Prologue

A group of elderly people sat crowded around a pool of water.

“Are you sure this is The One?” They whispered amongst themselves. It was a lovely night, beautiful actually. But, for the Tetin, it was a very exciting gathering. For centuries, they sat around, waiting for The One to be born. And now the day-night-had arrived.

“May I have your attention!” A voice boomed from the front of the crowd. The man to whom the voice belonged to was very old, or so his wrinkles showed.

“As you know, The One was born this evening. But, did you know that her world knows naught about magic? This will make it hard for us to educate her about The Knowings. Without the knowledge of The Knowings, she will not be able to complete The Task. I want each and everyone of you to do what you can to approach her with this topic. As for me, I know just how I will talk to her. Good evening.” With that, the old man disappeared. As the crowd began to murmur, a picture projected out of the pool of water. It was of a little girl.

“Mama!” She cried out. The girl couldn’t have been older than one. Just then, a woman came into view.

“Oh, sweet little child.” She began rocking the baby.

A man’s voice yelled, “Mehi! Hurry! Take Ahana and run!” A gunshot exploded, and Mehi screamed and jumped out the window. The pool rippled, and it the image changed. This time, it was of the woman named Mehi crying in a dark alley. Ahana, the young child, was nowhere to be seen.

The Tetin were shocked-was this what the child’s future would be? To have her father die and then be lost from her mother? They had to protect her so nothing else would happen to her! All at once, the Tetin began pulling silver dust from pouches that hung at their waists. Tossing it in the air, they began disappearing quicker than the eye could see. In seconds, all that was left of the Tetin was a wisp of silver dust swirling in the midnight sky.

 

Chapter One

 

“Everyone out! Out!” Big Nula shooed everyone out of the foster home. Everyone hustled out the door just as the youngest girl in the home came down the stairs.

“Hurry, Ahana! You’ll miss the bus!” Big Nula exclaimed. She kissed Ahana on the top of the head.

“Have a good day, my chica timida!” She handed Ahana a brown lunch bag.

“I packed tamales for you-your favorite!”

“Thanks, Big Nula. You’re the best!” Ahana hugged her and ran out the door. As she neared the bus stop, the loud laughter coming from the benches full of kids quieted. Kanani, the oldest girl, stood up

“Well, well. Big Nula’s ‘chica timida’ finally showed up! You know, I was her favorite until you showed up,” Kanani sneered. The other girls laughed. Ahana looked down at her shoe, willing it to untie, so she would have an excuse to ignore them. Big Nula always said not to be mean to bullies, because that meant you were a bully, too, and ignoring people qualified as being mean. Suddenly, Ahana felt a rush of courage.

She looked Kanani in the eye and said, “You know Big Nula doesn’t have favoritos. She just likes that I’m different from everyone else.” Kanani rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, because being different is such a big deal.” Just then, the bus rumbled up. Kanani flipped her hair over her shoulder and flounced up the steps. Ahana gritted her teeth. Why was it such a big deal that Big Nula liked her the best?

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 02.11.2016

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