Hoshor Plains eumetopias

there was understanding. first of the everdark, then of dutch, and sulukinak eased little by little. she felt the shifting of kukutux as she spoke of the place that was once her home, and of the hunters, and wondered how many of the hungry men that came to the island had been wayward sunshine people; of course they would be sent into madness without the light, she thought.

i had lived there all my life, she said when disquiet became too much, even for the mostly-silent sulukinak. it was always my brothers and i, and ice mother; she taught us of holy names. of... tootega.

the girl flinched when she said it.

sometimes we would hide away from kiviuq. my mother nukilik would -- trade with them, and allow them to leave gifts for us, but never could we meet.

silence from her, now. mulling over an empty plate.