One Eye Open by Alex Grecian

Author:Alex Grecian
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: TKO Studios, LLC.
Published: 2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

• 15 •

JUNIPER WALKED to the tree line and stopped, unable to see a way through the underbrush and unwilling to wade into the dense green. Despite what she had told her mother, she had no real desire to spend time in the village. There were no interesting shops, no movie theaters, no bookstores. Only a handful of small businesses. She couldn’t imagine what people in Godhavn did for fun.

Exploring the woods sounded vaguely appealing, but that looked impossible.

She started walking again and veered to her left, toward the waving fields of wheat and the inevitable path into town. She had forgotten a jacket and the air was chilly, but she didn’t want to return to the house. She didn’t like Anders. She understood that Laura might feel lonely, but you were supposed to feel lonely after your husband died. You were supposed to grieve, and it ought to take a long time. What you were not supposed to do was move halfway around the world, ruin your daughter’s life, and flirt with old boyfriends.

The path to town was not paved, and the dirt was cushioned with dead leaves and wheat chaff, lending her step a spring she didn’t feel. She put out her hand and swept it across the resilient stalks as she walked, relishing the tingle in her fingertips, then stopped and grabbed a handful of them, intending to pull the plants out by the root. But she couldn’t bring herself to damage them. She let go and patted the air in front of the row in an apologetic gesture, worried she had upset the crop.

On a whim, she left the path and walked into the field, letting the wheat close in behind her, willing to get lost and daydreaming that she might never be found. She immediately felt at peace, cocooned in the rustling plants and the soft whisper of the wind. She raised her face to the sun and drifted farther away from the path, deeper into the golden field. She felt buoyant, like a cork on the surface of a vast ocean, the crops drawing her along and lifting her up.

A hissing sound woke her from her reverie, and she turned to see someone watching her from behind the nearest row—a single eye visible through the wheat.

“Hey,” she said.

The eye disappeared and Juniper heard footsteps as the spy scampered away. She pushed through the rows and followed, running now, despite the resistance of the wheat, tripping over ruts, bending and breaking stalks. They sprang back at her, scratching her arms and neck, but she kept her eyes on the tassels above, watching for the telltale quiver of someone moving through the field.

She was concentrating so hard on the person ahead that she didn’t notice the ground sloping upward until she came out in a clearing at the top of a high hill.

Magnus stood waiting, panting softly and grinning at her. There was gauze taped over his left eye.

When she had caught her breath, Juniper pointed at him.

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