Emberwood Living in a wasteland

For @Tvar !!

When the man had gone, Marina finished digging her den, brushed the last of the loose dirt from its floor, and settled inside. Here she would wait out the remainder of her season — in peace, she hoped, or as close to it as she could get. The ghosts of lost memories were never far behind her.

She closed her eyes and remembered the fiery sunset eyes of a man she'd once loved. His name was lost to her now, but she knew this man had not been hers to love anyway, or else her throat would not feel so tight when she thought of him. Her chest wouldn't ache so much.

Marina wiped her tears away and crept restlessly from the den. Why waste her time mourning? So she'd loved him once, and perhaps he'd loved her too, but what did that matter now? The heart wandered often, following its own whims, but in the end everyone was forced to choose. Whatever choices he might have made, she was not among them.

She was here, after all. Alone.