Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Am I really going to walk through it? Am I really going to leave my old life behind?
Pie did. She was forced and this is a decision that I get to make, so that’s different. But that means it should be easier for me. I want to do this. I want to leave the past where it belongs. I want a fresh start. And if the human realm is the only way I can get it, then so be it.
I slip the old, ratty leopard fur coat down my arms and let it fall to the ground. Under the coat I’m wearing the prom dress and bare feet, since I left my wooden blocks up in Eros’s apartment.
My outfit is unsuitable. I must change it and look presentable when I enter the new realm.
I turn away from the candle shop and the hill where the door lives and head towards the thrift store. Inside, it is empty. Not even clerks show up in this store. It’s possible that the person who ran this place was out of town when reality shifted and they can no longer find their way home. But it’s equally possible that they just got tired of the job and looked at this magical change as a fresh start.
At any rate, the clothes are free so I’ve been helping myself. I choose a dress with an empire waist. It’s long, but I am still very tall, even though my legs feel woefully short now that they’re missing a hock joint, so it falls just below my knees. It’s an off-white color and made of soft cotton. The sleeves are a bit poofy and it’s almost too tight across my breasts, but when I look in the mirror, I find a pleasing woman staring back at me. I look like a Vincan peasant farmer. I also look poor. But that’s OK. Poor people are invisible people, everyone knows this. And when I step into that new world, I would like to be invisible.
At least for a little while, as I gather up all the new information I will be presented with.
I’ve done this before. I’d never been to Vinca when I showed up as the princess-in-waiting. I had to adjust quickly and efficiently or the people, and other royal beasts, would forever see me as the lost and helpless second-best who had no idea what she was doing.
First impressions are everything. And when I leave this magical world of monsters behind, I would like to at least look like I know what I’m doing.
I choose a pair of worn leather boots. They have a squared-off toe and go all the way up to my knees. I find a necklace and there is a sudden urge to drape it over my antlers, the way I would when I was a queen, but the antlers are gone, so I put it around my neck. It’s silver, and long, and has a ring crammed with jingling charms. I choose several bracelets as well. And a ring. A big ring bedecked with fake jewels.
When I look in the mirror one final time, pressing the wrinkles out of the dress, I sigh at my new self. I would not have ended up a peasant farmer if my little sister Pie had not been pulled through that door by Eros during the House of Fire Caretaker Ceremony. But I would not have been a queen, either.
I would like a life where I was never a queen. I think that would be the best outcome for me because I was terrible at it. I let my emotions get in the way. I began to crave power. I did appalling things to people.
Being an invisible peasant feels like a reward at this point.
I sigh. Because it feels like I’m talking myself into believing this is all for the best, but deep in my heart it’s really killing me that my whole self is gone. The only self I knew.
But it is time to let it go and face reality.
I am… human. And no amount of pretending is going to change that.
I let out a long breath and square my shoulders, looking myself in the eyes as I stare into the mirror—they are not yellow anymore, but they are not quite amber either. I have seen enough humans around town by now to realize that this color is unnatural for them. It could be a problem, but nothing a pair of sunglasses can’t fix. I procure this accessory from a spinning display rack near the cash register. They are big, and round, and match the color of my dress.
Not knowing the weather in the Realm of Pittsburgh, I decide to grab a tan jacket made of thick cotton. I slip my arms in, grab a straw bag hanging on a hook, and leave the store.