Emberwood one in a million

sometimes, she felt like an only child.

okay, well, not really. but she felt she should be. you know what i'm sayin'? like how a girl who has been 5'5" her entire adult life puts on a pair of platforms and at 5'7" feels spiritually like she should be 5'7" — like this is how it was always supposed to be.

that's kind of what dahlia was feeling now.

except for, well, she still had one sibling who was physically present, and it seemed like all anyone cared about was the one who wasn't around. actually, that was the worst part about all of this.

because you know what? dahlia found that she kind of cared a little bit about it, too, maybe. and that sucked. there was a thought that couldn't stop crossing her mind. one ghastly no-good thought. one of her sister's entrails spread across the soil. broken open like she'd seen rabbits before.

she didn't know if she could ever eat again. it was unusual for her to be so worried. unusual for her to follow dusty rose when he slipped out from the territory in search of her sister, but she did so anyway.