Coco's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Coco stands at the edge of the clearing with a piece of charcoal in her hand, studying the pale birch tree that marks the eastern path. She needs a sign that will welcome the lost without announcing their presence to those who might follow with torches or worse. The charcoal won't work. Too easy to smudge away, too temporary for the kind of promise she wants to make. She drops it and kneels beside a fallen branch instead, testing its weight in her palms. Solid oak, thick as her forearm, with one end already splintered smooth by weather. She pulls her small knife from her belt and begins to carve, slow and careful, the way she used to peel apples for the fox. The words appear letter by letter: YOU'RE SAFE HERE. When she's done, she plants the sign where the eastern path meets the clearing, angled so only those approaching from the deep woods will see it. Anyone wandering in from the world beyond will walk right past without noticing. The first real marker of what this place might become stands firm in the soft earth.