Stink Bug – Chapter 10

It started with a sneeze that startled me from my slumber. There was a tickle in my throat and I coughed. The tickle wouldn’t go away, and the cough grew in intensity. I sneezed again. My eyes burned. I sat up and looked about. All around me was darkness. A stiff blanket of feathers slid off my body. Another sneeze.

I rubbed my eyes. That was a mistake. Coughing overwhelmed me. My face itched. My eyes watered. My nose ran. I felt like I was covered with downy feathers. I tried to sweep them off, to wipe them away from my nose. A sneeze interrupted my coughing.

“Nate?” W’oo’woo’s voice cut through the darkness.

I gasped and struggled to breathe.

“Are you all right Nate?” K’eel said.

“No,” I croaked, trying to stand up.

A gust of wind from K’eel’s wings blasted more feathers at me. I crouched away as she grabbed me. “What is wrong?” she said.

I couldn’t speak for all my coughing. “Crap.”

W’oo’woo clucked something.

“Yes,” replied K’eel. “Water. Are you thirsty?”

I nodded, still gasping.

Moments later, I felt a dish being pressed into my hands. “Water,” said W’oo’woo.

I drank as deeply as I could, between the spasms of coughs. Water came out my nose. Though painful, the urge to cough calmed.

“I think….” I interrupted myself with a cough. “I think I’m allergic to you.”

K’eel tossed her head back and trilled.

W’oo’woo cocked his head. “Is this funny?”

“Hardly,” I grumbled.

K’eel nodded. “My apologies. We can help this.” K’eel hopped off. A blast of wind told me he had taken off.

W’oo’woo helped me sit back down. The coughing was subsiding, but I still had fluid pouring out of every available opening on my face. I drank some more water.

K’eel returned in a whirlwind of feathery dust, spawning another fit of coughing. Another Vrr’ak’l landed beside her. The platform shook as they approached. They were chattering with each other in squawks and clucks. A hand touched my shoulder, startling me, and renewing the coughs.

“Calm, calm.” I recognized T’r’bl’s voice. “I have something for you. Here.”

I squinted in her direction. “I can’t see.”

“Here.” K’eel put my hands on a warm dish. “Drink.”

“Drink,” echoed T’r’bl.

I sniffed the contents of the dish. Mint. I sipped. It was a warm, mint tea, so far as I could tell. “It’s good.”

“Here now.” T’r’bl began to put some sort of cream around my eyes. It burned for a moment, then was soothing, like menthol. The itching in my eyes calmed.

“What is that?” I asked after taking another sip.

“We know this will help,” said T’r’bl.

“How do you know?”

“We have studied,” replied K’eel.

“Studied what?”

“Don’t worry,” said T’r’bl. She rubbed the cream under my nose, and my breathing became easier. “Finish this drink. Then sleep.”

I took another sip. “It is good.” Now that I could breathe again, I was feeling mightily drowsy. I took another sip. “So… Why am I here?”

“Don’t worry,” said T’r’bl.

“Don’t worry,” echoed K’eel and W’oo’woo.

“Not worried. Just want to know.” I yawned. “Wow. I am tired.”

“Another drink, then sleep,” said T’r’bl.

I raised the dish to my lips and took a mouthful. The dish was taken from my hands as W’oo’woo guided my head back onto the pillow. “Yes, sleep,” he whispered.

I drifted away.

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