The wind picks up. It sends leaves scurrying for cover until a softer breeze blows through, settling them down again as if to say, Shhh, there, there, it's all right. One leaf still dances in the air. It spins higher and higher, defying gravity and logic, stretching for something just out of reach. It shall have to fall, of course. Eventually. But for now, I hold my breath, willing it to keep going, taking comfort in its struggle.
Libba BrayIt is funny how you do not miss affection until it is given, but once it is, it can never be enough; you would drown in it if possible.
Libba BrayIt is how it has always been. We will accept the legacy of our ancestors,' Asha says, smiling, and in her smile I do not see warmth or wisdom; I see fear. You're afraid of losing your hold on them,' I say coolly. I? I have no power.' Don't you? If you keep them from the magic, they will never know what their lives could be.' They will remain protected,' Asha insists. No,' I say. 'Only untested' -page 569
Libba BrayNo one had ever said anything like that to Evie. Her parents always wanted to advise or instruct or command. They were good people, but they needed the world to bend to them, to fit into their order of things. Evie had never really quite fit, and when she tried, sheโd just pop back out, like a doll squeezed into a too-small box.
Libba BrayNo one asks how or what I am doing. They could not care less. Weโre all looking glasses, we girls, existing only to reflect their images back to them as theyโd like to be seen. Hollow vessels of girls to be rinsed of our own ambitions, wants, and opinions, just waiting to be filled with the cool, tepid water of gracious compliance. A fissure forms in the vessel. Iโm cracking open.
Libba BrayWith each shimmy, the bugle beads on their scandalously revealing costumes swung and shook. It was the sort of display Evie knew her mother would have found appallingโan example of the moral decay of the young generation. It was sexual and dangerous and thrilling, and Evie wanted more of it.
Libba Bray