Just published by Toasted Cheese Literary Magazine, Issue 24:3, this short story tells of a mother and her young daughter having to relocate from Arizona to the San Juan Islands—the two facing the involuntary move with very different expectations and first impressions. Melda dreading the idea of north, and all that water, motion, instability; Luna excited by everything new she meets with open arms and heart.
“When the ferry took off, into the wind, Luna shifted from foot to foot at the deck rail—lost in wonder, feeling the spray caress her skin, and all the while chattering a mile a minute at her newfound friend as the big boat plowed up the Sound and then the Salish Sea, the open water between Seattle and Vancouver Island. Melda, meanwhile, leaned against the comfortless support of the hull or bulkhead or whatever they called it. She didn’t even know the names of things here, or their purposes. She drew as far back as she could into herself, her still center, though it felt assaulted and anything but still. She stared blankly at her phone, trying to summon the spirits from home, a million miles away, to help her through this awful journey into the unknown. She’d saved and brought along the words which she and Shanti had collected for a little ceremony last summer before Shanti’s graduation from Arizona State. All four of the directions were there, in this prayer, but now she had to focus on the North.
Great Spirit of Love,
come to us with the power of the North
make us courageous when the cold winds
of life fall upon us.
Give us strength and endurance
for everything that is harsh,
everything that hurts,
everything that makes us squint.
Let us move through life ready to take
what comes from the North.”
Images: Rafael Quaty, Pexels
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