How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

Nahautu raises her head to see a group of four Sky-People and her father at the edge of the field where she is picking okra. Her father summons her and explains that the Sky-People want to use one of their family’s buildings for research for a few months. Nahautu wonders aloud what they will get in return, but she knows that her father wants to let them use the space because he seeks admiration from the community—an admiration he has not been able to achieve on his own since Nahautu has not given him any grandchildren.

Nahautu gives them a “nod” of assent and the four Sky-People move in (115). The younger male watches her bathe each night and eventually asks her “How do you like the sky?” (116). The sky had changed from blue to “rose” recently, and the clouds now moved with “intention” instead “of floating” aimlessly (115). The Sky-People are on a mission to find out what has caused the shift. Nahautu says she is indifferent to the sky, but the young Sky-Person goes on to explain some of the research they have conducted. When Nahautu asks him about the “dragons” in the sky, he says they are just clouds, but she thinks this is “stupid” (117).