Marching Orders

We left home finally because the red place went dry. Nothing to eat but fruit flies and worms. I let Oorvid eat the last banana two days ago, but the fruit flies made me wonder where he’d hidden it if he hadn’t actually eaten it. The worms, really, were for Coosmos, because she liked them, and if Coosmos liked something, we stuck with it, otherwise she’d pump her feathers in our faces and take off, which is how she came to be living with us in the first place. Someone was missing her right now I bet. Outside, two parallel lines had formed already. Strong on the left, weak on the right, a buddy system for survival. I told Oorvid we should’ve left when I had wanted to leave, back when the food box first went bare. Now the line went on for miles toward the green. We had to head backward to the end of the line to get forward. Without a discussion, Oorvid took his spot on the left and pointed at me (with Coosmos on my shoulder) to take the spot to his right. But I’m your mother, I told him. Oorvid didn’t budge.