Shadewood The future tense of fear is either comedy or tragedy

To keep her mind from wandering was a troubling task, one that she could not complete. She wished to return to the ocean, to hear the crashing of waves on the shore and taste the salt in the air. But she knew she could not go back, not now and especially not alone; one day, she knew, her family would find their way back again, when the world around them was drowning no longer.

Arcelia did not notice her sister bound away, although a slight shiver did shake her as the air touched the space Chacal was previously against. But when the younger of the two came back, she could not be so easily missed; with the shell as it was, offered to the hooded girl’s ear, her attention was easily returned to the other.

She was surprised at first, as well as confused—she opened her mouth to say something, then promptly shut it as she heard the hum of the sea from within the shell. Silence ensnared her and she froze, before a smile pulled at the corners of her lips and she drew closer to offer an affectionate nudge to Chacal’s cheek. “Thank you,” came next, followed by more silence as she admired the shell—after which she turned her ear towards it again, eyes drifting shut as she did so to better focus.