Chapter 12: Mia

The guests had not yet taken their places at the tables and were mostly just standing around greeting one another, which left me pretty much to my own devices.

I hadn’t planned on wandering away, mother’s words were still fresh in my mind after all. But then my attention was caught by the bluebird that came flying around my head as if trying to get my attention.

“Hello pretty bird, where did you come from?” I expected the bird to take flight at the sound of my voice so near, but strangely it just hung suspended in the air before my eyes.

Even when I lifted my hand as if to capture it, it didn’t fly off. But instead moved a slight distance away before coming back to me again.

It did this a few more times until I found myself following its movements, my attention captured by the bird’s antics. It seemed almost as if it waited for me each time before flitting away again.