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“Come on Everybody! Gather up quickly! This year’s soiree is incredibly special as Tia turns…” “Yes, mom!” Tia’s eager voice chirped. “This year, No photos please! Let’s enjoy some quality family time!” Her mother said, cleverly diverting the topic.
Soon, everyone was hustling about. “Hey! Ready for a pic…?” Tia’s cousins whispered. Her eyes lit up as she followed them. They all held their palms out and shouted cheese.
The day ended with echoes of laughter and joy.
That night, tired and sleepy, Tia scrolled through the photos. Suddenly, her eyes went wide open, and her face turned pale. She saw something she hadn’t seen before. There was a mark on their palms!! Sun and moon. She peered and looked at the picture closely. Everyone had sun but she had moon.
She could not believe her eyes and fell back on the bed. She tossed and turned in her bed, unable to shake the image of the mark from her mind. Her heart racing, she slithered out of bed and crept downstairs to the library, hoping for a clue. She sat down, and her eyes swept the shelves nearby. A book caught her attention which had the same symbols on it… With trembling fingers, she reached for the book and held it with both hands. The yellow pages crackled as she turned them. She looked at the pages, with big loopy letters, staring back at her like a forgotten code. She squinted her eyes to read what was written, but it was indecipherable.
Exhausted, she gave up and slumped her hand on a page and her eyes wandered away. Something caught her attention, and she swiftly turned her head towards the book. The place where her hand fell was illuminated, and once again, the moon mark appeared on her hand, which matched the sign on the page. Suddenly, she could understand what was written:
Divided are we,
by two signs you see.
One is calm, one is warm,
and at birth, do these form.
One day in the year,
does the sign appear.
But only after, the age is ten,
a soiree, with ladies and men
Tia closed the book, heart beating hard.
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