Clouds spin through the sky like drops of milk in dark steamy coffee. A storm is coming. Hana stares down at her muddy feet as she navigates the tall grass that lives here next to the dark, sparkling river. There was much unseen crawling around beneath the green. She has to be careful where she steps. Hana lets her mind sink into thought. She wonders. She wonders what will she bake later? Sun-cherry pies with little pink sugar-flowers around the edges? Cookies with sour-plum filling? Maybe with some moonflower tea to wash the sweets down and help her settle before bed. A slight smile kisses her lips. The air is warm and the gentle humidity hugs her body. She takes a moment to look up at the sky and sees light from the yellow moon bleeding into the darkening surrounding clouds. Hana freezes: shocked. Something warm and wet and full of textures she has never felt before was now beneath her foot. She looks down. Terror trickles down her scalp. The hairs on her neck rise and leave little pin prick feelings all along the nape. She stares down at the face of a woman, a fey. The shiny black eyes still open but the soul behind them gone. Hana’s foot sat directly under the fey-woman’s ribs. Impulsively Hana rips her foot from the gory heap. The body jolts limply against the earth. A slimy snake of intestine slithers out of the gash. Hana notices the woman’s once beautiful yellow and black monarch-like wings lay broken under the thin carcass. Deep purple bruises stain the almost translucent-white skin. Hana struggles to breathe in the horror. The fae-woman’s clothes had been removed. The skin around the ribs had been peeled back revealing the pink, unmoving lungs and between them sat a candle. A candle that has finished burning.

“What magic is this?” Hana whispers to herself. Tears blur her vision. Before she even realizes it, she is running. “Help!” She pleads into the night. “Help! Please! Oh, please please someone please. No no no no no…” Hana cries into the once sweet air, which now feels thick and poisonous. Her legs burn and her chest hurts. She has never before ran for her life. What an awful feeling running for your life.