FIFTEEN - Two Little Girls

The day before she left was the day before Arous’ birthday.

The day after she left was Edlawit’s birthday.

Edlawit came. Then one year minus one day later came Arous.

The days they were born they were born into the family of the Diofe. Our family.

Living, breathing little girls were so much what we wanted. So much what Priscilla loved.

As I stood on the edge of the river I could experience the sensations she felt. Her emotions were so strong.

Arous breathed the cool night air, feeling it come into her body. She tasted it on the tip of her tongue. It tickled the back of her throat. She loved walking from the barn to the house on brisk spring nights like this. The past couple of nights had been warm but tonight was the last cool night as the season passed from one to the other. But she wasn’t walking home tonight; she was walking toward the river.

On the bank of the river, she paced back and forth. Her meeting with Edlawit had left her unsettled. She needed answers, yes, but she also needed to think. First thing in the morning she’d go to the Diofe’s Willing Room and find out about Tribe Thirteen and tell him about the V-dot. Before she asked any questions she needed to sleep on that dot.

In bed she rubbed the dot between her palms, held her palm out and watched it one last time before tucking it under her pillow and closing her eyes. Fear ran around nagging at her hopes and hiding around corners, in closets and under beds. Hope chased and chased fear but couldn’t seem to catch him. Soon they began to wear her out. She pulled her bedding close around her, up to her chin. Her eyes began to flutter. She slept.

A tough decision made makes the sleep easy. Sometimes.