Sugarcane and Indigo

Stories Have A Way Of Being Told

It was still storming when I went home. I opened the unlock door and shook the water drops out of my hair. Poor Indigo, I thought. It wasn't fair what happened to his family. Nothing about this was fair.

    I walked down the dark hallway and up the stairs to my bedroom. All I wanted after a day like today was to sleep. I pushed open my bedroom door and froze.

    "Grammie?" I asked, confused. She wasn't supposed to be home, yet.

    Grammie didn't say anything, just continued to look at her folded hands as she sat in the center of my bed. I've never seen her look like this; like she was frail. Belatedly, I realized she was crying.

    "Grammie?" I asked again, panic in my voice. "Are you alright?"

    I crossed the room in three strides and dropped to my knees before her. Grammie wiped the tracks of tears off her face and reached out to cup my cheek.

    "Hi baby," she whispered, smiling heartbroken.

    "Grammie, what's wrong?"

    Grammie shook her head. "I've been keeping something from you, Lavender. Something you need to know."

    I stared at her, confusion maring my face. What was she talking about. We didn't keep secrets in our family.

    "Come sit next to me," Grammie told me, patting the bed.

    I hesitantly rose from my spot on the floor and did as I was told. Grammie was quiet for a long time, just staring straight ahead.

    "I've done things, Lavender," she began, "things that I'm not proud of. Things that looking back I shouldn't have done."

    I didn't say anything, just stared at her in the little light of the room. My stomach clenched in anticipation and my hands began to sweat.

    "What happened to Violet was my fault."

    My mouth dropped open and I stared at her in horror. She killed Violet?

    "What are you saying?" I demanded, twisting to look her in the eyes.

    She stared back at me sadly. "What do you know about your mother?"

    My mother? Why was she changing the subject.

    "Just what you've told me. Why are we talking about my mother? What do you mean what happened to Violet was your fault?"

    Grammie sighed and looked straight ahead. "And what do you know about being a sacrifice?"

    "Grammie, what are you talking about?" I demanded, fed up with her and her never-ending questions. I shot up from the bed and began pacing the room. "Only what everyone knows. The sacrifice is needed. It's necessary. Someone each generation has to give up their magic as a sign of our town's devotion to the God if we want him to renew his blessing."

    Grammie stared at the floor. "That's not all there is to it, child."

    I stopped pacing to stand in front of her. After a moment she looked up at me and took hold of my hand. She tugged me to once again sit next to her.

    "Listen, Lavender, " she began, "it used to be that every family at one point or another became the sacrifice. The spiritual leader of the town kept track, kept record. They made sure that no one family bore the burden alone. And when that burden fell to me as the high priestess of this town, I knew that it was our turn." A tear ran down her dark, wrinkled cheek. "Your mother was chosen when she was barely older than you."