This Was Millicent's Own Question

 

            “Wouldn’t it be convenient if Ralph and I could mindspeak back and forth,” thought Milly, sitting upstairs in the newspaper building. Sending messages and invitations by Raven was certainly slow, compared to telepathy, she thought.
            She had a question for Ralph. It was something she had been puzzling about today. The internet wasn’t helping either. Nobody online was talking about this one. They skirted around her question but never gave a reason or even a mechanism for it.
            She needed to talk to Ralph.
            It doesn’t sound like a whole lot, but this is what was puzzling her. She had seen a lot of videos where people described their interactions with various kinds of Bigfoot people, for lack of a more precise term. When dealing with more hostile cases, such as in Alaska, people would flee to the shelter of their little plywood fishing shack, or whatever, and be safe from the Hairy Man, having gotten inside the shack.
            What didn’t make sense to Milly was this; why didn’t the pursuing Hairy Man just tear the tickytack shack down and capture the inhabitants? They certainly  had the strength to do so. Why not do it? Something was at work in this situation, and she didn’t know what it was, but Ralph would.
            Truthfully, a ten foot Sasquatch in any community should be able to tear any house open. Why didn’t they? What stops them?
            When Maeve got to Milly’s window, she asked Maeve to carry a message to Ralph. Could she, Milly, come to the Home Clearing the next day, midday, to ask a question. She and Maeve had an arrangement to save Maeve some wing flapping. If the answer was yes, she wouldn’t come back, it could just be assumed to be yes.
            On the following morning, 10 ish, Millicent drove up to the wide spot on Highway 20 and parked the Escalade. She waited to see who would escort her into Ralph’s home domain. In this case, it was Bob and Berry who wanted the honor of escorting Milly in. They appeared to her, and waited. She got out of the vehicle, grabbed the usual bag of treats, ostensibly for Twigg and Cherry, then she followed the cats. They marched before her in fine style, like a circus act.
            “Have a seat, Milly,” said Ralph when the cats had delivered her to the fire circle.
            “Hey, Ralph! Hi, Ramona,” said Millicent as she settled down by the fire. Cherry sat down beside her, with Blue at their feet.
            “Maeve tells me that you have a question,” said Ralph.
            “I do. It’s just something that doesn’t make sense to me, Ralph. I figured you were the one to ask,” said Milly. Then the whole story came out, how she wondered why the more aggressive Hairy Men didn’t just tear shacks down, or also break into houses when they easily could.
            “Oh. I see,” said Ralph. “I’ve never heard that question asked before. Hm.”
            “Milly, shall I make a pot of coffee?” asked Ramona while Ralph was thinking.
            “I’d sure like that, thank you,” smiled Milly. Cherry grinned up at her, and she grinned down at Cherry.
            “OK. I’m not sure but this is how I think of it,” said Ralph. “I assume you’ve heard of Isaac Asimov’s rules for robots. It’s only the same in this sense, he posited that robots should be made with certain rules built into them, such as that they couldn’t harm any human person.
            “Now that I think about it, it seems to me that the overriding rule we are made with is territoriality. It is at the root of our minds. Everything is understood by most of us, in terms of where he belongs or does not belong.  OK, so far,” Milly?
            “Yup. I know Asimov, and I know his rules for robots,” said Milly. “I’m pretty intrigued that you do however, Ralph,” said she.
            “Oh, Ranger Rick and I got to watching I Robot, and then we got to talking and all of that came out. You know how that happens,” said Ralph.
            “Now, all but the most rogue of us, are ruled by this subconscious knowledge of where we belong and where we don’t belong. We know where  you people belong too, BTW.
            “The simple answer is that inside the building is not our territory, but it is yours. So, there is an invisible line there that most sane Forest Men with not cross, even if they are very angry.” Ralph crossed his legs just like a college professor after his lecture, grinned, and laced his fingers over his tummy.
            “OK. Thanks, Ralph. That makes sense. I must say that I had no idea,” said Milly.
            “Coffee’s ready,” said Ramona.
            As they were having a companiable cup of coffee, Ralph sat thinking about the ramifications of the interactions between his people and the Hairless people.
            “Milly, the odd thing, or maybe not odd at all, is that we are just like you people in this way. There are all kinds. Some are kind, some are angry. Many just want to be left alone completely. To stretch another metaphor to death, it’s like a box of chocolates!”
            “I knew you would have the answer,” said Milly.

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