Elizabeth Smith's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Elizabeth stepped into her small room and stopped at the doorway. Something rested on the table that had not been there that morning. She did not need to cross the room to know who had left it. The guardian's silence had followed her home, and now it waited for her in solid form. She walked to the table and looked down. A small wooden box sat there, plain except for the lid. Carved into the lid was the same hand gesture from the photograph. Elizabeth touched the carved fingers with her own. The guardian had answered her without a single word. The secret was real, and now it had a shape she could hold. Elizabeth lifted the lid with care. Inside, a large purple orb rested on dark cloth. It shimmered with tiny sparkles, like a piece of night sky. She lifted it out, and her window pulled her gaze. Beyond the glass, a wide ring of stones glowed faintly in the yard, marking a circle she had never noticed before. The guardian had not just answered her. The guardian had shown her the door. Elizabeth set the orb back in the box and closed the lid. Her hands were steady, but her heart was not. She pulled on her coat and stepped outside. The stone circle waited in the cold grass, taller than she had guessed from the window. Four worn figures stood watch around a patch of bare earth. Elizabeth crossed the threshold of stones, and the air inside felt older than the yard around it. The ritual had a place. Now she had to learn what it asked of her.