Foretelling by Alice Hoffman

***Foretelling***

“Some stories are born out of misery and ashes and blood and terror. Tell one of those and your mouth may blister. Your dreams may be turned inside.”

“Our people say the shadow is one of our souls, and my mother’s shadow disappeared on the day she was violated. It shattered into black shards, then rose up like smoke. All that was left was the iron inside her; only the hardest part remains.”

“I thought what the world we were living in was, it would always be. I didn’t understand that one season was quickly devoured by the next, leaving behind bones and memories. I was watching that happen, the way I watched the clouds move past us, high above our people.”

“I felt alone, and I didn’t like the feeling. It made no sense to me. Every warrior is alone in this world. Everyone must fight her own battle.”

 “But sorrow is strong. It is lasting. You can’t deny it or get rid of it…Nothing could stop me from being who I was meant to be all along.”