Instagram Story Part 2

Her soulless, mindless soulmate lay, and sometimes sat, in their quiet bedroom. She went about her duties to society, her husband, and herself. Waiting–hoping for a traveler or wizard to come along with the answer to help her. Time passed and bit by bit each of her neighborhood peers finally put their Lost Ones to complete rest, always pressuring her to do the same. There were some moments, days when feeding him was impossible, that she wondered if they were right. Traveler came and traveler went, and no one knew of any spell like the one she was certain her husband cast to save himself.

She protected the green, tubelike plants every day, and prayed they would remain safe every night. Bringing it closer or even inside her house would be ideal, but she was too afraid to ruin or kill such a mysterious thing. She was lucky her guess of care-needs was at least keeping it alive where is was.

A knock came to her door. Moving to answer it, she saw the dark face of her neighbor, solemn eyes softly pleading.

“This is no way to live. How long will it take to convince you to say goodbye?” Her neighbor’s voice held the pain of two nights ago, when she let go of her son. .
She scowled. “Just because you’ve all given up hope, doesn’t mean I have to. It’s my husband and my life–his life. I’ll do what I want with it!”

“Please…” her neighbor’s forehead grew creased with sympathy and her soft face glanced inside the house. “We’re just worried…”

Behind her neighbor, she saw a few figures off in the plot where her husband’s plant stood. At least two shovels caught her eyes.

“Stop!” She let her desperate scream go before her as she shoved her neighbor aside and sprinted toward them.

Two men stopped to look at her, but the last one shoved his shovel into the ground.

“No!” She pushed her way into the last man. “I filed for legal ownership of this land!” .
“Ma’am, you filed for legal ownership of about five feet of land under a name that is currently being investigated for mental instability.” One of the men still standing stand tapped his own shovel on the dirt below him, just in front of the plant beside her husband’s.

“I filed under my own name, thank you!” She scrambled to her feet and ripped the shovel out and away from the ground near her husband’s plant. Her heart pounded as she glanced for damaged roots.

“Exactly our point. You believe these plants hold the soul of your Lost One.” The second man responded, almost taunting.

“Magic can do many things! I’m not crazy!” She balled her fist up, wishing she had half the magic skill of her husband, but then she would have been drafted for the war.

“Magic can’t be used by Lost Ones, ma’am. We’ve been ordered to get rid of these weeds once and for all. For the health of the town.” The first man dusted himself off and reached for his shovel, which she jerked away from him.

She glanced back to her house to see her door wide open and her neighbor gone. Her breath caught in her lungs and her blood froze. Then fire appeared below her. There, she saw the third soldier’s hand casting weak fire onto the plant on the other side of her husband’s.

He snickered, “Which part of his soul belonged to this leaf, sweetheart?”

“You–” She began to shout, but the moment she jumped to tackle him away from the sister plant, something odd happened. She felt gravity shift and the world grow around her.

She was falling. Falling until she hit the ground hard. When she lifted her head she found herself in an expansive landscape. Her fiery orange-red hair stood vibrant against the grassy hills and silver lake before her. Magic seemed to seep out of everything around her, but most importantly, the tall flowers that mimicked her appearance, as if setting the whole field on fire.

Her heart was still pounding. She wasn’t sure how she would find it or if she would like what she found, but somewhere in here, she knew would find her husband’s soul. The very air whispered this truth.