Tasting Light by A. R. Capetta & Wade Roush

Author:A. R. Capetta & Wade Roush [Capetta, A. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536227093
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2022-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

The pale-hued earthen house that was my home came into view. A small personal vehicle was parked outside. The dark green paint on it was new. Everyone knew which Elder rode that vehicle. Green was her favorite color. Some of the other Elders called it garish, too bright of a color for a dignified person. Everyone referred to Elder Uali as “The Hammer.” She was usually sent to get a certain result, and she wasn’t very gentle in how she went about doing it. She had also known my family for a few generations — she was my great-aunt or something — and was usually the Elder who presided over our family ceremonies. But we had never actually sat and talked face-to-face before. When she taught us younger people, she preferred to teach to groups instead of individuals.

When we arrived at the door, Nuvu’s hand flickered good luck, and he walked away toward his own house, leaving me on my own to deal with whatever was going to come out of this meeting. I took a deep breath, wiped my hands on my jacket again, and tapped the door, blinking away the sudden tears as the pressure adjusted in the arctic entryway and warm air hit my face.

Our home wasn’t very fancy; a lot of the things we owned were old, but everything worked smoothly. Aunt Beck had instilled in us our duty to care for our home, so if something did break or needed a new paint job or leaked, it usually didn’t stay that way for long. The kanitchuck of our house was clean and neat but filled to the top with various outerwear and clothes hanging on the walls. Footwear neatly lined the floor, clean of dust and ready for use. I slipped off my jacket and boots and put them away in their respective places, then whispered the aki — the word that would reverse the change in my body chemistry. Immediately, goose bumps spread across my skin as the lingering cold from outside affected my body. I pulled down one of my sweaters hanging nearby, the thick gray material soft and worn and stretched out in all the right places. Aunt Beck kept the temperature pretty low in the home; she believed it made us healthier. Personally, I thought it was just because she loved wearing bulky sweaters. Ugly bulky sweaters.

Emerging out of the small arctic entry and into the main room, I was greeted by an odd scene: Elder Uali sat in the “good” chair, its soft, deep upholstery holding her frail body like a plump hand cupping a tiny, fragile baby bird. She was so small that her feet didn’t even touch the ground — they just kind of floated in the air in front of her in a very undignified way. Her toes pointed at the ceiling. She had a sharp, birdlike face, and her gray hair was pulled back so tightly into a bun that it shined in the dim light of the room.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.