Corinne's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Corinne knelt by the old well at the edge of the marsh, where cattails leaned in close and her newts listened from the shallows. She set down the moss-covered box she carried everywhere. Inside it waited the bottle she had kept for three years. The name sealed in that glass belonged to a masked stranger from her dreams, and she meant to find them and hand it over. She lifted the bottle to check the wax. A thin crack ran down the seal. The line was new. If it split, the name would slip into the air and be gone. Corinne worked fast. She pulled a smaller wooden box from her coat, the one with brass latches dulled by damp years. She set the cracked bottle inside, packed soft wax around the seal, and snapped the latches shut. She lowered the small box into the larger mossy one and pressed the lid down hard. The secret held. But the bottle could not be sold now without breaking it open. She had to find the masked patron soon, before the wax gave way for good.