Driving the Goddess

Molinas' Bakery was at the opposite end of town from The Safety Pin Cafe. The two eateries both wore their magic clear and simple. At The Pin Ducks still waited for Human People to open the front door, pushing in, and both species loved the smell of almond milk and peppermint tea. The Fairy Lady still baked the best apple pies, and Raven Clan served it up with charm and tea making sure there was room for kitties of all colors on the window ledges. The upstairs rooms maintained space for the Faceless, and it was Maha's grand-daughter who read the cards. Some things don't change.

Linda Molinas' sudden passing and her young daughter Shine's disappearance captured the collective breath in this town. There was no way around it. Now Pale was driving a goddess, and this was not just your any sort of goddess. This was the youngest, and most favored sister of The Goddess of Fire. This was the sister whose instructions kuleana included first-aid and it's polar, the ability to take life. "I don't suppose you're here for the scones." It wasn't a question exactly, but, Hi'iaka roared with the humor Pale Wawae tried so hard to hide. "Such a thin veil you wear Pale. Still trying to hide all that light. Of course I'm here for the scones." Whoever made up the lie about the Ancestors being humorless must have been an atheist.

"Why not. The Molinas' reputation for that pastry travels like spore on a trade wind." From the corner of her right-eye Pale saw the vaporous ripple of transfiguration. Hi'iaka the beautiful leaned into the back of the headrest. Her hair was black, but streaked through with silver and ehu. She had chosen a familiar package to present herself, but it was the scent of her that was unmistakable. Sulfurous. A lei po'o of moss encircled her head. Of course, without the mosses, there were no places for seed or 'ili rootlets to gain footage.

"Do you need the mosses to root yourself?" It was a direct question, and Pale knew it might be disrespectful to ask aloud so she kept the question a thought and hoped her curiosity would not float. "You've been reading ... about moss." Hi'iaka was listening and thoughts were of course the domain of spirits. She was kind and offered Pale a way to talk about her question.

"I have been. With great respect for the fabric of living things I re-read the stories of a scientist and poet I would love to call friend. She has spent a lifetime on her hands and knees getting to know moss. Her writing is about lands different than the volcanic, so I wondered whether you who are the first up after Pele has laid bare the land. You begin again from tiny rootlet. Do you? Do you require moss as well?"

"It's true tiny rootlets allow me to grow in the crevices of lava flow. There I will not require moss. But, a tiny seed from my blossom. She will welcome the comfort of soft moss as she waits for ua --a raindrop, a shower. Moss is the plant for starting life again."

Talking botany with the Goddess, now that needs to go into a story.