Entrance to the Song (completed)

Chapter 6 - Bridges Going Home

       

The stars hide in the day, but even then, few are brave enough to shine

Benin's eyes were wide as he stared at me. I sensed his confusion. Shiah observed him with unshed tears in her eyes. Daddy moved next to me and put his hand on my shoulder. My fast beating heart slowed and my eyes searched his for confirmation. He nodded, though I already sensed it through our connection, I couldn't believe someone else had my abilities. What did she call it? Earth Singer?

Benin gazed down at the grass growing from the kitchen floor. His eyes had a wild spark and his hands rubbed the side of his pants.

"Hi, Benin," I said, speaking in a calm voice. "I'm Pendra." I held out my hand for him to take.

His hand came up, but before we could shake Daddy said, "I don't think that's a good idea, seeing what happened the last time you touched." He gestured toward the grass and overgrown vegetables.

"Right," Shiah said. "Why don't we settle down and eat?" She clasped her hands together and then shuffled us into chairs. She strode through the grass with bare feet like it was normal to have grass growing from the kitchen floor.

I reached down and touched the rogue grass. It seemed happy to sprout under the feet of two earth singers. I had never grown something out of thin air before. I studied Benin through my eyelashes.

Shiah set a steaming bowl of stew on the table in front of us. My stomach growled in response to the tantalizing aroma, and then Daddy dug in without ceremony so I followed his example. The food tasted fresh and loaded with spices that awakened my palate. I devoured three heaping servings before my hunger sated.

"What a healthy appetite," Shiah said. "Did you leave room for dessert?"

I nodded after scraping the last bit of stew from the porcelain bowl.

Daddy shook his head and laughed.

Shiah moved to slice the carrot cake she prepared. "I expected the men to eat three servings, but you're such a Petit little thing, and you ate more than your dad, and almost as much as Benin," Shiah said.

"I still don't know where she puts it," Daddy said.

"Into the earth," Benin replied, his deep gaze on me. "You need sustenance to replace the energy you used to grow this lovely grass." He spoke with sound logic.

I never considered that my appetite and abilities were connected, but it made sense, the more energy I used the more I needed to consume. I became famished every time I worked in my garden.

"Where did you come from?" I asked between bites of cake. "I thought I was the only one like me–the only Earth Singer."

His eyes clouded. "I've been in the Sleepers Keep for the past fifty years," he said, leaning back in his chair. "Shiah rescued me with the help of your father."

My fork paused before reaching my mouth; I let it settle on my plate. "Fifty years," I said. "The longest I've ever heard anyone being in the Sleepers Keep is two terms of twenty."

"Rules are broken by the ones who make them," Daddy said.

"But... how old are you?" I asked Benin. "You don't look old enough to go to the Keep; the minimum age is eighteen. That's been a rule since they created the Sleepers Keep fifty years ago."

"I was seventeen when I entered the Keep against my will." Benin's bites ambled around the cake he held. "The government discovered my abilities and ripped me from my family, killing my father." he paused. His eyes were far away. "And then they locked me into cryogenic sleep."