Sprig of Secrets necklace but with sugar on the

but with sugar on the tongue and a feeling that lingered too long to ignore

It lands with a dull tap

They bend over the table

The stall keeper pauses

As the last breath of winter fades into memory

Sprig of Secrets necklace but with sugar on theSomewhere in the hollow, I twist through roots and moss, searching. My tiny hands trace the earth, brushing against stone and leaf, desperate for the wand I lost. It is small, unassuming, yet it carries a pulse of the forest I cannot forget the hum of life, the whisper of magic threaded into wood. I hear it before I see it, faint and insistent, glinting where the moonlight catches the curves of a twig. My chest lifts with hope, claws trembling as I