“Hello, my dear boy,” she smiled as we met halfway. On her left hand, she carried a black, metal lantern whilst her right hand clutched onto her cloak. “Nana, what are you doing here at this time of the night? You can get lost,” I said, worried. She chuckled. “Robert, you must have forgotten that I know this maze like I know the back of my hand. I’m one of the people who planned this maze. Therefore, the chances of me getting lost is none,” Nana explained. “Nana, even if you know it from the inside out, it’s still dangerous. Especially, for someone your age,” I protested. I continued, “You are inside the maze, all alone. Someone can easily sneak from behind you and do something horrible.” “Son, I am more than capable of taking care of myself. You underestimate me too much,” she answered as she held onto my arm. “What brings you here?” she then asked as we walked away from the arc. “I saw your lantern from my balcony. I didn’t know it was you. But I just had to make sure who is ta

I stood at the entrance of the forest, arriving at the foot of the mountain. My mind still wondered as to where Laura was. When I went to the hills, the entrance to it was barricaded. The people who guarded the blockade said that bandits entered the city and they were preventing a swift escape for them. For certain, Laura couldn’t be there. I could only wonder if she was safe. I shook my head as I tried to remove those thoughts from my mind. Now wasn’t the time to think about her. I had to focus on my mission and that was to get the ledoras herb. I took a deep breath and slowly trotted into the forest. ~*~*~*~ Bird chirped from afar. The sun rays enlightened the faint path as it pierced through the leaves of the tall trees. Rustling from the ground was evident. And squirrels scurried from tree to tree. I hopped off of Lady and walked slowly as I examined all the plants on the ground. The Medicine King provided a brief description of the plant. It was a good thing that I visited

I barged into the room, the doors swung open and hit the walls behind them. A loud bang echoed throughout the room. “Robert!” Bethilda exclaimed. “I didn’t know that you were already here.” I paid no mind to her and walked directly towards Mother. “I have your medicine, Mother,” I smiled as I sat beside her. I kissed her forehead before I showed the ledoras plant, still wrapped within a leaf. “Is this real?” Mother asked as she looked at me with pride. “Yes, Mother. It is indeed the ledoras plant,” I answered, carefully opening the leaf. “This is what the Medicine King told you to take. I asked him about it and now, I found it for you.” “How does it work?” she asked, eager to take the herb. I then explained, “You can take it as it is or we can brew it. However, the guardian of this plant said it’s better to eat it. I planned to brew it but I didn’t want to lessen the strength of its healing extract. You don’t have to worry about chewing. The plant is soft enough to eat.” Mother

Another exhausting day passed within the Winston Bakery. Everything has been cleaned and everyone has left the store. The windows were barred. Some of the lights were dimmed as two people remained inside. Laura was too immersed in scrubbing the floors. They were already cleaned by her other works. But for some reason, she was compelled to do it again. Perhaps, it was her way to ignore what just happened when she brought a letter to Robert’s home without his knowledge. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*- ‘As the cockerel greeted the morning with its powerful crow, Laura just finished writing a letter for Robert. After their bitter separation, Laura couldn’t help but be guilty for how they parted ways. ‘It was a decision that only one was willing to make. ‘She knew it was for the better. But she also knew that she never considered Robert’s feelings before making it absolute. And when they ended everything on a sour note, she was uneasy about everything. ‘Because of that, she did what she thought she

I was stunned. We remained silent for a moment as she continued to row. How was it possible that she used to live here? The stories said that this town burnt down ages ago. That would make her too old. “How is that even possible?” I asked. “They said this was abandoned even before I was born.” She chuckled. “People are still gullible when it comes to false information. Story-tellers will truly exaggerate the truth in order to make things even more dramatic. And in this case, that was done to make this place like it’s haunted,” she replied. “But you said you were from an orphanage. How were you able to confirm that this is your birth place?” I asked. “Once, I was tasked to scrub the library floor when I overhead some of the workers in the orphanage. They were talking about certain children in the home. Their conversation ranged from the eldest children and then, to the newest ones. I was one of them,” she explained. She continued, “They said that whoever brought me to the orphanage