They say that for your family to be perfect, having children will build your happy marriage. Children who will be with you in hardships and joys, even until you reach adulthood. But what will happen in a relationship if you discover that the woman you love the most can't provide the little offspring you've longed for? Will your relationship continue even if you don't have children?

The sound of the gangstas beat through the walls of the dark house like muffled roars of falling waters. The woman who had moved with a start when the sliding door opened had been hearing the gangstas for she did not know how long. There was a sudden rush of fire in her. She gave no sign that she heard Awiyao, but continued to sit unmoving in the darkness.

Awiyao knew that she heard him and his heart pitied her. He crawled on all fours to the middle of the room; he knew exactly where the stove was. With bare fingers, he stirred the covered smoldering embers and blew into the stove. When the coals began to glow, Awiyao put pieces of pine on them, then full round logs as his arms. The room brightened.

"Why don't you go out," he said, "and join the dancing women?"

-EPILOGUE

What does the ending of the story mean?

The story ends with Lumnay deep in thought at the top of the mountain. We try to understand what her next moves be based on her prior actions. She was given all the chance to try and take back Awiyao who is rightfully hers yet She wasn't able to do so. So she walks away from the light of the wedding dance and walks away from the village to escape the sounds symbolizing her attempt to escape from the whole thing. She has decided to walk away. Maybe the union of Awiyao and Madulimay will not bear fruit and Awiyao will consider reuniting with her. But that borders on literary overreaching.

"If you truly love a person, you must let them take the road to happiness, no matter how painful it is"