Holding her cloak more tightly about her midsection in a vain effort to stave off the cold, she peered with bitter amusement at its pattern. A relic now, of days gone and forgotten by most. While tracing one of the red clouds with the tip of her finger, she was unable to quiet the surfacing resentment. Remembering that night when her world was turned upside down, the woman mused at how quickly circumstances can change from everything existing in near perfection to a life of misery and agonizing solitude. She had loved her life, her big sisters, Honored Mother, and her clan. After taking an abrupt detour, her new exitance became something unfamiliar. Consequently, she was forced to abandon the ideal life everyone had planned for her. A life
