Bedtime Tale: Andi Mone

"Tell me a story about the Fortuna, Papa!" The small girl crawled under her blanket. The wind outside was picking up as evening turned to a rough and roguish night. "Tell me about the girl again! Or...Or about the bear men! Or about—"

"Hush now, child," her father said, giving a chortle as he sat on the edge of her bed. "You'll get your story as soon as you're settled in." The man wore a thick, curly beard streaked with grey. He pulled out a roughly carved pipe, filled it, and lit it as his daughter turned out her lights.

"Ready, Papa!" she squealed. Her father chuckled, tamped his pipe, breathed in deeply and let out a plume of thick white smoke.

"Alright, child. Here is a story of the skies."

"The Fortuna!"

"Not tonight, child, not tonight. Tonight I have a story for you from the outer ring. Now, did your mother teach you where you are?"

"Ummm..." The young girl drew a circle in the air with her fingers. After a few seconds calculation, she recited, "I live in Amies, midsky, Jacknow. Jacknow is now, um...Hila? And that’s right of the Dalaam, and left of Ferra, on the outer rim."

Her father laughed, "Very good, child, though west and east are better than left and right. Now, what territory is farthest from us on the outer rim?"

"Ummm..."

" South West on the spiral, Love. use your mother's teaching." The man watched as his daughter moved her fingers through the air, tracing the lines and regions of the skies.

"Aunty Money!" she exclaimed, slapping her hands on her lap.

"Close enough," her father laughed. "Andi Mone. This is a story from the edge of the spiral child, from the edge of the skies..."