“Brooks!”
I start walking.
Keepwalking.
Down along the narrow winding trail, the faint imprint in earthen ground that Briar knows by heart.
Her place.
Ourplace.
I keep walking…
Out of her life.
I think for forever.
Turns out, I’m wrong.
About so many things.
Briar, Present Day
I never thought I would be this person.
But…when it comes to the choice between doing something right and moral and surviving the next few months, I know I don’t have any options.
Know I stopped havingchoicesyears ago.
On a rainy mountaintop that I thought would be the beginning of a happy life.
Instead, it became a nightmare.
Mynightmare.
I adjust my gloves, knowing I can’t risk leaving behind even a trace of evidence that I was here.
Hating that Iamhere with every fucking fiber of my being.
“Just suck it up and do it,” I whisper. “Then you never have to face it again.”
And I wouldneverhave to be here again.
I tug at my beanie, making sure it completely covers my silver blond hair. I used to love it, used to love the unique color, the way other people reacted to it, long and sleek and bright like moonlight.
I brushed it obsessively, carefully detangled each and every knot. Oiled the ends. Used a protective spray every single day. Slept only on silk pillowcases.
That stopped being my life on that mountaintop.
I let it get so bad, so matted and tangled, I had to cut it all off. Even now, I’m still growing out the unfortunate pixie style I ended up with.
And today, it’s more nuisance than asset.
It’s why I chopped the shoulder length tresses to above my chin, hacking away with a pair of rusty scissors I found in the dumpster behind the thrift store.
Sometimes the best stuff never makes it to the shelves, and those discarded treasures, the items no one saw value in are what I seek out.
Because I’m one too.
