Chapter 11
The Stone
It was morning and the two girls were running inside the house in a rush. When Matilda was in the restroom, Pat would yell ‘come on out, I’m about to pee under my panths!’, and when Matilda came out and Pat went in, Matilda would soon find herself in front of the bathroom door yelling; ‘come on, I have to put on my makeup and leave the house!’.
Cali, used to being the center of attention in all this hustle and bustle, thought it was a good opportunity to focus on his hidden agenda , so he sneaked into Matilda’s room.
He took out the box he had taken from Manga Shanga, which he had hidden among the feathers on his belly. When he opened the box, a great light burst out and then disappeared. Cali tore the inner lining of Matilda’s handbag and placed the shiny stone in the box.
‘What are you doing there Cali?!???’
Startled by the sound, Cali realized he had been busted. He turned around and looked at Matilda with great fear. Then he made a meow sound in the most pitiful way possible.
Matilda’s expression suddenly changed and gave way to great compassion.
‘Dear Cali, there is no food in my bag… Are you very hungry, my sweety pie?. Follow me, I’ll feed you some wet cat food,’.
Cali followed her.
Deep in the forest, in her humble hermitage made of tree branches, Manga Shanga was lost in thought. It was the first time her daughter had ever seen Manga Shanga, whom she was used to seeing stirring herbs in the fire for her spells, with an expression of perpetual concentration, or in deep meditation.
Manga Shanga’s daughter Elenora asked, ‘why are you so thoughtful?’ Manga Shanga replied, ‘everyone comes here with an expectation. I look at their destiny and accept only those with a higher mission. ‘You never shared this with me before,’ Elenora said, surprised that she was used to her mother being a vault. ‘No, I haven’t, because this time something happened that surprised me.
‘What happened? Elenora asked in a curious way.
She sighed, ‘Those who come to me, often come without knowing that they have been chosen for a higher purpose and that is their destiny. But usually they always want something to fulfill that purpose and they don’t realize it. This is something that can help them to become heroes, but this time it was different.
‘In what way?’ Elenora asked
‘For the first time someone wanted something for someone else, not for themselves.
Elenora opened her eyes in surprise ‘Really?’
‘Yes. Normally everyone has the right to visit me once. But they don’t know that the rule is; that is if they ask for something for themselves. If they use this privilidge for someone else, that means act in a sacrifial way, you get a second visit. So I will see him again.”
She did not share the rest with Elenora. Shee continued an internal conversation with herself.
‘I was told that when something like this happens I should share it with the Grand Committee. But my gut tells me not to do that. For the first time in my life I feel lost,’ she thought, then she looked at the shelf with luminous stones situated side by side in perfection. The one she had given to Cali was immediately noticeable missing.
Manga Shanga went outside, picked up a stone from the ground, held it in his strong palm, looked up at the sky and whispered a mantra and words in a different language over and over to herself, When she opened her palm and looked at it, the stone began to glow.She put the stone on the shelf replacing the missing one.
Matilda felt different than ever when she went to work. From the moment she entered the building and swiped her card at the turnstile, the way everyone looked at her changed.
The always surly receptionist at the door greeted her warmly and opened her door, and when she got into the elevator, the young assistant inside gave her an interested stare. Thinking ‘I must have snot on my nose’, Matilda took a mirror out of her bag and checked, but everything was normal.
When she arrived on the floor of the company where she worked, Henry Stabler, who seemed to be engrossed in the conversation of the group of women who usually formed a circle around him and ate donuts together, turned to her for the first time and said ‘Good morning’.
Matilda mumbled and fumbled. She adjusted her glasses, said ‘Good morning’ in a worried voice, and ran to the restroom.
After splashing water on her face, she looked at herself in the mirror and asked herself, ‘What did just happen?’
