Free Tomorrows Child by Starr West

world, why prepare for anything?”
    “Because none
of the predictions say anything about the earth ceasing to exist.
Most mention major changes to the structure of society and a
transformation of spirit.” Phoenix answered as he stood up and
pulled me to my feet, “But that’s enough talk about the end of
days. We are supposed to be having fun.” Phoenix dragged me toward
the house, leaving Navarre alone by the fire.
    Emily was
gathering musical instruments and putting them near the door.
“Great timing, I need a hand to get this stuff outside,” she said
as she stood with her hands on her hips, “unless you had something
else planned.”
    “No, we’d be
happy to help.” Phoenix tossed a piece of wood into the top of the
stove in the kitchen and returned to carry a huge drum out to the
front yard. I picked up a tambourine and Emily handed me an old
guitar.
    Someone
whistled as we stepped off the veranda and into the light of the
moon, then a chorus of cheers and claps and more whistles filled
the air. I saw Libby, laughing. She already knew me well enough to
know that I would hate the attention, but she didn’t come to rescue
me, she just sat there laughing.
    “Do you sing,
Psyche? I know your mother was a singer.” Emily asked, waiting for
me to answer. Mum sang my whole life, she sang in the bus, walking
up the street and on the tops of mountains. Sometimes I thought we
travelled just so she could sing in every corner of Australia and
from the top of every mountain.
    “Well, they say
everyone can sing, but not everyone should, at least not in
public,” I said.
    “So which are
you, a ‘can and should’ or a ‘can and shouldn’t’?”
    “I definitely
shouldn’t.” I often regretted that I couldn’t sing, but not
tonight. Tonight I was thankful that I had no talent.
    “Hey, Psyche,
how do you like living here with all these hillbillies?”
    “Remember
Lachlan Taylor?” Phoenix whispered.
    “Yeh, I love
it, but I haven’t met any hillbillies yet,” I laughed. I knew it
was meant as a joke and although I still felt relaxed, I didn’t
want to respond with some foolish answer. I was pretty good at
embarrassing myself.
    “Is Phoenix
treatin’ ya good? Has he shown you around our little part of God’s
Paradise?”
    “Leave the girl
alone, Lachlan.” Emily smiled and winked, “Don’t pay any attention
to him, he’ll tease you all night if you let him.”
    “I was just
makin’ conversation. She’s one of us now. May as well get used to
it.” Lachlan screwed up his face as if he were disappointed he
couldn’t tease me more.
    The full moon
was large and golden and as beautiful as always. I wanted it to
glow with blue light, but I knew the “blue moon” was really just an
expression. I sat down beside Libby and rested my head on her
shoulder, “Thanks for making me come. I was pretty close to running
home, you know.”
    “Yeh, I know,
but Phoenix would have dragged you over anyway. Or maybe Lachlan
and Navarre. You weren’t going to miss this celebration.”
    The music
started soft and steady. Two large tribal drums sat side-by-side.
Lilly’s hands stroked the drums like she was tending a lover and
Emily hummed a wordless melody. As the tempo increased, Emily’s
voice rose and the words became a rich, haunting song. The beat
thumped through the ground and into my body, making my heart beat
faster and in rhythm with the drums.
    Navarre ran up
and caught my hand. “Come, dance.”
    Despite my
protests, Navarre dragged me toward an open space on the lawn. He
swung me round and round, oblivious to the music, as if we were
kids in a playground. We spun and the world blurred. The moon
appeared to wobble as if it would drop from the sky. When I got so
dizzy that I was about to collapse, Navarre slowed, but the world
still spun. I felt like a child and laughed. I laughed until tears
flowed and then I fell to the ground and laughed some more. I
hadn’t laughed in months. It felt