Anna Love's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Anna stood in the foyer of the small cottage, the green token warm in her palm. She had found it hanging from a low branch that morning, a smooth jade circle with a bead on a string. Sasha, the pink flamingo at her heel, nudged her knee. Her mother grew weaker by the hour. The fairy realm would not open without this. Lilac Jane watched from the doorway, thin and quiet. "That's the one," she said. "The bird knew where to lead you." Anna closed her fingers around the token. She did not need more words than that. She moved to the dusty table near the cupboard. Her father's old bow leaned against the chair, the arrows still in their worn quiver. She lifted it. The wood was heavier than she remembered, but her hands fit it like they had been waiting. From the cupboard she took small bundles: a wedge of cheese, a handful of nuts for Sasha, two pastries wrapped in cloth. She tucked the blue gloves into her belt. Sasha clicked her beak and nibbled a nut from Anna's open hand. "It is not a thing most come back from," Lilac Jane said. Anna looked at her. "Then I will be the one who does," she answered. Her mother did not argue. She only nodded once, the way someone nods at weather they cannot change. Anna slipped the token's string over her neck. The jade settled against her chest, cool and certain. She opened the cottage door. Sasha stepped out first, pink against the morning. Anna followed, bow on her shoulder, and the door closed behind her. The way was open now. There was no going back to before.