This is the story of Buffalo Man and Lake Water Woman.

He stands on open ground, his feet in the grass, the breath of all his people stirring the day around him. He lifts his head and breathes the wind. Across all this distance he catches the thin, secret scent of her.

That shining edge of her fills him with power. He knows her. There is belonging between them. He goes. He covers all the ground between them, he does not stop, he does not stray, he has the scent of her now, he knows, he goes to her.

When finally he reaches her, she is frozen in forgetfulness. She does not recognize him. She is polite, a little wary. He plants his feet and watches her. He breathes the song of his patience over her, the song of his journey, the song of his knowing.

Into his breath she wakens. Unknowing streaming off of her, she rises to meet him.

OOO