by Nōnen Títi
Bejeni jumped up. That was why they were here. This time the Kunaround turn wasn’t just a full turn for Kun DJar, but both its moons also stood at the start of Station One. The light of Kun reflected off them in a straight path to the crater where she stood.
“How did the ancestors learn when all three would be at full turn simultaneously with so many days to consider? How come they never made a mistake?”
“Probably by doing what we are doing today; by watching the sky and pondering. They must have had pretty good minds for calculations and yet they needed to mark the land or they could not remember.”
Bejeni turned the watcher until she had a good close-up look at Kuntji, so bright that she had to squint against the light. Then she turned it in the direction of Kuntji’s little brother, but stopped halfway. “Oh papa, look, the messenger! Do you think Kun DJar would mind it if we stayed to watch the first stage being transported? My mama’s genes could be in those new cells, couldn’t they?”
“No Bejeni. Nobody interferes with Kun DJar’s metabolism; we will move for the fog.”
Bejeni had heard many a story about when people’s curiosity had led them too close and they had not come back. She let her father have a look and reluctantly packed up the watcher.
“One day, Bejeni, you will tell the story of why we are Kunjari and why we believe the things we do, just like your first ancestor, Bejeni, once told it.”
The girl hugged her father and thanked him for giving her the name of the first child of love. Many generations had come and gone, but the names were all in her memory.
“Bejeni’s daughter was Anya; then came Nina, then Layda and–”
“Come on, we need to leave. The fog, remember?”
The two moons had started moving again. Bejeni picked up the watcher and followed her father up the steep slope of the crater. “I have been so lucky to have seen the fog and the full moon turn. Jitsag will be so jealous.”
“Mind you don’t grow too big for your own head or you will be the one paying penance next,” her father warned her.
Bejeni giggled. She was wise enough not to do that. She had missed Jitsag and her mothers and was looking forward to seeing them again. Tonight they would return the watcher to the kennin just south of here. Tomorrow they’d be on their way home. Once more, Bejeni looked back to see the boulder.
“I still wonder what those markings meant.”