Invasion

A warm spring wind would have ruffled my hair, if I had any. From the cliff there was a magnificent view of the dark green sky and the gray sea, which, blending together, made a fine example of diffusion. But since I wasn’t a physicist, I didn’t say that to Afanasy standing beside me.

Today was one of those rare days when he had nothing to do. A serious Fanasian, on such days he turned into a romantic dreaming of something unknown and beautiful. We were resting out of town, by the sea, settled at the edge of the cliff.

“Life is much more than what we see around us,” Afanasy looked thoughtfully at the horizon line. “You only need to tear yourself away from daily cares and you start to understand how much you are losing… And in general, you can never appreciate what you have until there is a threat of losing it.”

“Like some useless thing you remember only when you lose it?”

“Not quite. That’s more like pettiness. I mean the same thing as, for example, sleep — you only understand how pleasant it is to sleep when you haven’t slept for a long time. Or rest — if you’re dead tired, rest will seem like happiness. Perhaps we are able to enjoy life, what it gives us, only if we first go through difficulties in order to take it.”

Afanasy liked to philosophize in moments like this. He probably felt that he rose above this world and everything complicated in life stayed down there and became simple and clear. It might be great, but I didn’t like such moments.

“Let’s go have a bite,” we’d been here since morning, and I was hungry.

“Yes, let’s.”

We settled by the cloth spread on the grass, and I began to take food out of the basket. Of course, nothing worked out for me — I don’t have hands, so Afanasy had to do it. He managed quickly, and five minutes later we were already eating.

Fortunately, a rather strong wind was blowing from the sea, and Afanasy had no problems with me and my overalls. Helping myself with a pseudopod, I took a piece of the tenderest meat of a fresh mouse and sent it into my mouth.

“By the way, what was that talk in Parliament about stopping the negotiations?” I was interested in the fate of Zadverie.

“Nothing is clear yet; some of ours are afraid to negotiate with humans — they think they’re too aggressive and won’t tolerate our full independence.”

“And what do they suggest?”

“Many are seriously considering the possibility of an Invasion into Zadverie now…”

“Oh, that’s serious. I hope it doesn’t come to that,” but, to tell the truth, I was more interested in the fate of the fragrant gravy for the meat. We can talk about Parliament at the session…