The Keepers Collection

by Pepper North

  A video call sounded from inside. Huma picked up Pien and carried him in the house. Setting him down on his feet, she patted his bare bottom, giving him the signal to stay close. When she waved to accept the call, a large male Nrantian appeared on the screen. Pien hid behind Huma to avoid exposing himself to the male.

  Huma greeted the Nrantian who had called. His name was Yoha. Yoha was one of the scientists who had encountered Pien. When Pien had seen them, he tranquilized him and had set into motion Pien’s transport to Nrantia. Yoha had chosen that voyage to be his last study mission to Earth. Currently, he was advancing through the long and challenging path to becoming a Keeper. He often called to ask Huma’s advice and to check on Pien.

  Today, something was different as they talked. Huma was excited about something. They were speaking very quickly, but Pien could hear something that sounded like his Swedish name but with a Nrantian accent. He peeked around Huma’s legs to see the screen. Yoha was holding a Swedish newspaper up to the screen. Pien could see his name in the headline. He rushed to the screen forgetting that he was nude to read the Swedish paper better.

  The headline read, The Pieter Nillson Animal Shelter Opens Today! Pien sat down heavily on his bare bottom with a thud. He strained to read the small print, but it was too blurry on the screen. He whirled to look at Huma. Pointing to himself and the screen, he jumped to his feet and tried to talk to Huma. “That’s me! They named an animal shelter after me. Can you get the article for me? I want to read the rest of the story. Please, Huma. Please!” he begged his Keeper.

  Huma could not understand what Pien was saying, but she could understand his excitement. She wrapped an arm around his dancing body and picked him up to hold tightly against her. After pressing a kiss to his cheek, she turned back to the screen. She asked Yoha if he could send them a copy of the paper so Pien could read it. They discussed how he would send it and the screen went black.

  “Huma, Huma, Huma, what did he say? Can I read the article?” Pien pulled at the fur on her shoulder in his excitement.

  “Pien, settle down.” She began to walk around the large room, rocking Pien gently to soothe him. Pien continued to struggle against her as he talked to her rapidly. His voice was rising. She could tell he was becoming agitated. She set him down on his feet and made the sign they’d designed for settle down. Pien jumped up and down pulling at Huma’s arms. He was becoming hysterical. “Enough!” Huma decided.

  She picked up Pien and laid him over her muscular thighs, holding him in place with two arms. She began to spank Pien with heavy swats, leaving red handprints on his bare bottom. She continued without pausing until Pien stopped fighting her. She slowed down slightly on the speed of the spanks but continued to pepper his bottom with sharp swats. Finally, Pien drooped over her lap, crying. Huma rubbed his red bottom and spoke soothingly to him. When he turned to look at Huma, she was pleased to see him form the gesture meaning “I’m sorry!” Huma lifted him to lay him against her chest. When his breath had returned to a normal rhythm, she wiped his face and pressed a kiss to his mouth. She sat him on his feet and stood behind him. With a large hand on each shoulder, she walked her Little into the corner and pressed his nose to the wall. He needed to learn to follow his Keeper’s directions. Pien had ignored her gesture of “settle down” and had made himself almost hysterical.

  A long lora later, Huma called Pien’s name and gestured him to come to her. She smiled as he rushed across the floor to hug her as he repeated the “I’m sorry,” gesture. She picked him up to hold him against against her chest. She patted his bottom lightly. When he groaned, she waggled a “no, no, no” gesture in front of his face. Pien slowly nodded. Huma leaned him back in her arms to give him a bottle of the formula Dr. Irte had recommended for him. She rocked him lovingly as his lips and mouth pulled the formula through the large nipple. His eyes began to drift closed, and Huma knew he’d be asleep by the time he finished the bottle.

  Now, that Pien had calmed down, Huma began to think about the Earth newspaper Yoha had shared with them. Apparently, Yoha had been intrigued by Pien’s tales of a place where dogs and cats were cared for until a visiting human would come and select them to be part of their family. He’d told her earlier that maybe that’s the way humans should be cared for when they arrived on Nrantia. They could stay in a comfortable cage and wait until a certified Keeper claimed them. Huma had thought it was a horrible idea but knew that Yoha hadn’t been matched with a human yet. If he were matched in the future, he would be angry with himself for even considering the idea.

  Apparently, Yoha had investigated the concept of a shelter on Earth. Among the scientific reports that had been made by Nrantian observers on Earth, he had found this picture. The reporting scientist had been following up on any discrepancies or complications that had occurred after Pien’s disappearance. It had been sheer luck that he had discovered the animal shelter in Sweden.

  The next pinkness, Huma had just finished feeding Pien his breakfast and was feeding him a bottle when a knock came. She cradled him in her arms and walked to the exterior door. Pressing one hand to the door, Huma looked out and smiled at the visitor. Yoha had come to visit. He greeted Huma and leaned over Pien to brush his fingers through the long curls. Huma loved his hair so much, Pien knew she’d never cut it. Everyone seemed fascinated with the curls in his soft, blond hair.

  Huma ushered him into the large room in their home. She made several gestures that Pien could easily interpret as offers of something to eat or drink. Yoha shook his head with a smile and opened a large, flat container to pull out a Swedish newspaper sealed in some protective, transparent substance. He set it gingerly on the table between them.

  Pien almost launched himself out of Huma’s arms, but she was prepared. She held his body solidly in her arms and waggled the bottle at him. The same shaking finger reminded him to follow directions to avoid having his bottom reddened again. Pien laid back in her arms to finish the bottle. His eyes remained fixed on the black ink filling the white paper. Finally, Huma removed the nipple from his mouth and allowed him to sit up in her arms. She turned his head to focus his eyes on hers. She made the gesture they had chosen to signify “I love you.” Huma pointed to the paper and signed, “I love you,” again. Pien relaxed against her. He returned the gesture to her and understood what she was telling him. This paper wasn’t important. What was important was their love for each other.

  Smiling, Huma set Pien on his feet so he could walk to the table. She watched him touch the protective substance around the paper and turn it to face him. He pointed at the picture and underlined the name emblazoned on the large, modern building - Pieter Nillson Animal Shelter. There was a small picture of him in his work overalls as he cleaned out a dog run. He read the story below the picture.

  Today is the grand opening of the newly constructed Pieter Nillson Animal Shelter. This modern building will be a model for animal shelters around the world due to its unique floor plan and setting. The animal shelter owes its existence to a former animal shelter employee who worked at the old, city shelter.

  Pieter Nillson had uncovered a fraud being performed on the city. Pieter had organized his community to support a young girl confined to a wheelchair who needed expensive treatment and medication to survive. When he discovered that the child’s illness was a hoax designed to defraud the donors, Pieter risked his life to save the city’s donations from the hands of the deceitful family. He left the money in his animal shelter duffle bag on the steps of the old shelter. Then, he disappeared. The theory around town is that he was so ashamed of having been duped by the family that he fled the city, leaving behind the donations so that they could be returned to their donors.

  The city was so amazed by the honesty of this hard-working young man that they voted to have their donations fund a new animal shelter. They named it after Pieter Nillson, that brave shelter employee. He had gathered enough funds to allow the new shelter to be built in the center of town across the street from the city
park. Volunteers began to walk the dogs in the park. Many of the volunteers were delighted to find themselves often leading a prospective owner back to the shelter to adopt the dog on their leash that day.

  No one knows what became of Pieter Nillson. No one has heard from him in the last five years. Nor has his name appeared on any job registry or tax information. The city wishes him the best and hopes he is happy. Wherever he happens to be.

  Pien brushed the tears from his eyes. He backed up to Huma and allowed her to wrap her arms around him. He looked up at her and smiled. He made the gesture of love to the paper and then, to Huma. He hoped she understood that the paper had made him happy. It wrapped up his former life on Earth in a positive way. Pien was so happy that the dogs and cats had a new, light-filled place to stay a short time while they were waiting for their new families to find them. The new shelter was beautiful. He hoped someone was talking to the animals like he had always done.

  Above all, Pien realized that he was happy with Huma. He loved her. She accepted him just as he was. She didn’t care if he would ever speak Nrantian. They had figured out another way to communicate. One glance from Huma could tell Pien a lot.

  Chapter 47

  The protected paper was displayed in the closest thing that Nrantians had to a museum. It was simply an old warehouse of cultural artifacts that had been collected by the visiting Nrantian scientists. Huma took Pien to reread it several times. As time went past, he seemed to be less interested in seeing such an amazing reminder of his former life.

  Huma interpreted this lack of interest as a positive thing. Her little human was adapting more each day to his life with her. He no longer worried about using his quobon or being naked out in the pinkness to maintain the health of his skin. She thought he probably had figured out that Nrantians were always nude, so he fit in even more with the natives of his new home. Pien didn’t like her attentions to his bottom when he needed medicine or cleansings, but he did enjoy her caresses to his sensitive tissues.

  He fussed regularly about many things. He didn’t like to go see Dr. Irte. Huma thought maybe he just fussed about this because he was embarrassed by his reactions to the doctor’s skilled care. Her little human’s penis definitely got a work out in the exam room as the doctor made sure his whole body was healthy. He didn’t like allowing her to feed him. His bottom had helped him accept that Huma would always feed him. A red, spanked bottom sitting on the hard highchair seat could convince anyone to be a little less independent. Pien tried to pretend he didn’t want a stuffed toy to sleep with in his crib but Huma always found his favorite yellow toy clutched to Pien’s chest when she woke him in the morning. She had decided Pien just needed to pretend he was unhappy to allow himself to enjoy things that had not been acceptable on Earth. She was happy to indulge him.

  The bond between the Keeper and her human continued to grow and deepen. Huma couldn’t imagine her life without Pien. The independent Pien had figured out that independent often meant alone. He much preferred his life with Huma. She loved him as no one had ever loved him before. That was a pretty spectacular feeling according to Pien. Their life was never boring.

  “Pien, come away from the windows, please,” Huma would gesture to him, laughing at his antics.

  Pien darted to another one of the darkened windows. It was during the greenness and Pien had discovered a fun game to play with some of the most dangerous inhabitants of the greenness. Even wyfters avoided derisps but not Pien. He looked out the window tapping lightly on the transparent panel. Soon a vicious brown creature with a large, round head would appear a short distance from the window. Pien would make funny faces at it, sticking out his tongue and waggling his eyebrows. Provoked, the derisp would pounce on the prey it saw clearly in the lighted interior of their home. Pien would roll on the floor laughing each time the six eyes in the creature’s head would smash into a hard panel. He just loved that thud.

  Finally, Huma would go pick him off the floor and carry him into his quiet nursery. She loved the quiet time she had just with Pien. In this room that she had designed dreaming of the day when she might be allowed to become the Keeper of a Little human, she had never expected the joy that had filled her life with his arrival. Huma held a bottle to his lips and hushed his protests. He never thought he was tired enough for bed, but his eyes always drooped as she cuddled him in her arms. She allowed him to sleep either in her large bed or in his crib. Tonight, Pien gestured with a kiss that he wished to sleep with her. She smiled. This had been the most important expression she had ever learned.

  The End

  Part III

  The Keepers: Naja

  Chapter 48

  Erin Rivers looked up at the stars through her telescope. It was a perfect night for looking at the night sky, clear and crisp. She headed out of town as often as she could to reach a clearing where the city lights didn’t distort her view. Sure, her telescope wasn’t the best, but it was the best she could afford right now. Someday, she’d have enough money to start her post-graduate work in astronomy.

  Glancing at her watch, Erin realized that she had been out in the field for longer than she had planned. She’d have to speed to make it back to her day job on time. The full-figured blonde grimaced. Her shift supervisor would complain again when she carried the large telescope into her cube. Jerry couldn’t or wouldn’t understand that she couldn’t leave the costly instrument in her car to bake throughout the heat of the day.

  It only took up her space, so she didn’t know why he even cared. She rolled her eyes at herself as she leaned over to begin to break down the telescope. Erin knew why her supervisor picked on her. He was a wiry thin runner who believed anyone who was overweight was lazy. Erin had enough extra poundage on her full but shapely body to qualify for his disdain. It didn’t matter if she worked harder and had a higher satisfaction rate with the customers she contacted. She was fat and; therefore, a target.

  Just as she leaned forward to start dismantling the supports under the telescope, a blast of color to her right caught her eye. Forgetting her need to go to work completely, Erin fitted one large brown eye to the viewer. It wasn’t a shooting star, but it had a trail emitting from a center mass. She tracked it and was amazed as it got bigger, coming to rest just over the hill. Without thinking, she grabbed her phone and jogged slowly toward it.

  Laughing, she thought, See Jerry, I do run, as she crested the hill. Her mouth opened in disbelief as she froze in place. It was a humongous space vessel that hovered over the ground silently. Her phone dug into her clutching fingers and reminded her that she still held it. Quickly, she pulled up the camera app and began taking pictures.

  Suddenly the hair raised on the back of her neck in the silence. Erin wheeled around to see something immense blocking out the moonlight behind her. She couldn’t make out any details. Crouching quickly into the tall field grasses, she tried to hide, hoping that whatever that was hadn’t seen her. Her heart beat incredibly fast as the shape came toward her. It had already seen her. Panicked, she opened her mouth to scream. Before any sound emerged, everything went black, and her body crumpled to the cool ground.

  A six-fingered hand covered with purple, short fur stroked over her blonde hair shining in the moonlight. Gently, he scooped her full body into his thick arms with ease. He took care to pick up the primitive communication device that she had been using to record the vessel. Already, her sky viewer and other possessions had been collected. The Nrantian walked toward the hovering base. His long strides covered the distance rapidly.

  They would return to Nrantia immediately with the precious cargo that he held in his hands. Nrantians did not seek to take this planet’s inhabitants. Only if their presence was discovered would a male or female of this planet return with the investigation team. She would be cared for by a Keeper, specially trained to meet all her needs and desires.

  He wished her happiness in her new life as he sealed her body into the stasis pod. Every Nrantian dreamed of being a Keeper. It was an
esteemed position that came with great responsibility. Only a select few made it into the training and more were eliminated during that intensive study. He would never have that opportunity, unfortunately, but he could make sure she was safe for the journey to Nrantia.

  Chapter 49

  Srih looked at the message that had just arrived. He stared at the dark computer screen in disbelief. He’d been chosen. She was coming. His intensive classes began in ten lora, and the inspectors would arrive soon. Srih looked around the home that he had created with the hope that he would someday be elevated to the position of Keeper.

  A notification of the inspectors at the door interrupted his thoughts. Opening the door, Srih stepped out of his home, turning it over to their scrutiny. They would be thorough in their determination of whether the arriving human would be safe in this home. He could only watch and wait.

  Srih’s home was larger than many Nrantians’. Massively built in comparison to the average male of his beautiful planet, Srih had constructed his home to accommodate his bulk. Knowing that his home would appear more cavernous to a small human, he had taken care to add touches that he had discovered in pictures sent from the scientists studying the Earth. Colorful soft squares were carefully arranged on the chairs and a stuffed beast the scientists identified as the human animal ‘bear,’ awaited the human female he hoped would someday live in his home.

  The team finished efficiently. Their report was summarized in one word: APPROVED. Srih thanked them for their efforts to keep the delicate humans safe and waited until they had disappeared before walking into his home to gather his supplies for the training.