Crystal Stars

Night was falling as Meredith drove along the winding mountainous road toward Los Alamos. Her intense journey had left her drained. Reaching the overlook where she had stopped before, she pulled over, picked up the medicine bundle from the seat beside her and climbed out of the jeep.

In the valley below, electric lights in homes, farms and stores twinkled like stars. In the night sky, other stars shown brightly, hard as crystals.

She Remembers

Meredith withdrew the sacred peace pipe from the bundle. She found the beaded pouch, opened it and removed a bit of sacred herb that she had been carrying around for years. She knew it had given her peace before. Maybe now.

Where did I get this herb? I remember emptying my pouch into the smoldering pot in the Fifth World...  

It seemed so long ago.  Did it happen at all?

With trembling hands, she removed a pinch of the aromatic mixture, packed it in the pipe, and lit it with matches from her pocket. As soon as she inhaled the healing smoke, White Buffalo Calf Woman remembered who she was.