Meera Swaminath

Diya

Pick something. Pick something. I sat cross-legged on the stone floor of my family home, racking my brains for something, anything I was good at. It was the night of my 16th birthday, and it was the day I needed to provide the Council with the name of my craft, talent, or ability. I needed something special that would please the Creator. In exactly 45 minutes, the Guards from the Council would arrive at our colony, and they would escort me to our Nation’s chief monument, where I would Declare my Truth in front of our holy Council.