r afternoon, forty y

apsed by a stream, her clothes torn and her body bruised. She looked

k to my small cab

rought her broth and herbal teas, I changed her bandages, and I talked to her, t

she spoke

lar

s the b

She learned my work, her hands gentle as she helped me grind herbs and tend to

had over forty years. Forty years of shared meals, of waking up together, of growing old. I saw the first s

a blessing. I thought

used every herb I knew, but nothing worked. She lay in our b

he lig

shielded my eyes, and when I could see again, she was sta

made the air hum. Her eyes were not the warm brown I kne

he light, tall and beautifu

said. "Your trial is

no recognition in her eyes, no l

" I asked, my

said, her voice a strange melody.

he paused. She flicked her wrist, a

aid. "So you wil

rapped me within the borders of Hollow Creek. I couldn't leave. I watched my friends, the ch

rter, more infrequent. She told me about her real life, her re

My life was a cage. My only friend was Old Man Hem

ed into a quiet, simmering despair. I was a