The sound of chatter echoed off the ancient trees as I drew closer to the tribe. Despite my fears that I would be punished for staying out too late, I was grinning from ear to ear. I had all the light that I would need for the dresses, so I could soon start spinning the light into thread. A slight skip came into my step, my elation increasing with every passing moment.

The forest came to an end, and the caves came into view. In the distance, I could make out the hazy shape of Nal m'se and Gea talking together. When I got closer, I saw that Gea motioned wildly as she spoke, with tears streaming down her face. This can't be good.

Gea pivoted toward the forest allowing her eyes to rest on me, and she let out a small cry of joy before running toward me. I picked up the pace, too, though my ankle was still a little stiff. When she reached me, she wrapped me in a tight embrace as she wept tears of happiness.

"Oh Celisae, there you are!" she exclaimed with relief. I hugged her back, relieved that she didn't seem to be upset. Maybe she'll forget that I was out late. I thought wishfully. Much to my dismay, she pulled away quickly, her expression hardening. "Where have you been? Don't you know that we've all been worried sick about you?"

"I'm sorry," I said, hoping to justify my tardiness. "I tripped over a root while I was out foraging, so I went to rest in a small cave nearby. I was only going to stay there a minute, but I accidentally fell asleep." I bit my lip to keep from crying. "I really am sorry. It will never happen again, I promise."

"We have two search parties out looking for you. You better make sure this doesn't happen again," Gea chided.

"Now Gea," Nal m'se interjected calmly. "All will be made well. I told the warriors to return when the moon is fully in the sky, so they will be here soon." Nal m'se turned to me and I braced myself for whatever punishment she would impose. "Perhaps I made an error by making you get up at such an early time each day. Your body probably needed the rest that you got just now. From now on, you, Leu, and Ix k'eh may sleep longer when you return from searching for the light."

I stood in shock. Nal m'se actually admitted that she was wrong?! I couldn't dwell on this development at the moment, and grasped for something to say.

"A-Actually, um, that won't be necessary," I stammered. Surprise broke Nal m'se's serene disposition, the first time I had ever seen an emotion show on her face. Gea also seemed taken aback. I lifted the foraging bag that I was holding.

"The cave I found had an abundance of starlight. If I can go back and get a few more bags full, I think I'll be set to start spinning it all into thread."

"Oh, that's marvelous Celisae," Gea cheered.

"That is good to hear," Nal m'se stated, her placid tone regained. At that moment, Gea yawned, reminding me that she had stayed up far later than usual. She must be exhausted. Guilt started to settle in me. She had stayed up so late in order to make sure that I was safe.

"Why don't we go to bed now," I suggested. Gea nodded, and together we headed back to the cave.

"You got all the starlight?" Leu exclaimed with glee.

"Yes," I declared triumphantly. "It's all right here in these bags." I pointed to the four bags that I had just collected from the cave.

"Why didn't you take me with you?" Leu asked, feigning annoyance. 

"Because you needed your sleep," I replied. "Besides, I can take you some other time."

I headed to my spinning wheel in the corner of the room.

"So, how do you spin light into thread?" Leu inquired, walking over to where I sat.

I paused for a moment. I'd never really tried to explain it to someone. I did what felt natural, changing my technique based on the feel of each of the individual light rays.

"I'm not really sure," I told her. "I guess I just go with how the light feels." I paused for a moment, trying to put my sensations into words. "I guess I just feed the light through the spinning wheel, but apply very little pressure." That was definitely an oversimplification, but at least it would temporarily satisfy Leu's curiosity.

"So.... it's like doing normal spinning," she clarified.

"I've never done normal spinning, but maybe." Leu nodded, then glanced toward the exit of my cave.

"I'm going to go get some berries. The sun's overhead and I'm hungry."

"Go ahead," I said. "Bring me back some food." Leu left, and settled in to begin my work, at last in peace and quiet. Leu was great, but I needed to have some time by myself. I brought one of the bags of sunlight closer, and started my work. I placed a beam of light in the wheel, gently holding it in my left hand, as I started the wheel with my right. The light moved through the wheel and I lightly tugged in back to create slight tension. Finally, I slid my fingers back as the light was fed through the wheel, transforming into thread that wrapped around a wooden spool at the end. It was almost therapeutic to sit there, while the warm light ran over my skin. Soon I had found my rhythm, spinning faster and faster. It wasn't long before I had almost finished spinning the entire bag into thread.

"May we enter?" a voice requested. I jumped in my seat, but managed to keep spinning. I turned to the entrance of the cave to see Sa k'u and Ol m'ka standing outside.

"Sure," I said, very surprised by their presence. I glanced down at my clothes to make sure I was somewhat presentable.

Ol m'ka and Sa k'u slowly strolled in, like they were trying way too hard to look regal. Ol m'ka scrutinized the work I had done so far.

"So," she began tautly. "You've just started spinning the light into thread?"

"Yes," I replied, my excitement ebbing away.

"What type of light are you working on right now?" Ol m'ka interrogated.

"Sunlight." Ol m'ka's eyes narrowed. Sa k'u stared greedily at the thread.

"That's my thread, right?" Sa k'u asked her mother. Ol m'ka nodded.

I continued my work despite her condescending stare over my shoulder. In my peripheral, I saw her eyes trace every movement of mine, as if she was about to confront me over a mistake at any moment. I wished desperately that Leu would return. I glanced over at the cave entrance to see if she had come back.

"Keep your eye on your work," Ol m'ka demanded. I stopped spinning, trying to figure out why Ol m'ka was telling me how to do my work.

"We can't afford for you to make any mistakes," Ol m'ka explained tersely. "Now keep spinning. At the rate you're going, you'll never finish."

Obediently, I continued spinning the light. There was no need to cause a problem, although she was being quite bothersome. Sa k'u stepped closer to the bag full of sunlight. I slowed my pace in order to watch her. One false move, and all of my light could be destroyed.

"Speed up," Ol m'ka commanded. I sped up but still kept my eye on Sa k'u, as she advanced toward the sunlight. Soon, she stood right in front of the bag full of my precious light, that I had spent nights trying to capture. Her finger lifted, like she was about to touch it. My heart pounded in my chest, and my mind began to spin faster than the spinning wheel.

My work halted. "Don't touch the light rays!" I warned. I got up to remove the sunlight from Sa k'u's path, but Ol m'ka pushed me back into my seat.

"She can touch the light if she wants. We're the ones who are going to be wearing it. Now keep spinning!"

"But if you touch the light in the wrong way, it will disintegrate!" I protested. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Every muscle in my body tensed.

"She'll be careful," Ol m'ka insisted. "You're not the only person with a gentle touch." 

"But you have to handle it in a certain way," I continued. "I can show her how if she wants, but there's a specific way it must be done.

"You're just trying to hoard the light," Ol m'ka accused. "You think you're so high and mighty because you were given this job. Well, you're not!"

I turned back to Sa k'u, who had backed away from the light. From where I was seated, it appeared that none of the beams had been destroyed. I relaxed a bit, but was still on edge.

"Mom," Sa k'u whined. "I don't like it."

"What darling?" Ol m'ka sang, her voice suddenly very sweet.

"This color is going to look terrible on me," Sa k'u complained. "It will totally clash with my skin tone. I always look my best in pink!"

Ol m'ka turned to me, her venomous gaze returning. "Well, can you make her dress pink?" she demanded tersely.

In my opinion, the color of the rays was beautiful enough as is, so I had never tried to dye it before. Most likely, the droplets of color would destroy the delicate strands. Or, the pigments and the light may combine into an odd shade. It would be difficult, maybe even impossible to get the shade of pink that Sa k'u desired.

"I'm sorry," I began tentatively, "But I can't do that. I'm afraid that it's not possible to dye light." I braced myself for her response.

"You can't do it or you won't do it?" Ol m'ka snapped.

"I've never dyed light before," I tried to explain. "I don't want to ruin her dress."

"Well I'm not going to wear it if it's not pink," Sa k'u announced.

"Now sweetie, don't say that," Ol m'ka said in her nice voice. "This dress is an incredible opportunity for you. Even if that girl messes everything up, you still should accept this honor for your tribe. Any mistakes made will be her fault, not yours. Nevertheless, I'm sure we can come to some kind of compromise...." Ol m'ka faced me again. "Make her dress with pink sunlight then if you can't dye it."

My eyes twitched. I stood completely silent. Sunlight, which was what the dress was made of, was only gold. Not even starlight, which came in many colors, had pink light.

"I....I don't think I've ever seen.... pink starlight," I stated cautiously.

"Are you trying to tell me that pink light beams don't exist?!" Ol m'ka questioned.

"Yes," I responded, perhaps a bit too quickly. Ol m'ka threw her hands up in exasperation, and Sa k'u glared at me.

"You are impossible to work with!!" Ol m'ka screamed. I cringed, wanting to curl up into a ball. "Now I've had enough of your sass young lady! You'd better figure out a way for this dress to look good, because if it doesn't, you'll be disgracing this whole tribe along with yourself! The only people who won't be disgraced by you will be your family, because they're dead! Kansara would be ashamed of the way you're acting now! Now quit doddling and create a proper dress for Sa k'u to wear!!"

With that, Ol m'ka and Sa k'u stomped out of the cave, Ol m'ka's face red with rage. A few bits of sun dust melted into the floor, indicating that her outburst had shattered a few rays of light. But I had been broken more by her words than the sunlight. At the very least, I wanted to scream, "You leave my mother out of this!!" But Ol m'ka was gone now. Besides, it would be highly improper to act like that around a matriarch.

I crossed the room to the sunlight, surveying anything that may have been ruined. Once I saw that no other damage was done, I returned to my work, spinning light into thread.