Turn Off the Sun

The boy’s eyes lit up, big, and bright, and delighted. “Oh, can I start the fire Auntie?” he asked, jumping to his feet again. He hadn’t been around the fire much, and he certainly hadn’t lit it himself. Maybe Io would be too grumpy and clumsy to lit it herself, and would agree.

He bounded along beside her, as they moved from the stream and towards the central location of the pack. He paused by the obelisk, awed at how his father had managed to drag the thing into the packlands, and chip the pack laws onto its smooth surface.

Io had already passed him by, and he raced to keep up, coming to a stop besides the firepit. He sniffed the coals, which still smoldered in their protected ring of stone. He sat back patiently, waiting to see if Io would allow him to play with the flames.