Luna's Arc

Chapter 3 of 29

The mushrooms hissed behind her. Luna backed away from the swollen caps and looked at the sky. The light was almost gone. Cold pressed through her thin sleeves. She could not go forward past those caps in the dark, and she could not stay in the open. She turned to the leaning shed. Its boards were gray and green with rot, its window broken, its roof sagging low. But it had walls. She held the cat tight and climbed the steps. Inside, she found a dry corner away from the broken glass. She sat with her back to the wall and pulled her knees close. The cat curled into her lap, warm and small. Its tiny body rose and fell against her stomach. "Just for tonight," she whispered. The cat pressed its head under her chin. The cold would not let her sleep. She thought of the caps outside, ready to burst. She thought of the names on the torn page, and the letter that told her nothing. Her mind spun through every dark thing the woods might hide. To calm herself, she reached into her collar and drew out the locket. She held it in the last gray light. The two faces smiled up at her, the young man and the woman, cheek to cheek. "Where did you go?" she asked them. The metal warmed in her hand. She traced the tiny painted flowers around the picture. For a moment the fear loosened its grip. Then her fingers went slack. The locket slipped and struck the floor. Something snapped. Luna grabbed it fast. The back of the locket had popped open, a hidden panel she had never known was there. A folded scrap of paper stuck out from the gap. Her heart pounded. She worked the paper free and unfolded it in the fading light. The handwriting was cramped and hurried. She read it once, then again, her lips moving. "Luna, listen to me. The woods are extremely dangerous. This place is safer than the rest of the world, but there are still so many risks. You must keep fighting to stay alive. Mom and Dad will be back. Do not give up." Luna stared at the words. The letter at the shed had said goodbye. This note said they would return. It called the woods safer than the world outside. Safer. That was the danger the first letter never named. Something out there was worse than zombie deer and bursting mushrooms, worse than cold and hunger. The cat stirred and blinked its green eyes up at her. Luna pressed the note flat against her knee, beside the locket. "They're coming back," she said. Her voice shook, but not from cold now. "They said stay alive. So I'll stay alive." She folded both papers and slid them into her collar. Outside, full dark had come. She was still lost. But she was no longer waiting for nothing. She had a promise to hold, and one order to follow. Keep fighting.