Transition by Vered Ehsani & Avery Blake

Author:Vered Ehsani & Avery Blake [Ehsani, Vered]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sterling & Stone

Chapter Twenty-Nine

THE CHILD SHOULDN’T HAVE STARTLED HER, BUT SHE DID.

Then again, what child hides inside a washing machine?

Mama Noah clutched a hand over her chest, her erratic heartbeat fluttering like a trapped bird in a cage.

But it wasn’t Celine who’d scared her. It was the memory of that living shadow.

The shadow and the tunnels of light had stirred up too many memories — not hers, yet so vivid. When the Elders shared their stories, the audience felt they were there, transported into an age of legend and myth.

Instead of dwelling, Mama Noah had decided to do laundry. What else was there to do?

The aliens might be invading again, but we still need clean clothes and dinner on the table.

All thoughts of clothes and dinner disintegrated at the sight of a living creature in the machine. “Oh, good God, protect me!”

Celine remained curled inside. Her large, pale eyes stared up unblinking, surrounded by sheets of blonde hair.

Mama Noah’s shoulders slumped. She exhaled loudly as her brain caught up with her eyes. “Oh. It’s just you. What are you doing in there, mtoto? This is no place for playing. I know your mama told you to stay downstairs, but there are better places to …”

Her next word came out gargled and strangled.

“The Lord loves me, truly He does, but really, mtoto. What are you doing playing with that?”

Celine held up her cupped hands to reveal the field mouse sitting inside.

Mama Noah shambled forward to get a better look. “At least it’s not a rat.”

Celine brought her cupped hands closer to her mouth and breathed over the mouse. The tiny creature stood on its hind legs, nose and whiskers twitching as it sniffed at the air. The odd child then peered up, eyebrows scrunched, teeth nibbling at her lower lip.

Mama Noah huffed, then patted Celine’s head. “Don’t you worry, mtoto. If it was a rat, we’d be having a conversation. But field mice? They’re as innocent as you. Now come out of there so I can do some laundry. As long as we’re still here, living and breathing and not being abducted, the work will need to be done. That, child, is the way of the world.”

Something approaching a smile ghosted across the girl’s lips before she finally crawled out. She sat back on her heels, stroking the creature’s miniature head.

Mama Noah softly laughed and began to remove clothes from the basket. “You’re a smart one to keep quiet. Most people talk too much and say very little.”

Celine’s eyes flicked up, then down.

“When I was your age, me and my brothers, we played with all sorts of things.” Mama Noah dropped a white shirt onto the growing pile. “If our mama had known, oh! She would not have been happy. But that’s what children do.”

She upended the basket and sat on it. “Rats, they are another problem altogether. Most of them are too smart to be caught, but once, I caught a stupid one sitting on the counter, eating a banana, bold as anything.

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