Beulah Mae and Martin had been as brilliant as the sparkling cusp of a wave driving in to the beach at Waikiki with the force of three thousand miles of Pacific behind it. Behind them swelled the hopes and ambitions of generations of ancestors. The wave had by no means crested, for Annie felt the force of the same expectations. There were Gifts and there were Powers and there were Opportunities, and the ancestors had possessed but two of those three. It was up to her generation to carry forward what had been accomplished.

So her mother’s disappointment at being unable to match the wallpaper on the repairs to the wall her daughter destroyed at age three, buzzing around the house at near-supersonic speed, was minor compared to her pride and elation to have a child with a Gift and a Power.

Due to error on the scheduling, it didn’t go up in time. I’m putting it up now. 😦