Jovie chuckles at Sarah’s playful wink. “What did they do with them?”
“They put them in their windows, or hung them in their trees outside. Anywhere the other townspeople could read them,” Sarah explains, pointing up behind us. Jovie and I both spin around to see the string of jars hung up above the bar. Some are painted, some decorated with ribbon and glitter, and more glitter. Every single one is different. Sarah walks over and takes one off the string, unscrewing the lid as she walks back. “This one is mine from years and years ago.”
She holds it out and I pluck the paper from inside.
It’s also decorated and colored with swirls and hearts, and the writing is printed perfectly.
I jerk my head up, my mouth open and ready to question Sarah, but she quickly plucks the items from my hands. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry, I have to go organise the rest of the staff and the kids, we start in just a few minutes.”
“Mom!” Jovie tugs on my arm. “Can I stay and do it?”
“I dunno, squirt,” I say with a sigh, taking in the number of children still flowing through the door. “It looks like Sarah is going to have her hands full.”
“Actually…” Sarah says, stepping back with a wide smile. “I could use an assistant to help out with some of the younger kids, and to help?—”
“I’m in!” Jovie exclaims, ignoring me completely and rushing off to join the other kids.
Sarah chuckles and turns to me. “You are welcome to leave her with me for a little bit if you want to go do something on your own,” she offers with a warm smile. “I'll be right here for the next three hours as groups of kids move through, and I was being completely honest when I said I could use an assistant.”
I pause, chewing on my lip.
There is a nature trail down the street that I’ve been eager to walk. Every time I look out the bedroom window upstairs, I see the sign pointing toward the worn path in the brush, and everyday, people march in and out with smiles on their faces as they shake snow from their hair, making me so curious as to what is beyond that treeline that had people returning from their walks with such wonder on their faces.
Jovie’s laughter rings through the room like a bell, drawing my gaze across the room. She’s already surrounded by other children, which is nothing new. This kid has something about her that draws people in.
The smile on her face though… It’s wide and beaming like a bright light, and that is a smile I don’t get to see all that often.
It instantly warms something deep within my chest, but I still hesitate.
It’s always been the two of us.
The only time I ever leave Jovie alone is when she’s at school.
But Sarah, she’s the kind of person who makes you forget to worry. I’ve watched her work hard, night after night. She’s always kind, respectful, and attentive—especially with Jovie.
“Alright,” I say with a nod of finality. “Yeah, I mean, that would be great. I’ll try not to be long, though.”
Sarah’s smile never slips. “Please take your time, you deserve it!”
She rushes away before I can even respond, and with Jovie already double fisting bottles of glitter… I turn and walk out of The Gallows front doors.
It hasn’t snowed yet today, but there’s a chill in the air. One breath and it bites sharply at my lungs, making me tug my hood up over my head to keep some heat in as I make my way down the busy street. By the time I reach the old wooden sign at the end, I’m already breathing heavy. I try to remind myself it’s the cold mountain air, and not my lack of fitness, but I’m sure it’s a mixture of both.
The letters on the sign are hand carved and have been obviously touched up recently with a fresh swipe of white paint.
Misty Mountain Town Loop Walk.
It also includes a small, scratched out image of the trail, and the way it loops around to come back to this point, but I don’t take much notice and step straight onto the smooth dirt that leads through the bushes and into the unknown.
The way the world around me seems to instantly change is unexplainable.
It’s quiet.
But also, not.
The leaves rustle around me, wind moving through them as if the forest is breathing—each cold breath rushing by me, filling the trees with life. And filling me with life too.
I’m not used to this weather—the Texas heat being all I’ve ever known—but there’s something about the smell of the woods mixed with the cold air that’s refreshing and invigorating, and I find myself almost bouncing as I navigate the winding path.
