Gods, I'm exhausted.

I collapsed onto my bed and let out a hearty sigh. I heard something fall from a shelf but I didn't care.

After hunting for hours, running an errand for Father, and then coming home to prepare the quail for dinner had sucked any and all energy I had left. I just wanted to sleep.

I eventually peeled my face off of the pillow to see what fell. A purple book caked in dust sat on the floor. My curious nature took over and I picked it up, brushing off the dust and reading the title.

"Tales of The Luna... Oh!"

I laughed to myself as memories returned. "I used to read this with Mother all the time!" I shook my head. "Hah, I can't believe I actually believed in those things!"

I flipped through the page. Pictures of humans and wolves danced across the pages and I found myself almost intrigued.

I should show this to Sasha tomorrow! I bet she'll get a kick out of it!

...

"Oh, my gods! I can't believe you still have this!" Sasha laughed, skimming through the pages.

I leaned against the fence and nodded. "Yeah, it was my favorite story growing up. Guess that was a good reason to keep it." And because it brings back sweet, precious memories of Mother.

"Remember when we would pretend to be Luna?" she asked. "We would run around in the yard on all fours, howling and snarling at each other while our parents watched?"

I smiled at her. "Yeah, I remember. Those were the times, my dear friend."

Maybe because it was when I was most hopeful.

I bit my lip and Sasha continued to joke and laugh at the stories. Still...I haven't been able to shake this weird feeling I've had since last night... My heart feels like it doesn't belong in my body and I just want to run as far as I can...

"Hey, Sash? Have you ever entertained the thought that they may have been real? Maybe at some point?"

Sasha gave me a strange look. "No? Everyone knows they're not real! People who believe that they're still alive are just crazy philophers!" she snickered.

I wrung my hands together. "I-I know... But it could be a possibility. Like, if they were real, what is their life like? How do they function? Do they have any gods?" I had about a million and a half questions about the Luna. Some created from childhood, some created last night while I was trying to sleep.

She rolled her eyes at me. "You and your curiosity, Anna," she said. "Always had it as a kid, never left you as an adult."

My heart hurt at that. "Well, I think curiosity is a good quality. It makes the world interesting. There is always something to figure out."

"Maybe you should become one of those crazy philophers," Sasha huffed. "You certainly have the mind for it." She slapped my back. "Now c'mon. These cookies for Jax won't bake themselves."

I raised an eyebrow. "For Jax? I thought that you just wanted to bake cookies for the sake of baking?"

She twirled one of her blonde locks on her finger. "Well, let's just say we've taking quite a shinning to each other. I want to show him that I will make a good wife."

"...By baking him cookies?"

"Uh, yeah," she groaned. "Men like a woman who can work in the kitchen. Unlike someone, I would like to get married soon, so I need to get to work."

When Sasha says things like that, it makes me want to get married even less.

"But wouldn't it be so fun to get married around the same time?" Sasha exclaimed, holding both of my hands and jumping up and down. "We could have a double wedding! Go on vacations together! Oh! Wouldn't it be grand if we had children at the same time? They could play together! It'll be us watching the children play Luna!"

I wanted to throw up.

I swallowed the hard lump in my throat. "I...I still have so much thinking to do. That all sounds lovely, but I just don't know if that life is for me. Maybe in a few years?"

She sighed and pressed her lips into a thin line. "Fine. But I know you'll change your mind. Let's go."

Will I change my mind?

...

How long would it take to fly up to the moon?

Why can't I cross my eyes?

Why do fireflies glow?

What makes everyone so different?

Why is bacon so good?

Why does Father not want me to do what I love?

Every night, I lie awake and ask myself new questions. It brought me peace.

Some questions will be left unanswered, but that's ok. Just means that there are more questions to ask about it and why there isn't an answer.

Curiosity: it's human nature. Sometimes it is frowned upon because it can cause people to be downright nosey, but I saw it as a redeeming quality.

New things are always happening in the world. There are other places that exist beyond my town. The world was so vast and I wanted nothing more but to explore every part of it.

Instead, I was cooped up in my town. I've already explored every nook and cranny of this place tenfold. It was the same, old, boring town.

The only place I haven't explored fully was the forest. Although we were only allowed to explore a limited space, I was still enchanted every single time I'm surrounded by the trees and wildlife. The forest brought me peace and acceptance. The only place I could go without fear of watchful eyes. No Father. No Sasha. No one.

We were allowed to go ten miles into the Ylissean Forest before we had to turn back. It was plenty of area for hunters to explore and catch game; but once you hit that ten mile mark, you must go back.

No one dared enter the Ylissean Forest at its fullest. The large outskirts of it were just enough. People who have gone past the border returned in bloody pieces, if there were even enough parts to be found.

That never scared me. I've stepped outside of the border for only a few seconds multiple times and it's just the same forest. However, I always felt a burst of excitement whenever I crossed behind that line, even for a moment.

Although only condemned to ten miles, I make the best of each and every inch.

There is always something new about the forest. Something to learn. There are times when I feel more at home in the forest than I do in my actual house.

With pleasant memories of fresh breeze and lush trees, I drifted off to sleep.

*****
HERE'S THE MOTHER FREAKING TEA:

It's chai. So something I thought I should bring up is that Grima and Naga are both gods in this world. Grima isn't evil and destructive, he's just the god the Humans worship. You'll get more lore stuff, later. And also by that, the Grimleal doesn't exist. Rewriting stuff has been great. XD So we're not on week two of posting! I still can't believe this is happening! I'm so excited to share the rest with you! Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

Link: https://youtu.be/RzKmuiFCt_I