with every step, hair flinging around her head like branches in a typhoon. The swift tempo of the drums permeated every fiber of my body, my bones vibrating with every beat, heart racing, vision narrowing. I glanced back at Migyama, her own father sitting behind her. I looked back to the shaman woman. She returned my look.

I started to dance toward her, shaking my own shoulders. A smile spread across the shamans pulled back lips. I threw my arms out, letting the Saiga hide drop to the ground. The heat of the fire glared on my exposed skin, pellets of sweat already starting to build up on my sandy colored flesh. The woman lunged toward me then backed off. Bent toward the ground, I made my way slowly in the shaman’s direction, shaking my shoulders and allowing my limp arms to flail below me.

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