Murmurs and whispers buzzed through the darkened hall. No one had any idea why the elders had called a meet, but that did not hinder them from thinking up reasons. Some believed that it was merely a routine meeting to discuss the upcoming harvest celebration, though they could not explain why it was conducted in such secrecy. Others stoutly maintained that the worst had happened; someone outside the Arborus clan had learned the sacred healing-knowledge and they were called to meeting to discuss how to react to the threat. A group of girls near the front of the hall were particularly talkative, whispering and giggling loudly among themselves. One of the girls participated little in the conversation, but listened and smiled at the exuberance of her friends. She was one of the few not targeted in the girls’ good-natured teasing; for a reason no one could explain, Keris was off limits. Though she was well-liked to an extent, the girls seemed to understand that she was somewhat different; Keris had always been on the edges of the girls’ activities. But she assumed a wistful expression when no one was looking, for Keris was desperately uncomfortable with her position on the outskirts, though she knew she didn’t belong in the inner group. An elder stepped onto the speaking platform at the front, and even the girls’ lively chatter died down as everyone hushed in expectation. It was Elder Larch, the spokeswoman for the elders and in charge of mediating disputes among the clan. She stepped to the front of the platform and spoke, her voice reaching to every corner of the hall. Taking a deep breath, she recited what she knew must be her part of the apprentice’s oath “Friends,” she began with a small smile, “we know all of you are wondering why the elders have called you here today. Many of you will have noted that Elder Oak has been in failing health for the past several months. He feels his ailment has begun to interfere with his duties as healer.” A murmur of polite dissent rippled through the hall, but many of the clan secretly agreed with the elder. How could someone flawed in body be entrusted with the most sacred knowledge of the entire clan? “Therefore,” continued Elder Larch, raising her voice above the murmurs, “he has decided to take an apprentice, one to whom he can pass on his knowledge, and who will take over his duties when he leaves us. This meet was called so that he may announce his choice for apprentice.” Now the murmur was more excited, as everyone wondered aloud who the apprentice would be. All but Keris. She sat stiffly in her chair, a look of realization slowly spreading over her face and leaving her eyes wide in an almost terrified expression. She knew that when apprentices were called, the elders almost always chose young people on the outside of their social group. This way, they would be willing to leave their age group and devote their lives to learning their calling. Keris knew that she fit the requirement, but she was sure the elders did not know that part of her wanted, and wanted desperately, to fit in and be accepted, even while the other part knew that she would never truly be a part of her peer group. With a sense of inevitability, Keris watched Elder Oak step shakily into the speaking area. She was probably the only one in the hall not surprised at all when he announced formally, “Keris Noltera, I, Elder Oak, call you to bind yourself to the learning of the healing knowledge, to be my apprentice and acolyte from this day until the day I leave the clan forever.” Then he smiled kindly and, looking at her for the first time, added, “Now, my dear, you must come up here and say your part of the oath.” Numbly, hardly noticing the gasps and congratulations of her friends, Keris stood up and walked to the front of the hall. Her heart had dropped out. She felt nothing but a vague sadness, and for her, that was hardly unusual. She ascended the stairs at the side of the platform and joined the elder. He motioned for her to turn and face the crowd. As she did so, words flew into her mind. She gasped and looked incredulously at the frail elder, hardly believing he could be capable of such power. But he merely nodded and smiled, gently urging her to go ahead. Taking a deep breath, she recited what she knew must be her part of the apprentice’s oath. “I, Keris Noltera, do accept the call of Elder Oak and agree to bind myself to the learning of the healing-knowledge, to be his apprentice and acolyte until the day he leaves the clan forever.” After she finished speaking, she felt a connection begin between herself and the elder. This strange presence in her mind filled her with curiosity, but she was pulled back from exploring it by Elder Oak, who stepped to the front of the stage and announced, “Tonight, there will be a celebration in honor of my new apprentice.” Masked by the murmur of anticipation, the elder told Keris, “You will have the rest of the day, including the celebration, to say your good-byes and move your belongings out of your family’s home. I will take you to your new lodgings after the celebration. You know where I live, don’t you?” Keris nodded. Though she had never come close enough to see the old man’s dwelling, everyone in the clan knew where it was, several miles into the dense forest to the west of the clan’s village. Even after the healer moved off, Keris could hardly believe the ceremony was over; it had happened so quickly. In a few minutes her very destiny with the clan had been determined, and her childhood ended. No longer would she live with her family, or even
September/October 2000
If I Could Choose . . .
If I could choose to be any place in the world, I would choose Malaysia where my grandma lives; Where you can smell the hot, humid air, And see the palm trees sway in the breeze. If I could choose to be any place in the world, I would choose Australia where my granduncle lives; Where the wind makes sand fly And where all the animals are unique. If I could choose to be any place in the world, I would choose Singapore, where my cousins live; Where everybody is welcoming to visitors, And they all have wonderful things to say. If I could choose to be any place in the world, I wouldn’t care where it was. Whether it was hot and dry, Whether it was cold and wet, I would choose to be any place in the world, As long as I could be with my family. Jennifer Chin, 11Bellevue, Washington
Foxes and Frogs
I’ve always loved to explore. Sometimes I’ll just put on my roller blades and go, turning onto the paths I know so well and trying to turn around corners I haven’t turned around before. Usually I only find more houses, but sometimes I’ll come out by the forest, which kind of looks all the same, but I don’t really think about that. The other day, when I first met Ally, I was skating over to the reservoir where I saw the fox a few weeks ago. The reservoir is in the middle of a huge, flat field covered with wild grass and prairie dogs and, of course, the reservoir. I saw the fox trotting over the stones to get a drink of water, clean, fresh running water that was spurting out of the wall. The fox had silky, fluffy, long fur and ears that pricked up at everything, and a sandpaper pink tongue like cats have. The tip of its tail was bright white like snow. Anyway, I guess Ally’d seen the fox too, because there she was, sitting on the stones of the reservoir, admiring her handful of dandelions and talking to herself. I sneaked up behind Ally like I had sneaked up behind the fox, as if she were an exotic specimen that could only be observed under silence. “Hi,” I said before I knew what in the world I was doing, and Ally didn’t jump three feet in the air like I would have, she just turned around and said “hi” back to me. “Hi froggy,” I mumbled, stroking its head “I’m Ally,” she told me, and tucked her stringy brown- blond hair behind her ear. “Who are you?” “Jessie.” I slowly sat down on the rocks. “What are you doing here?” “Oh . . .” Ally sighed dreamily and looked up at the sky. “I don’t know. I just felt like coming here. I like to do whatever I feel like doing.” I’d never met anyone who just did something if they felt like it. More often than not, someone did something because it seemed sensible and productive and interesting. It sounded like a nice life, doing whatever you felt like doing, not really caring if it was weird, maybe even useless. “I came to look for the fox,” I explained to Ally, feeling that if I asked her what she was doing, I had to at least say what I was doing myself. “That’s OK.” Ally twirled her hair around her finger. “Some people come down to shoot it, not to look at it.” “They do?” “Yep, the woman from the museum comes every day, to see if Foxy’s died during the night. I guess she doesn’t shoot it, but she wants it to die.” I noticed for the first time how hot it was that day. It was the middle of summer and Mom had said it was ninety-six degrees that day. “Do you want to go swimming?” Ally asked me brightly. “Swimming? Where?” “Here!” Ally took off her Tevas and walked down to the water. “It’s nice and cool, you know.” The water did look kind of inviting. “Are you sure we’re allowed to?” “Well, there aren’t any ‘No Swimming’ signs.” “Good point.” I slowly took off my socks. Mom always made us wear socks in the summer. I tiptoed over the rocks, burning my toes, to the water. “Don’t slip,” Ally warned me, but before I knew what was happening, I did slip. Right off a rock into the water. “Eek!” I squealed as my feet sank into the sand. I started to tilt backwards to the rocks. Ally grabbed my arm and pushed me back up. “Thanks.” Ally nodded. “I fall in all the time, and my mom gets angry at me. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble too.” The fox! It stood on top of the rocks, staring hypnotically at the mountains The water was ice cold. I took a deep breath and slowly walked further into the water. When it was a few inches below the bottom of my shorts, I stopped. Ally walked in behind me. I wasn’t sure what was so interesting about standing in a reservoir, but Ally knew what to do. “Look for little splashes,” she told me. “There’s a frog over in this corner of the reservoir.” In a few minutes Ally had caught the frog. She held her hands together, her fingers twitching, then slowly opened up her hands. There sat a frog, looking like a short, oval-shaped pickle. “Here it is,” she said. I smiled down at the frog. “Hi froggy,” I mumbled, stroking its head. I’d always expected frogs to be slimy and gross, but this one felt like . . . well, it felt like a frog, if you know what frogs feel like. Ally dropped the frog back into the water. “Isn’t this fun?” I nodded. “It’s like . . . I don’t know, it just seems more like summer down here in the reservoir.” “Look!” Ally suddenly pointed behind me. I turned around slowly, and when I saw what it was, I gasped. The fox! It stood on top of the rocks, staring hypnotically at the mountains, its ear twitching just the slightest bit. It had a black nose and that fluffy fur, and white on the end of its tail, looking as bright as snow. Ally and I watched it for a few minutes until the fox left. “Wow,” I whispered. “Do you see her a lot?” “Yep.” “Amazing.” “Everything is amazing,” Ally said in a casual tone. “So if you want to see miracles, just go ahead. You shouldn’t let people stop you with that kind of stuff.” Everything was amazing. This seemed like a genius idea. “That sounds about right.” “It is.” Ally turned and looked right into my eyes, smiling. “It’s OK. Better than OK, even.” Then she turned away, walked up the rocks, and started to leave. Before she rode
