Silca felt her heart sink a little as she walked past Xillan’s house. She just couldn’t focus on what Vaxinity was saying. Her mind drifted back to that moment… An evening last summer, the sunset was as bright as ever as she sat next to him on the soft heather. She could still remember his vague scent. The smell of the shed where he would do woodwork with his dad. It was a family business, he would always say. She had rested her head on his shoulder, watching the rolling hills, and far off in the distance the glistening sea. He had told her a few minutes later… “Silca, I can’t do this anymore.” “W-what do you mean?”, she had stuttered. But she knew — she knew exactly what he meant. With a heavy heart, she had walked back home that day… back to the Inner Cabin. Back to where she knew, life would go on. But her life had stopped…

“Silca, are you still listening? I asked you something, remember?” “Oh, sorry, I got lost in thought… about… work.”

“Yeah, right. Work, you’ve used that excuse one too many times lately. And I think I can understand what you’re thinking about.”

Silca gave her a sad smile, and Vaxinity pulled her into a hug. “It’s okay, don’t worry”, she said.

Silca smiled at Vaxinity and thought to herself: Snap out of it Silca, you are here to be with your best friend, not to think about some stupid boy. And so she said, “Now, what were you saying again?”. And with that, they continued on their way, laughing and chattering. Two 18-year-old girls, just out of high school, each with their own sorrows and sadness but also happiness and hope.

As it was getting dark, Silca and Vaxinity both went their separate ways. And Silca got lost in her own thoughts again. Would Xillan still think about her? Would he still love her? What would he be doing? But when she got home, she had no time to think about that anymore, because her little sister needed dinner, the cows had to be brought in, and the laundry had to be folded. Just as she finished folding the last of the laundry, she noticed a light out in the field, where the cows grazed in the daytime. It seemed like the glow of a flashlight, but she knew it was not her dad because he was reading the newspaper. And it was not her mom either, because she never wanted to go out at night. And her siblings were both asleep… So who could it be? She knew she shouldn’t go out now; there were burglars in Oakwood town. But curiosity got the better of her. So she slipped outside and grabbed a pitchfork for protection. She got to the field but saw nobody. But then, all of a sudden, she saw it—there was a shadow of what looked like a boy running up the hills! “Hey, come back here!”, she yelled. She ran after it and eventually caught up. He turned around, and his eyes met hers. “A girl?” he said in surprise. “Oh, and me thinking I should run!” “Oh, come on!”, she yelled. He took off his hood and said, “I’m Vivviane.” “Ok, lovely.”, she said, and with that, she swung at him. It caught him by surprise, and he fell to the ground. “Now tell me exactly what you were doing here on our farm,” she yelled. “I’m just here to… Erm…” But before he could say anything else, the front door bashed open, and her dad came running towards them.

“A boy?” he yelled. “Get out of here, you rascal!” “Don’t you dare ever set foot here again!” And with that, the boy ran off. “Come inside Silica Heatherwood!”

“You’ve got some explaining to do, young lady!” “But dad, I just saw somebody from outside the window, and I thought he might be a burglar; I have never seen him before, I swear!” “Pha, I don’t believe you.”, he said, and he dragged her inside.

“Now tell me exactly what you were doing there and who he is so I can call his parents and tell them to tell him that he should never come here again!” “Sweetie, think about your heart.”, Miss Telia said to her husband.

“Shut up, Fredrica! Don’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” “Well yes, darling. But maybe Silca is old enough to start seeing boys?” “No! Not until 25!”

“Yes, but darling…”  “SHUT UP!”, he yelled and lunged at his wife. “Dad, don’t do that!” Silca said, but her mom had already left in fear.

About half an hour later, she went to bed, vowing to her dad that she would never see the boy again. “And the stupid thing is,” she said to herself as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror, “that I don’t even know this boy.” …

Later, when she fell asleep, a small light was seen in the field again. But Silca was fast asleep and noticed nothing of that, not even the rat that scuttled over the floorboards at 3:58.

The next morning, Silca woke up early to go feed the chickens. She put on a woolen cape and went outside. She heard the birds singing and saw the dew glistening on the grass. The path was wet, and the gravel crunched under her feet. She quietly fed the chickens and collected the eggs before going back inside. She was the first one to be awake, so she had a little time in before having to endure the noise again. She went about to wash the eggs and make breakfast for everyone. Then she sat the table. Next, she went outside to get some milk from the dairy. And just as she was pouring the milk, she heard her dad come down the stairs to have his breakfast. As her dad ate, she went to do the dishes. After that, she woke up Gillie and Lucal and told them that breakfast was ready. Then she herself sat down to eat her fried eggs and drink her milk. Now it was time to start her farm chores. So she went to groom the horses, water the plants with buckets from the well, clean the house, get bread from Darrol’s bakery, and collect drinking water from the spring with her mom. She was walking along the path in the forest with her mom, carrying large, empty pails for the water. “I’m sorry about what happened last night.”, her mom said. “I don’t know if you knew him or not; just know that I don’t really care; you are old enough to take care of yourself.” “Thank you, mom, but really, I didn’t know him.” ”Okay”, her mom said. After that, when Silca got home, she had a bit of free time, which she usually used to go on a walk to the Hullyberry Chapel. In the summertime, she would sometimes swim there. Today she also swam, since it was late spring and quite hot already. But she didn’t have much time because she had to go back home, for there were many more chores awaiting her there. Walking back, she came across a little girl who was strolling with what seemed to be her bigger brother. She was holding his hand tightly while carrying a basket filled with berries, leaves, and random pretty stones. She was excitedly pointing to all kinds of things. They looked so sweet together. I have never had such a good relationship with my siblings, Silca thought. And just then she noticed there was something familiar about his face. Something she recognized, but she had no idea what. Was it his beard? His green eyes maybe? Or the way he walked? But she forgot about it quickly, because when she got home, she immediately saw her little sister, Gillie, running up to her in tears. “Silca, Silca! Please help! Choie is stuck in the tree, and Mama and Papa are out to town! Please help!” “Of course”, she said, “Where is Choie?” “In the tree! I just told you so!” “I know that, but I meant which tree?” “Oh, okay, follow me!” And with that, Gillie led her to the big pine tree on the west side of the house. And there she saw him, the tabby cat, all the way at the top of the tree, yelling in fear. “Oh gosh, all the way up there? I’ll have to get a ladder!” “Choie will be OK, right?”, Gillie said almost in tears. “Of course she will; she just needs to be brave and wait until I get to her.” Silca reassured her little sister.

And with that, she took the ladder, and carried it to the big tree. “Luckily, I’m not afraid of heights”, she said. She tried to cheer Gillie up, but this only made her more worried. “But then what if Choie is afraid of heights?” Silca didn’t respond to that and just started making her way up the tree further and further. Soon she got to where Choie was, and she picked the struggling cat up. Holding the fearful tabby in one hand she started carefully descending the stairs. But as she was almost at the bottom, just a few steps from the ground, Choie struck her nails into Silca’s arms, causing her to lose her balance and toppling off the ladder, landing on her head. The next thing she knew was somebody bending over her, somebody with green eyes, asking her if she was okay. After that, everything went black…