Noctisardor Bypass stergeda

she smiled, worried by the distance in her mother's eyes. things did not seem right, but ava brushed this aside.

where did happiness go, when sadness made its home under your skin, between your ribs, sinking into your very bones?

this way, ava motioned. her steps took her past the lagoon, up a hill stripped of vegetation. occasionally she paused to glance behind her, making sure her mama was still there.

near the hill's gentle summit was a worn beech tree. its bark was ashy grey. its limbs twisted.

and halfway up the bough was the wind-whipped skeleton of a mountain cat, its tail wedged between two twisted branches as it dangled upside down, stirred occasionally by the breeze.