by Ramona Finn
I glance up at him. “Name for what? This place?”
Wolf waves a hand at the buildings around us. Some are still twisted hunks of metal. The ground no longer shakes, so I do not fear anything falling. The clans live in buildings now—we have walls and roofs, and the Techs bring gear out to us to make doors open and close and give us cool air and warm, and we have power and water and so many things.
But at times I miss the tunnels—which is odd. I tell Wolf, “Why don’t we call it Tunnel?”
He grins. Our eldest—Fox—runs up, a rabbit in one hand. He holds it up. “I caught it.”
Wolf scrubs the boy’s dark, shaggy hair. “Well done, but we have enough food, so let it go again. You always want to make sure there will be more for the future.”
Fox frowns, but he leans down and sets the rabbit on the ground. He lets go of the ears. For an instant the rabbit does not move, then it darts away. Fox and his brother, Winter, run after the rabbit to try and find its den.
I tighten my hold on Wolf. “It promises to be a good year. Catching a rabbit this early is a good sign.”
Wolf shakes his head. “Since when did you start paying more attention to signs than to logic and reason?”
“I’m a Rogue—I’m Tracker Clan. These things are important.”
Wolf smiles. “What is important is that you are with me, and I am with you, and the little ones grow and thrive.”
He is right—of course. But then he usually is. I squeeze his side, and glance back once at the Glass Hall. It is calling again, whispering on the wind of the great power and knowledge within its walls. Of discoveries to make, and secrets not yet uncovered. The whisper is compelling, and perhaps someday I will try a connect with it. Someday when we are in need, or when Wolf is no longer by my side, or when I am ready to give myself back to the universe and be at peace in the blackness of space.
For now, I link my hand with Wolf’s and we head back to the Empties, which are no longer empty. Wolf tightens his grip and says, “How about we call it Sky Tunnels?”
“I like that,” I tell him. “But let’s ask the clan tonight at the meal. Everyone should have a choice and a say in the future—particularly the young, for the future is theirs to claim and reshape.”
Together we walk back into the Empties—which are no longer empty. And to a future that is still both uncertain and yet full of possibilities.
End of The Norm
The Glitches Series Book Three
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