Prologue - Al-gabiscah, renksdagaf

At early dawn, all 12 families of a small village's inhabitants gathered near the edge of a creek. They all stood on the land next to the creek bank, holding golden bells. On the edge of the bank near the water was Mrs. Estrada, age 37, who laid lifeless on a bed of hay. The bed of hay had many gifts on it, from baskets of food to small mildly expensive items. Across the whole bed of hay and Mrs. Estrada were white flowers. The flowers had been grown outside of the village by Mr. Sadiq, who grew each one with care.

Next to the deceased women, seven children stood wearing robes made of cotton yarn and leather decals that ran past their feet and dragged on the ground. The children opened their mouths, inhaled, then began to chant "Al-gabiscah, renksdagaf." They repeated the words several dozen times, after everyone in the village had lost count. The seven children were lined up from oldest to youngest, with the oldest standing closest to the bed of hay. The oldest child had long, straight, blonde hair and had pale skin. The next, was tan with white blonde hair and shorter than the rest. The next, had brown hair and was the tallest. A kid with black hair and long arms, a kid with a stern look in his eyes, a tall and muscular kid who was shaved almost bald, and a kid who had grown her hair out so much it ran to her knees.

As the kids sang, a lanky young man walked to the front of the crowd of villagers. He wore a cotton yarn shirt, a leather vest, jean pants, and leather shoes. The man looked up at the crowd, and as the children finished their chant he stomped his foot, signaling them to stop. "Two evenings ago, Mrs. Estrada left us." He then looked at the cards in his hands, and continued speaking, "She was a friend to many, a mother to me and my 2 siblings, and a grandmother to 7 children. The cause of her death was of course..." he then looked at this card again, "old age. May she leave us without any regrets," he finished. As he finished, the bells were rung.

As the bells were rung, the man returned to the crowd and the oldest of the seven children in the front walked to the bed of hay. She lifted the dead women's shirt revealing a whole in her stomach, and placed a large candle in it. The girl lit the candle and pushed the bed of hay on the creek. The flow of the creek took the bed of hay away, and the village watched as it moved down the stream. When they could no longer see their eldest citizen, they walked away from the bank of the creek, back onto the land. The last family to leave was one with a boy at the age of 13 and two twins, one boy and one girl. They left once they saw the young man who had been Mr. Estrada's son left.