by Iram Dana
Sierra accepted the pendant with a smile. “Thanks, Steph! You take good care of yourself out there in Quniverse and rock your Quest!”
“I will.” Stephanie smiled back.
“And stay out of the past!” Sierra warned good-naturedly, to which Stephanie responded with a giggle.
“For sure! I think I’ll have enough to handle in my future.”
She turned to Diego. “Well, thanks again for everything.”
Diego nodded and jammed his hands into his pockets. “You’re welcome. Wish you a good journey and a successful Quest. And thanks for the pendant.”
“No problem. So … goodbye you guys.”
“Bye Stephanie.” They said in unison, and the watched as she turned to go. When she had jumped into the well, they turned and headed towards their own room. Sierra lifted the pendant she had given him and examined the flawless finish.
“D … can I see yours?” he asked his pensive brother. When he did not respond, Sierra tried again, glancing at Diego’s hands and trying to figure out where he might have put the pendant.
“D? Can I see the pendant Stephanie gave you?”
“I don’t have it.”
“Don’t have it? What happened to it?”
Diego shrugged. “I threw it.”
Sierra screeched to a halt.
“You … threw it! Why in the world would you do that?”
Diego shrugged again. “What the hell am I gonna need a pendant in Quniverse for?”
Sierra stared at his brother in incredulity. “Just … it’s a memento. A thought. It counts, right?”
Diego returned Sierra’s look with silence for a moment, and then he broke off and stalked away towards the monastery. With a confused shrug, Sierra retraced their steps until he came upon a flash of silver in the grass. He lifted Diego’s pendant and tucked it into his own belt. Diego might not want it, but it would serve as a good reminder of his eccentric brother to Sierra, when he was gone from here.
The train continued with sequestors leaving, sometimes in two’s or three’s and sometimes, alone. Sierra spent this time rearing a caterpillar striped orange, black and grey as a pet, naming it ‘Sierra’. In two weeks, Sierra’s caterpillar had gone from fat worm to fat pupa, and by the third week, it had turned into a beautiful Monarch Butterfly. It spread its wings when it was ready to fly, and Sierra watched it flutter its beautiful wings, unsteadily at first, and then catch the wind and fly off confidently. The name ‘Sierra’ and the life he had known as that identity had just flown off. ‘Sierra’ was gone now. He had let go of his mother’s gift. He was Rain now, just Rain.
*****
Diego was adjusting to the loss of his old identity in his own way. He would spend all his time carving two lumps of rock until he had achieved what he set out to make – two tombstones.
Once they were ready, he engraved the words ‘R.I.P Diego’ on one, and ‘R.I.P Rayva’ on the other.
Then he went out to the fruit orchard. Under an apple tree, he sat down and shaped two mini- graves, sticking the stones at their head. He stayed there, staring at the two graves for hours until it started to get dark outside. Then he headed back to his room, a stranger, his only clue to the beginning of his new life being his name – Star. But he was ready now; ready for a new life, for a new name.
He was ready to be Star.
*****
End of Secret of the Sighing Mountains
Table of Contents
Dedication
Copyright
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15