Literary Las Vegas: Mary Crocco
Kala Greco, 24, always craved the palette and the paintbrush, and though her scribbles hadn’t improved much from kindergarten, she felt compelled to paint Native American art. After a bloody tangle with a kitchen garbage disposal, Kala rushes to the emergency room only to have her mangled hand miraculously healed in an encounter with a mysterious stranger. “Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way,” he tells her. Las Vegas author Mary Crocco visited the Pine Ridge Reservation and drove through the Badlands of South Dakota doing research for her novel “In Kala’s Hands: A Lakota Sioux Proclamation.” For more information, visit mcrocco.wordpress.com.
Excerpt:
Over her shoulder, Kala heard a whisper, “When you were born, it was proclaimed you were special, that many people will smile because of the gifts you will bring to this world.” Goose bumps covered every inch of her body, followed by an unexpected sense of warmth, as the comfort of a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Mystified that a nurse would say those words to her, she turned around and tried to speak. Her mouth too dry for words, she rubbed her hands over her throat and mouthed the word — water. Instead of a nurse, Kala saw a tall man standing beside her. Jet-black hair past his shoulders and parted down the middle in two long braids, held together by yellow beads tied at the ends. His face revealed a rugged, bronzed skin, with a scar running down the left side of his face, from his temple to below his cloudy left eye, his right eye jet black.
