A new anthology containing stories from:
- Saladin Ahmed (Throne of the Crescent Moon)
- Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn)
- Heather Brewer (Vladimir Tod series)
- Jim Butcher (Dresden Files series)
- Kami Garcia (Beautiful Creatures series)
- Nancy Holder (Wicked series)
- Gillian Philip (Rebel Angels series)
- Jane Yolen (Owl Moon)
Once there was a village
on an island that belonged to the Shark God. Every man in the village was a
fisherman, and the women cooked their catch and mended their nets and sails,
and painted their little boats. And because that island was sacred to him, the
Shark God saw to it that there were always fish to be caught, and seals as
well, in the waters beyond the coral reef, and protected the village from the
great gray typhoons that came every year to flood other lagoons and blow down
the trees and the huts of other islands. Therefore the children of the village
grew fat and strong, and the women were beautiful and strong, and the fishermen
were strong and high-hearted even when they were old.
In return for his
benevolence the Shark God asked little from his people: only tribute of a
single goat at the turn of each year. To the accompaniment of music and
prayers, and with a wreath of plaited fresh flowers around its neck, it would
be tethered in the lagoon at moonrise. Morning would find it gone, flower
petals floating on the water, and the Shark God never seen—never in that
form, anyway.
Now the Shark God could
alter his shape as he pleased, like any god, but he never showed himself on
land more than once in a generation. When he did, he was most often known to
appear as a handsome young man, light-footed and charming. Only one woman ever
recognized the divinity hiding behind the human mask. Her name was Mirali, and
this tale is what is known about her, and about her children.
Mirali’s parents were
already aging when she was born, and had long since given up the hope of ever
having a child—indeed, her name meant “the long-desired one.” Her father had
been crippled when the mast of his boat snapped during a storm and crushed his
leg, falling on him, and if it had not been for their daughter, the old
couple’s lives would have been hard indeed. Mirali could not go out with the
fishing fleet herself, of course—as she greatly wished to do, having loved the
sea from her earliest memory—but she did every kind of work for any number of
island families, whether cleaning houses, marketing, minding young children, or
even assisting the midwife when a birthing was difficult or there were simply
too many babies coming at the same time. She was equally known as a seamstress,
and also as a cook for special feasts; nor was there anyone who could mend a
pandanus-leaf thatching as quickly as she, though this is generally man’s work.
No drop of rain ever penetrated any pandanus roof that came under Mirali’s
hands.
Nor did she complain of
her labors, for she was very proud of being able to care for her mother and
father as a son would have done. Because of this, she was much admired and
respected in the village, and young men came courting just as though she were a
great beauty. Which she was not, being small and somewhat square-made, with
straight brows—considered unlucky by most—and hips that gave no promise of a
large family. But she had kind eyes, deep-set under those regrettable brows,
and hair as black and thick as that of any woman on the island. Many, indeed,
envied her; but of that Mirali knew nothing. She had no time for envy herself,
nor for young men, either.
Now it happened that
Mirali was often chosen by the village priest to sweep out the temple of the
Shark God. This was not only a grand honor for a child barely turned seventeen
but a serious responsibility as well, for sharks are cleanly in their habits,
and to leave his spiritual dwelling disorderly would surely be to dishonor and
anger the god himself. So Mirali was particularly attentive when she cleaned
after the worshippers, making certain that no prayer whistle or burned stick of
incense was left behind. And in this manner did the Shark God become aware of
Mirali.
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