Crossed

CHAPTER 25 KY

My mother could dance and sing and she went out to watch the sunset every night. “They didn’t have sunsets like these in the main Provinces,” she’d say. She always found the one good part of everything and then turned her face toward it every chance she had.

She believed in my father and went to his meetings. He walked out with her in the desert after the storms and kept her company while she found hollows filled with rain and painted with water. He wanted to make things — changes — that would last. She always understood that what she did would fade away.

When I see Cassia dancing without knowing she’s doing it — turning and turning in delight as she looks at the paintings and carvings in the cave — I understand why my parents both believed as they did.

It’s beautiful and it’s real, but our time together could be as fleeting as snow on the plateau. We can either try to change everything or just make the most of whatever time we have.