Patty Liu - Silent Reflections

Somehow they had broken the spell! Melody shouted in her head. The nice old man who had rowed her across the river had come to visit her and brought some things she had needed from the town. He had told her about the travelers he had met on the river and by his descriptions; Melody determined that it was Wolf, Virginia, Patrick and the others that had been trapped in the Sixth Kingdom. So now that the curse was broken they were making their way back to the palace of King Wendell!

Melody was quite relieved that everything had worked out for her friends. Now they could get on with their lives without any more disruptions from the likes of her. The old man had left her little cottage a while ago. Melody now just stood around chopping carrots on her table. She was so alone. She didn’t even have her pet dove to keep her company. The cottage was so quiet now. She had decided to give up magic, too, so there weren’t any spells for her to work on. Besides, she had left her spell book and a bunch of other stuff behind by the footprint lake. She missed having the company of other people around her.

She glanced into the burlap bag the old man had brought to her and she gasped when she saw two miniature pumpkins in the sack. That reminded her of Patrick. She missed his company especially because he had always been so attentive. He probably hates me now! They all probably don’t ever want to see me again. I don’t blame them, Melody scolded herself. How did things turn out the way they had? She was actually related to Virginia of all things and she didn’t even know how. Does Virginia know? The shoes don’t lie, right? Melody tried not to think about the fact that Virginia had been the one that killed her mother. Nothing could be done now. But if Virginia had killed Melody’s mother, did Virginia know she had killed someone she was also related to? This was all getting way too confusing for Melody. Her mind was jumbled up with so many thoughts. She put her cutting knife down and pulled out the miniature pumpkins. Maybe I can follow them. Maybe I can catch up to them just to sneak a glimpse of Patrick. Maybe he misses me too. Melody sighed and slumped into a chair behind her. Maybe I should also tell Virginia that she and I are related too. She groaned and hugged the pumpkins to her chest and put her head down on the table.