Looking towards the path that leads from our house to town, I can see dust in the air and what looks like a black horse trotting towards us with a carriage behind it.

"Gina! Look!" I shout down to her, careful not to move my body as I stand in the apple tree, not wanting to repeat one of my many falls.

Gina turns towards the entrance of our house, also noticing the dust.

"What is it?" She shouts, placing a hand over her eyes to shade herself from the midday sun.

"I think it's a carriage... There's a black horse! Who do you think it could be? And for what?"

Looking up, Gina points at me, "If they are important, they are here for you. Are you sure they have a black horse? And not brown?"

Realising what she was thinking, I look at the nearing transport, hoping to see a brown or grey horse and not a black one. My tummy flips over with fear, the fact that people important enough to be using black horses are coming makes me fearful for what is to come.

"It's black," I shout, the dismay filling my voice.

The capital must have heard about me.

Slowly climbing down the tree using the wood that had been nailed to the trunk two years ago, when I had a previous fall, I ask Gina, the fear from a few weeks ago returning, "What should I do?".

I have done everything the townsfolk have wanted me to do, I've even sat from sunrise to sundown talking to strangers instead of spending time with my family in order to ensure we don't have to ask the authorities for help. There have been quite a few people that have come to see if I truly was a glowing person since my birthday,, but we thought that since I'm not the first person who is said to glow the capital would leave me alone and forget about me, believing it was a lie. I'm also hoping that the light under my skin will just fade away, at least to the point that I don't wake up at night from my own brightness.

"Why don't we go and find Mummy? She'll know what to do," Gina reassures me, helping me jump from the last branch to the floor.

Nodding, I grab one of the baskets on the floor and walk determinedly to our house, Gina picking up the other two baskets and following me.

I don't want to show my sister I'm nervous, so keeping my face straight, I walk into our house directly to the kitchen where Mummy is cooking some Junwie, traditional treats that are eaten during Shwalm made out of raisins, orange peel and apple juice, along with lots and lots of sugar. The trick to making them is to stir the mixture together and then let it rest in a wooden crate. After a couple of hours, you then place it in a bowl which is then set over a pot of boiling water so that the sugar gradually melts and mixes with the rest of the ingredients. Once it appears liquid, Mummy carefully places it on it on a tray and cuts it up into whatever shapes we want. The traditional one is a hexagon, and that's exactly what Mummy is doing when I approach her.

"Mummy, do you know why important people are coming? There's a carriage with black horses riding this way," I explain, the nerves in my stomach making me feel sick as I wait for her answer.

Her face turns white, her eyes widening as she lets go of the mold, "Oh, God. We need to hide you somewhere, we don't want them to find you!". Stopping to think, she sits down, before jumping back up after a couple of seconds, "Dyane!" She shouts, "Come down here!"

Once all three of us are standing in front of Mummy, she starts explaining the plan, "Dyane, take your sister with you to the well and hide her behind the wood stash. Gina, you climb up the cherry tree and watch what's happening from the tree house. If you see the people from the capital approach the well chirp like an owl. You two know what it sounds like, right?" She asks, staring at us.

"Yes," We confirm simultaneously.

"Okay, go, go!"

Running behind Dyane, I make sure not to trip, my eyes glued on the ground as I follow my older sister towards the well.

We used to throw coins down there thinking it was a wishing well, but after Daddy found out about it, he climbed down and picked all of them out, telling us off for wasting money. Ever since then we only go near it when we need to get water.

Crawling under the wood that is piled next to our water source, I mutter, "I don't understand why we didn't just hide in the treehouse," trying not to think about the people who were probably arriving right now.

"Because it's up the hill and with your sparkling skin anybody with eyes could see you," Dyane explains while she looks through the holes, staring at the scene in front of her.

"Oh, right,"

Turning around, I find a spot from where I can see what is going on, my eyes instantly spotting a woman wearing luxurious clothing. She has a dark purple gown, probably made from silk, and a hat with spikes sticking out from it. Her gloves, white as the clouds on a bright day, shine under the radiant sun.

Mummy is talking to her, her hands moving around rapidly indicating she is nervous. They spend a few minutes chatting, my heartbeat slowing down to its normal pace as I calm down. They don't know I'm here.

"Do you think they'll leave?" I whisper to Dyane who hasn't moved from her spot.

Glancing at me, "I don't know... I hope so, I don't want to lose my baby sister,".

Warmth fills me. I love this family, and although we've had some rough times these past few months, we have still stuck together, fixing any problems we might have between us. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if I had to move away, if I lost the only friends I had left. They had stuck with me when I had become a burden, and they had sheltered me when they could have used me.

"I don't want to lose you either," I mumble, placing my hand on hers and squeezing.

As I stare out through the hole, the noise of a hooting owl makes my blood freeze.

That's the signal.

Someone is coming towards us, and whoever it was wasn't good news.

Turning around, I glance towards Dyane, whose eyes are squinted as she moves in front of me. There are bushes all around us, hiding us from anybody who could come from behind thanks to their thin needle-like thorns. To the right of the well was the path we had followed to get to the pile of wood standing tall at our left.

"He must be coming down the path," I whisper, my heart beating so loudly I could hardly hear anything else.

Nodding, Dyane points towards the pile of wood, "I'll climb it and see what's happening,".

Hugging myself, I stare back through the hole, the small grunts of my older sister not letting me fade too far into my thoughts.

I had been abandoned, and then found and raised here. How could I leave now, after everything I've been through.

In an effort to calm down, I try convincing myself that they are just here to see how the farm is going, maybe they've heard about the cheese we are making and they have a competition for home-made cheese and they want us to participate. I mean they might even be here because they heard that Dyane is a fantastic dancer and they want to get her to work for the capital.

"Mo, watch-"

"There you are," A man says from behind me, his hand grabbing my arm and pulling me away from where I have been concealing myself.

"-out!"

Turning back, I stare in horror as this well-dressed man pulls me away from my hiding place and towards our house. Looking back, I stare wide-eyed at my older sister, who is trying to get down from the wood pile without falling or making them all roll down.

"Mo! Wait!" She screams, her own fear palpable as she tries to go as fast as she can.

Pulling against the man, I manage to loosen his grip. With my arm now free, I throw myself away from him, my body slamming against the floor before I get up and run away, towards Gina, who I can see waving at me from the treehouse.

"Get back here!" The man yells, his footsteps loud in my ears.

I have to get away from him. He is trying to take me away.

"Moira! Come here!" Daddy shouts, making me lose concentration and look towards him.

In the millisecond it takes me to glance at him, my left foot finds a branch, making me fall in a heap on the ground as the man grabs hold of me and throws my body over his shoulder.

Daddy did that on purpose. He knew that calling for me would make me trip, he knew. And he has told me to go where he is, standing next to the lady dressed in purple. He wants to get rid of me.

"Why?" I whisper heartbroken, tears streaming down my face as I'm pulled towards the chatting adults.

"Moira, this is Lady Cecille. She's here to see if it's true that you glow and to help out economically so that you can live a nice life. But don't worry, they aren't taking you!" Mummy explains, taking in my tear-stained face and walking towards us.

It feels like my heart has stopped. My tears stop falling and I can feel a grin spreading across my face as I realise what this means. "I don't have to leave?". Happiness overwhelms me, hitting me like a truck as I try to get down from the well-dressed man and hug Mummy.

"Actually," Lady Cecille intervenes, standing in front of Mummy, "We are,".

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