The Last Fallen Star, Graci Kim [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

Sookhee takes a jerky step toward Emmett. As she talks, her movements become smoother and more natural, as if she’s growing more solid and real with each word. “My deepest desire was for you to be loved and embraced by my community. The goddess promised to give you magic if I let her borrow my body. But it was never her intention to help me. She just wanted the artifact for herself. She possessed me and made me do terrible, terrible things.” Sookhee weeps, and it looks like a dam has broken inside her. And it’s no wonder. Thirteen years’ worth of pent-up emotion has been released, and she is finally getting the chance to clear her name.

It all makes sense now. The bearded man told me there were always two sides to every story, and he was right. I did see Sookhee take the sunstone ax from the Horangi in the vision in the Haetae’s bell. But it wasn’t her. It was the Cave Bear Goddess. She’d been behind everything the whole time.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, my baby,” Sookhee sobs. “But please know that everything I did, I did for you. I love you more than you could ever know. And I am so proud of how you’ve turned out, my son.”

Something cracks in Emmett and he pulls Sookhee into a tight hug. “You came back from the dead to find me,” he whispers. “I love you, too, Mom. Saranghaeyo.” He openly weeps into her shoulder, and my own leaky-bladder eyeballs do what they do best.

Now I realize that tears are nothing to be ashamed of. I’d always considered them a flaw—something that made me weak. But now I see that they are a part of who I am—a part of who we all are. They come because we care. It’s a way of saying I love you.

As Emmett, too, embraces his emotions in a way he’s never done before, Hattie’s body glows bright from every pore. Then, as she crumples and falls softly to the floor, the light pulls away, like skin being shed by a snake. The glow re-forms into the shape of a leopard standing next to Hattie’s body, and it shimmers like a holograph.

“Mom?” Emmett stares at the cat with wide eyes.

The leopard pushes her snout into Emmett’s hand. “Now I can finally leave in peace,” she whispers. “Never forget, my son—you were made in love, and you will live a life full of love. Don’t be scared of letting it in. You are worthy of it all. Good-bye.”

And just as Jennie’s halmeoni gwisin did, Sookhee’s soul animal disappears in a burst of warm light. Emmett wipes his eyes. And for the first time since I met him, he looks completely at peace. His perpetual pout has been erased, and it’s as if the weight of the world has been lifted off his shoulders. “Good-bye, Mom,” he whispers.

Eomma, Appa, and I run to Hattie once more, to cradle her lifeless body in our arms. And, with an aching heart, I face the truth. Hattie—the real Hattie—is gone.

“Hattie,” I breathe into her hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I failed you.” The words seem meaningless as I gaze at her still face. A deep pain erupts in my chest, and I clutch at it. My rib cage feels empty. There’s a Hattie-shaped hole inside, and I’m never going to be able to fill it.

The goddess returns from her sightseeing trip to the Gi sanctuary and puts her hands on her (slimmer?) hips. “All right, subjects, that’s enough with the sob stories. I believe I’ve been more than generous with my patience, not to mention allowing that poor excuse for a soul to spout off such nonsense.” She turns to me with sparkling eyes. “Time to talk shop. Be a good dearie and hand over the Godrealm’s last fallen star, won’t you?”

Bubbles of frustration rise to the surface of my skin. How can she be so nonchalant when she’s brought pain to so many lives? How can she claim to be the patron goddess of service and sacrifice when all she does is create more suffering? She’s nothing but a con artist!

“This is all your fault!” I scream at the top of my lungs. “You didn’t even bring my sister back. Why should I give you the last fallen star?”

Her eyebrows arch as she digests my outburst. Then she purses her lips. “I wouldn’t push my luck, dearie. You may have been a model employee so far, but my tolerance is not a bottomless cup.”

As I look down at my poor parents, my grief explodes into a ball of fury. The goddess was supposed to be benevolent and good—an example of what mortals should aspire to become. But instead, she is the definition of selfish. She acted with complete disregard for mortal life just so she could erase her crime.

I dig my feet into the ground and stare into the goddess’s eyes. “Will you ever stop?!” I cry, my hands clenching into fists. “Will access to the three realms be enough? When will you stop treating us mortals like we’re disposable? Can’t you see our lives are worth something?”

The goddess sighs deeply. “Oh, how you disappoint me, mortal child. I thought we had something special between us, but here you are, throwing it all away.” She closes her eyes for a moment, and her body starts to glow. It looks like LED bulbs have been switched on under her skin.

“There’s one thing you have to understand.” She advances toward me, her frame elongating, her once soft face hardening. With each step her dowdy clothes are gradually being replaced by a flowing gold gown. “You cannot compare your lives to ours. My sisters and I are Mago Halmi’s divine children. If mortals must perish to suit our needs, then so be it. It is the law of nature.”

That’s all the fuel I need to stoke my