Chapter Twenty

That night, unknown to Atohmma, it was a full moon. She couldn't remember to keep a check, with all that happened. It was the first night of the full moon. Preparations for the Wolf Festival should already have been made, but it seemed no one was paying attention to the moons as they should have been. Atohmma forgot she had an assignment, given to her by the intruder that day. She was distracted by so many things poor girl, she had to keep track of so many things. The full moon is usually out for three days in their world. Within that time, the Wolf Festival is held, and then the no moon follows. The natives, along with Atohmma had to also be on the lookout for the Elemental Shield now that the monsoon was over. No one seemed to be concerned over such matters. No one, except for Atohmma. She tried her best to keep up with all the burdens she seemed to carry easily. She took on most of the responsibilities of the village, without even knowing that she did. This time, she will need the help she seldom received, as she was almost running out of time, to prepare for the Wolf Festival.

Now that the monsoon was over, the need for the well had to be decided. The monsoon was not as bad as they cautioned, but it gave them a reason to be prepared for others. The following morning, Atohmma and Nucamma made breakfast for the old lady, and then Nucamma left for his village. Atohmma had to meet with Venomma and Orgamma, so she did. They were discussing the proposed site and the preparations they already had in place for the well. Orgamma suggested they wait until the water settled and the pasture land had dried. By then they can do another assessment of the area. Seeing that it was no longer urgent, they were no longer in a hurry. One of the guards showed up, he wanted to speak personally with Atohmma, so he pulled her aside from her meeting with the others. He told her there was a sight of a wolf in the mountains. Atohmma was startled and guessing it wasn't possible, she hesitated. She didn't want to cause panic so she remained calm and told the guard she will get back to him. She ran home to check her chart. She noticed that she estimated the full moon for a few days away yet, but she remembered that she forgot to check for the last two nights. Atohmma became anxious because she couldn't wait until all the wolves came out, nor could she wait until tonight to see which moon was up. She knew her assignment and had to get to it right away. Off she went without saying a word to anyone.

While running as fast as she could, she was aware that since the monsoon, her effort may be futile. She couldn't afford to lose the opportunity, by assuming that the unfavorable floods, maybe the reason her assignment could be even more difficult than it had to be. She was at the foot of the western mountain now, and she had to climb. Oh, how she wished to have use of her wings. Atohmma thought having her wings would have been highly useful to her for this task, but yet again it was daylight. She felt strange and then her wings appeared, she couldn't be more grateful. She flew up the mountain and she saw the rock that the intruder told her about. She slowly and carefully measured some footsteps away from the rock and saw, what he referred to as the mystical bowl. It seemed wooden from where she stood, but as she moved closer to it, she saw it was made of opal. When Atohmma tried to lift it, it seemed stuck in the wet earth. She had to get it out somehow. She looked around for a lever and she saw a stick, which she used to dig and remove some of the mud from around it. When it was a bit clearer, she lifted again and up it popped out throwing her to the ground. Atohmma remembered her instructions were to take this bowl, go to the lake, fill the bowl with the water from the lake, and then come back to this mountain and place it on the rock she had just passed. She wanted to fly, but with the bowl, it wouldn't be that easy, so she climbed down to get off the mountain, and then she ran to the lake. "It was a good thing that I have sufficient time before dark," she said to herself. She walked for part of the way, got to the lake and the water was yet high but she filled the bowl and headed back to the mountain. She knew she could not spill any of the water, so she just walked as fast as she cautiously could. When she arrived at the foot of the western mountain, she couldn't possibly climb up so she said to herself, "this is a challenge, I need both my hands to climb and I need the water to remain in the bowl. Hmm. How am I to do this? If only my wings could carry me up..." and having said that she felt her wings grow. It grew larger and already holding the bowl, she was raised off the ground and carried up the mountains by her wings. She fluttered up to the top of the rock where she had to place the bowl. She put it down carefully and centered it on the top of the rock as instructed.

When Atohmma returned near the village she walked, because she didn't want anyone to wonder about her wings. But although she walked, her wings were still exposed and she couldn't conceal it, so she thought, "please, please, please, wings, please hide." Immediately, she was without wings. They hid somewhere or were gone. She didn't mind. She was happy no one was around to see her. Unknowingly and cluelessly, Atohmma didn't realize what was happening to her, although everything was happening for her to realize what was happening.