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!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nLatxe led Kepa down the right fork. While she was hidden behind her robes, her voice was soft and gentle as she spoke. \u201cEverything will be alright. Olatz has kept us safe so far.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot all of us,\u201d mumbled Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe stopped, putting her hand on Kepa\u2019s shoulder. \u201cI know this is hard. I lost someone back there too. But we\u2019ll get them back. And it will all be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat will be worth it?\u201d replied Kepa. \u201cWhat are we trying to do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChange the system. Preserve our freedoms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI only just got here,\u201d said Kepa, \u201cbut it seems to me everyone up there -\u201d he pointed to the ceiling, indicating the masses of people he imagined swarming around on the ground above them \u201c- are happy. Do they want change?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe glanced up, as if she could see those people. \u201cSometimes, people don\u2019t know what is best for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut you do?\u201d asked Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe turned back to look at Kepa. She pulled off her hood. Kepa was shocked to see that her face was covered with a jagged scar that ran down from her forehead, down the bridge of her nose, and across her left cheek until it stopped at her lip. Her brown eyes trembled with emotion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t, to be honest. But what I do know is that things can\u2019t stay the way they are. Any voice that speaks out, that dares questions the way things are, is violently silenced.\u201d Latxe ran a finger along her scar. \u201cI got this during a raid on my parents\u2019 apartment, when I was barely a teen. My parents were advocates for change, for the freedom to question the way things were. They wrote articles and even appeared on the feed a few times. But, they got too big, I guess. The government burst in and took them, leaving this as a reminder when I tried to get in the way. I haven\u2019t seen them since.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kepa just stammered. \u201cI\u2019m so\u2026 sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe sighed. \u201cAll I\u2019m saying is that, while the people think they are happy, it\u2019s only because they follow the lanes set by the government. Any time anyone questions what lane they are in, or what direction they are going, the government is there to stop them. And, if that power gets in the wrong hands\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cZalazar,\u201d whispered Kepa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latxe nodded. \u201cIn the wrong hands, it could get so much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you get this post via email, the return-to address goes no where, so please write blas@buber.net<\/a> if you want to get in touch with me.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The trip to the baserri was uneventful. Marina guided Kepa through dark tunnels until they came to a fork. There she handed Kepa off to another woman, dressed in the same dark robes as the men and women he had met earlier. \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d Marina said as she left down the left fork. \u201cIt is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4410,"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":[2640,864],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventures-of-maite-and-kepa","category-bubers-basque-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/maite-and-kepa-v2-01.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2sYNu-1r4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5522","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=5522"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5523,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5522\/revisions\/5523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buber.net\/Basque\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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