39

At last, you reach the door to Dina's office. Rana comes to a halt outside of it and quickly checks the time, not wanting to be late. Given how long she spends double-checking the time, however, you get the feeling that she's not exactly thrilled about the prospect of opening the door.

But with a glance at the petition in her hand, she takes a deep breath, straightens her shoulders, and knocks.

You're told to enter right away, and the dozen or so of you follow Rana into the office. Inside, you see Dina behind a well-polished desk, in the middle of sorting through a few important-looking stacks of paper.

"Thank you all for coming in," she says, her voice sounding tired but professional as always. "I'm sorry I had to ask you to come back here rather than me meeting you at the front, but I hope you understand what a busy time it is. I believe you have a petition you'd like to submit?"

Right on cue, Rana steps forward. Now that she's in front of her aunt, you don't see any sign of nerves.

"Yes—on behalf of my organization, I'd like to submit a petition asking the Town Council to either veto any development plans that will negatively impact the environment, or else to oppose the Alberobello Developments altogether. At the last count, we had

With that, Dina takes the bundle of paper. All of you watch as she goes over each of the pages, taking in the names with some concentration. There's no mistaking the tension in Rana's frame as she waits for a response.

"Thank you—I'll happily accept your petition," Dina says at last. In front of you, Rana lets go of a short breath. "I'll bring it to the rest of the Town Council when we meet tomorrow morning, and I promise we'll give it due consideration. Is there anything any of you would like to say while you're here?"

Dina looks at the group of you attentively. At once, Rana starts to open her mouth—but then she stops herself and turns to the rest of you instead.

"I feel like I've done a lot of talking—does anybody have anything they want to say?" she asks with an encouraging smile. "We might not get another chance, so if you do—go for it."

Around you, the little group gives each other uncertain glances. Nobody seems to want to be the first one to speak.

But as the silence stretches on, with Dina's eyes on all of you—you start to wonder if you should take the initiative. If you might not get this chance again, should you risk wasting it?