Mother Village -ch. 1- -ch. 2 V1.0- By Shadow... -

The old woman from before stepped forward. Her shawl had slipped, revealing a necklace of woven hair—gray, brown, black, and a few strands of bright red. Elara’s color.

She dropped her bag on the rotten porch and walked toward it. The grass was cool and wet against her ankles. Each step felt heavier, as if the earth were pulling her down. Mother Village -Ch. 1- -Ch. 2 v1.0- By SHADOW...

Elara scrambled to her feet. She wanted to run. But the gate to the street was now closed. She hadn’t closed it. And standing just beyond it, in a neat row, were the villagers. Every single one. Old, young, faces blank as fresh plaster. The child whose ball had rolled to her earlier stood at the front, holding a small bunch of wilted flowers. The old woman from before stepped forward

Elara’s memory snapped into focus. She’d dreamed of this well every night for a month before her mother disappeared for good. In the dream, voices rose from the water—not screaming, not whispering. Singing. A low, harmonic thrum that felt like being held underwater. She dropped her bag on the rotten porch and walked toward it