* *
Athel’s horse Maha is still in her
pen when I get back. I feed both Taeh and Maha, clean their pens, and tidy up
the stables. The wind draws swirls of ashes on the ground and piles dust
against the floorboards. Smoke has been marring the horizon ever since the
Gaijins’ firewall went up on the other side of the mesa. The Mayake people
never protested. The Mayake people are born to obey. We accept the ashes, just
like we accept the fact that some people die and some live on, the fact that we
are born crippled and we rely on implants and artificial wires to survive.
We, the
Mayake people, believe in acceptance and obedience. When the wind blows in
ashes, we sweep them away. When our people die, we toss their bodies in the
river and move on. And when our people leave, we wait patiently until they come
back.
To hell with that .
Normally I
wouldn’t care, but today I take the broom and start sweeping—small chores
that keep me from thinking about my cousin Skip’s body tumbling down the river
rapids.
When I’m
done, I wash my face at the faucet and use my fingers to brush the ashes off my
hair. I’ll need a long shower when I go home, but the mood I’m in makes
everything seem hard and meaningless, even a stupid shower. The only thought
that cheers me up is seeing Ash again as soon as I get back. I didn’t dare take
him with me this morning, fearing the Kiva Members at the procession would see
him and question his implants again.
I close
the pens for the night and line the bales of hay against the wall.
A loud
clonk from outside makes me startle.
It’s too late to ride now, Athel , I think,
but as I walk out it’s not Athel I run into. It’s the Metal Jaw kid, Yuri, with
his brother Cal. The brother looks almost normal until he opens his mouth and
smirks, flashing two rows of metal teeth and a gold stub at the tip of his
tongue.
Gross .
I close
the stable and pretend they’re not there. They don’t return the courtesy.
“Hey,
Freaky Freckles!” Yuri says, because it would be too nice of him to call me by
name. “Did you lose the cat?”
I walk
away and don’t even look at them. After blanketing the solar panel fields in
white ashes, the wind has finally subsided. The sudden stillness makes the
landscape look spectral and beautiful, the Tower like a gray ghost staggering
against an overcast sky.
“No use if
you’re hiding the cat,” Yuri says. “My brother can find it in a snap, right
Cal?”
Cal snaps
his teeth together—they sound like sharp scissors snipping the
air—and guffaws. “I sure can!” He braces himself and then adds in
falsetto: “Would make such a nice coat for the winter.”
“Don’t you
even think about it,” I snarl to his face, balling my fists.
The two
guffaw out loud. I shake my head and start back home, determined to ignore them
this time.
“Where’s
your bro?” Yuri presses me.
“Don’t
know,” I say. “I’m not his keeper.” I’m not good at determination, either.
Truth is,
Athel has been acting weird all day. He hasn’t said a nice word about Skip or
anything comforting to me or Mom about the loss. He took off as soon as the
procession was over, and if it weren’t for me, Maha, his horse, would’ve
starved today.
“Liar,”
Cal snaps. He grabs my arm and pushes me, making me stumble backwards. “The bird’s up there. Your brother can’t be too far.”
He points
up to the sky and I spot Kael’s black silhouette gliding over the cliffs. Yuri
shoves his ugly face in front of me and snarls, “Tell your brother we’ve got a
message for him.”
“You’ve
got a tongue. Go tell him yourself,” I reply.
I try to break
away, but they grab my hair and pull me back. I scream and kick Yuri in the
shins, flailing my arms at them. Kael yelps in the sky and comes swooping down.
At the sight of the falcon diving nose down, Yuri trips and falls on his bum.
Cal doubles over and covers his face.
Kael dips
and then rises up in the sky
Athel’s horse Maha is still in her
pen when I get back. I feed both Taeh and Maha, clean their pens, and tidy up
the stables. The wind draws swirls of ashes on the ground and piles dust
against the floorboards. Smoke has been marring the horizon ever since the
Gaijins’ firewall went up on the other side of the mesa. The Mayake people
never protested. The Mayake people are born to obey. We accept the ashes, just
like we accept the fact that some people die and some live on, the fact that we
are born crippled and we rely on implants and artificial wires to survive.
We, the
Mayake people, believe in acceptance and obedience. When the wind blows in
ashes, we sweep them away. When our people die, we toss their bodies in the
river and move on. And when our people leave, we wait patiently until they come
back.
To hell with that .
Normally I
wouldn’t care, but today I take the broom and start sweeping—small chores
that keep me from thinking about my cousin Skip’s body tumbling down the river
rapids.
When I’m
done, I wash my face at the faucet and use my fingers to brush the ashes off my
hair. I’ll need a long shower when I go home, but the mood I’m in makes
everything seem hard and meaningless, even a stupid shower. The only thought
that cheers me up is seeing Ash again as soon as I get back. I didn’t dare take
him with me this morning, fearing the Kiva Members at the procession would see
him and question his implants again.
I close
the pens for the night and line the bales of hay against the wall.
A loud
clonk from outside makes me startle.
It’s too late to ride now, Athel , I think,
but as I walk out it’s not Athel I run into. It’s the Metal Jaw kid, Yuri, with
his brother Cal. The brother looks almost normal until he opens his mouth and
smirks, flashing two rows of metal teeth and a gold stub at the tip of his
tongue.
Gross .
I close
the stable and pretend they’re not there. They don’t return the courtesy.
“Hey,
Freaky Freckles!” Yuri says, because it would be too nice of him to call me by
name. “Did you lose the cat?”
I walk
away and don’t even look at them. After blanketing the solar panel fields in
white ashes, the wind has finally subsided. The sudden stillness makes the
landscape look spectral and beautiful, the Tower like a gray ghost staggering
against an overcast sky.
“No use if
you’re hiding the cat,” Yuri says. “My brother can find it in a snap, right
Cal?”
Cal snaps
his teeth together—they sound like sharp scissors snipping the
air—and guffaws. “I sure can!” He braces himself and then adds in
falsetto: “Would make such a nice coat for the winter.”
“Don’t you
even think about it,” I snarl to his face, balling my fists.
The two
guffaw out loud. I shake my head and start back home, determined to ignore them
this time.
“Where’s
your bro?” Yuri presses me.
“Don’t
know,” I say. “I’m not his keeper.” I’m not good at determination, either.
Truth is,
Athel has been acting weird all day. He hasn’t said a nice word about Skip or
anything comforting to me or Mom about the loss. He took off as soon as the
procession was over, and if it weren’t for me, Maha, his horse, would’ve
starved today.
“Liar,”
Cal snaps. He grabs my arm and pushes me, making me stumble backwards. “The bird’s up there. Your brother can’t be too far.”
He points
up to the sky and I spot Kael’s black silhouette gliding over the cliffs. Yuri
shoves his ugly face in front of me and snarls, “Tell your brother we’ve got a
message for him.”
“You’ve
got a tongue. Go tell him yourself,” I reply.
I try to break
away, but they grab my hair and pull me back. I scream and kick Yuri in the
shins, flailing my arms at them. Kael yelps in the sky and comes swooping down.
At the sight of the falcon diving nose down, Yuri trips and falls on his bum.
Cal doubles over and covers his face.
Kael dips
and then rises up in the sky
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