Chapter 50
I didn't stop walking until I reached the forest. By then the sun had set and the navy of night was just slurping up the last of gray evening. The trees seemed just as welcoming as they had been when I had first woken up here, though I doubted I could find that same patch of flawless, baby-soft grass. They weren't green anymore either, but a flecked portrait of the brown, yellow, and red of autumn. Even so, I stepped into the shade and looked anyways.
I should have gone to the temple, I thought too late. Because if I ever needed counsel from god, now would be the time.
I stopped at the first little clearing I found and knelt in the grass. I let my pink skirts pool around me, finally becoming aware of the fact that I was shivering. It wasn't summer anymore. I had done something stupid.
But I couldn't change that now. So, instead, I stuffed my hands into my armpits and tucked my face against my knees.