“Are you ready?” The older woman asked with tears in her blind eyes.

“Do not make me answer you.” Moraida begged, forcing the tears back so she would not ruin the paint on her face.

The blind woman nodded, “Good bye.”

Moraida left the room before she broke down and headed out of the hut, to the giant one across the village. There is where her destiny resided. There is where her father would sell her to a human, to a decorated officer of her father’s enemies. Moraida lifted the hem of her blue wedding dress as she stepped over branches & mud. Her feet were bare and her naturally teal hair had been dyed a boring brown so the human would feel more comfortable. Her arms were decorated with the ceremonial bracelets of honor and she jingled with every step. Until she stopped walking.

Moraida looked around the empty village, knowing everyone was in one hut, where she should be, and glanced towards the cliff’s edge. She ran towards it and jumped, her bracelets singing in the rushing air before she hit the water.