Bearing the Itlo

Come on, fourteenth bearer, you can make it to the next tree.

You know I’d help you carry it if I could, but I’m just the symbiotic guidemind. I don’t have hands.

I keep telling you, I’ll know the fifteenth bearer when we see them.

Don’t lie to me. You can’t go much longer, you’re hobbling from blisters and the Itlo needs to be in or heading towards deep salt water at all times or it ends the world, you know that.

No, I don’t know why the damn thing appeared so far away. Why don’t you ask it?

Watch the gutter here, it’s steep–

Shit!

Don’t panic. You didn’t drop it. No, don’t worry about me, I’m not technically ‘real’. Quick now, get up and keep moving.

“Hey, are you ok?”

That’s her! Now, as she’s reaching for you, hand it over!

Yes, I know she’s surprised. You were, too. The Itlo is heavy and slimy and conveys the dread knowledge of what needs to be done all at once. I’ll be with her in a moment.

No, don’t feel bad. It’s not far now and it’ll be more populated closer to the coast.

Your turn is done. You’ll forget how you got here in a moment. Rest now, fourteenth bearer.

✱

Sorry to lump you with this, but it’s for the good of the world. You’re the fifteenth bearer of the Itlo. Don’t worry, I’ll be your guide. Best start walking now, I’ll explain on the way…

Kiera Lesley lives and writes in Melbourne/Naarm, Australia. You can find her online at www.kieralesley.com.