by Glover, Dan
Voicing the words required superhuman strength as she vaguely wondered why she bothered. It would be far easier simply to let go, to embrace the darkness folding over her like a warm blanket on a cold Texas winter night.
"I've missed you too, Yani."
"Do you still love me, father? I'm frightened."
"You know I do, Yani... and don't be scared... believe me when I tell you I would gladly take your place if it was possible... I love you that much."
As he bent close to her face their breaths mingled for but a moment yet that was all the time she needed. Suddenly she was the one carrying a sad old woman in her fine strong arms as a flicker of fear ran across the face that an instant ago belonged to her.
"Thank you... and don't worry, father... we'll make sure it's over as quickly as possible."
"How... how did this happen?"
The fright in her voice and the lament written upon the old woman's brow nearly brought a tear to Evalena's eyes until she remembered that a few seconds ago she was the one being carried to her demise... a slow and a painful death.
"It was your choice, father. It's always been your choice."
She'd nearly resigned herself to her fate. It was only when she remembered Yani's body had once been touched by the piedra that she realized a way out. It was as unlikely to work as well as dreaming herself out of the chabola on the night it was dynamited but a little hope was better than none.
Though the stone delighted in playing tricks upon her she knew it would grant her any boon and would do so without judgment. The piedra was as much a part of her as she was of it. To be touched by the stone was to know god.
Not the god of any religion but rather the god that had been formed before anything else and the god that would remain once the universe had gone back to the primordial soup from which it sprang.
They all thought of the stone as a possession... as an object that could be owned. Even those like Hajdani—who'd carefully cultivated the stone's powers so as to claim it as their own—were but mere paupers in the face of limitless life.
The piedra didn't demand anything yet Evalena had discovered a modicum of respect could steer the fickle fates that lived within its heart far better than any boisterous and fanatical beliefs in its veracity.
She'd always been nothing, a little monkey, a nobody, a woman without recourse, forever lost in the maelstrom of a world far beyond her comprehension. She had no right to any such claims of ownership upon the stone. Even through all the years of yearning after the piedra she knew viscerally that if it wanted to come back to her, it would find a way.
"You thought I was someone that I'm not, father. Did you really think I would let you have Yani? You're going to skin her alive."
A flickering of recognition ran across the old woman's face. It was good that she knew though of course in the end that mattered not at all. Life mattered... limitless life.
"Evalena... how?"
"That doesn’t matter, father. Just think... now you get to personally experience firsthand the torment that you've longed for years to inflict upon an innocent girl. You should have listened when I warned you to leave her alone. Now... come with me. We have an appointment to keep."
Thank you for reading Water and Stone. Reviews are important to me so please take a few moments and leave one. I deeply appreciate it.
Books by Dan Glover
Water and Stone
Philosophy
Lila’s Child: An Inquiry Into Quality
The Art of Caring: Zen Stories
The Mystery: Zen Stories
Apache Nation
The Lazy Way to 100,000 Twitter Followers
The Gathering of Lovers series
Billy Austin
Lisa
Allison Johns
Tom Three Deer
Justine
Yelena
The Mermaid series
Winter's Mermaid
Mermaid Spring
Summer's Mermaid
Mermaid Autumn
Short Stories
There Come a Bad Cloud: Tangled up Matter and Ghosts
Mi Vida Dinámica: Meditations on Loss and the Nature of Suffering
