we write out the ends on our palms, then forget to read
The climb wasn’t hard, not really, but Flora still pretended it was. With a huff that was mostly for show, she dropped the picnic basket beside the blanket she’d already spread out over a patch of sun-warmed grass. Pale blue and gold, the fabric rippled a little in the breeze, corners anchored with river stones and the promise of a lazy afternoon.
She adjusted a bouquet of wildflowers in a chipped vase—yellow bell-blooms, skybrush, a single foxglove for drama—before flopping onto the blanket in a pile of sun-dappled limbs and golden jewelry. Her curls were up today, loose and a little wind-tousled, and she wore a breezy dress that flirted with the line between casual and curated.
There was lemonade in a bottle beside her. Little sandwiches, a box of stickyfruit tarts, two kinds of cheese. She’d even packed those crackers Sohalia liked—the ones with the seeds that got stuck in your teeth. Effort. It showed in everything except her expression, which was carefully casual as she leaned back on her elbows, the sun painting gold along her collarbones.
The infection pulsed quietly beneath her skin. Not loud. Not right now. But it was there, like a second heartbeat. One she didn’t speak of unless she had to.
She adjusted a bouquet of wildflowers in a chipped vase—yellow bell-blooms, skybrush, a single foxglove for drama—before flopping onto the blanket in a pile of sun-dappled limbs and golden jewelry. Her curls were up today, loose and a little wind-tousled, and she wore a breezy dress that flirted with the line between casual and curated.
There was lemonade in a bottle beside her. Little sandwiches, a box of stickyfruit tarts, two kinds of cheese. She’d even packed those crackers Sohalia liked—the ones with the seeds that got stuck in your teeth. Effort. It showed in everything except her expression, which was carefully casual as she leaned back on her elbows, the sun painting gold along her collarbones.
The infection pulsed quietly beneath her skin. Not loud. Not right now. But it was there, like a second heartbeat. One she didn’t speak of unless she had to.
