Free The Children of Calm by J Michael Smith Page A

out.”
    He paused and nodded at the children. “Now, presently moving along…I wanted to meet with you all regarding your birthday - namely, the ritual that we here in Calm refer to as The Finding. As I am sure you are aware, all who reach the age of fifteen in this village are legally adults. Or, that is, they become so once they return from their respective Findings. I cannot help but believe each of you has been considering where to go for your own Finding, but I humbly ask that you respect this old man’s wishes and consider what I have to say.”
    He paused. Rylek felt he was expecting an answer, so he said, “Yes sir.”
    “Thank you,” Caenar said. “I very strongly suggest you all travel together on your Findings to the north, in the hopes of beholding the vast wonder that is the sea.”
    “Together?” Lana asked.
    “It may seem odd, but yes,” he said.
    “That’s where I was planning on going anyway,” Selenor said. “I’ve always wanted to see the ocean. It seems so lonely and ancient in a timeless way to me.” She paused for a moment. “And an ideal place to reflect on a few things.”
    Caenar smiled. “It is agreed then?”
    Rylek shrugged. “Seems good to me.”
    Lana nodded in agreement.
    Tresten, however, continued to look away from everything. He gave no vocal or physical reaction.
    Caenar took Tresten’s silence as an affirmative. “Very well,” he said. “You children have no idea how pleased this makes me. I very humbly thank you for honoring this old fool’s request. Now, do any of you have anything you would like to ask of me?”
    “Actually, I do, Elder Caenar,” Lana said. “If you don’t mind me asking, why do you want us all to go there together? I thought the point of The Finding was for each person to spend time in solitude to prove they can live on their own, and to learn to live in harmony with the natural world. It seems to me to be kind of difficult to prove we’re ready for adult life if we’re depending on each other to do everything. Isn’t the sign of an adult independence?”
    “That, I am afraid, is a very complicated question that has no easy answer,” Caenar said. “You are partially correct: independence is indeed part of being an adult. However, it is in that independence that one discovers how dependent one is upon others – especially to be whole and complete as a person. We are not meant to live in isolation, but in community. As I am sure you have already discovered in your own lives, each person is gifted in their own unique way by having talents and strengths in certain fields of study or thought. However, your strengths may be my weaknesses, and my strengths your weaknesses. We sharpen each other, make each other better people, as community evolves and refines. The knowledge of survival you gain during your Finding will immensely benefit the community as a whole. We are all part of each other; our lives are intertwined in very intimate ways, feeding and nourishing each other as we continue to grow in maturity. Anything you learn about yourself during your Finding only makes all of us stronger. That, my children, is the purpose of The Finding.
    “Now, as to why I ask that all four of you share the same Finding? I must confess I do not know where to begin. But this I will say: the four of you are incredibly special. Indeed, more special than I can possibly begin to describe. There are great things in store for you, and though I am able to see very little of the paths that are set before you, I do know that your destinies are forever intertwined with each other’s. Whatever else may possibly happen in this village, in this island nation, in this world, the four of you are fated to do something great. And from the little that I am able to foresee, the next step I believe all four of you must take is a journey north to the sea. You may call it a hunch, or a premonition, but I feel in my heart it is destined for you to venture north. Therein lies