𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝 𝙾𝚏 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚜 | ✏️

𝔙ℑ // 𝔟𝔢𝔣𝔬𝔯𝔢

    I have to get out of here.

    The thought springs into my mind unbidden and surprises me. But it's true. I've stolen from the kingdom - I've lied to the king! Yet I sense I have to keep this secret. I have to keep the vial safe.

    Where would I go? I wonder. I have no family, no friends to take me in. The closest person to family I have is Brian, and with him already involved in this - as a King's Hunter, as a suspect - I can't risk putting him in danger.

    I know I have to leave; I know I'll be killed if anyone finds out, but I can't help but feel a pang of sadness as I realize I'll have to leave the only place I've ever known. Not for the first time, I curse my own foolishness.

    Why did you have to grab that stupid vial? I berate myself. But deep down I feel certain that something was not right in the woods that day, and that contrary to what the faery claimed, the vial would not be safer with her. Or maybe that's just my greediness, unwilling to let the vial out of my grasp.

    Either way, my punishment if anyone finds out will be severe. The best I can hope for is a quick death.

    A loud knock startles me from my morbid thoughts. I panic for a second, half expecting the witch, or the faery, or even the king to come bursting through my door.

    But of course, it's not them, since no one knows I have the vial. I open the door to find Brian on the doorstep.

    "Rheid?" he says, a solemn expression on his face. "Where's the vial of starlight?"

    "What?" I ask, trying to paste a confused expression onto my face. "How would I know?"

    He sighs, defeated. "Look, R. I really don't know. But after we lost the vial, you got yanked away though the woods, and now you're different. Like you're hiding something." He emphasizes his last two words, and I cringe internally. Was I really that obvious?

    I scramble for a plausible lie. "I mean, I got kidnapped by a witch! How did you want me to react?"

    Brian smiles sadly. "See? Even this. You're defensive, R. You're hiding something."

    "No?" I say, but it comes out like a question. I was never good at keeping secrets; honestly, I'm surprised I lasted this long.

    "All right, all right, fine. I took the stupid vial. And now there's a bloodthirsty witch and some crazy faery looking for it, and I'm gonna be executed, and-" Brian cuts me off with a firm hand on my shoulder.

    "Woah! You couldn't really think I would turn you in, would you? You're my closest friend - no, you're like a brother to me. If you took the vial, you must have had a good reason. I can help you escape."

    I consider it for a second but shake my head. "No. I can't let you get involved. This," I wave my hand at the dying world outside, "is my problem. And I have to fix it. I appreciate your offer and your support, but this is something I have to do alone."

    Brian nods, "I figured you would say that."

     I swallow hard. "Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written October 25, 2023

Word count: 552

{wow i'm just churning out short chapters here...i guess 500 words is kinda my average? i had some that were almost/just over 1000 but most are around 500-700. i apologize for this, but this is how writing flows easier to me. i don't storyboard (probably should lol) so even though i kind of know how the story is going to go, i just write whatever and let my mind take over. sometimes that means really short chapters bc i just wrap up whatever i wanted to say.

anyway, thanks for reading my story, and thank you for coming to my TED talk.}