After a long vacation in India, Abby Brown was quite happy to return home. There were a few unexpected surprises, namely the new outdoors shower. Abby's parents didn't particularly mind. Farmwork got dirty enough without trailing dirt inside the house. And it would be pretty much impossibly to enforce a 'no sexy time' for the outdoor shower. Most of the farm horses would find some temporarily private spot for a quick fuck, including Abby and Samson. Even Martin and Josephine were known to fool around with their reinvigorated libido. But like with the sauna, some sort of indicator was required so another person wouldn't come barging in and find a couple in a rather compromising position.
But mostly, Abby missed her friends. Since they all started college, they haven't been together as they used to. Abby and Samson's agriculture school in Oregon separated them quite a bit from the others. Sometimes, Abby yearned for the day where they all did Animalia Ambassadoria together. Not that they don't do it anymore. Whenever the original cast was on break from college, they would happily do some reporting with the new cast. Sarah and Malice particularly enjoyed being part of the show. While Abby knew she and Samson would eventually become farmers, perhaps not necessarily on her parents' farm, she wondered if any of her friends would go into professional journalism.
But right now, Abby was just glad to be catching up with her friends and talking about her vacation. She knew this would eventually become part of an Animalia Ambassadoria report, but she didn't mind. "So, what was India like?" asked Sarah.
"In a word: humid," said Abby, "Whenever it wasn't raining, it felt like we were in a rice cooker. Definitely not a place for huskies."
"It hasn't been that comfortable here either," said Malice, "The Ice Haus has been doing record business. Sometimes, it's just standing room only over there."
"Well, air conditioners are a must-have over there," said Abby, "I mean, I understand that India has always been a hot country, but climaste change has made it even worse."
"Ok, enough about the weather," groused Malice, "What about the City of Kings?"
"Well, some of the locals find the name a little embarrassing," said Abby, "A little too grandiose for a village, even if there's plans for expansion. It's more of a nickname than an official name. They'd rather have the original name for the town."
"And what name's that?" asked Sarah.
"It's a little hard to pronounce in Hindi, but it translates to 'Village of Grass Fields'," said Abby.
"So is it a city yet?" asked Sarah.
"It's getting there," said Abby, "But I don't think it'll be a big city like New Delhi. In a way, it's more of an outreach program than a colony. New Horizon and Animalia want to deliver better resources through there: cleaner water, medicine, energy. They also want to conserve India's several endangered species. That's why, asides from some stray dogs, all of the Animalians there so far are conversions. The tigers are acting as the police force and the forest guards there."
"Tigers? Don't they have wolves in India?" asked Malice.
"Yes, but Indian wolves are smaller than the ones they have here," said Abby, "They also travel in smaller packs and have less fur."
"In a land as hot as India, I can see why," said Malice.
"Also, despite what 'The Jungle Book' has told you, Indian wolves prefer living on the plains than in the forests," said Abby, "Tigers are simply better adapted to navigating the jungle. Not to mention they're held in high reverence."
"So, anything interesting to see there?" asked Sarah.
"Well, the City of Kings isn't really geared as much for tourism as the other Animalian colonies," said Abby, "They'd rather focus on agriculture and wildlife preservation. But it's close enough to Ranthambhore that people can come and go. Probably the biggest things to see there are the new temple and the yoga studio."
"Well, I suppose it's doing some good, even if it's a bit rural for some people's tastes," said Malice.
"it's a nice retreat if one wants to get away from urban living for a while," said Abby thoughtfully. She could understand the villagers preferring farming over tourism. Unspoiled nature had its own appeal that some may not understand. Even the rain wasn't too bad. Abby recalled when she and Samson slipped out to a quiet part of the jungle, well within the safety of the village's borders, and made love in the rain. Since they weren't back in time for their anniversary, they decided to recreate their first mating there. It wasn't something Abby was going to share with her report, but she will be showing the sari she had got while she was in New Delhi.