However, I still needed two things and neither of them had been necessary back home. I had never needed to bring words for them and my parents were long gone. Rose was reticent to help and in any case, this was just as foreign to her.

That didn’t change the fact that I needed both money and a story. I looked longingly at the apples. The one I’d touched still sat at the top, almost taunting me. I wish I had some money. I really want to get some fruit. I can practically taste it!

I knew it would be delicious. I stroked Sparrow’s head, but it felt odd. Slippery, unlike fur and more like paper. I looked down and saw small pieces of green paper sliding towards the ground.

“Young lady, I think you’re losing your money there,” an elderman said as he walked by with an elderlady. I looked down at the green paper on the ground.

“Money? Money!”

I loved this magical place. I picked up the paper from the ground and ran back into Mr. Pickens Produce with the red apple I’d eyed just minutes before.

“I have money for the apple!” I exclaimed, nearly bumping into Lincoln again.

“Oh. Did your parents give it to you?” He looked behind me, but, again, there was no one there for him to see.

“No. Yes. They did. I want this apple, please,” I smiled.

He walked over to a machine I assumed was used for making exchanges and punched in the number 99. I handed him the handful of money and he handed me back all but one of the papers.

“It’s only 99 cents, Amarilla.” It was his turn to smile now; which he did while shaking his head. I must’ve looked like a fool to him. I’d never had to do money before, not in the forest. Everything was on exchange when there were others.

“I know.”

I took the apple and the dollars and the single coin he handed to me and headed back towards the door.

“Hey, where are you staying?” he asked before I breached the doorway.

I paused and looked at the apple. “I’m not sure yet.”

“If you need a place, you might like the Enchanted Inn. It’s good for pets too. I hope to see you again before you leave town.”

“Uh huh.”

I felt silly and could feel myself blushing. His eyes and smile made me uncomfortable. Why did he keep looking at me like that? I eased out of the store.

I tried to ignore the suspicious scrutiny of Mr. Pickens who’d stopped what he was doing again to follow me with his eyes as I walked out the door.

The quaint and colorful buildings surrounding me reminded me of what home had been like as a child. People were beginning to come out of the shops and out of the horseless carriages. There were more on the streets walking and I wondered where they were all from. Did they have homes and families?

“Amarilla, what will you do today? The sun will be fading soon. Do you have a plan?” Rose asked, once again annoyingly.

“I am going to watch people and then I will consider that Mr. Pickens. Why was he so curious about me?”

“I noticed that as well. Perhaps we should consider finding a place to rest for the night. We can go back to the cottage,” Rose suggested. I knew she was testing me. Was I ready to retreat to something more familiar?

“No. I got out of the forest and that cottage is just like the forest. We’re in this town, this lovely, colorful town with wonderful food and with living people and magic…,” my voice faded. With those living people, I knew there were also questions that would come.

“We’ll find a place in town. Lincoln suggested the Enchanted Inn. But I need a story, Rose. Who am I and where am I from?”

Rose looked at me with a hint of pity in her eyes. There was something she wasn’t saying.

“What is it, Rose? What aren’t you telling me?” I pinched her wings together gently with my thumb and forefinger, holding her in front of me.

“Nothing, Amarilla. I just want to help you come up with your story.”

“Hmmm. Okay.” I looked at Sparrow. She didn’t believe Rose either.

A building stood out from the rest at the end of the street. Across the top were the words scrawled in gold ‘The Enchanted Inn’. I looked at it and then at Rose. “We are definitely staying there.”

Rose shrugged her tiny shoulders and Sparrow wagged her tail.

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