After wandering in the fields near the cottage we’d finally stumbled on a path that didn’t lead back to where Sorseluna had been. By the time we’d gotten to what must have been a town, much of the afternoon was gone. We came in from the dirt road where the little cottage sat. The road had turned to gravel and then intersected with a road that was paved. From there the paved road brought us into a small side street. We could see what looked like a main road as we passed the backsides of buildings.

Then I saw it. It moved past the empty space between two buildings. I needed a closer look. I needed to know what it was really like. Walking between the buildings, I approached the other side and pressed my back to the brick wall. I gasped.

There were lots of them. Walking like I did, talking like I did, and being taken around in these strange carriages. This place did have magic. They didn’t need any strong animals to pull their carriages. Instead, they’d somehow found a way to harness the animal’s strength. It was truly magical.

I smiled and started to walk out from the tiny alley we were hidden in.

“Wait! Don’t, Amarilla!” Rose shouted. “Remember, they aren’t to be trusted. They might look like you, but they aren’t like you.”

Rose was right. They looked just like me and I hadn’t seen anyone who looked like me in seven years. Even if they weren’t like me they were close enough. And besides, they had magic too.

I stepped out of the shadows of the alley and onto the small street where people walked beside the big street where the magical carriages rode. Perhaps I wasn’t fully paying attention. Maybe I’d tried again to look at the sun or to understand the spell that made the carriages move. Perhaps I was trying to figure out how bad these humans might be and just how much to not trust them.

Whatever the cause, I was distracted and walked straight into it. Him. I guess I can call it a ‘him’ since it looked like the males I had known. He seemed like a person and I’d head-butted him square in the chin.

He stepped back and grabbed his chin as I reached for my forehead. “You should probably look where you’re going, Goldie.”

I stared at him in disbelief. I couldn’t believe what had just come out of his mouth.

“What did you say?”

“I said, ‘you should look where you’re going’,” he repeated.

That wasn’t it.

“No. I heard that. What was it you called me?”

“Goldie?” he asked confused.

“Yeah. That. How’d you know that?”

He looked at me as if I had two heads before realizing I was still waiting on an answer.

“Because of your hair.” He motioned to my blonde hair.

“Oh.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed. Why’d you think I’d said it?” he asked.

“No reason.”

I would’ve looked even sillier if he knew it was because my friends and family had called me that as a child and no one had called me it since before mom passed. She’d always insisted on calling me Amarilla.

“Hey, are you okay? I mean I know I’m the one you plowed into, but you’re the one who seems out of it.” His lips curled on one side into a crooked smile.

For the first time, I saw him. He was a beautiful creation. I put my hand up to feel the skin on his face. He stepped back again.

“What are you doing?”

“Touching your face.” I stepped forward again to feel his skin.

He grabbed my hand. “That’s a little strange. Are you here with someone? I’m thinking you should probably find them.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m here with Sparrow and Rose. They’re right here.”

Now I was confused. Perhaps humans weren’t very smart.

“Well, I see your wolf dog, which isn’t on a leash by the way. Is Rose your mom? Where is she?”

“No, she’s not my mom. She’s my godmother. She’s right here.” I nodded towards my right shoulder.

He looked behind me.

“He can’t see me, Amarilla. They can’t see me over here,” Rose flitted over my shoulder and made a point of standing right between me and the human.

“Never mind. I’m not sure I am okay.”

I sat down on the bench near the side of the walking street. The beautiful human him sat down beside me.

“Do you need to call someone?” He offered me a thin black rectangular object. I stared at it blankly. This was yet another magical item but one that was useless as I had no one to call. Everyone I knew in the world was within one foot of me and that included him.

“No. Thank you.” I ignored the strange box.

“What’s your name?” he smiled graciously, likely feeling sorry for me. Just what I needed, being pitiful to a human.

“Amarilla.”

“Haha. Are you serious?” He laughed until he noticed I wasn’t laughing with him. “You are serious. I’m sorry. It’s just that your name is like ‘yellow’.”

“Yes. Of course.”

“And the whole golden hair thing...” he continued as if trying to imply something.

“Uh huh. I know. What’s your name?’

“Lincoln.”

“Oh. What’s behind that name?” I asked curiously.

“What do you mean?” I’d confused him somehow.

“How did you get that name?”

“My parents gave it to me?”

I couldn’t tell if it was the answer or a question but he spoke slowly as if he thought I’d really hurt myself walking into him.

“Of course they did. But why? What’s it mean?”

“Well it was the name of a great President of our country. They named me after him. I guess they thought it would set the tone for me to do some great things one day. I have some pretty big shoes to fill though,” he shrugged.

It seemed a special thing to me that they had given him this important name.

“Wow. I’m sure you will do great things, if you aren’t already.”

“Well I’m not yet. I start college in the fall and until then, I’ve got a lousy part-time job at Mr. Pickens Produce.

“Produce? Like real fruits and vegetables?” My eyes must have lit up as he leaned away again.

“It’s not that exciting.”

It was the fourth most exciting thing that had happened that day. We’d left the forest, found a magical house with magical food, run into a beautiful human, and now there were fruits and vegetables. I couldn’t believe how wonderful this world was.

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