“Or pour les gemmes, pierres précieuses pour la connaissance, la lumière pour cacher.”
Once again, I read the words my Métis ancestors have carved around the edge of the stone table.
The decision to leave earth at last gnaws at me no less today than it did two hundred years ago. It has taken me too long to decide which branch of the family tree to follow.
I have been to the departure points in Paris, Yellowstone and Algonquin no less than twenty times with the proper items, each time I have stayed behind.
Today though, I go.
From my pack I take a handful of corn and place it in the depression at the center of the table then retreat to the nearby bench. Within minutes the crows arrive for their offering. The trio makes short work of the corn and flies off to the west.
It is an hour before they return with an offering of their own.
They fly off as I approach to take the gems, but they don’t go far. I take my loupe and examine the gems. Each one has a number etched within. Diamond, ruby and sapphire translate into the x, y, z of my Cartesian destination.
After polishing the stones with my shirt I leave them on table illuminated with a small penlight and head back to the bench. The crows cannot resist the glittering prizes left behind.
With the knowledge once again hidden I look to the sky and depart.
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Above was my entry in the most recent Clarity of Night flash fiction contest. Unfortunately I did not make the “forties club”, but as always I love entering and hey, my sister made it so go read the entries and enjoy all of them, there are a lot of jewels in there 
Not bad bro! I didn’t make it either. Reading yours, like I read Donna’s, I can see where you’re going with it. If it had gone in, some of the people who submit comments may not. Geez! just what type of books and stuff do they read anyway. So, do you have any plans to kill me off in any type of story in the near future? As you’ve no doubt heard already, Donna entered my name in a contest where I get written in as a character in the next book by Lisa Gardner and I die hideously (LOL). Charlene is writing a screen play where I die tragically in an accident. Let’s see, how are you going to kill me off?