Base Camp

✿ This article was featured in Issue #3 of the Atlantic Bulletin

Just a paint-sketch.

The puffin scouts set up camp not far from the rest, just outside of Krafla in the Lava region. When they moved south tomorrow, thick native grasses and trees would give way to flower-tundras and bare hills, and by Tuesday they’d be in the heart of Lava — empty and extraterrestrial and volcanic.

The Krafla high-energy communications tower was visible from all over the region. It provided uninterrupted radio to most of North Lava, and could relay signals through satellites. In another country, it might have been considered a blight on a pristine view — but in Vekllei, there was no such thing as pristine. It was as much a part of the landscape as the trees.

They started the fire first, figuring they’d have more enthusiasm for the tent when they were warm. Warm sunrays played on the field-grasses around them.