How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

One of the most continuous symbols in this collection is dragons. Some of the stories in which dragons appear are “Cloud Dragon Skies” and “The Storyteller’s Replacement.” In both these stories, dragons seem to represent a connection between the old world and the new, almost as if they are bridges connecting the past to the future.

In “Cloud Dragon Skies” Nahautu keeps seeing clouds in the shapes of dragons. She tries to tell a Sky-Person about her sightings, but they cannot see the same thing as her; they only see the clouds. This shift in perception appears to be due to whether the character’s focus is on the future, the past, or both. The Sky-Person does not care about the past or keeping it intact, therefore they can only see clouds—not the dragons which link past and future. Nahautu, however, is stuck between her past (consisting of a beautiful blue sky and a strong relationship with her father) and the future (consisting of a red sky with no father but a lover instead). The decisions she makes are based on both future and past; therefore, she can see the dragons which connect them.

Dragons are also a main symbol in the story “The Storyteller’s Replacement.