Reshared post from +Dusty Monk
And as I finished the story, the other children burst into laughter, and went running away squealing as they poked and shot each other with imaginary spears and guns, shouting “I am Hemet Nesingway, greatest hunter of the wild!”
All save Sinestra. Sinestra didn’t speak much, and smiled rarely. But she was possessed of keen insight and an intellect that belied her twelve years of age. After all the other kids had left, she walked up to me and asked me straight up in a quiet voice, if I was telling the truth.
“Aunty Cinder? Is it true those things you said? Did you really hunt with Hemet Nesingway in the jungles of Shalozar Basin? And befriend an aboriginal tribe of wolverine men? And ride into battle on the back of a giant crockalisk?” And though her voice said that the intelligent young woman in her held no truck with such shenanigans, I saw too in her eyes some of the child still within. The child that wanted to believe that such fantastic things could happen – that a woman could grow up to slay mammoths, and ride on the backs of crockalisks. And as I peered down into those young but intelligent eyes, I realized with sudden clarity that I was looking at myself, a half century removed. And suddenly the weight of all that had come and gone over those intervening years washed over me, and I found myself blinking away sudden tears, as I thought of all that lay before her.
“People will tell you many things Sinestra,” I said when I regained my composure. “Some things will seem as true as the light of the sun, but they will be filled with deceit. And some may seem as unbelievable as snow in the desert, but they hold truths within. It will be up to you, to judge the character of the person that speaks, to ascertain as best as you can, what is truth, and what is not.”
She opened her mouth to ask another question, clearly not happy with my answer. But then, just as quickly she closed it and pressed her lips tight. Intelligent indeed. She nodded once, as if in acknowledgement of some task I had lay before her. And then without another word she turned and walked outside to join the others.
