The Ancest—ahhh!
RIO LOMBANA
In the parking lot, next to a Subaru bearing a faded “I Believe” sticker, he sank a large footprint deep into soft dirt. A gift, for a longtime fan.
He bent low to peer through the retreat center’s bead-curtain door. Candles flickered over drums, teacups, and suspicious plants. Sunburnt humans, their pupils blown wide, lounged on cushions and dilapidated couches.
His core ached with an appetite long unfulfilled.
“We’re grateful for, uh, Salish land,” intoned a person-sized pile of shawls. “Wait. I mean we acknowledge it. Sorry. We are on stolen land. And we’re grateful for...”
He leaned in. Oh, yes. They would do.
“...the Universe, the Grandmother.” This from a young woman with dirty-blond braids, strumming a sitar. “And the Ancest—ahhh!” Bracelets clacked as she flung out her arm, one accusing finger pointing at him.
Startled, he stumbled through the bead curtain into their midst and smacked his shaggy head on the eight-foot ceilings.
Silence fell. “I knew it,” whispered one.
Sasquatch settled on a cushion, his lonely heart hoping for acceptance. He reached for a drum and tapped out a faltering rhythm with a clawed hand, trying to smile without showing his teeth.
“...and we give thanks for our new spirit guide!” The sitar player joined in, and somebody passed the plants.
Rio Lombana resides on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Coast Salish people. Find Rio @ https://riolombana.com/ and https://bsky.app/profile/riolombana.bsky.social