Out of This World by Charles De Lint Page A

allowing us to speak with you.”
    I shake my head. “Guys, you’ve got me confused with someone else.”
    Manuel smiles. “I don’t think so. Might I ask with which Mountain Lion Clan you are affiliated?”
    â€œI’m not part of any clan.”
    He gives me a puzzled look.
    â€œI’m not like you,” I explain. “I wasn’t born into a, you know, clan or anything. One day I just got a mountain lion living under my skin.”
    Lara lays a hand upon her breast. “A miracle.”
    â€œI guess that’s one way to look at it.”
    â€œIt isn’t my intention to instruct you,” Manuel says, “but you do know that you and the mountain lion are one and the same? There is no end to one and beginning to the other.”
    I nod. “Yeah, I know that. Intellectually. I just find it helps me cope to think of him as a spirit living under my skin.”
    They look at me without comprehension.
    â€œForget it,” I say. “So how do you know about me?”
    â€œEvery cousin has heard the story by now,” Manuel says.
    â€œHow the Thunders sent the seed of the animal clans into agroup of five-fingered kits and one of them grew into the spirit of one of the old clans.”
    â€œAnd do the stories say why this happened?” I ask.
    Manuel smiles. “We are only small cousins. Why would the Thunders explain themselves to such as us?”
    â€œBut it means something,” Lara says. “It whispers in our hearts.”
    This kind of throws me. “What does your heart say?” I ask. She exchanges a glance with Manuel and something passes between them. It’s like when Marina and Des and I are in the zone, and we can communicate without speaking: an abrupt shift into another song during practice, all of us hitting the mark on the same beat. A look across the hall at school that tells a story nobody else can read. Riding our boards, the three of us turning sharp the way a flock of starlings do, all at the exact same time.
    â€œThat something’s going to change,” Lara answers, “and when it does, it’ll be better for everyone.”
    I’m not sure what that means.
    â€œAnd you think I’m a part of this?” I ask.
    Another glance at her mate.
    â€œWe know you are,” she says.
    I don’t believe her any more than I do anybody else who’s tried to tell me what my destiny is, but I don’t tell her that. There’s something so earnest about her, as though she thinks some big prophecy is coming true.
    I guess they read the disbelief in my face.
    â€œIf we’ve offended you …” Manuel begins.
    I wave that off. “It’s not that,” I tell him. “I just wish I knew what’s going on with as much conviction.”
    He nods. “Destiny is a knife with two blades and no handle. There’s no easy way to hold it. Some might say it’s better not to try to pick it up at all. But destiny doesn’t care what you think or believe. It will carve out your life for you regardless.”
    There’s a pleasant thought. But I don’t let it change the good feeling I get from these two.
    â€œWhy don’t you stay and talk for a bit?” I ask. “You could go ahead with your picnic.”
    â€œWe would be honoured to visit with you, sir, but we will wait until later to eat—unless you care to share our food?”
    I sigh. “No thanks. Any chance you could dial the ‘sirs’ down a little? I mean, I’m grateful for your respect and everything, but it’s nothing I earned. I’m just a kid with a big lion under his skin who’s trying to figure out what it all means.”
    Lara puts a hand to her lips. I can’t tell if she’s shocked or hiding a smile.
    â€œWe can try,” Manuel tells me, but he can’t hide the reverence in his eyes.
    I lead them over to our camp area. They stare at the two beds, two