Fun with Numbers

I let myself be coddled a few moments more before I shook myself off and gently withdrew from the two. With one last sniffle and a rough scrub of my face, I inhaled deeply.

"Aaaand that's enough of that," I said, forcing a smile after I cleared my throat.

They blinked worriedly at me and before they could say anything, I waved them off and resumed our previous walking positions: arm hooked through Leigh's, hand solidly in Gharret's.

"Sorry about all that. Tell me about the village, again." As I began marching them forward, Gharret cleared his throat.

"Uh…Alright…," he began warily, then nodded. "Well. There are almost 1,000 residents, half of which are children, so roughly 500 adults, 15 of which are female-"

"That is a hugely disproportionate amount," I commented, which gave them both pause to glance at me before I stopped walking again. "Wait…you mean to tell me that over the last 18 years or so, 15 females have pushed out a cumulative 500 babies?"

There was a beat of silence as they glanced at each other, then at me.

"Is…that weird?" Leigh asked.

I threw my head back and laughed.

"That's…terrifying…"

Needless to say, I had to do some quick maths. Out loud, no less.

"500…divided among 15…over 18 years…that's about two a year every year if you're lucky. Based on the books I've read, I'm assuming some of these females only produce one every other year, because deer are funny that way, and others drop litters of a dozen or more because of how rabbits are…" I rolled over those numbers thoughtfully in my head for a moment, then glanced at each in turn.

"Even if the average female only produced two offspring every year, that's…still not the highest capacity this village is capable of, is it?" I asked. They both shook their heads.

"Some aren't able to produce every year, or just refuse. Either way, the birth rate is dropping. Sooner or later, the growth of the village will fall off-" Gharret rubbed his chin as I finished for him.

"And you may stagnate."

He nodded briefly and we continued walking again.

We passed by several large log cabins that looked to be constructed for a larger population and found them to be primarily populated by of-age, unmated males who possessed jobs within the village. Many were keeping busy, being led by an alpha male of that house, whether it was by chopping wood, gathering herbs and spices in the forest, or hunting. I could overhear one of the alphas handing out orders from their front lawn to a collected group of young 1-or-2-striped males.

It got me thinking again.

"Exactly how many of your males are mated?" I asked as we continued. This residential district was mildly complicated, but also set nearby the elder's houses.

"Only about half," Leigh reported, dipping his head slightly. "It's kind of sad, but 30 males would be a lot for any female to handle."

I bobbed my head as we passed by the last boarding house before the elder's houses. Evidently, Vernon's tiny castle sat beside the buck's cottage.

"So only 250 of the males of breeding age have been able to breed, with only roughly 15 or so per year. I'm assuming there's quite a bit of frustration from this, especially when there stands to be stronger alpha males who come to the fore and can mate multiple years with the same female. I wonder how everyone vents their frustrations…"

This time, the two of them stopped walking and tugged me backward a bit. I withdrew from them to turn and face them to find the both of them staring at me with looks of confusion and concern.

" 'Vent their frustrations'? What do you mean?" Leigh asked. He was the confused one. I sighed and crossed my arms, thumping my knuckles on my forehead in thought briefly.

"How do I put this…OH! I know." I turned to Gharret, who blinked. "How many males have just come of age this year? And how many have more than one stripe?"

Gharret paused and began to think, counting on his fingers for a moment before answering.

"35 came of age. 15 or so have two stripes and only 3 have achieved three stripes," he said, bobbing his head. I nodded as well, then turned to Leigh.

"Think about it this way. Imagine that you'd just come of age and were looking for a female. Most of the ones in this village already have mates and aren't taking any, so you'd need to wait until one came of age before you were eligible." He nodded and I poked the stripe on his cheek. "Imagine that you still only had one stripe when you became of age, okay?"

He bobbed his head and closed his eyes.

"And you had to wait two more years before a female became available." He bobbed his head again. "You would have to compete with 9 three-striped males, 45 two-striped males, and somehow manage to stand out against over 100 one-striped males within your age group. Not to mention older males who had been waiting longer, had grown stronger and were waiting for a female to come swoop up." He stiffened, then began grinding his teeth as his ears flattened and his tail stood straight against his back. "How would that make you feel? The idea that you might never find a mate?"

He opened his eyes, tears welling in them as his bottom lip stuck out.

"Hopeless. And angry. And frustrated," he said and though I smiled, I stroked his hair gently, making sure to rub around the base of his ears.

I then looked to Gharret, who was smiling softly at me in a way I couldn't quite understand. It gave me pause, simply due to the wistful, almost relieved look that he held. After a moment, I cleared my throat.

"Hey...Gharret…don't take this the wrong way, but…how-"

"I'm 37 years old," he said, as though predicting my question. "I've been waiting over 19 years for a proper female."

My poor brain fractured for a moment and he only chuckled in response.