Bright sunshine blinded me as it came through the lush green trees. Eyes squinted; I sought it out, hunting for the spots where the trees parted enough to allow the beauty of the golden orb to be seen.

“So - we’re out. Now, where are we going?” Rose asked me as I touched a velvety moss-colored leaf dangling to my right.

“Anywhere we want. Everywhere we can.”

I felt like I was dreaming. At any moment, Sparrow would lick my hand and wake me up like she’d done dozens of times before. But this time it wasn’t a dream. It was real. The sun really was warm against my skin and I could actually feel the leaves in my hands and the grass tickling my ankles.

I started to run. Fueled by the adrenaline of excitement, my second wind had kicked in. Sparrow quickly ran along beside me. She looked different - younger maybe. Rose’s wings flapped furiously trying to get back to us, but I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was going, but that didn’t matter. I had a whole world to explore and it all began down that path.

I ran for more than a hundred yards. My legs felt stronger and faster out here. When I stopped, I saw it. It caught me off guard. The woods ended and in front of me was a cottage. It looked just like the one I’d lived in until nine and had left back in Sorseluna.

I slowed, as I began to fear the worst - that it had all been a cruel joke. I walked to the small window in the back where my tiny bedroom would be. The windows were open and sage curtains billowed out towards me.

I could smell the scent of cinnamon raisin muffins, fresh out of the oven. Then the aroma was gone. I’d somehow conjured up a memory as I thought of my mom, Sarana. I patted the dagger I’d placed in my bag for safe-keeping. My mother had used her powers to make it especially for me, saying I might have use for a special dagger one day.

The room was like mine, with the curtains and a worn rocking chair. The oak dresser in the corner looked like the one my dad carved out of the oak that fell along the lake when I was four.

I scanned the room that seemed so much like mine, but the details were off. My dresser had two pulls on each of the four drawers and this one only had one. The curtains in my room were lined with golden beads. I’d done it a few years before when I’d tried again to come back for a change of scenery.

I’d also stained my rocking chair using dye from red and blue berries. The mixture had turned the chair an odd purple. This wasn’t my room. This wasn’t my house. I tried the handle on the back door and not unlike so many years before with the bears, the door opened.

I could tell from the thick layer of dust that the home hadn’t been lived in for a while. Someone had left it, just as it was and hadn’t come back. A vase with old yellow daisies sat on a table by a window in the kitchen. The petals had long since dried and now stood hard and crumpled, leaving bits of petal like ashes on the table.

“Amarilla? What are you doing?”

It was Rose again. I supposed I should stop pretending I didn’t hear her as I investigated the house.

“I’m looking around, Rose. This place is so much like mine in our forest. I wonder what they have to eat.”

I hadn’t eaten anything that morning or the night before. I’d been so filled with excitement that the only thing I could think of and focus on was getting out of the forest. That was all I needed. Now I could feel the signs of hunger cross my stomach and Sparrow’s stomach made a loud growling sound.

“I know, girl. I’m hungry too.”

I opened the cabinets hoping to find something we could eat, even if the house had been abandoned.

“You do realize we are in someone else’s house? Not your house. They could come back at any time and who knows what they are like!” Rose was buzzing annoyingly in my ear again.

“No one’s coming back. Looks like they’ve been gone for years.”

I swatted at her absent-mindedly as I pulled a sack of rice and a small bag of red beans out of the cupboard.

“Do you have any idea how old that must be?” Rose scanned the beans for a date. “It’s expired.”

I checked the bag. “Only by a couple of months. I’m pretty tough after seven years in a dead forest.”

Sparrow’s tail began to wag and I could feel my own tongue become wet with expectation. But I still had to cook it.

“Yeah, I know. I wish it was cooked already too!”

I could practically taste the rice and red beans. Something I hadn’t had since three years after mom left.

“Ouch!” I cried out and dropped the bags on the floor.

They were hot and the moisture wet the floor. Sparrow turned excitedly in circles as I looked at the two bags near my feet. I bent down and poked the bag of rice with my finger.

It really was hot. Now I could see the steam rising into the air from the rice and the beans were full and plump. I looked around quickly for something to cut the bags open or to keep me from burning my hands as I tore into them. The dusty towel by the sink would have to do.

When I opened the bag of red beans I fell back on my behind, startling Rose and Sparrow.

“They’re cooked. They’re both cooked!” I shrieked. “How is this possible, Rose? How did they just cook like that? The house must be magical!” I exclaimed even before Rose could offer an explanation.

“Maybe,” Rose said back without commitment.

She didn’t like it. She hadn’t actually wanted to leave the forest despite what was happening. She’d wanted to keep me where she knew I was safe. But too much had changed.

“Well, let’s eat. I didn’t know there was magic outside of the forest. Maybe there are others like me, Rose!”

The idea that maybe my mother was wrong and that everything would be alright was comforting.

I found bowls Sparrow and I could eat from and let Rose use the spoon as her bowl. For the first time in a long while, I actually felt satisfied after a meal. My belly was full and I was feeling sleepy. I yawned and stretched my arms above my head.

“Nope. Don’t even think about it. You are not falling asleep here. We are going to keep going. We don’t know who this cottage belongs to and whether they are coming back. We don’t need a repeat of your eat, sleep, run adventure. Let’s find something to carry the extra beans and rice in and get out of here before someone comes,” Rose buzzed.

She had a point. We had a new world to explore and staying in a house that was nearly identical to the one I’d left behind would be a pretty shallow adventure.

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