"Fleurine! Hurry it up or we'll be late." Her eldest sister had yelled.
She remembered the happy smile of her older sister, rushing down the snowy path to the hidden hot spring. She'd been just as excited, it was supposed to be her first time. She remembered the sound of her green scarf whipping behind her as she tried to keep up.
When a child of the Claire clan turned eight years old they'd be brought to this hidden spring for the first time. An older sister, mother, grandmother or relative would lead the way the day after the first snowfall of the year. It was ment to be a day of celebration. That's what it started out as, but it didn't last. Her carefree childhood was ripped away in only a few hours.
***
She remembers laying in her nest with heavy tears streaming down her cheeks. Her mulberry eyes had lost their innocent glow, replaced with pain and fear.
"Why? What'd we do to deserve that?" She'd sobbed, curling around her pet rabbit.
It was seared into her mind, as crisp as fresh snow. Even though it was days before she couldn't shake the smell of smoke, the echoing shrieks filled with panic or the pops and pings that ricocheted between rocks and trees. She remembers the deep shouts ordering others to catch the 'demons' and 'don't let them any of them escape'. She didn't, couldn't, understand.
She recalls the soft touch of her mother's hand caressing her back. The quite murmurs to reassure and calm her. The gentle humming as she lay down beside her, enveloped in her arms. The feeling of her mother stroking her citrine tipped white petals as she buried her face in her soft chest.
She remembers her mother coming in every day for a few months. She recalls a conversation she had with her mother after a panic attack late one night.
"Mum, what were they? Why did they attack us?" She sniffled.
"They were humans, Fleurine." Her mother spoke softly. "They think we're malevolent entities. They think we are the evil creatures from their old tales. There are also some of us who've gone after humans. The ones that've harmed their kin or mates, but don't know this. Our appearance also scares them. All of this makes them fearful of us."
***
Fleurine opens her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears. She looks at her watch, it was a quarter past noon.
"Well, I aught to be on my way. Spent enough time reminiscing." She sniffed, leaning back against the old maple one last time. "I'm going to lunch with Abigail at that new cafe in town. Finally got some time to catch up with her."
She stood up, brushing leaves off her pumpkin sweater and adjusting her plaid skirt. The chilled autumn wind rushed by as she pulled up her green scarf.
"Thank you for supporting me back then." She turned, smiling. "I love you, mum."
She rested her hand on the smooth stone, reading the inscription one last time. She turned, walking around the ramshackle cabin that was once her home. She jogged down the winding, wooded path. Her eldest sister waiting at the road with their bikes.
"Ready to go?" Her sister asked.
"Let's go, Abby!" She cheered, glancing at her faded burn scars for only a moment.
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