All That Shimmers [Seungmin]

1

I stepped into the warm embrace of the spring sun, its gentle rays kissing where my skin had grown pink from my time outside yesterday. Despite the slight sting, I couldn't hide indoors when the weather was this nice. I took off frolicking through the rainbow field that donned tulips of all colors swaying in a gentle breeze.

I couldn't help but smile as I ran lightly on my feet down the dirt alley between the rows of flowers. I held my arms out and imagined myself flying. If I believed hard enough, I could see the clouds wisp by as though I'd grown hundreds of feet tall.

I reached the end of the field and pushed open the weathered, wooden gate, taking off toward the sanctuary of the little forest. The moment I was shielded by the ancient trees, I began stripping off my clothes and tossing them every which way. I would worry about finding them again later.

With the shimmering surface of the lake calling to me, I ran down the creaky old dock and dove right in. The faerie army had taken away most of our resources for water to push our people out of the land. The lake had survived somehow, almost as though it were protected by a spell of its own. It had become my personal oasis, and I loved coming here when the weather permitted it to bathe and feel clean.

I couldn't remember the last time we'd had two days of sun in a row. One of the wind faeries had brought clouds nearly every day. For a while, a water fairy would drop rain on us, but they stopped when they realized we were catching it to drink.

I cupped my hands and drank the water. It always tasted clean. It was a wonder that nobody else was ever here. The lake was always mine and mine alone.

The sun was already moving in the sky. It would be dark soon, and I'd need to be home before then. I sucked in a sharp breath and swum as deep down in the water as I could go. I wanted just a little longer in this place that felt so still, so separate from the horrors of the fae. I pushed deeper and deeper until I reached the bottom of the lake. Time seemed to stand still here, and I found myself unwilling to swim back up. It was peaceful and felt safe.

Here, I could imagine a world where fae didn't try to squash us humans like bugs. They could use their powers to benefit us. Water fae could provide water to the villages. Fire fae could keep us warm during the brutal winter months. Earth fae could help plants grow so that nobody died of hunger. Wind fae could help us transport goods more quickly by manipulating any winds slowing us down.

Down here, I could see a better future.

But I knew I had to get home to the real world. I wasn't supposed to be out alone after dark with the curfew set in place. I kicked my feet and broke through the water's surface overhead. I was surprised to see that it was already dusk. I'd been in the water for much longer than I had meant to.

I hurried to the dock and started my run back, hastily throwing on my discarded clothes that I found along the way. I almost missed my tan frock as it blended in with the dirt, but I snatched it up and shrugged it on quickly once I'd been able to find it. I had just reached the gate when I heard a branch snap behind me. I whipped around and could've sworn that I saw glowing eyes watching me from the tree line, but they disappeared before I could even be sure that they were real.

In case it was in fact a fae, I took off sprinting down the field. I knew that a real fae would easily be able to catch up to me, but I sought comfort in knowing that I was at least trying to get away.

I finally reached the threshold of my family's little cottage and could smell freshly baked bread through the cracked window. I smiled at the normalcy of it and opened the door. My parents and siblings were already seated at the dinner table, and my mother pursed her lips upon seeing my wet hair.

"I've told you not to stay out so late, Aerin. You could've been spotted by a fae and killed for missing curfew."

"I'm fine," I rolled my eyes at her.

"Do I need to remind you what happened to the Oakheart's son?" she scolded.

"No," I mumbled. I'd heard the story a dozen times before. It had been used as a cautionary tale against me for weeks. Just because he was killed for being out late didn't meant the rest of us would be.

I grabbed a dinner roll from the basket on the table and headed past them to the room that I shared with my two sisters.

I flopped onto my cot and took a bite of the bread. It felt warm in my stomach after swimming for so long.

There was a tap at the door, and I looked up to see my father's worried face.

"They didn't see me," I informed him, already knowing what he wanted to ask. We relived the same conversation every time I came home late, which was pretty often lately. They were so worried I'd be killed that my house had become like a prison.

"Your mother and I are just worried about you, Aer," my father spoke more softly than my mother, making it impossible to be angry with him. "You keep losing track of time like you do, and you'll end up in the stocks...or worse."

"I didn't even realize the sun had gone down. I swear. One minute, I was swimming down to the bottom of the lake, and the next time I came back up it was night," I explained. "It won't happen again. I promise."

My father nodded but retained his grip on the doorframe. There were more words to be had. "Fire fae attacked Crystalbrook today." His voice was low to make sure my siblings wouldn't hear. They were too young to know of the terrible threats that loomed so close by.

"How bad?" I asked in a whisper.

He just shook his head. I could tell he was holding back tears. "Lots of homes burned, many people died. Several were taken."

The fae had a habit of doing that. They would annihilate entire villages, and would pick and choose who they wanted to kidnap or kill. It seemed random and never ending.

"Should we prepare to leave?" I asked. Crystalbrook wasn't even a day's walk. The Fae army was getting closer.

"I'm not sure there's much for them here. We're so far outside of the town that your mother and I think we'll be okay."

"But if they march through the fields to get to town they'll find us," I argued.

"If we start running, we'll never stop, Aerin," he explained with a heavy sigh.

"If we stay we may never get the chance to run," I muttered, but it fell on deaf ears as my father's mind was made up.

To him, everywhere was at risk of being the next place the fae would strike, so nowhere was safe anyways.

To me...I didn't want to give up so easily.