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shivered; her extra sense told her something momentous was about to happen. Compelled by a force beyond volition, she looked into the skyand, as she watched, everything changed. The stars of the constellations were suddenly spaced a little too far apart, as though someone had drawn a spoon gently through the usual flour-sprinkling of lights and skewed them just a bit. |
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There was more. There was a feeling of sadness, of loneliness mirroring her own, of longing and undefined need that seemed somehow to belong to someone else. She heard a mournful sighingthe wind? Yet all was still. She reached up as if trying to touch the stars, then dropped her hand to her side. Her own fears and sorrows felt overshadowed by similar, yet different, emotions to hersexcept, all at once, there was anger. It would have frightened Abby, but it was tempered by so much despair that she ached to comfort the person whose emotions she sensed. |
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Suddenly a strange growling caught her attention, and she looked toward the eastern sky. A great bird made the noise, gliding swiftly toward the west without flapping its wings. The sky was too dark for Abby to make out any more than its large, soaring shape. It appeared to carry a lantern in its mouth and on each wing, all flickering evenly. |
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Abby called softly, "Wait!" But the large bird continued on. If only it could pick up the dehydrated travelers and carry them from this terrible place! As it disappeared from her sight, the stars returned to where they belongedand the |
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