AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even when the bird tries to fly away, it can’t. There’s a flap of wings and nothing happens.
It can’t fly.
Its wings have been clipped, shortened.
I stumble backward, back into the forest.
Collect a pebble from the loch. That’s all you have to do.
I turn on my heel, away from the vision of the rabbit and the dove.
And then I’m confronted by a hundred hanging bodies, each one a grinning version of me.
* * *
My skin is freezing and my teeth are chattering.
Flashlights scan the area, landing on my body.
My eyes slide in and out of focus.
“You found her.”
“She’s safe.”
“The teachers are still lookin’. How the fuck did she get over tae this part o’ the forest?”
I make a small noise.
“She needs to forget what she saw tonight.”
“Whatever it was must have fuckingtraumatizedher.”
“Why the hell did ye think this was a good idea?”
A hollow voice replies, “I thought she’d be stronger. I thought she might surprise us all.”
“She’s asaint. She’s alamb. And you thought flinging her into the forest of doom was a brilliant idea. Fucking psycho.”
A quiet shush falls above my head.
My head is moved onto someone’s lap.
“My God, Jessa,” a soft voice coos, entirely female.Arabella, I think distantly. “How on earth did you managethis?”
Whatthisis, I can’t tell. But then there’s a sting at my head as my hair is tugged at. I whimper at her as she painfully pulls strands of my hair away from whatever’s tangling it.
“Your hair’s like knotted wool,” Arabella continues, dislodging bits of twigs and branches from it, taking a chunk of my hair along with them.
“Fitting for a sheep.”
“This isyour fault,” Arabella points out.
“I don’t remember you volunteering.”
She heaves a long sigh. “I can’t get her out like this. Her hair’s tangled up in everything.”
There’s a pause followed by the whoosh of air and a deep voice. “Here. Take this.”
