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CENTRIPETAL “How about I give you a head start down the hill so you can tell everyone; so it doesn’t look like you were napping when you were supposed to be watching the road, ok?” I winked at him and watched the shock fade from his face and the toothy smile come back. He rushed past me in a blur. “Oh, Mendel?” He stopped in his tracks then turned back his small body pulled tight, ready to run screaming down the hill. “Has anyone else come down the road today? Or maybe yesterday?” My sister’s son rocked back and forth on his heels— smile still shining on his face. “Ya. Another man: big, tall, he didn’t say much though. When I told him that I was waiting for my Uncle he patted me on the head and started walking off toward the cliffs. Says, “Mister there’s nothing up there but the Ruins’. When I did, he said ‘ I know’.” Mendel turned to rush away again, and then stopped a second time to add: “He wanted me to tell you that he’d be waiting for you when you were done.” He stopped one last time “Are you sure you’re really my uncle Cerric?” “Yes son.” I said, feeling cold dread washing over me. The spring sun didn’t feel as warm anymore and as I watched him sprint over the grassy hill, I could feel fate pulling, shifting around him. If I looked hard enough, I knew I’d see his future, his wife and children. Or I’d see the sword that would kill him. When I was alone on top of the hill overlooking my childhood home, I dared one long look up into the fogclogged cliffs, obscuring the ruins that Dymas and I had played in as children. “Thank you, Mas,” I whispered to the cliffs. “for these last few hours with my family-since you wouldn’t let me have my own. I haven’t forgotten the promise I made you. I