I was camping on the Sacramento River Delta doing some bird watching. I had my birding gear, a small tent, and food with me. I was on a private island that friends of my parents owned. I woke up at daybreak in the thickest fog I'd ever experienced. There was a blind I’d used before, and after breakfast, I went there. 

This is where it gets crazy. I thought I could find my way despite the fog, but boy was I wrong. I started going upstream along the levee, and the fog just got worse and worse until I decided to just wait it out until it lifted. A couple of hours later, when it eased off. I could see a bit—twenty yards maybe—when I started noticing some anomalies. The levee road had apparently disappeared, even though the last summer I remembered it being here. Then there were the tules filling the island side of the levee, and the levee itself had changed. There were a lot more willow trees, some bigger than I’d ever seen here before. The levee was a lot less distinct than I remembered, and I was getting confused.

That was when I heard the music, eerie music. It sounded strange, maybe Celtic? I couldn’t be sure. What the hell was going on? The island had changed from yesterday, and even from earlier this morning. 

As the fog continued to lift, it became clear either that I had moved to a different island or that the island had reverted to what it had been before it had been farmed. 

And the music—maybe Celtic music—what was that about? I tried to find where the music was coming from. The brush was a lot thicker, but I fought through to an area where it was open. 

I couldn’t believe my eyes. There was a group of maybe fifty young people, well, about my age, mid-twenties. There was a group of five musicians, with the rest doing some kind of folk dance. All in some kind of costume. One I didn’t recognize; certainly not Celtic. It looked almost like a scene from some kind of bacchanal. When the musicians saw me, the music just trailed off into silence, and then the dancers slowly quit and turned to look at me. 

One girl or woman, dancers walked up and said something with a musical lilt, but it was incomprehensible. When she saw I didn’t understand, she tried again, this time in slightly accented English. 

“Welcome, stranger, to our dance. How came you to be here?” This was said with a merry smile.

“Uh, I’m not sure. I was just camping.” I paused, trying to think. “Then the fog came in, and suddenly I was here. Wherever here is.”

That was when I noticed their costumes were disappearing, one by one, into normal clothes. When I looked away from the woman who greeted me and then back, she was in jeans, a man's shirt, and running shoes. 

I looked at her and asked, “Where the h, uh, where are we?”

She smiled at me and said, “The fog, that’s how you got here. Well, welcome to our dance. It’s always good to meet strangers at the Kolahana.”

I noticed her accent and strange syntax had disappeared.

“Would you join us in our festivities? We’d like you to join us. It’s a fun time for men and women to dance and enjoy each other.”

I hesitated and answered. “Um, I’d love to, but you’ve changed your … clothes. I wouldn’t want to, ah, interfere with your dance. I was enjoying watching … you dance. Could you teach me how and get me clothes that fit your celebration?”

“Of course, we can. My name is Alieke.” I saw her turn to the musicians and clap her hands. She changed back into the costume she had been wearing. It seemed to be several pieces of fabric draped around her body, being held in place by magic. They hid her body but seemed to reveal it too. I had a hard time looking away, but when I did, I could see that everyone was changing back into similar clothing. 

The music restarted, and one of the other girls came up to me and welcomed me. She was dressed in golds and greens and greeted me with a kiss, a very welcoming kiss. That was when I realized I was dressed like the rest of them. Pieces of fabric draped around me that didn’t quite expose me. 

“We’ve been wondering when you would join us. We’ve been sensing you as you came closer. You can call me Jechana. I’ll be your guide.” 

Jechana led me to the side and started teaching me the dance. The hand movements were natural, moving with the music. The foot movements were simple, and I could fit in after the second song. Then, dance seemed instinctual and erotic. I hadn’t noticed the erotic touching before I was dancing. You moved from one partner to another during the dance, and Jechana moved my hands to her breasts and let me caress them. As I was moving from partner to partner, several of them did the same. When I finally rested, I was standing with Savanna, my last partner. 

Savanna wasn’t one of the women who encouraged me to touch her breasts, so I asked about the women who did. “While dancing, I noticed some of my partners moved my hands to their … ah, breasts, and some didn’t. Why?”

She led me to a sitting area. “Kolahana is a fertility festival. We women can tell when a man has fertilized us. I’m going to be pregnant, so I don’t need to be bred. The ones that let you touch them there, want, or will let you try. By the end of the festival, all of us, well, most of us, will be pregnant. The festival isn't over until it’s been done. 

“We need more … ” her voice trailed off and then continued, “We’ve been dwindling. If you’re willing to help, we’d love to welcome any children you can provide. Anyone who has let you touch her breasts will let you. “

“Jechana? How can I let her know?”

“Dance with her and touch her.

“When we have visitors, their children are more fertile than children from the olde folk. A man visitor is good fortune for us all. The more children you leave us, the more good fortune. Any of us will welcome you.

I sat there thinking while Savanna was finishing, “Jechana, I’m sure will. When you dance with her, just lead her away from the dance, and she will show you where to go.”

I started looking at the dancers as the music finished. When I found Jechana, I asked if she’d be willing to dance again. When the music started again, I started touching her tits. She spoke perfect American English.

When the dance finished, Jechana kissed me and held my hands to her tits. “What should we call you?”

I hesitated, then said, “Peter, but most people call me Pete.” Jechana is your name; is that what your friends use? It’s a pretty name, Jechana.

She kissed me again, this time pressing her breasts against my chest. Then she caressed my shoulders and said, “Yes, Jechana um, if you’re successful breeding me, I’ll let you call me Hana.”

She led me into the brush on a small path that led to a small bed. “I’ve never let a timer try to breed me. Some of my friends have though. There are things I need to tell you, you need to know.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” I looked at her, then continued, “There are a lot of things I don’t understand. I think Savanna said something about dwindling? She also said that Kolahana is a fertility fete? 

“Peter, let’s lie down on the bed, and we can talk for a bit, then get to why we came out here.

You’re somewhere different from where you started. It’s not exactly magic, except it kind of is. It’s not science, but it kind of is. There are walls between where we live and where you live, but the fog weakens them. We get visitors from your side. Not always, but often. You visitors, your children, are keeping our numbers from falling. If we can get enough visitors, enough children, our numbers will rebuild.”

I interrupted her by kissing her; the dress she wore was teasing, and just when I had a glimpse of her breasts, her tits, another piece of fabric would obscure it. The same was true with her pussy. just fragmentary glimpses. 

My cock was hard, and when I started trying to undress her, they seemed to almost fall off. When I had her naked, I discovered I was naked too. And there weren’t any scraps of clothing left. They all disappeared. Somehow, it didn’t seem strange.

“You’re beautiful like this, naked for me.” I kissed her tits, enjoying her response to me. I gradually moved lower, kissing her belly, and then my tongue slipped between her labia lips and touched her clitoris.

When my tongue touched her there, she froze for a bit and then spasmed, and her breath was faster, faster until she completely relaxed. She pulled me up so we could kiss, and I put my cock in her, and I started fucking her, enjoying the sensations of my cock moving in her, the touch of her tits on my chest, and the possessive kisses. When I came, I collapsed on her and then lay beside her, gasping.  

When we both recovered, I started, “That was exceptional for me, I loved it.” 

Jechana replied, “Ah, yes, even better, I can tell your male essence will join with my female essence soon. I‘m going to be pregnant with your child. Thank you, Pete. You can call me Hana from now on. Take a rest with me and then go back to the dance. Any of the other women will welcome the chance to have you make them pregnant. A timer child is welcomed.

I lay back down and fell asleep. When I woke up, there were blankets over the two of us and a fire that I didn’t remember burning near our bed.

Eventually, I went back to the dance and found new partners. One by one, I took them out away from the fire, made love to them. Weobelia, Hutanis, and Neaera said they were going to be pregnant. After a week, I fell asleep alone and woke up, and everyone was gone, the fog had lifted, and as I looked around, I saw the island I remembered.

I got back to my camp, and it was still the day I went into the fog.

For several years, I went back during the foggy season to find the same music, with one success. But I couldn’t find the open area and the dancers.

It's twenty years later, and I still remember Hana and our time together. I’m married and have two children: a girl, fifteen; and a boy, twelve. Only that once have I heard the music again. Last year, I went back for old times' sake, and I found a note on my sleeping bag in the morning.

Pete

Thank you for our son, Bethyne. He’s wonderful, and you’d be proud of him. He will be participating in Kolahana next year, so you may soon be a grandfather. I think he’s destined to be a leader among our people.

Jechana

I often think about that time and wish I could meet my son and the other children from that magical time. Always with tears in my eyes.