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I would’ve givenanythingto have that conversation, but some things were impossible, even for magical beings.
My mind continued to linger on them as I watched the Woods transform around us. The colorful flowers and green leaves vanished, replaced by the black trees and red leaves that were natural to the land. They had been slightly terrifying the last time I saw them, but I was starting to see the beauty in their stark simplicity.
I wiped tears off my cheeks as I remembered the letter my grandma had written to me before she passed. The envelope had been a part of her will, and I’d memorized every damn word in the days after I lost her. She was the whole reason I’d moved to Georgia.
Dearest Ezra,
There are so many things I want to say, but having watched you grow, I simply have no need to write most of them down.
You are strong.
You are independent.
You are fearless.
I have loved you more than life itself, and will continue to do so long after I am gone.
Please don’t shut your heart to new experiences. See the world. Move to a new country. Forget being responsible for a while, and just live.
Breathe fresh air every chance you get.
Feel sand beneath your toes, often.
Visit places with names I can’t pronounce, and smile at sunrises more beautiful than I can ever imagine.
Even more than all of those things, love yourself, and leave yourself open to love however and whenever it finds you.
Love,
Grandma
I’d mustered every ounce of courage I possessed to move to Savannah, because she had always wanted to visit.
I’d gone to the beach, and I’d watched the sun rise and set over the ocean a dozen times.
I hadn’t felt strong, or fearless, or even very independent, despite my best efforts.
But now I was in an entirely new world. There was no sand beneath my toes, but there was a hell of a lot of red dirt.
I’d watched in wonder as three suns had risen and set over bloodred leaves in the Broken Woods, and I’d buried my fingers in the silken fur of a wolf shifter who didn’t want just my heart or body, but my soul as well.
I was doing everything she wanted, in a way neither of us could’ve ever anticipated—and I washopeful, for the first time since I’d lost her.
“What’s wrong?”Ivaylo’s growl in my mind made my lips curve upward just slightly.
“Nothing’s wrong. I’m just thinking about my grandparents,” I said aloud.
“What can I do to help?”The growl was gone from his voice, but he still sounded worried.
I scratched his fur a little. “Just keep running.”
He grumbled, but picked up the pace.
I closed my eyes as the wind tugged at my braids, pulling strands of hair free and making my heart beat faster.
Though I still missed my grandparents, I knew they would’ve wanted me to enjoy myself.
They wanted me to live my life with hope, heart, and passion… and that was what I was going to do.
