Introduction - Prologue
Once upon a time, she met a girl who carried with her a jar of sand. The girl told her it was a reminder of sound, of sight, of old times, but that was before the girl had disappeared. Before the girl had dropped the sand and in the cloud of it that billowed up, vanished, and although the cloud cleared quickly, the girl was gone within a heartbeat. Some said the girl was a witch, a sorcerer, evil. She thought not. The girl had had skin the colour of burnt sugar and honey, her eyes like nothing she’d seen before, one tawny gold, the other a striking electric blue and amber, yet both were so dark and curious, as if you could see her soul trying to escape through them. But this story is not about the girl with the sand, its about the Other Girl, the girl who meets this strange girl with the sand, the Other Girl and her journey, the girl who’s perspective is which this story is told, and it’s about a far-off world, one with strange dynamics and people who are absorbed in their heads, hearing nothing but their own voice and the birdsong, invisible to everyone.
