The Last Cuentista: Chapters 24–30

by Donna Barba Higuera
After Earth is destroyed by a comet, twelve-year-old Petra Peña wakes up on a new planet and discovers she is the only one who remembers Earth. She must use her stories and her wits to save humanity's legacy.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–16, Chapters 17–23, Chapters 24–30
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. potency
    capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects
    “But I can decrease the half-life while simultaneously making the potency tenfold.”
  2. devise
    come up with after a mental effort
    What is she devising now?
  3. muster
    summon up, call forth, or bring together
    I speak in the most convincing monotone-Collective accent I can muster.
  4. render
    cause to become
    As I pull my goggles down, I scan each shelf for something which could render the toxin useless.
  5. scour
    examine minutely
    I scour the lab and see the standard oxygen nozzle inside the contained glovebox system.
  6. opaque
    not transmitting or reflecting light or radiant energy
    I turn the light off in the unit and press opaque, hiding what’s inside.
  7. accord
    harmony of people's opinions or actions or characters
    High above on the projected ceiling, the words Sacrifice, Commitment, Accord flash intermittently.
  8. intermittently
    in a manner of stopping and starting at irregular intervals
    High above on the projected ceiling, the words Sacrifice, Commitment, Accord flash intermittently.
  9. trepidation
    a feeling of alarm or dread
    “With our arrival, comes trepidation.” Her voice doesn’t sound so worried though.
  10. proximity
    the property of being close together
    We’ve determined the cause was an unanticipated reaction from the closer proximity of the dwarf sun to our epiderm-filters.
  11. sporadic
    recurring in scattered or unpredictable instances
    A mix of mumbles and sporadic clapping fills the room.
  12. spindly
    long, thin, and often weak or fragile
    I clear my throat and reach out, carefully sliding the container from her spindly fingers.
  13. scant
    less than the correct or legal or full amount
    Her scant eyebrows scrunch together.
  14. feign
    give a false appearance of
    “I worry our final mission to test what we’ve created might suffer without Epsilon-5 accompanying me,” I say, feigning disappointment.
  15. subliminal
    below the threshold of conscious perception
    As if it reads my mind, the word Sacrifice flashes across the Collective’s subliminal ceiling.
  16. periphery
    the outside boundary or surface of something
    I walk along the periphery of the party through Sagan’s jungle, toward the seed vault.
  17. rosary
    a string of beads used in counting prayers
    Each jasper bead of red, yellow, or a combination of the two he’d chiseled down, polished, and drilled himself. Just like he said—all so different, but complementing one another into the most beautiful rosary ever created.
  18. mannerism
    a behavioral attribute that is distinctive to an individual
    He grins, his mannerisms so much like Javier’s when he was a kid.
  19. homogenous
    all of the same or similar kind or nature
    I realize all of them, created in a lab to be homogenous, can’t feel a connection to any ancestors. So many of us on Earth had them not just from one culture, but many.
  20. affliction
    a cause of great suffering and distress
    “We cannot wait to see what you are capable of without the affliction of your flawed past.”
  21. vermillion
    of a vivid red to reddish-orange color
    I walk and the desert sand gives way to a cobblestone path, its vermillion stones worn and rounded by what looks like millions who must have traveled it before me.
  22. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    Like performances by apparitions, holoscripts play out faintly around the room.
  23. rogue
    unusually large, unpredictable, and destructive
    I wouldn’t have thought grief could find me here in this place. But it’s real, and it hits me like a rogue wave.
  24. precariously
    in a manner affording no ease or reassurance
    A pipe in the shape of a tomahawk dangles precariously from his mouth.
  25. fleeting
    lasting for a markedly brief time
    Just the fleeting thought makes my heart soar for what will no longer happen.
  26. gale
    a strong wind moving 34–40 knots
    The gale blows the shuttle forward, and we skid toward the lake.
  27. console
    a scientific instrument with displays and an input device
    I fly out of my chair and Rubio flings out his long legs, stopping me before I skid past him and into the metal console.
  28. dwindle
    become smaller or lose substance
    The hum of the engine dwindles.
  29. wispy
    thin and weak
    Strands of Feathers’ wispy hair flies in the wind.
  30. torrent
    an overwhelming number or amount
    The passageway widens into a larger cavern, and the scattered cave lights merge into a torrent of glowing creatures.
  31. authoritative
    sanctioned by established power
    Voxy faces Suma, hands on his hips authoritatively. “It’s all true. The Collective asked me to come help.”
  32. fission
    splitting a massive nucleus with the release of energy
    “I hope when we find my mom, she creates a thermal fission chamber and crams the Chancellor inside.”
  33. undulate
    move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
    From beneath the surface, undulating globes of gold-and-purple spotlights trail us.
  34. venture
    proceed somewhere despite the risk of possible dangers
    The water butterflies who’ve ventured off to observe us scurry back to their flock.
  35. skittish
    unpredictably excitable, especially of horses
    For two hours I listen to giggling and flapping as they entertain themselves with the skittish creatures.
  36. turbulent
    agitated vigorously
    White caps of turbulent water ripple on its surface.
  37. auxiliary
    functioning in a supporting capacity
    And what makes my heart stop are the auxiliary tanks behind them.
  38. turmoil
    violent agitation
    Beneath the turmoil of the torrent, I see only a dark shadow blocking out the rays of sun piercing the water.
  39. dissipate
    go away, scatter, or disappear
    I hold my breath until the sun’s rays brighten the water again. I’m nearly blacking out, but it hasn’t been long enough for the aerosol to have dissipated, if the drones detected our heat.
  40. garner
    acquire or deserve by one's efforts or actions
    In the distance, the Pleiades ship’s gravity stabilizer starts to hum, louder and louder. Just like it had when we left Earth, using Sagan’s gravity to garner energy.
Created on Mon Aug 22 10:22:54 EDT 2022 (updated Fri Sep 23 12:38:10 EDT 2022)

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