Maea
I feel it in the wind, my dear
The sun is gonna reappear
The sun is gonna reappear
The lack of immediate judgement was welcome, honestly. If they could keep this clinical, Maea might just be able to get through it. Lining up the facts without letting too much emotion get in the way.
It was nearly impossible, of course.
"They could not. There were too many of them. My leaving would make sure they had enough to eat, so they should have been comfortable on the farm."
As for messages - she shook her head. "No messages could reach anyone for the whole LongNight. You don't open the door. You don't go outside. It's too cold, for one, and the monsters... they're everywhere." Dread was a cold weight in her stomach, even now. This Deepfrost to come would be the first she spent in the Grounds since the barrier fell, and she loathed the idea, beyond words.
"I found out what happened after LongNight had passed. I went back home... and found that the barn had been broken open. Some of the sheep were dead, and one of our dogs. Torn to bits... but no one had tended to them. So I went to the house, and the front door was... it had claw marks on the outside, and a hinge had broken. There were blood trails leading... leading outside. So I guess... " Swallowing hard, her voice went hoarse. "I suppose one of the boys must have run outside when the dog was killed. Hieram – it was his first, his very own, that he got to raise from a puppy. He loved that dog. And if he left, my brother would have followed. No way he would leave his son to face the darkness alone. And if he was outside, then Lianna - his wife - would be alone with two terrified children, forced to listen to the others pleading to be let inside. Even though you know they are likely dead - even though Noah would have known better than to knock on the door -"
How could you leave them? How could you, in the midst of fear and panic, in the moment when all goes wrong - how could you not cling to hope? Maybe it really was them. Maybe they made it, maybe everything would go back - if not to normalcy, then at least to a semblance of it?
Maea's eyes burned, but no tears fell. This grief was too deep for them, they froze within and har nowhere left to go. There would never be a day where she didn't miss them, never a moment where she didn't regret leaving.
"I should have been there... I should have died with them." Breathing the words, so riddled with pain, was like driving a dagger into her own chest. Yet she believed them. Believed beyond a doubt that every second spent alive without them was the gravest sin. It was only made worse by the persistent way her heart kept beating, despite everything.
It was nearly impossible, of course.
"They could not. There were too many of them. My leaving would make sure they had enough to eat, so they should have been comfortable on the farm."
As for messages - she shook her head. "No messages could reach anyone for the whole LongNight. You don't open the door. You don't go outside. It's too cold, for one, and the monsters... they're everywhere." Dread was a cold weight in her stomach, even now. This Deepfrost to come would be the first she spent in the Grounds since the barrier fell, and she loathed the idea, beyond words.
"I found out what happened after LongNight had passed. I went back home... and found that the barn had been broken open. Some of the sheep were dead, and one of our dogs. Torn to bits... but no one had tended to them. So I went to the house, and the front door was... it had claw marks on the outside, and a hinge had broken. There were blood trails leading... leading outside. So I guess... " Swallowing hard, her voice went hoarse. "I suppose one of the boys must have run outside when the dog was killed. Hieram – it was his first, his very own, that he got to raise from a puppy. He loved that dog. And if he left, my brother would have followed. No way he would leave his son to face the darkness alone. And if he was outside, then Lianna - his wife - would be alone with two terrified children, forced to listen to the others pleading to be let inside. Even though you know they are likely dead - even though Noah would have known better than to knock on the door -"
How could you leave them? How could you, in the midst of fear and panic, in the moment when all goes wrong - how could you not cling to hope? Maybe it really was them. Maybe they made it, maybe everything would go back - if not to normalcy, then at least to a semblance of it?
Maea's eyes burned, but no tears fell. This grief was too deep for them, they froze within and har nowhere left to go. There would never be a day where she didn't miss them, never a moment where she didn't regret leaving.
"I should have been there... I should have died with them." Breathing the words, so riddled with pain, was like driving a dagger into her own chest. Yet she believed them. Believed beyond a doubt that every second spent alive without them was the gravest sin. It was only made worse by the persistent way her heart kept beating, despite everything.
Good days are gonna come along
Hold on, hold on!
Hold on, hold on!
