Two girls stood, side-by-side, under the canopy of broad leaves that still dripped with the early morning dew. One was bright as the newly risen morning star; the other was her opposite, in every way.
The light sister’s rosy mouth was pursed in thought. Her pale hands were clenched at her sides. She stared at the infant before her, cradled in a foreign metal, bathed in light from a tiny pulsating fallen star.
“What do we do with it,” the golden-haired sister asked of her darker half, her voice musical and light. “We can’t just leave it….”
Black eyes flashed at the bright girl as the ebon-skinned girl considered the situation. The dark sister moved forward, her booted feet silent in the soft loam of the forest floor. She stopped when the blue-tinged infant’s eyes flew open. The raven-haired girl reached slender fingers toward the pulsing light, now dying from its long exposure to the crushing weight of the world.
“What are you doing,” the lighter girl screeched. “Leave it alone. It’s pale, like me. I claim it.”
The black-eyed girl turned her head and gazed at her sister. An eyebrow arched in pointed question, staying long enough to make the other girl blush.
Silently, the darker girl slid her hands under the baby’s body and she lifted the child from the cradle. Without uttering a word, she turned away from her sister and slipped into the forest.
“Wait! You can’t take it. It’s mine!!!”
The dark sister grinned to herself as she ran from the wail of her sister. Behind her, she could hear the cracking and shattering of the evidence of the baby’s arrival. The golden-haired girl’s rage was palpable.
The baby, a boy, opened his mouth in a silent giggle. His skin, exposed to the dim early light of the forest, began to darken. First, it deepened to the color of the sky, then to the indigo of mountain flowers, until finally, it settled into the deepest navy.
The dark girl smiled and pulled the child closer to her chest. If she could hide the child, keeping him safe from sacrifice, perhaps, her people stood a chance to survive the light.
twistedflashes 