E. Egg's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

E. Egg pushed through the last of the stems and stopped. Someone sat in the center of the tall grass, right where he always hid. His breath caught. The grass had been his alone every Easter — the one place no one looked for him because no one needed to. Now that safety was gone. A woven basket rested beside the stranger, half-filled with painted eggs. Beyond the grass, voices drifted from the field where the egg hunt continued. The stranger had chosen this spot deliberately, settling in as if they belonged here. E. Egg stood frozen at the edge, unable to enter and unable to leave. The stranger turned and saw him. E. Egg's throat tightened, the scream building in his chest like it always did when someone came too close. But the stranger just nodded once and looked back toward the field, showing no interest in claiming him as a discovery. The tension in E. Egg's shoulders stayed locked. He backed through the stems and circled around to the small outbuilding at the grass's edge. From the shadowed doorway, he could see his hiding spot occupied by someone else. The ritual was supposed to work because Jamie knew where he was without seeking him. Now someone had found the place itself, and E. Egg was the one outside looking in.