Petal Willowbloom's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Petal stepped back from the threshold and felt the quiet hold. Her cairn stood where she had set it. The cabin door did not open. No voice came. She had been heard, but she had not been answered. She found a hollow white oak near the path, its trunk wide and split open at the base, pink blossoms scattered through its old branches. She settled into the opening and folded her legs beneath her. This would be her waiting place. From her pocket she drew a smooth stone, teal and mint green swirled across its surface. She pressed her thumb into its cool curve. Her breath slowed. The waiting was hers to do, and she would not fill it with worry. Still, silence could be mistaken. If she sat too still, the guardian might think she had given up and gone. She needed to leave a sign that she remained. She rose and gathered what the forest offered nearby. Wild roses. Trailing vines. Pale daisies. She wove them into a tall standing arrangement beside the cabin path, climbing upward like a small green tower. Butterflies drifted down to rest on the petals. The arrangement breathed where she could not speak. She returned to the hollow oak and sat again, stone in hand. The cabin stayed quiet. But now the path between her and the door was marked with living proof. She was here. She was still here. And the waiting had become her answer.