Book 2, ch. 11— Departure (open beta)

Nala leaves home, and her family gives her gifts to remember them by.

Chapter 11
DEPARTURE

The evening Nala left was bittersweet.

She woke early, well before dusk, and took a long dip in the stream. She lingered long after she was clean. By the time Nala was finished, twilight was upon the orchard.

The orchard trees were mostly bare, only just beginning to sprout. This would be the first year Nala would miss the harvest season. There were not yet golden apples to say goodbye to, no swinging clumps of golden cherries to touch and smell with her smiling eyes shut.

No. She dried herself. Maybe it’s not really goodbye, then.

Nala put on the outfit she’d put out. Packing had been quick, much quicker than she’d anticipated. Then it was all waiting. Not that Nala minded waiting, but it meant there was lots of time to wonder and worry and think about what had happened with Ica.

In the shed, everything was already in place. The searing sun cut through the dust, nearly blinding Nala. But she’d packed and repacked her clothes bag, and organized the tool satchel 3 times. Nala knew exactly where everything was. Her eyes were just extra. She didn’t mind that, either.

It was going to be a dry night, so Nala brought all of her stuff out. It took 2 trips to get not just her stuff, but what Rowan and Kaye packed too. Or rather, what Mama had packed for them, since they’d flown out of the portal with nothing but the clothes that they were wearing.

Naturally, all the canteens had to be filled, which gave Nala something to do. Some way to pass the time. She was spacing out when Mama spoke behind her.

“I think it’s full.”

Nala turned. “Sorry! You scared me.”

Mama smiled. “I can see that. You got water everywhere.”

Nala looked down, and laughed. “So I did.”

She wiped at it, made sure the canteen wasn’t too full, and plugged it with the wooden stopper.

“My mind was elsewhere,” Nala said. She stood.

Then Nala saw that everyone was there. Her whole family, not just Mama. All her sisters had come out. And her aunt, and her cousins, and Gran Akha. Twilight was at its zenith, painting the Westward edge of every face orange and gold.

“You’re all up early,” Nala said.

“We came to say goodbye,” Gran Akha said.

Three days’ numbness melted. “What?” said Nala.

Then each of them came forward, and gave Nala a gift.