Virginia.
Circa 1921.
Prohibition.
The infamous witch Haven Skyes lives in secrecy as a singer, under the name Esmeralda Morsaw. Using her charm to dominate the bootleg industry, she builds an alcoholic empire alongside her husband. For her glamour and wealth, she is envied and feared by all who know her by either of her two identities. But when a devastating and mysterious house fire strips her of her social status, wealth and family, she decides that she no longer wants to be known at all - not by the world, and not even by herself. As the pain of reality becomes too great for her to bear, she allows herself to become more detached from reality and finds a safe haven inside the fictional realm of her writing. Begging psychosis to take its toll, she gradually convinces herself that she is a character named Scarlet Rose. With each passing day, she becomes more like Scarlet - both mentally and physically - and loses her grip on all of her memories ... all except for one. The only memory that she kept in her journal - the only memory that was worth keeping - was the memory of her daughter Darlanna. But because Esmeralda wanted to forever have hope that her daughter was still alive - even if she knew at the time that it was false - she purposefully left out the disastrous details of Darlanna's death in the fire. She convinced herself that her daughter was still alive, and found purpose only in searching for her, even if she knew she would leave herself clueless. For two years, she searches for her daughter, guided by those bright memories held together only by one sentence:
"Her name was Darlanna,
and she was a dancer."
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The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. The following story is published subject to the condition that it shall not be reproduced or in whole or in part, in any manner, and any infringement of this is a violation of copyright law. All Rights Reserved
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