Silver Linings [Fiction]

Youthful, tough and full of herself, Ciara waylaid Onaho, the seer, on his way home. He stopped with a mischievous glint, knowing what the young twelve-year-old would ask him. Just like most of their people did anytime they saw him.

"Are you having a good day, my lady Ciara?"

"Yes, sir. But I'll have a better one if you tell me what you see, eh, about my future."

Onaho tilted his head, a sombre look etched on his face. "He'll be the brightest star in your night sky but watch out for your kin," he said.

Ciara gazed at the seer, mouth agape. She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

"What? Not what you wanted to hear?" Onaho laughed, patted her head gently and walked away. He frowned because the foretelling was unexpected. He'd wanted to say something funny to the child when his visions opened up in a blink. His gift required him to relay the exact message without holding anything back. He shook his head and hoped the girl would take it seriously.

Ciara deemed Onaho's prophecy a romantic fluff and dismissed it. She'd hoped for predictions of wealth and popularity.

======

Ciara carefully separated the stacked boxes in their shed and placed them on the floor. When she'd received the call that Amara, her disabled sister, was hospitalised from a terrible fall, she packed a bag and travelled back to their hometown.

She'd been meaning to visit for the past twelve years but the tragedy that drove her away was still fresh in her mind, casting a long shadow over her return. Her family must come first. Their parents had passed and Amara was her only living sibling.

She began to search for the test results her sister needed. A test she'd done some years back that could aid the hospital in their treatment of her fall. Just as she was reading through some documents, a box fell from the shelf, startling her. The contents spilled on the floor and a small suede box rolled out.

Ciara froze in taut silence. The blue suede box looked familiar—the cause of the tragedy that sent her away from their hometown.

She crouched, picked up the box and slowly opened it. Her head denied what her heart already knew. Ciara gasped as the gold ring sparkled, like a playful wink from the universe.

Madu's grandmother's ring.

She took the documents and the suede box and hurried out of the house. Her reunion with Amara was not going as she'd hoped. Getting to the hospital, she barged into her sister's room, her face tight with fury, ready to barrage her with many questions. Instead, she froze by the door.

Madu stood beside a frail, coughing Amara, taking her pulse. Tall and dressed in a doctor's robe, he'd changed a bit. He was still as handsome but grey hairs had begun to grow from his temple. In a few more years, he would have a silver fox look.

She quickly hid the suede box behind her.

He glanced up and they gazed at each other. "It's good to see you, Ciara. Do you have the papers?"

Ciara gave a curt nod and extended the papers to him with the other hand. She didn't know what she'd expected but not this cold formality from her ex-fiancé.

Amara coughed some more, drawing her attention away with a pleading look.

"Excuse me, ladies. I'll be back shortly," Madu said and left the room.

"Before you say anything," Amara raised a bony hand, "please hear me out. I didn't mean for you to find out like this. I'd planned to come see you in the city and then the accident happe—"

"You've always been full of lies, Amara! You stole the ring. Why?" Ciara whispered harshly. Amara began to cry.

"It was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I missed our parents and if you'd married him, I would be alone. I didn't want you to leave me. I was going to give it back but—"

Ciara was already pacing the room. "It's Madu's grandmother's ring! He believed I lost it. That I didn't care enough to respect his family's valuables and keep it safe. You broke us up!"

"I'm so sorry dear sister…"

"After all these years, Amara. How could you?"

Amara had a fearful look on her face. The beeping sounds from the machines beside her bed were getting loud. She gasped, "Please, don't leave me…" when Madu strode into the room with a nurse.

He frowned a little at Ciara. "Whatever this is, it can wait until your sister is better," he scolded. Ciara scoffed and walked out of the room.

She sat in the waiting room until Madu came to sit beside her with a deep sigh. "Amara is resting now. Will you come with me to my office? We need to talk. I guess she told you about the ring?"

They couldn't take their eyes off each other. Hope and disbelief warred in Ciara's. "You knew all along?" She whispered.

Madu shook his head. "She confessed to me the night she was brought into the emergency ward. She had plans to travel to the city, to see you. While using the ladder in the shed, she fell and hurt her back. I was in a state of shock. My colleague had to attend to her."

It wasn't until the tears touched her lips before Ciara realised she'd been crying. For the lost years and lost love. Then the seer's prophecy flooded her memory sharply, like the universe's way of saying "I told you so".

He'd just proposed and she accepted and wore his ring. Then the following day, the ring disappeared. All of her and Amara's efforts to find it proved abortive. He got angry that she had no regard for his family and their heirloom. Then they broke up.

Madu sighed. "We were young, I was hotheaded and foolish. I feel even more so now that I know the truth of what happened to my grandmother's ring. I didn't know you were coming until Amara told me a few minutes before your arrival. Imagine my shock."

"You seemed calm to me like it was nothing—"

He grabbed her hands in his. "It's not nothing, Ciara. I'm not sure my apology will ever make up for how it all went down years ago. Will you forgive me?"

"I have. Many years ago. It's like I'm dreaming."

"Thank you. Will you have dinner with me after Amara gets better? I want us to start over again. Your sister tells me you're single and so am I."

The couple held onto each other, talking and chuckling, while the world continued to carry on around them. It was as though they had never been separated.