, we have to go now. Besides I have to carry little Fitz here! He's heavy.”
“Let me carry him then, if he's finished nursing!” Shameya turned away from the Threshold one last time and reached to take her nephew. As Williya reached to hand him over, she glanced at the portal. Her sharp intake of breath caught her sister's attention and Shameya released the child back to his mother's arms, as she turned back toward the shimmering haze in the air.