Rosemary's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Rosemary stood at the edge of the farm plots at dawn, staring at the blackened stems that had been green the night before. The blight had taken everything. She pressed her fingers into the soil and found it cold, lifeless. The commune would need food within days, and she had nothing left to cook. She walked east until she reached the weeping willow that marked the boundary. Its branches hung like curtains, swaying in the wind, casting shadows that made others turn back. Past it lay the ridge where the root grew—the one she'd never tasted but knew would save them. She'd stayed behind before, believing the commune needed her here. But now staying meant watching them starve. She ducked beneath the hanging branches and kept walking.