THEY WOKE TO an uprising.
The morning sky was black with smoke. Red flames rose from the direction of town. Without a word, Maia dashed from the lakeside to the pines. JP followed.
Several treetops caught fire from flying embers. Maia and JP cut through the forest, crossing the open field of planted acacia seeds and entering the bamboo thicket. Through the screen of bamboo, they saw the longhouse engulfed in flame. All around, tussocks blazed like bonfires. Spreading quickly, the fire consumed the young bamboo grove.
They hid behind the stone well. Shielded from the intense heat, they watched for movement and listened for voices inside Great-Aunt’s home. Except for thatch crackling and a sweet putrid odor of burning flesh, there was nothing more.
In the distance, they heard screams from all directions.
After the longhouse was in smoldering ruins, uniformed men from public security arrived. They covered their noses with white handkerchiefs and rambled about. They kicked at what seemed like a charred tree trunk amidst the rubble. When there was no movement, the men left.
“Who are they looking for?” JP whispered.
She slouched against the well, squeezing into a tight ball to still herself.
The wind picked up the remains of the home. Ashes swirled in the sky.
Maia and JP did not notice the soldier from the shuttle until he stood beside them. The smoke masked his stench. He told them three major towns on the Central Highlands had held peaceful demonstrations. The events had turned violent when public security rounded up the leaders and dispersed the protesters. The government had declared a freeze on all movement on the highlands. No entering or exiting.
The fog came at dusk. Whispers seeped out from the darkness. People were on the move again.
A call. A response. Singing.
Children sang in harmony, echoing a duet’s lead.
The soldier tracked the night calls. “That’s the way,” he finally said and beckoned.
JP shadowed him into the fog.
Maia rose in the mist that was a dance of obscurity and revelation. The fire burned, but the warmth she felt was from knowing the children were making their way westward. She turned east and followed the pass from the mountain to the sea.