Summary: Seriously had to look this up...not a word I am familiar with - so off we go with hopefully a relevant post. Why did Bruno stay for as long as he did?
Day Eleven: Liminal
It was a beautiful summers' day, and the triplets were resting on a hill near town. They were lying on the ground with their heads touching, discussing their Gifts and things they'd noticed happening to them when they used them. Yesterday was Pepa's turn to talk about hers. She told them how the rain wasn't always because she was sad. Sometimes it was because she was just so happy, she wanted to cry. How lightening made her palms and the soles of her feet itch. The day before was Julieta's. Healing people was gratifying, and it made her happy to help the people around her, but she could feel the bits of herself that she was giving away. She likened it to dying by a thousand pin pricks. Today was Bruno's day, and he knew it that what he was saying wasn't making a whole lot of sense because even he was unsure as to what he was thinking.
"So, spill it, hermanito. We have to get back to town soon," Pepa said, as a cloud formed over their heads.
"Pepi, honestly, since when are you in a hurry to get back to town?" Julieta asked.
There was a short roll of thunder, but the cloud dissipated. Bruno held his hands up and this blocked some of the sunlight that was shining on them, and an answer came to him, and he said, "When I'm using my Gift, it's like I'm looking through gaps in a wall... and the sand... it's pushing through an almost infinitesimally tiny space between reality and the netherworld, showing me pieces of itself. There's always that anticipation I feel, like when you're reading a good book for the first time. It pulls me in, wanting me to..."
"To what, Bruno?"
"Stay... sometimes that feeling is so, strong that I get lost looking for the light to show me the way back."
Julieta and Pepa both raised their hands, and the sisters each took one of Bruno's hands in theirs. "We'll always help you find your way back, Bruno," Julieta said, giving his hand a squeeze. Pepa's cloud reformed, and she waved it away with her free hand. Bruno smiled. If he can just hold on to this moment, he thought, he'd be able to bear everything he knew was coming.