Unfixed by Amy L. Sauder

Author:Amy L. Sauder
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Amy Long
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Sixteen

Julia sat behind Phoebe’s tent in the dirt and barley, pondering Phoebe’s claims and RaeChaeline’s warnings. The grainy texture and musty scent of the soil was surprisingly relaxing. She nearly believed that she could stay there forever as her eyes fluttered shut and open, only kept from sleep because of the thoughts cluttering her mind.

She accepts Geppetto’s invitation. And that is the most important decision she ever makes. The claim seemed overstated; could it really be true? And was this future set in stone, with no choice of changing? After all, the entire point was that it was her decision.

“Julia.”

Julia startled and peered out of the barley. “Sylas,” she mumbled. “Stop doing that.”

“Doing what?”

“Saying my name.”

“What else would I say?” he asked.

“Just about anything else.”

Sylas shrugged. Julia crawled out of the field and stood, brushing herself clean as best she could with her hands. She then brushed her hands together, but the soil clung to her skin. “Okay, take me home,” she said.

“Why?”

“That’s what you came to do. Be productive.”

“You didn’t want to before,” he said.

“I’m fighting my supposed destiny. Humor me.”

Sylas sauntered off in the direction of the town, and Julia assumed she was meant to follow. They walked for a time in silence, but Julia stopped him to duck into a small building tucked within an alleyway.

“Wait. I should freshen up here. I look positively disheveled.”

Sylas shrugged as they walked through the door. “Positively nomadic.”

Dinah’s Fine Dining the sign read, though the words were faded and the building peeling in such a way as to contradict the name. Upon entering, rickety tables and chairs, waning lightbulbs, and a grumpy waitress confirmed the outward appearance.

Julia paused at the bulletin board by the door, full of notices for missing children, dogs, even a cat. Why was her picture not there? Shouldn’t they be looking for her?

Julia felt Sylas’s breath on her, and she turned to see his face. He was scanning the pictures in quick succession, memorizing every face and name, she imagined.

“A washroom?” Julia whispered to the lady, eyeing the few customers downing coffee, studying the newspaper or watching the miniature television mounted in one corner. A newswoman seemed to be detailing a marathon of some sort. Julia wondered if her face ever made the local news with a flashing red sign that read “Missing.”

“Thataways,” the waitress jerked her head to the other side of the building.

Julia entered the stall while Sylas continued studying the bulletin. She laid out the used dress from her bag, then pulled off the dress she was wearing and laid it beside. Both looked worn, wrinkled from the bundle, with faded colors from a layer of dirt. Neither were presentable by Mr. and Mrs. Trencher’s standards, not even for working the garden.

She sat down on the dress she had been wearing and picked at the hem of the other. Destiny. Destined to join a circus. Destined to not return home in a filthy outfit. Wasn’t that a positive turn of events? Certainly better than Mr.

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