The Sims Of The New World part 2

The temperature continued to drop, slowly, and Jazz was out on one of his 
walks.  And, as usual, where Jazz was, Greenley was not far behind.

They were both much older now, and although Jazz had not changed much
 and was, if it was possible, even more serious than ever, some of his 
 seriousness had transferred to young Greenley. Oh, she still giggled a lot, 
especially at things Jazz would do or say that she didn't understand, but          
she wasn't as annoying. And Jazz tolerated her more, actually enjoying          
her company, to the point that the two were almost inseparable.

     "Did you see that?" he suddenly asked Greenley. He was leaning          
against a tree watching the small wild animals that lived in the forest near
their home.

Greenley was busy picking berries and didn't look up as she searched          
for the plumper fruit. 

     "See what?"

     "The squirrels and the rabbits…. I've never seen them act like that 
before."

     "Act like what?" she asked, her head still bent low, her fingers gently 
feeling each berry for signs of the juice it should contain.

    
    "Well," Jazz thought of the right words to use, "they seem to be…gathering."

    "What?"  Greenley finally looked up, her face making a frown as she processed what Jazz had just said.  

     "Gathering?" She asked.

     "Yeah. That's the best I can describe it. They're filling their cheeks with foodstuff, fallen nuts and berries, running 
into their hole, then returning with their cheeks empty and filling them again."

     "Well," Greenley remarked, "that may explain what's happening  to the good berries. There's nothing left on any 
of these bushes but shriveled up things that look like… well, I'll just say they don't look like anything  you would 
want to put in your mouth." She frowned. "And I won't be able to make a decent jar of juice for dinner with this 
bunch!"

Now it was Jazz's turn to look confused. 
     
     "What?" He had turned around and noticed the bushes for what seemed the first time.

     "And look how brown some of the leaves are! Could this have something to do with the shriveled berries, you 
think?"

Jazz looked at the bushes, then up at the trees, then again at the wild animals  busily gathering food around them. 
Then a sudden cold wind came up from the north, blowing over Greenley's basket, causing the two young NeoFae 
to shiver as dry leaves blew across their faces. Jazz reached for Greenley, putting his arms around her to comfort 
her.

     "Jazz, what's going on?" She asked, frightened.

He didn't answer. He looked up at the sky in the direction of the wind.

     "Come on! We need to get home, NOW!"

At the NeoFae camp, Greer, Jalen and Gren were out in the garden. 
They stood looking at a particular bad looking patch of what should have 
been green beans, scratching their heads and muttering, a little confused.

     "I don't understand," Greer was saying, "I was sure that would work."

     "I agree." Jalen responded.

     "I can't figure out what is causing this to happen," Gren said, rubbing 
his chin. "We haven't done anything different for years and now 
everything we've tried isn't working. Even the soil here doesn't look the
same."

The three men stood looking at their crops, which were, like the wild      
berry bushes, beginning to shrivel, turn brown, and die.

Then, the cold northern wind blew dead leaves into the men's face, and  
they shivered as Jazz and Greenley had.

     "Whoa! Was that my imagination, or is it getting colder?" asked Jalen.

Jaida and Emeralda, holding little Olyve's hand, were 
standing in front of the great clay oven watching with 
bewilderment as Jade pulled another loaf of bread out 
of it's large blacken mouth.  The flat paddle of the palette 
was also black from being pulled in and out of the oven 
so often, the heat rising up it's long handle, and Jade was 
thankful that the mittens Emeralda had made kept her 
hands from getting burnt.  She hummed merrily as she 
worked, the smell of fresh bread spreading through the 
camp and beyond. Then she shook the palette gently to 
and fro to cause the long thin loaf to fall off the paddle 
and onto the rock table along side the other twenty-six 
loaves.  

Jaida and Emeralda were baffled. After all,  Jade had 
already made several baskets of buns and rolls over 
the last couple of days.

     "Why is she making so much bread?" Emeralda asked 
as Olyve wiggled out of her reach to chase a raccoon 
that had wondered too close.

     "I wish I knew".

When the cold northern wind came, Jade didn't miss 
a beat, but Olyve ran back, frightened, hugging her 
mother's waist. Jaida and Emeralda shivered and 
looked up to see a large flock of birds flying in the 
opposite direction.