Moving to the dessert was the worst. My mom had said “it was what was passed down to us.” But I refused that. I didn’t want to stay here. I didn’t want to be out here. There was nothing but bugs, snakes, sometimes animals, my mom, my grandma and the sand.

When grandpa died, we moved here to help grandma. We were uprooted from our tiny, uppity town in Boston and taken to the middle of nowhere Arizona. I had to switch schools and leave all my friends behind. My mom said it was good for me to learn our culture, whatever that means.

“It’s time for you to see what we come from, young tutu.” My grandma called me tutu, but my real name was Talullah. Yes, a terrible name. To my friends and teachers I was Jane, which was my middle name. My mom said she named me after a book, but I have yet to find this said book.

We had been here almost a month and school was due to begin in 2 weeks time. I haven’t met anyone or made any friends, so I was not looking forward to it. I laid on my bed staring at the ceiling and blaring the new Adele album through my AirPods so I didn’t hear my grandma come in.

Tap tap tap.

“Jesus, grandma. You gave me a heart attack!”

She stood by the side of my bed just smiling at me in a creepy gaze.

“Tonight is the night. Get dressed warm and come with me. We leave in an hour.”

An hour later, I emerged from my room dressed appropriately and hopped in grandmas car.

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, you’ll see!”

We drove for what seemed like forever and grandma pulled over.

“Now, we walk.”

“Oh, come on!”

She motioned for me to follow her so onward I trudged.

We climbed a small hill and at the top there was a hole leading to the inside of the hill. Grandma set her cane down by the opening and climbed in yelling, “Let’s go tutu. It’s a full moon and we don’t have much time!” I followed suit.

We got to the bottom and I was amazed! Inside this hill in the middle of nowhere was this beautiful bright pink fire! Just flickering away over a small pool of crystal blue water. Grandma walked over to the water, dipped both of her wrinkled hands into the puddle and blew the water onto the flame. It instantly swirled and twirled in the air! The color changed from a magenta to a calm yellow and orange color.

“Grandma, what is all this and why am I here?”

“Well, tutu, this is the flame of your ancestors. This flame holds the key to the powers that lie within you.”

“Powers? Like flying and stuff?”

She smiled with her eyes. I loved that about her. “No, no. Every woman in our bloodline has a gift. One that cannot be shared with anyone and must be kept sacred. Once you drink from this water, the flame will change to your color. If the color is dark, your power is strong. If the color is a lighter color, than it is weak. My powers are weak now because I’m am getting old. Your mothers were very strong at one point, but when she lost your father…well her powers started to dwindle with her spirit. It’s now your turn to drink and see how strong your powers can be, Tutu. You’re if she now to accept the responsibility.”

“But grandma, what is it?”

“Oh, each one is different and you have to figure it out on your own.”

“What’s yours and what’s moms?!”

“I can’t tell you those yet either. Once you have figured out yours, we can reveal what ours are. Until then, you’ll have to see. Now, drink.”

I walked up to the pool of water, dipped both my hands in and tilted my hands toward my mouth to drink the liquid. I backed up and watched as the flame did the same thing as before except this time the color changed to black. I looked over at my grandma who’s mouth was agape. She nodded her head and turned to leave.

“Is this a good color? Am I strong? Black is good, right?”

“I’m tired Tutu. Let’s go home and talk about this tomorrow.”

Something was wrong. What was she hiding?