{"id":4021,"date":"2020-11-06T15:40:42","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T15:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/?p=4021"},"modified":"2020-11-06T15:40:42","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T15:40:42","slug":"bubers-basque-story-part-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/2020\/11\/06\/bubers-basque-story-part-26\/","title":{"rendered":"Buber’s Basque Story: Part 26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOk, Marina,\u201d said Maite as she and Kepa walked back to their mysterious new friend, hand in hand. \u201cWhat now?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you going to help me?\u201d asked Marina warily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBai, noski!\u201d answered Kepa, the excitement clear in his voice. \u201cTell us what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEskerrik asko!\u201d replied Marina, a smile dancing on her lips. \u201cI hoped I could count on you two. And, to be honest, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d do if you\u2019d said no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buber’s Basque Story is a weekly serial. While it is a work of fiction, it has elements from both my own experiences and stories I’ve heard from various people. The characters, while in some cases inspired by real people, aren’t directly modeled on anyone in particular. I expect there will be inconsistencies and factual errors. I don’t know where it is going, and I’ll probably forget where it’s been. Why am I doing this? To give me an excuse and a deadline for some creative writing and because I thought people might enjoy it. Gozatu!<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome back and ask again?\u201d said Maite. \u201cHow do we know you haven\u2019t asked us a hundred times already, if we would just forget if you were here before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYeah, like that movie, Groundhog Day!\u201d exclaimed Kepa. \u201cMaybe you\u2019ve been here trying to get us to say yes, asking us in a million different ways until you got it just right and we said yes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think getting you out of that baserri and away from that television alone will be worth it,\u201d muttered Maite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI guess you wouldn\u2019t know,\u201d answered Marina with a shrug. \u201cAll you can do is trust me.\u201d As if to emphasize the point, she held out the two zatiak that were still floating above the palm of each hand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa looked at Maite, the excitement beaming from his eyes, as he reached out for the zatiak in Marina\u2019s left hand. Maite reached out to grab his hand. \u201cElkarrekin,\u201d she said. \u201cTogether.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kepa nodded as he held Maite\u2019s hand. \u201cElkarrekin.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Together, they reached out with their free hand and each grabbed one of the zatiak in unison. They both suddenly went rigid as light poured from the zatiak into their hands and down their arms, coursing along their blood vessels as it weaved around their bones, through their muscles, and throughout their bodies. They both glowed as the light infused each of them. They each let out a silent scream, the light bursting forth from their eyes, their ears, and their open mouths. Marina looked away, shielding her eyes, as they became literal bodies of light, brighter than the afternoon sun that hung above them. Maite watched as Kepa mouthed \u201cEderra. Beautiful.\u201d The intensity of the light grew exponentially until, with a flash, it was gone. Maite and Kepa stood there, looking like they had before, but with a strange new twinkle in their eyes. Both of their faces were flush with wonder and excitement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat was amazing,\u201d Kepa said in a whisper. \u201cI think I saw where and when all of the zatiak are, but only briefly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw it too,\u201d said Maite, her voice barely audible. \u201cI didn\u2019t really believe\u2026\u201d she began as her voice trailed off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite looked at her free hand, the one that had picked up the zatiak. It was empty. \u201cNon?\u201d she asked. \u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is inside of you now, part of you,\u201d replied Marina. \u201cIts power is your power. And, what better way of hiding it from de Lancre, than to hide it within yourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maite just shook her head. \u201cIt\u2019s all so incredible\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marina smiled. \u201cI know it is a lot, and I appreciate the trust you placed in me. There is still a lot to learn, but for the moment, it is time to rest. Head back down to the town. I think you both could use a bit of txikiteo. I suspect Ainhoa and your other friends will be waiting for you.\u201d Marina winked at them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cOk, Marina,\u201d said Maite as she and Kepa walked back to their mysterious new friend, hand in hand. \u201cWhat now?\u201d \u201cAre you going to help me?\u201d asked Marina warily. \u201cBai, noski!\u201d answered Kepa, the excitement clear in his voice. \u201cTell us what we need to do.\u201d \u201cEskerrik asko!\u201d replied Marina, a smile dancing on her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/Artboard-1.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-12R","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4021"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4022,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4021\/revisions\/4022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}