The speakers at my desk picked up his wish as he said it internally:

“I wish I were dead.”

Why did office complexes have to feel so dead after lunchtime?

She pondered this while her heels clicked against the white tiled floor as she made her way toward the security desk. Office lobbies were always so large; they suggested an influx of people traveled in and out, but in the middle of the day, there were only security officers and the occasional food delivery service person to be found.

Every step, every click, click, click was like a rope being wrapped around her lungs tighter and tighter still.

She could barely breathe.

That evening, Sylmae—who currently resembled her best friend, Aina—wore a dress she knew she never would’ve been able to wear as the poor girl from the forest. It was only because she was in this privileged house with plentiful food and well-known guests that she was in this position. But every time her eyes lingered on the various cheeses in front of her, one of the servants gave her a stern glare.

Light circled their fingers and filled their hands with warmth. Two girls giggled as they drew shapes in the air and shot stars from their fingertips. They sat in a small clearing, surrounded by a dense collection of trees on all sides. The bright orange leaves, fully having changed colors at the height of the season, obscured the sun, but the pair of girls could tell it was getting late by the dimming light.

The car sitting in the driveway looked ready to burst—stuffed to the brim with camping gear and snacks. The vehicle waited, idling in front of a row of townhouse-style attached apartments that resembled a line of trees, albeit quite different from the actual ones they’d be seeing soon on the trip.

Molly leaned against the closed trunk of the two-door sedan and wiped the sweat from her brow. She didn’t think the three of them had packed all that much, but then again—it was a small car. After glancing into the interior to make sure that nothing had been forgotten and that she still had a place to sit in the back, she returned to her apartment.