Thanks for Sharing

Share Girl opened her eyes to laughter.

Tiny laughter.

High-pitched.

Excited.

Something warm sat on her chest.

She blinked.

A fairy no bigger than her hand crouched there, tracing one glowing flame tattoo with a curious finger.

"Oooo..."

Its wings buzzed happily.

"Pretty fire."

Share Girl frowned.

"...What are you doing?"

The fairy giggled and darted into the air.

"Wake up!"

Another voice answered from outside.

"She's awake!"

Dozens of tiny voices erupted into cheers.

Share Girl pushed herself upright.

She didn’t remember falling asleep.

She remembered the well.

Ronnie at the bottom.

Tess bent over the open book.

Then...

nothing.

The chair where Tess had spent the night reading sat empty.

The spell book was gone.

Clint's blanket lay folded.

Unused.

She frowned.

"...Tess?"

No answer.

"Clint?"

Only laughter.

Her stomach tightened.

Something wasn't right.

She stepped onto the porch.

And stopped.

Fairies.

Everywhere.

They filled the meadow like blue butterflies.

Landing on the fence.

Perching on the well.

Dancing across the clothesline.

None of them cared that they shouldn't be there.

The Sanctuary...

was no longer a sanctuary.

A fairy shrieked with delight.

"Again!"

Something sailed through the air.

For one impossible second, Share Girl smiled.

The fairies were playing.

Then she saw what they were throwing.

A limp arm.

Dark hair.

A burned hand.

Veronica.

Another fairy caught the body by one ankle.

Missed.

Ronnie hit the ground with a dull thud.

The fairies laughed so hard some of them fell out of the sky.

One landed beside Veronica's head and lifted her arm.

"Dance!"

Another grabbed the other arm.

Two more held her feet.

They bounced her awkwardly across the grass like children making a scarecrow jig.

One fairy climbed onto Veronica's shoulders.

"I'm Ronnie!"

The others howled.

Share Girl didn't scream.

She moved.

Fast.

She snatched the tiny fairy from Veronica's shoulder and squeezed it in her fist.

Its wings buzzed frantically.

"Ow!"

Share Girl's eyes burned.

"...How?"

The fairy blinked.

"Book."

"What book?"

"The Book!"

"What book?"

"The pretty girl!"

"Tess..."

The fairy nodded enthusiastically.

"Pretty girl read Book!"

"Then..."

Tiny hands pointed proudly around the meadow.

"No Sanctuary!"

Share Girl looked slowly around.

Fairies.

Everywhere.

No invisible wall.

No fear.

No safety.

The words escaped her before she could stop them.

"...That little bitch."

She dropped the fairy.

It zipped away without another thought.

Already chasing another game.

Share Girl knelt beside Veronica.

The fairies protested immediately.

"Ours!"

"We found her!"

"She's fun!"

"Mine!"

"No."

Share Girl gathered Veronica carefully into her arms.

"...She's mine."

The fairies pouted.

Inside the little hut...

everything was still.

The soup pot.

The bowls.

The little table.

The made bed.

Only now...

it felt empty.

Share Girl laid Veronica gently on the mattress.

For a long moment...

she simply looked at her.

"...You got dirty."

She reached for the dress.

Carefully slipped it free.

"I found this for you."

She folded it.

Neatly.

Into her bag.

"The shoes..."

She untied them.

"I looked everywhere."

Fold.

Bag.

"The ribbon..."

Fold.

Bag.

"The unmentionables..."

Fold.

Bag.

Every gift.

Every bargain.

Every treasure she'd proudly brought home.

One by one...

she reclaimed them.

Just as Mark and the boys had reclaimed every piece of Amber.

Something soft slipped from beneath Veronica’s shoulder.

The light-blue scarf.

One of the first gifts Share Girl had ever brought home for her.

Share Girl smiled faintly.

“I forgot this one.”

She picked it up.

Folded it once.

Then stopped.

In one corner...

stitched with uneven little threads...

was a tiny flame.

Crooked.

Simple.

Barely recognizable.

But unmistakable.

A flame.

Share Girl stared.

Her thumb brushed over the tiny stitches.

"...You..."

Her voice caught.

"...You liked it."

Silence answered her.

For just a moment...

the room felt warm.

Not from the fire.

From something she couldn't name.

She folded the scarf with extraordinary care.

Placed it at the very top of her bag.

She pulled the blanket over Veronica one last time.

Smoothed her hair.

Straightened the pillow.

Looked around the tiny hut.

The bowls.

The table.

The fireplace.

The little window overlooking the meadow.

She smiled sadly.

"I really liked it here."

She reached into the hearth.

Pulled out a burning log.

Held it for a long time.

Then touched it gently to the curtains.

Dry cloth caught immediately.

Orange flames climbed the wall.

Licked across the beams.

Share Girl watched without moving.

"...Now you can have your own flames."

The fire spread.

Across the roof.

Across the walls.

Across the only home they had ever made together.

She turned.

Walked outside.

Never looking back.

Behind her...

the roof collapsed.

Fairies gathered in a circle.

Watching the blaze with delighted fascination.

One finally asked,

"Why?"

Share Girl adjusted the strap of her bag.

Without turning around...

she answered quietly.

"...Veronica doesn't live here anymore."

She started walking.

Toward the forest.

Toward Tess.

Toward revenge.

Behind her came a familiar chorus of tiny laughter.

Then—

"Thanks for sharing!"

Share Girl stopped.

Not because of the words.

Because of what followed.

A fairy burst from the burning doorway dragging Veronica's charred arm.

Another seized her legs.

A third caught her by the waist.

Soon the blackened body was soaring through the smoke once again.

Thrown.

Dropped.

Caught.

Laughed at.

Exactly as before.

As though the fire had changed nothing.

Share Girl closed her eyes.

Just for a heartbeat.

Then she hitched the bag higher onto her shoulder.

Inside...

resting carefully at the very top...

was a light-blue scarf.

A single crooked flame stitched into one corner.

The only thing Veronica had ever given back.

Share Girl opened her eyes.

Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "...That little bitch."

Then she disappeared beneath the blue trees.