Problem-Solver surveyed the gathering, and when
she was satisfied that none would touch the babe, she
turned back to it. Rebirth had finished his portion of the
ritual and stood back for Problem-Solver. She stepped up
to the corpse and gingerly picked through the slippery
innards until she found the child’s sloppy red heart. Using
her beak as a scalpel, she carefully extracted it from the
body, and held it up triumphantly in her red stained beak.
As the crowd of animals beheld the heart in
Problem-Solver’s beak they turned their heads towards the
skies and cried aloud, allowing their voices to echo off the
walls, calling forth for the completion of the Agreement.
Problem-Solver leapt into the air, flying up towards
the top of the canyon and the currents that would take her
to the secret place where the Agreement could be finalized
once again. As she climbed, she saw the rangers and the
little girl’s father rushing down into the canyon, to retrieve
her body. As she watched them descend, she could not
help but notice something seep from a hole in the side of
the rim, an oozy, dark substance that dripped slowly only
to congeal on the canyon wall. Problem-Solver felt a cold
shiver run through her. There were innards in these
canyon walls. Innards Problem-Solver had hoped never to
see.
Fueled by the image, Problem-Solver turned away
from the canyon and rose into the sky. Upon reaching the
current she soared towards a peak close to the other rim,
flying to the sound of the animals’ calls below.
14
They called to wake it, for even gods must slumber.