“You don’t want to enter the wilderness and not be able to come out,” Sugar Cream firmly said. “That is death, of course. So you practice slipping in and then out, bit by bit. The night is when the barrier between the physical and spirit worlds is thinnest.”

One had to die in order to go into the wilderness, so one had to birth her- or himself back. And one had to be strong to give birth. Though Sunny was born with the natural ability to do both, even she knew that talent and ability was best honed. Sunny had solemnly nodded and then the work began. They practiced two frames, which Sunny achieved easily enough but found she had to work to hold. Over and over, the humming, the blowing of the powder, the sneezing, then the colors that began to bleed into everything. By the time Sugar Cream sent her home, she felt as if her world was vibrating.

Sugar Cream’s lessons; Anatov’s teachings; Lamb school; hanging out with Chichi, Orlu, and Sasha; her strangely changing body—Sunny was overwhelmed, yet learning and absorbing so much. As she sat in her seat on the near-empty funky train home, she’d curled her body toward the window and shut her eyes. She took a deep breath, truly relaxing for the first time in hours, and this was when she felt that sensation of being pulled into two. Her eyes shot open and as she stared out the window, she began to quietly weep.

“Anyanwu?” she whispered. And then she heard herself respond in a deep voice, “Sleep, Sunny, I am here.”

9

HOW FAR?

Sunny groaned as she opened the gate. The night sky hadn’t begun to warm yet, but soon it would and the morning birds were already singing.

She’d slept the entire ride back on the funky train. Thankfully, the driver, a tall old woman named Magnificent, who saw her often at this late hour, knew Sunny’s stop. Magnificent shouted, “Sunny! You’re home! Go and sleep!” Sunny jumped to her feet and dragged herself from the juju-powered vehicle before she knew what was happening. The funky train silently glided off, leaving only a puff of rose-scented air and her in the dark standing before the gate to her house.

Her chin to her chest, she quietly unlocked and pushed the gate open just enough to slip through. She trudged toward the front door. The house alarm wouldn’t be on, nor would her father or mother be waiting up for her, though she suspected they were anxiously listening for her return. They didn’t ask questions anymore. Good. That was one stress gone. Her skin still felt oily from the enhancement powder, and her sensitive nose was stuffed with snot. She’d need a good shower before going to bed and that would rob her of fifteen minutes out of the four hours of sleep she could snatch before she had to leave for school.

She stuck her key into the hole. She could pass through the keyhole, but there was always the chance that her brother or parents would be right there. Then she’d find herself sentenced to a caning by the Library Council for exposing the Leopard People’s ways. Would they wipe or alter the memories of her family? Who knew what they did. Now that she didn’t have to sneak around, it definitely wasn’t worth the risk.