When we were stopped again, her form returned to the woman she’d been before. “You see?” she said. “They’ll be well off there, and the girl has something valuable to sell. Don’t you feel better for having helped?”
“Only for the cows,” I grumbled.
She clicked her tongue at me. “You shouldn’t feel that way. Not all humans are so bad. You never know what might come of the slightest measure of trust.”
I flapped my wings and rose into the air. “I do not trust humans. You fear too much and love too little.”
She smiled sadly. “Better too little than not at all. Good luck in your travels, wherever that may lead you.”
Without responding, I flew away, putting my curiosity behind me. There was no love left for me in the world, and none would ever understand that.
As the carriage rattled down the road away from me, I sighed to myself. For a moment, I thought perhaps the bird woman would see my truth, but she only carried echoes of the past. With a course set for the mountains, I wondered what pretty lie the great white tree would tell me next.
If only I could believe its words.
There was no hope for me.
About the Author
A geek of all trades, Starla Huchton has been crafting stories in various genres since 2007. Her first novel, The Dreamer’s Thread, was released as a full cast audiobook podcast, becoming a double-nominee and finalist for the 2010 Parsec Awards, which opened the door for other audiobook and podcasting projects to which she lent her voice. Her steampunk adventure, Master of Myth, was the first place winner in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category of the Crested Butte Writers Conference contest, the Sandy, in 2012. A veteran of the US Navy, she took her service training as a Lithographer and applied it to a degree in graphic arts. She is decidedly a nerd with boundless love for superheroes, steampunk, British television, science, and hoarding craft supplies for projects she’ll get to “some day.”
When not writing, she trains three Minions, a black lab, and a military husband whilst designing book covers for independent authors and publishers at http://www.designedbystarla.com.
Connect with the author on the Starla Huchton Author Page on Facebook, @riznphnx on Twitter, or at http:/www.starlahuchton.com.
Other Books by the Author
Flipped Fairy Tales
Shadows on Snow
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OLHRYIE
The Stillness of the Sky
Ride the Wind (Coming Soon)
The Antigone’s Wrath Series
Master of Myth
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MV4D93I
Master of Machines (Coming soon)
The Dreamer’s Thread
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057QOCBU
The Evolution Series
(S. A. Huchton)
Evolution: ANGEL
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ITS86H4
Evolution: SAGE
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K575U58
Evolution: HEX
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LKBMB4G
The Endure Series
(S. A. Huchton)
Maven
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D5JOC8O
Nemesis
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ES4IFT2
Progeny
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00H17FJBA
The Stillness of the Sky: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales) Page 25
