9. If they were to make a timeline with their life events, which ones would they list? Which would they leave out?
“What point is therrre in denial?”
“Terrrible things happen. To all of us. The morrre you push them away, the morrre you prrretend they do not exist and they neverrr happened at all... they dig into yourrr hearrrt. Like a deep burrr. You arrre going to get cuts and scrrrapes forrr walking the path of life-- you do not tend to them by ignorrring them and hoping they disappearrr.”
“Now... events I would rrratherrr not speak of? That is a differrrent storrry.”
“I am M’yhe. I was borrrn in the Lochs. My motherrrs took me in frrrom the sun sickness and the vulturrres. I lived on the mesa with my trrribe for some time, until we could not. We lived as nomads. On my tenth nameday, I think, I was sent with my brrrotherrrs on a warrriorrr’s pilgrrrimage. My brrrotherrr M’iaho and I joined the Rrresistence for a few years. We trained. We fought when we werrre olderrr. We tasted defeat. We had to rrrun away.”
“We rrreunited with ourrr family. Infection took ourrr motherrr. Then it took our Nunh too. But that did not matterrr for long-- we werrre scatterrred to the ashes. I was... capturrred. I toiled until I could not. I escaped, made it to the city. And then I learrrned people can be crrruel. I found love, and then learrrned that life can be crrruelerrr. Then... I made it to Eorrrzea.”
“And I rrread, and I drrrank, and I hoped forrr... something. It is all a blurrr. But now? I have grrreat frrriends, I do good worrrk. I found a love that only makes my hearrrt swell and feel full.”
“Bad things happen. To all of us. But they make the good times taste like honey on ourrr tongues in comparrrison.”