Zel (24 page)

*   *   *

Zel takes Hélène by one hand, Eve by the other. She walks up the road toward the horse that is Meta. Her feet move more swiftly toward the bird that is Pigeon Pigeon. And now she lets the children’s hands go free, for she runs toward the man who is Konrad, the man who dismounts and holds his arms open and runs toward her, surefooted in blindness.

*   *   *

I touch the world. I have no powers anymore. I feel as though with a lover’s heart.

*   *   *

Konrad’s heart beats slow in this moment, for there is no rush. Now, finally, he has found her, and he has found his children, and there is no rush, for they have all eternity to love one another.

*   *   *

And she is kissing him and he is kissing her and the tears she has held back for five years, the tears that I knew could transform the moment, the tears that had to be saved for the right moment to transform, now come streaming down and drop on the face of the man whose head is cradled in the woman’s arms. Zel’s tears fall in Konrad’s eyes, hot and salty and full of life. He blinks them in, absorbs them; they are now his own tears, and, yes, he can see.

And they see each other and, yes, oh, yes, we are happy.

D
ONNA
J
O
N
APOLI
teaches linguistics and is the author of several novels for middle graders and young adults, including
The Bravest Thing; The Prince of the Pond; Jimmy, the Pickpocket of the Palace; When the Water Closes Over My Head; The Magic Circle
(an ALA Best Book for Young Adults); and, most recently,
Stones in Water.
She lives in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, with her family.

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