"There must be a mistake!" Stella demanded. "How can this be?"

"Maybe it is. Maybe there's something else in there that explains it." Gabriel scrambled forward to look at the scroll again. "How about we set this up and read from the beginning? Or....You read, cuz I can't read this language." He took the scroll and rolled it up. "When was this from?'"

Stella didn't answer. She sat in a slump breathing heavy.

"Stella. It's not THAT upsetting. Get a grip and let's look for answers." Gabriel gave Stella a little shake.

Stella looked at him. "I'm not upset. I think it would be, rather, interesting. I'm confused. And.....You're right. We will need to start from the beginning." Stella started to open the rolls of paper.

It appeared, to Stella, that there was a roll for every year of her first eighteen years. They had lined them up chronologically on the ground. Stella picked up the first one, the one of her transferrence, or birth. She began to read it.

Gabriel sat quietly. He assumed she'd read out loud, then assumed she'd read out the important parts. After a short while, he gave up. "Alright, so what's it say?"

Stella looked at him. "I'm sorry. Here, let me show you." She layed the paper on the ground.

Gabriel looked at it. There was a picture of a dark, dead tree, a woman was in the tree.

"It says that my people....My mother.....Had come across a dead tree in the forest. She thought it was strange because it was the only dead thing. It says that she had heard the sounds of a baby but couldn't find one. She had approached the tree and learned the baby's cry was coming from the tree. She clawed at the dead bark and found a cavity within the tree. Inside lay a baby."

"See?" Gabriel interrupted. "You were born from a tree after all."

Stella looked at Gabriel. She gave him a hard look as if to say 'shut up!'

Gabriel stuck both hands in the air.

"The young woman had pulled the baby from the tree and swaddled her in her wool cape. She had walked away from the tree and the baby stopped crying. When the woman turned to look at the tree, she seen a woman's face in it. She was able to see some form of a woman in the tree and that she turned into smoke and blew away. The woman wasn't sure if that woman was the mother of the child or if she was watching over her."

"What does it say about the woman?" Gabriel interrupted.

"The woman, my mother, had brought the baby back to her tribe. The tribe had been afraid of the baby. They didn't see what the woman saw. They seen a creature of unknown origin. A creature that was both human and an element. But my mother had seen an innocent baby. She fought for the child and the chief had allowed her to keep her."

"Wow." Gabriel interrupted. "What else does it say about half-n-half baby?"

Stella sighed. "You're not very good at listening."

Gabriel stuck his hands up again.

"There were conditions to keeping the baby. The woman had to do everything she could to keep the baby from being known. She had to ensure the child had what she needed to survive. She had to protect the baby with her life, as she would her own children. The tribe was to help her with this. The chief had appointed a scholar. He was to watch the baby grow and take notes. Try to discover all they could about her. The chief had felt it best to have an outsider involved to help with protection of this baby. They needed someone who knew of and understood magic. Someone who wasn't afraid of the unknown. The chief had appointed a scout. He was to keep an eye on outsiders and see who was capable of being the outside protector. When the baby cried, the tears hardened to a bright rock. The tribespeople had seen this rock before and witnessed outsiders fighting for it. Killing for it. The chief decided to appoint a treasurer. This person was to keep track of the tears and the notes the scholar made. He was to keep them well hidden and an inventory. Every tribesperson's job had changed. The life they lived with the earth had become a life they lived with the child. We, the tribesmen, had to learn a new way of hunting and fishing. We had to learn a new way to survive. The tribewomen had to learn a new way to gather and create. And we all had to learn how live in solace. Because we were cursed with the being of this wretched creature who disguised as a baby. We were shunned to be alone."

Gabriel listened quietly.

Stella took a long break from reading. After a few minutes she snapped her eyes to Gabriel. "Now you say nothing?"

"Hey, you wanted me quiet."

"Something could be said now." Stella said. She became very solemn.

"I'm sorry you're learning about yourself this way. I'm sure it's hard for you to read about the unacceptance."

"I did what I didn't want to do. I destroyed my family's lives." Stella pouted.

"No. They didn't know what you were. They didn't know what you were capable of. You were nothing they've ever seen before. If anything, you did them a favour. Besides, this is only the beginning of your story."

"I don't understand."

"There's eighteen years of notes sitting right here." Gabriel gestured to all the scrolls on the ground. "Things can change. Keep reading. It may get better."

"I changed everything. They hated me."

"You were a baby. You didn't know a thing yourself. That's nothing to hate yourself for." Gabriel tried to be supportive. But he found himself to be getting impatient.

Stella sighed. It was difficult for her. But she had to keep reading. If they were going to figure her out, they had to know what these scrolls held. She took a deep breath.

"The chief had said that he was going to think of a new way to live and teach us. He said that they will need to leave. They lived in this territory for generations and, now, because of this creature, they had to leave. The chief had appointed two more scouts. They were to go searching for a new land. A new home for them to live. The chief had given them instructions, and they left. The chief had left some things silent. And some things we discussed as a tribe. During one of the tribe meetings, a fight happened. Half of the tribe wanted to kill the child. She was dangerous to everyone. Half of the tribe wanted to protect the girl. They believed she was too small to cause any real harm. The negative half said that was the problem. The child didn't know better and could bring dangers. The positive half said they could raise her and train her and she would learn to be a family member. In the end it was the chief's decision. He decided to keep the child and raise her as theirs. He believed that the way the child came had meaning. There was no sound until my mother went near the tree. The tree was dead so that she could pull away the bark to rescue her. And the woman of vapour hadn't attacked, she left. The chief took all of this and decided it best to keep the child and no one was to harm her." Stella sighed.

"What is it?" Gabriel asked.

"It's just that...." Stella thought. She shook her head. "I don't know."

"Hey!" Gabriel's voice deepened. "Now's not the time to get depressed. You remember your life, the last forty years. It wasn't terrible. Your people did look after you and whoever didn't love you then, learned to love you over time. Get your head out of that rain cloud and focus on what we're doing here."

Stella nodded. "It says a few moons later, the scouts looking for a new home hadn't returned. The chief was worried. The scout looking for an outside protector hadn't returned, either. The people thought that they had gone back to the earth. Over this time, the chief had found a strange magic. He said he wanted us to be in hiding, and so he brought home Iyáqt Slhá:lí. This woman possessed the power to transform into another being. She taught the tribespeople how to use magic and change beings. It wasn't always easy. A boy who had just gone through his changing ceremony, his first days as a man, had made a mistake. He used too much magic and turned himself into water. The people couldn't understand what happened." Stella paused.

"What are you thinking?" Gabriel asked.

Stella shook her head. "Even though he had become water, he couldn't turn back to a man, he still lived. The water had moved like a serpent. It responded to any who spoke to him. And through the water, they could still see his tears. The tribeswomen had tried to cradle him but the water ran over their arms. They tried to touch him, but their hands went through his body. All the tribeswomen cried. Iyáqt Slhá:lí tried everything she knew to help him. But she couldn't. The chief ordered the women to make a basket. A special basket that was covered with resin to hold the young man in."

"Wait a minute. You said 'changing ceremony'." Gabriel interrupted.

Stella nodded.

"What is that?"

"It's a ceremony that all young men and women go through when they become men and women."

"Is that their first hunt or gather?"

"No. When their bodies mature."

Gabriel leaned back, stunned. "Puberty?! He was just a boy." He gasped.

Stella nodded. "On their twelfth spring, they go through the ceremony. Once they've gone through the ceremony, they can do more. More work, more responsibilities, different food to eat. They can take part in most of the ceremonies. Before that, they were kept as children. Bland foods, ate only fish and roots, some fruits, water. They were able to attend the honouring ceremonies and naming but not any of the others. They were only to play and discover things. No work." Stella explained.

"So when they turned twelve, they were able to fish?"

Stella nodded. "Yes. They learned to hunt and fish. They were allowed to eat meat other than fish. They were able to learn about other ceremonies and were given jobs for them. From their twelfth to eighteenth spring, they were to discover what they were capable of. What they were meant to be and do."

"And what after the eighteenth year?"

"They did what they were meant to do. Medicinemen spent their six years wanting to learn about plants and their powers. They learned how to use them to heal people. Fishers had loved the river and swam in it to gain strength and to better understand the currents. Weavers learned how to gather what they needed and spent a lot of time in the woods."

Gabriel looked at Stella in a new light. She seemed calm about this for the moment.

"What else does it say?" Gabriel encouraged.

"The weavers had to work with Iyáqt Slhá:lí to make the basket. Iyáqt Slhá:lí had put a spell on the basket so that it may safely hold the young man. She placed the spell on every strip of cedar the weaver used and every pinch of resin. It took three nights to make this basket. When the basket was complete, they went to the pool of water and laid the basket down on its side. The water, the young man, had poured itself into the basket. The weaver had picked up the basket and put a lid on top. The chief ordered a ceremony. The tribespeople were to honour the life of the young man as if he went back to the earth. Then honour him again as if he were reborn. He was given a new name. S'ó:lmexw."

"Hey!! Isn't that what you said those mermaids were called?" Gabriel asked. He almost seemed like a child listening to a bedtime story.

Stella nodded. "Yes. That's what my family told me they were called."

Gabriel nodded. Like he was proud he discovered something but tried to be humble about it. He gestured to Stella for her to continue reading.

"Iyáqt Slhá:lí stayed with the tribe. She continued to teach the people how to transform. There were fewer mistakes made. And the mistakes that were made were easily corrected. Iyáqt Slhá:lí still didn't know what happened to S'ó:lmexw, but she vowed she would spend the rest of her life trying to fix it." Stella sighed. She felt sad for the boy. She felt that it was her fault.

"Keep reading." Gabriel urged insensitively.

"Another season had passed. The scouts hadn't returned. Nearly all of the tribespeople were able to transform into frogs. Iyáqt Slhá:lí said she wouldn't leave until everyone could control their new power and transform into any creature. Temxéytl' was coming. The tribespeople had to split their duties while they learned. The men had learned how to weave and gather and the women learned how to hunt and fish. All had to take part to protect the baby. The woman who found her had made a lot of baskets. She felt the baby's tears needed to be kept hidden. She had gone back to the dead tree and gathered all of the rock tears out of the trunk and stashed them in a basket. She had asked the treasurer to keep them safe with the notes. She had filled a great many baskets in her first year." Stella straightened her back to stretch.

"Is that it??" Gabriel asked.

"No. There a bit more. During Temxéytl' the tribespeople had moved into a pithouse. The baby was unsettled. She wouldn't stop crying. The woman had...."

"Okay. Wait." Gabriel interrupted. "You keep saying 'The woman'. That's your mother that you called your grandmother, right?"

"Yes."

"Does it say 'The woman' in there?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because when you're born, you're not given a name until the family understands your..." Stella waved her finger around in the air. "Your....Person? Being?" She seemed a little lost.

"Character?" Gabriel offered. "Personality?"

Stella looked at him questioningly.

"It's what makes you you. I come off, as you put it, aggressive."

"Yes. We name our children to what they are. When they become men and women, they gain new names. The same name but for an older person. Then, once they've become who they're meant to be, they gain a new name to identify with it."

"Like the boy who became water. His name was changed to...Water Person??"

Stella chuckled. "Something like that."

"So why wasn't your mom given a new name yet?"

"Because they didn't find a name that suited her new role."

"Oh." Gabriel leaned his head back in an attempt to nod. He frowned instead.

Stella smiled. "The woman had made fifteen baskets that were filled in the first six nights. The chief had taken the girl and cradled her. He started to mumble a story in her ear. The baby stopped crying. The tribespeople continued to tell stories through Temxéytl' to help calm the child. It was the only way she stopped crying. The woman was finally able to sleep. The girl didn't. She continued to fuss. The medicineman had looked at the baby. He didn't know what he could offer since she was half element. Iyáqt Slhá:lí looked over the baby as well. Only stories would settle her for a short time. And the tribespeople were worried about running out of stories to tell."

"That's why they kept telling you only stories. Everything you learned growing up." Gabriel concluded.

"It does make sense." Stella agreed. "There's no more." She rolled up the paper and put it back in the basket.

"Next one." Gabriel said.

"No. We must eat. We spent a lot of time searching and reading. We rest for now."

Gabriel couldn't hide his disappointment. He sighed, but agreed with Stella. He got up and went to grab his backpack with the fish inside.

Stella sat quietly. Her people had gone through a rough time since she was brought here. She wanted to continue reading but she was getting a little tired from hunger.

Gabriel came back and handed Stella one of the leaf-wrapped fish and sat down. He took out the other one and started to untie the twine. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Stella opened her fish and took a bite.

Gabriel unwrapped the leaves from his and began to eat. They sat together silently eating, thinking about what they just learned about Stella. Gabriel was excited to learn more.