Free The Visitor by Boris TZAPRENKO Page A

Board members, “would be a dairy bov that’s no more than just a mouth on one side, an anus on the other and large breasts in between. We can’t easily do without various organs related to digestion and respiration, however we must eliminate everything that’s not needed.”  
    This statement had raised murmurs of protest more or less horrified, but because of the prospect for profit and taking into account that the competition was already on that path, everyone had agreed that Natural Foods had no choice.
    “I knew that we had to make savings on the puree," said Ykkmaly. “but I confess that I had never thought to reduce the quantity per dairy bov. From habit, I wanted to reduce its price. The idea is pure genius, we should’ve thought of it before!”
    Akkal turned to her with a sad look:
    “Then... Must we do the same thing?”
    They all gave their approval, with more or less enthusiasm or restraint according to their character, but not one had said no. All knew that their money was at stake.
    Akkal was the majority shareholder. It was up to him now to accept or to refuse to go to that extreme. Aware that if he refused, others would rush to sell their shares and that Natural Foods wouldn’t be worth anything, did he have a choice? First thing tomorrow morning, they would be expecting his response.
    Suddenly, he felt himself being shaken by four hands.
    “ What? What?” He cried.  
    “ Akkal! What’s happening to you? What are you mulling over?” asked Akkali looking over him.  
    “ Hey Dad! What’s wrong with you?” anxiously added Akkalo.  
    “ If your work tires you so much, you should take a little rest," said his wife.  
    “ Everything’s fine! Everything’s fine...”  
    With two skeptics looking on, he lied:
    “ I was thinking about that thing, there, from outer space...”  
    But neither his son nor his wife appeared convinced. He felt exhausted and he had to get up at dawn.
    “ Okay, I'm going to bed," he concluded extracting himself from his couch.  
     
    *
     
    Etos charged ahead as quickly as he could. He headed for the low and flat hill whence came the clamors. Now that he was closer he heard them clearly and the smell of his kind became increasingly stronger. He was no longer running because he couldn’t any more. Exhausted, he could barely walk. All the cells in his body were asking for water. His mind was turned to finding something to drink , nothing else was important. Apart from Mahisa, of course! Mouth wide open skywards, he tried to drink by swallowing a few drops, but the rain was subsiding; it was no more than a drizzle that taunted his thirst.
    He hoped to find water among his congeners. As he approached this strange hill, the cries made him increasingly uncomfortable. He realized that he couldn't make out a single word although he was now close enough to clearly hear these lamentations. They were undeniably his congeners, however, he didn’t understand them. One more strange thing! Like this hill’s flat shape which looked a little like the sun prison, ex cept that it was bigger. Not much higher, but considerably longer.  
    One of the walls of the huge Natural Foods production building, that Etos thought of as a strange low and flat hill, was soon no more than a few meters from him. Howls, complaints, sobbing never ceased. At this short distance, they resonated so loudly in his head and in his heart that he almost forgot in that he was about to die from thirst. Until now, he had never heard so many voices at the same time. How many were there and where were they? Or perhaps rather, how many females were there and where were they? Because he seemed to recognize them as female voices. How could he hear and smell them so distinctly without being able to see them? For him, this was part of what was strange and inexplicable in the land of the lightning-slayers. Indeed, it was in the land of the lightning-slayers, that he thought he was.
    At every hundred meters, against