LionessGamer

“But he did . . .” Althea nodded her head, her hands clenched together as she battled through her sorrow. “One day, he vanished . . . just like all the others. We found his home completely empty, dusty even. It was like he had never lived there . . . like he never existed.” Her teeth clenched, Althea fought the grief building up inside.   For she could produce no tears to shed the pain with. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself. With an exhausted flare of her hand, she gestured back up at the painting. “All that was left . . . was my painting, found on my doorstep that morning.” She continued

It felt like the woman had poured pure acid on her arm, the burning feeling like her arm was stuck over a fire. The gashes were even sizzling in the heat. Clara's arm jerked as she instinctively tried to pull it away, but both Althea’s and Hans’ grips kept it in place. An urgent word from Althea and Hans was on his feet, leaning over Clara to hold her down with both hands. Clara cried out in instinctive distress. “Clara! Clara! Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay. Sssshhhhh, you’re going to be alright. Look! Look at me! I know it hurts, but please try not to move. You’re going to reopen your wounds!” Fre

Dusk had fallen. The time had come once again for the crickets to sing their ancient chorus within the dark depths of the forest, filling the coming silence of night with their age-old songs.   Their song rang through the trees uninterrupted, until there was a pounding of sprinting of footsteps colliding with dirt and leaves. A man tore his way through the trees, eyes darting around the darkness surrounding him. He was in a panic, desperate to find the road back to town. The pained hisses of his precious cargo urged him on, forcing himself to run as fast as he could without tripping on the traitorous forest floor. “Just hold on, Clara!