written for The Daily Create 506
Today when the upright human left, it took the small furry human with it, and I took the opportunity to examine more closely the paraphernalia the upright human uses for morning worship. They were not gone so long as I had hoped, and so I only got away with one image—but I will get to that in a moment. First, I examined the self-heating urn. As I suspected, the strange-smelling dirt is kept in the upper chamber, and the water is only run through it, not mixed with it, to create dark brown liquid TDL48568. There was some still remaining in the pot, so I fetched a sample for testing; preliminary reports indicate a high bitterness rating. I suspect that this is drunk in the mornings by the upright human to prove devotion to the divinity whose nature has not yet been assessed.
by John Johnston (troutcolor) on Flickr
Of far greater interest is the other device I was able to observe. This box takes two pieces of a fluffy substance made of grains. These pieces are shaped to fit the slots seen in the image and are lowered into the box when an outside button is pressed. The red lights inside then blacken the substance. Burning it, we would say. In the religion of the humans, of which the upright one may be said to be a priest, the belief seems to be that in this way some divine nutrients are sacrificed to the deities. On most mornings, the upright human (the priest) then prepares the husks with oils or pulverized fruit—the precise ingredients are determined by the needs of the one who has requested the sacrifice and on whose behalf the priest works. Given the containers in which they are kept, I believe that these potions are made by upright humans, since they alone have the opposable thumbs needed to manage the lids. That said, I am uncertain whether these upright humans are petitioners themselves or priests or members of some other caste associated with worship.
As I stated above, I was forced to cease my investigations abruptly and return to hiding when I heard the two humans returning. I will continue my observations from here until further orders.