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starlight that pierce through our thatched roof.
    Finally, I drift into sleep.

8

    I awake at dawn, unsure whether snakes really crept up the sand last night or if it was another vision. I hurry to the beach to look for the telltale signs of snake paths. But I see only the gentle marks left by the receding waves.
    Later, as Natalang and I head toward the jungle to gather food, confused thoughts buzz in my head louder than the cicadas in the trees. She chatters away as usual, but I hardly listen.
    My toe bumps against a gnarled root jutting out of the ground and I almost fall. Natalang catches hold of my arm to steady me.
    “You are stumbling over every clump of leaves today,” she says. “Is something wrong?”
    “It is the story Lah-ame told us last night. It was not new but I felt like I never truly listened before.”
    “Not Lah-ame again!” Natalang pretends to yawn. Then she mimics Lah-ame’s singsong chant. “Today is the time for a new tale, a story we have all been waiting for. One day a boy named Danna, whose teeth were as white as coral in the moonlight . . .”
    I pluck a handful of berries off a nearby bush and crush them on top of her head. She giggles, wiping off the juice that drips down her nose.
    “Those berries are overripe.” Natalang waves her forefinger at me. “Now be quiet, Uido, and listen. You need to learn more about boys.”
    I shake my head and try to mimic her voice. “Not boys again!”
    She ignores me and fills me in on the gossip about the new ra-gumul boys who have entered the bachelor hut and which girls she thinks they like.
    She goes on and on, and I stop listening.
    We return to the village at dusk, my spirit as heavy as my full basket. I see Danna approaching from the opposite direction, waving a net bag full of fish. “Uido! Natalang!” he calls out.
    Natalang runs over and blows her breath across his face in greeting. “What a large catch! Who helped you get so many?”
    “All thanks to Biliku-waye and Pulug-ame,” Danna says, but his cheeks redden with pleasure at Natalang’s compliment. “What have you two brought back for us?” He slips Natalang’s bag off her plump shoulder. “Now, that is heavy.”
    “Not as heavy as Uido’s bag. Do you want to see what she has?” Natalang gives Danna a knowing smile.
    My face grows warm with embarrassment. But Danna replies without any shyness in his voice, “I do want to speak to her alone.”
    “You have secrets to tell Uido?” Natalang pushes her lips into an overdone pout. For a moment I am afraid she is truly annoyed to be left out. But she bursts out laughing.
    “Go on, both of you.” She makes kissing noises as Danna and I walk away into the evening shadows that darken the jungle.
    We slip behind the stout black trunk of a moro - ta tree. I rest my back against its rough bark.
    “Did you talk with Lah-ame?” Danna asks.
    “He asked if I wanted to learn how to be an oko-jumu!”
    Danna’s broad grin widens. “Uido, our spiritual guide. I always knew you were special.”
    “You would not stop being my friend if I said yes?”
    “Why would you think that?” His smile disappears and he sounds hurt.
    “When I tried to talk about the Otherworld with Natalang, she would not listen. And she thinks it is strange that I care about Lah-ame’s stories.”
    “I am not Natalang.”
    “But Danna, it worries me that Lah-ame has no family. Or close friends, even. All the other men go hunting in groups—but he leaves early every morning to pray on the cliffs. In the evenings, though he is with us, he starts the fire by himself and hardly speaks to the other elders while he eats.”
    Danna grasps my hand. “Nothing will stop me from being your best friend. And yes, Lah-ame is often alone, but that does not mean every oko-jumu’s life is similar to his. He has told us stories about other spiritual guides— men, and even women, who married and had children. Surely you can be more like them.”
    I nod, pleased that