She thought of the day they left Lhasa.
Leaving the city, all the walls along the port had been decorated with banners. The banners contained the usual 'reminders'; simple messages meant to keep you remembering the basic truths of life. Things like the fact that you were never alone. That everyone came from the same Dreamtime, that we all have the same needs in life, and so on.
Along the brick corridor leading to the windcraft, there were a series of glass boxes on the wall. They were all backlit with candles, and all contained simple verbs in different conjugational forms.
They were meant to be concrete reminders of how one shared the same experiences in life, regardless of their viewpoint, sex or other seeming differences.
Whether one was first, second or third person, singular or plural, masculine, feminine or neuter, it was all just down to simple variations in grammar.
The first one read:
I
am
You
are
He is
She is
It is
We
are
You
are
They
are
The message was a very simple one, but very effective in explaining such a basic concept, she thought to herself. She let her thoughts wander, and found that she was getting very excited about the journey they were about to embark upon, now that they were actually leaving. Something seemed to open up inside her, like an invisible extra skin that she'd never noticed before, but became very aware of now that it started to disappear. Another sign passed her head:
I
breathe
You
breathe
He breathes
She breathes
It breathes
We
breathe
You
breathe
They
breathe
The message seemed all too appropriate. She had to admit that the last year in the confinement of the House had started wearing her down a little. To the point that most of her meditations were mostly spent on keeping the positive charges flowing freely, instead of doing some real work. Not that she didn't appreciate her duties and all the trust that gradually had been put into her as the years passed. She almost blushed at the thought of the clumsiness that permeated her entire person in her apprentice years.
It had been her mother that first had suggested she should join the House. Not that she hadn't felt the attraction herself throughout her early childhood. Every sign was there. Her insight was very strong in her earliest years - as they usually are in children before they became confused by their external learning. But Njoro had something more on offer. She remembered one incident when she was about three years old. One of her friends had lost her toy. Not any toy, but the one toy that makes the daily struggle of any three year old worthwhile. The kind of toy that would give comfort when gravity had played one of its naughty tricks, or when the world seemed nothing but a ruthless dark void, loveless and scary. Her friend had cried her eyes out, and no-one could give her any remedy for her great loss. Suddenly Njoro had said, without looking up from what she was playing with on the grass, "It's behind the large bush behind the well." And it was. It was the first time she could see so clearly and know how to use it for something specific, and from there on everyone knew her skills would only grow stronger with time. She knew this, her mother knew this, and when the first delegation from the House visited them just after her fifth birthday, they all seemed to recognize her as an old friend. She still remembered the smells and sounds of that magical visit. There was much laughter and warmth that day.
I
feel
You
feel
He feels
She feels
It feels
We
feel
You
feel
They
feel
But even if the House proved to be exactly the home she believed it would be on that summer day when she was five, over the years her days had given her fewer and fewer challenges when it came down to using herself to the full. Not that she didn't enjoy the feeling of safety, but something inside her had started to get restless, wanting to move on, even to seek some kind of danger. At least these were the feelings that surfaced now that her invisible skin had started to disintegrate, and they were finally setting out on their great journey to the north.
Pi walked a few paces in front of her. He was talking to Sha-Ton while gesticulating energetically in the air between them. He smiled, as always. She was a little anxious, but still very excited about how they would function together now that they were on their own in a small entourage far from the safe haven of the House.
I
love
You
love
He loves
She loves
It loves
We
love
You
love
They
love
Oh, shut up.
