Lotus dashed through the forest, practicing the stride her father taught her earlier that day.

It wasn't disobeying, not really. Dad said that hunters needed to work together to survive, so this was her working together, putting an arrow in the forehead of anyone who might be bullying her dad. If Cedar’s butt were here, it would’ve argued that Lotus was usually the one doing the bullying.

He tried to hide it, but this time Lotus could tell that her dad was really worried. He looked like her first squirrel, who perked up, frozen, right before Lotus shot it. Her father never did that.

Her dad was moving as fast as he could, so naturally Lotus lost sight of him very early on. But because he prioritized speed, his trail was easy to follow.

By the time the trees thinned and the slope leveled out, the sun had moved more than she expected. It was early morning when they left, and now it was noon. Her already tired legs were even more sore from the squirrels bouncing at her waist.

She stopped at the edge of the last trees, from where she could see the town square. There were a couple oddly shaped trees, each gray and bare, and they looked like there were a bunch of ants crawling all over them. Several figures moved around them, strangers in clothes she didn't recognize.

Lotus crept forward, moving between the outer cabins to get a closer look. She found a cabin next to the town square with a back door, and she quietly opened the door and looked at the scene through a grimy window. She didn’t usually break into neighbors’ homes, but it didn’t seem like any of them were around.

A girl was crouching in the grass just ahead, barely ten paces away. Her back was to Lotus, her silky auburn hair covering her face. She was bent over something on the ground, concentrating with the focused calm of someone infusing precision to their craft.

Lotus found another window where she could get a better look.

A massive lump formed in Lotus’ throat. What she saw couldn’t be considered human anymore. Its ribcage was extremely prominent, as if they were starved for weeks, its ears and nose cut off, and its eyes gouged out. The girl with the pretty hair was currently halfway through skinning the face. Lotus turned away.

She'd seen skinned animals before. Her father had gutted deer, they were all the same underneath. 

It’s the same thing. It’s the same thing.

She made herself look again.

It was not the same thing.

Animal carcasses didn’t look so full of pain, so bereft of life. The corpse looked like it suffered, its arms and legs, and its neck —

Lotus’ eyes glazed over. Even bloodstained, she could recognize her mother's necklace.

Her father had given the necklace to their mother when they were both little, and after she passed, Rosie wore it to remember her.

Lotus began hyperventilating. The corpse that seemed so foreign to her suddenly became all too familiar. She had seen those pajamas lying next to her earlier today when she got out of bed this morning, its owner still fast asleep. 

But why was she so thin, how was she going to weave her dumb baskets with those arms!

She slid down from the window, legs turned to jelly, as if they belonged to a stranger.

Breathe, Lotus, breathe. You’re no help to dad if you’re like this.

Dad!

She was so caught up in the town square that she forgot to search for her father, who should have arrived far sooner than she did.

Where was he, when Rose became like this? Why wasn’t he here to protect her? Why was he… 

Out hunting with me?

She could hear noises coming from outside. She forced herself to take a deep breath, trying her best to calm herself, denying her tear ducts that threatened to burst. 

I need to find dad.

Dreading what she might see, she drove herself to look through the window one last time. 

The gray trees had mostly vanished, with only two left, but in their place were two neat rows of children’s corpses, bloody holes where their hearts should be, all of which Lotus could recognize. She had grown up with all of them, but now they were lying still and pale in the mud, even Cedar. Cedar, who looked like he'd never missed a meal in his life, now looked just as frail and lifeless as Rose did.

Lotus' eyes continued moving until she found a figure on the ground far bigger than the rest.

It was her father.

He was on the ground, next to the woman clad in red and white, with his limbs all pointed in the wrong directions. He was looking at Rose, eyes red from crying, the warm light that basked within them just this morning now completely extinguished.

The girl with the auburn hair walked up to the imposing lady. They talked for a moment, and after a short exchange, the girl walked over to Basil, crouched down, and briefly dipped her knife into his neck before pulling it back up, coated with blood.

It was as if the world had shifted, all color leaving her sight without permission. She could still see things, but she couldn’t understand anything she saw or heard anymore. All the sound in the world melded together into a single unearthly scream.

Then, very faint, in a voice she almost didn't recognize as his — a dying whisper carried by the wind —

"…Forgive…me……Ro…"

That broke her.

Lotus scrambled towards the forest, arms almost indistinguishable from her legs, but she didn’t care. She just couldn’t be here anymore. Back along the base of the slope, back into the trees, branches catching her arms and her face, back to the last place that felt normal. Four squirrels banged against her waist and her whole body burned until the trees opened up, and she saw the fence posts and the old oak she’d visited so frequently.

Lotus hit the ground at its base and didn’t get up.

She wailed and wailed.

Lotus stopped crying when her body ran out of water, which was long after the sun had set.

She had lit the pile of sticks that sat at the end of the clearing, fanning a little flame. The moment she thought of skewering the squirrels and skinning them, she threw her belt of squirrels as far away as she could, vomiting next to the campfire. Coughing, Lotus sat back down, hugging her knees next to the campfire, back against a log and butt on the dry soil. The fire crackled on, the same way it would at home as Basil was telling them their bedtime stories.

She closed her eyes. This was just a dream, she just needed to forget. Forget. Forget. Forget…forget…forget…...

In the gruffest voice she could manage. “Wow, Lo, fancy seeing you here! You actually listened to me for once! I’m going to take you on more hunting trips from now on!”

A higher one, Rose. “Dad, why are we eating out here? I would rather eat at home!”

“Well, that’s because Lo’s caught us dinner today. Plus, it’s the perfect day to go camping! The stars are out, and all the constellations have come out to play. See, there’s Canis, Aldra’s over there, Felis is looking a little shy today but they still decided to show up. Serpa, Aquila, and Cervus are over there on the other side!” 

“But we’ve seen them a thousand times already, why do we need to see them again? I would rather be at home weaving my silly baskets!”

“Fresh air is good for you Ro, you need to come out more often! Lo, are you going to be cooking up those squirrels for us today?”

“...Actually, I’m not very hungry, you guys can have it.”

“Woah, Lo not hungry and listening to what I say? Who are you and what have you done with my little girl?”

“Yeah, sorry I’ve been so disobedient, and loud, and mean, and —”

She stifled a dry sob.

“Sorry for being a bad daughter, begging you to teach me how to hunt, I’ll stay at home and be good like Rosie I promise I promise I promise—”

“...”

The fire crackled, a thunk of wood giving way to ash.

Then sniffles.

"I promise to be good every single day, just please be there when I wake up, okay?"