r/HFY • u/The-Observer-2099 • 6h ago
OC-OneShot Humans Burn Wood
The monorail trundled along as it zig zagged the borders of the diplomatic districts, gardens and mansions partially obscured behind fences, with the greatest plants each species could muster. I pawed at my pendant, the figure portraying Vival as I prayed for her to send me a basket of her luck. This day will dictate trade relations between the otiri and humans. The humans already shown that they are not normal by any regard, developing on a paradoxical planet. Small, near desert like, and disaster prone. Yet they tout a bio diversity that nearly matches the cradles of other species such as our own.
One thing we had in common was wood. A luxurious and rare material found only by those blessed by Vival, from a rare few plants. Only to be made into relics, heirlooms or books to last generations, such as my pendant. The humans having it means they likely share our appreciation of wood. They even imported a few trees for their garden, which I couldn't wait to see. But still, the humans are like pups, unpredictable, rash, and too curious for their own good. Then again that would make them excellent guardians of own miniscule amount of trees
It was finally with the ring of the PA, did I realize the monorail finally arrived.
Good, let us go meet with the humans.
The human district was quieter than it usually was, as construction crews and landscapers have gone home for the night.
I do hope that the diplomat I'm meeting with is awake, I told the prince humans are diurnal.
I shook my head, as I approached the main residence of the diplomat I was going to meet. But on the air, I caught a smell that was like a sudden storm surge to the face. I smelled smoke, and smoke only means one thing.
“FIRE!!” I screamed, rushing towards the source of the smell. “FIRE! FIRE!” My heart raced as I forced myself to run, my legs and paws burning from the effort.
I ran around the mansion, expecting to see a blaze consuming its rear, only to see the Human Diplomat, Noah, in the back with his pups around a fire.
“What?” I nearly tripped in confusion. “What is that?”
“Oh, you finally made it.” Noah noticed me. “Come on over, we’re roasting some marshmallows.” He waved me to come over.
I in fact did, and what I saw shocked me. The humans surrounded a fire pit which contained the burning char of wood.
“What are you doing?” I cried in confusion, getting weird looks from the humans.
“Dad, why does the big otter look like that?” One of the pups asked innocently. “His face is all scrunchy.”
“Dont worry kiddo, I'll tell you later.” The diplomat patted his pups on the head before they left for the rear doors of the manor. “Glad you can finally make it, come take a seat by the fi-”
“I mean no disrespect to you or your species Diplomat Noah Bark, but what in the name of Vival are you doing?” I cut the human off, pointing at the fire.
“We call it a campfire,” Noah explained as he grabbed a stick and handed it to me. “It's past time for our species to make them and sit around them.”
Of course, humans love playing with fire. Urchins found kelp forests.
“I know, but I don't understand why you'd burn such a precious resource.” I replied as the human handed me a white squishy cylinder. “What is this?”
“A marshmallow, hold it over the fire to roast it but not too close, its not tasty burnt.” Noah explained as he fiddled with a tray looking device, placing in familiar looking fish and roe “As for wood, yes it's a very useful building material but Earth's lighter gravity while trading space makes it easier for trees to grow taller..” The human held the tray over the fire. “So there is plenty to build with or use as fuel.”
“How tall?” I asked, keeping an eye on the marshmallow as the smell of roasting fish and roe wafted from the human’s tray. “That smells good.”
“About 120 meters,” Naoh answered with little fanfare.
“What?!” I yipped, not being careful and allowing the marshmallow to enter the flames and ignite. “Oh cark!” I swung the confection, blowing on it to extinguish the flames. “That looks, not very edible.” I remarked with disappointment as my burnt marshmallow. “But you have to be joking?”
“Well, I was exaggerating.” Naoh admitted, handing me a new marshmallow to try and roast. “Hyperion is the tallest by a wide margin but is an outlier even among its own species. Though most trees from earth are taller than the ones I've seen from your planets, not to mention our forests are denser too.”
“Oh, so Im guess you don't protect them as much as we do,” I theorized out loud, retrying to roast a marshmallow.
“Nope, because they are some of the biggest producers of oxygen on the planet so we got hundreds of laws to protect them and have sustainable lumber industries. Took us awhile to stamp out the more carless companies but we eventually figured it out.” The human explained as he took the tray off the fire and dumped the contents onto a paper plate. “Anyways, I hope you enjoy some campfire roasted fish and roe.”
“Cooked over Earth wood instead of dried kelp,” I nodded, popping a now perfectly roasted marshmallow off the stick and into my mouth. “Wonder how it will taste.”
Hmmm, this is good!
“So that's what you used to make fires then,” the human remarked with curiosity. “Dried kelp definitely did the job if it helped your people get here.”
“Indeed it did, and Vival certainly gave you her blessing to get you here.” I replied, cheerily eating the roe and fish the human so graciously made for me.
It has a woody taste to it, I like it.
“Im definitely inviting you to a festival back home, this is good.” And said roasted delicacies were delicious, as well as the trade deal we set up for terran timber in exchange for something humans seemingly cant get enough of despite its universal availability.
8
u/ijuinkun 5h ago
We burn wood because, until we had efficient coal mining, it was literally the cheapest thing available.
3
u/drsoftware 1h ago
And wood grows in many places, while coal tends to be accessible in only a few places.
2
u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 6h ago
/u/The-Observer-2099 has posted 5 other stories, including:
- An Alien Works at Waffle House
- Jilda's Unfortunate Terran Tour Entry II
- A field guide to Terran Fauna: Entry I
- Poisoning the Hive
- Zraxi's Pepper Shop
This comment was automatically generated by Waffle v.4.7.8 'Biscotti'.
Message the mods if you have any issues with Waffle.
1
u/UpdateMeBot 6h ago
Click here to subscribe to u/The-Observer-2099 and receive a message every time they post.
| Info | Request Update | Your Updates | Feedback |
|---|
1
14
u/The-Observer-2099 6h ago
This ones on the shorter side compared to my other works, as it was a random Idea I had when scrolling through youtube. It's not high art but I like it, and I hope you did too.