Baby, I got your lizard!

Life.

Living.

It had been a wonderful day of just that. Being Tuchuk.

Laughter.

Such a blessing. There is nothing greater than the sounds of children laughing. It has a contagious quality to it that returns us to the mystical places of our early years. Noya, I am afraid was the instigator in the how the day came about. She had spread out hides glistening in the hot summer sun and poured oil all over them. The nakedness of youngsters is a beautiful thing, They carry no shame, no modesty that shields them from the world around them. Unclad heroes and heroines and an oil slick run is simply a mixture meant for amusement. It was grand watching them line up one after another for their turn to run and dive hands first, belly next down the glide of pelts.

Squeals.

Peals of giggles.

A bounce or two.

Rub in the mud.

Return to the line.

I took my turn at catching a few of them at the bottom until I was covered in oil myself, sides hurting and having a glorious time. I could not stop laughing even when a few paga induced brave warriors took their turns. I think there are many such stories that begin with a plainsman's yell and a bellow of "Watch this!"

We watched.

We winced.

We went running to see how bad the damage was. Paga is a magical elixir that makes some impervious to pain, adds bounce ... ability and acts like a shock absorber for all those .. oh dung .. did you see that? Much of that was going to hurt tomorrow but for now the men were having as much fun as the children. It was hard at times to tell which was which to be honest except for the fact that some of the 'boys' were over six foot tall and had heavily scarred cheeks.

Come on Mezoo .. your turn!

Um .. no. No really thank you but .. nooooo.

All that said as I held my hands against my ribs and filtered it through snorts and snickers that could not be helped.

The heat finally drove us to find shade and while we tried wiping some of the mud off the half pints while not disturbing the protective coating of grease, I came up with a new game. It was time to find pebbles. The one that gathered the most pebbles could ... I am not a fast thinker and this was on the snap .. er .. well .. lemme think ..

Yes!

The one that gathered the most pebbles could paint my wagon. There was just one catch to it .. they had to tuck the first pebble they found in the side of their cheek and it still had to be there when they turned the others in. No one could be counted out .. everyone had to play.

Oh and while they were looking, I needed a speedy racing lizard too. Shhh,don't tell anyone, I was going to challenge that other Haruspex to a lizard race. They knew the one. Yes, they did. I already had my winner but they could help her out. She was going to need a fast one.

Well, alright!

One of the boys came running up later with two bags of the little stone globes, all grins and swelled with pride. He even showed me that he had his first pebble right where it was supposed to be .. all wet and everything. Of course he drooled in the effort and I just sat there smiling. He was First son of Nahal. I was going to remember him. I gave him instructions to dole the pebbles out among all of his friends, all the children he could find. He had to share his bounty this time but when the weather was not so hot, a fresh plate of honey cakes was all his and so was the side of my wagon.

We ended up wandering off later singing some silly made up song, "Baby I got your lizard and I know that you got mine .. we gonna take them with our pebbles on a wild slip and slide."

Thank you Noya for such a great day.